Regarding a Schiit Audio CD player, I thought this interesting as an example of a small, focused CD player.
I don't know if it is popular, but if price is $849 (google search), then I think Schiit could price lower and add functionality such as non-optical digital outs, etc.
I think the text is relevant to why this might work from Schiit, ie not much competition.
(Emotiva has CD players -- I own one -- but they are full sized)
Project CD Box S2
https://www.project-audio.com/en/product/cd-box-s2/
$849 (Audio Advice)
(bold added)
Ultra compact CD Player
CD Box S2 – Compact CD player for high-quality CD playback in elegant S2 optics
CDs continue to lose in importance and are more and more being replaced by modern streaming services.
Still, not everybody wants to give up listening to a few of their favorite silver-discs and is now looking for a modern solution to put them on from time to time.
Most people don’t want to invest into an overwhelming high-end player.
They are
looking for a small and handy, but still visually appealing system that will nevertheless play their CDs at a very high quality level.
The CD Box S2 is the ideal solution.
Ultra-compact, with a new, carefully manufactured, high-quality all-aluminum case and buttons,
there’s not much competition in this segment.
Then, there’s excellent sound-quality inside too.
In contrast to DVD or Blu-ray Disc players, a pure CD player is frequently better in playback of stereo CDs. The drive in the CD Box S2 enables 1:1 bit-accurate CD playback.
Compared to its predecessor, the CD Box S, the inner workings of the CD Box S2 have been technically revised.
The player is controlled by a mini-computer, to optimise the used PC-drive for a 1:1 bit-accurate reading of the „Redbook“ CD-standard and achieve a modern and audiophile playback solution.
The
CD is read into memory allowing any reading errors to be corrected, which ensures the best sound quality that you can get from a PC-drive.
Although this approach results in slightly higher start-up and reading times, it enables us to fit an audiophile grade CD player into the ultra-compact and beautiful S2 case.
A
new and advanced DAC-chip enables a more precise and detailed digital to analog conversion.
A new feature is the ability to switch between
digital IIR and FIR filters.
FIR filters are more complex DSP-operations and require more computational effort.
However, they enable a finer and linear processing of the digital signal. The ideal base for even better sound!
For even more versatility and no limits towards the top, the
optical digital output can feed an external DAC.
This way, you can let your
favorite high-end DAC convert the accurately transferred bitstream from the CD.
