Yamaha releases the CD-S303 CD player, capable of more than just playing the well-known discs. Note the USB connector!
You’d almost forget it among today’s streaming spree, and the “loudly vocalizing” (but percentage-wise small) group of vinyl users. But it’s really still in use, this good old CD. If only because a lot of people still own a large collection of those mostly silver colored discs. Surprise: those CDs usually sound better than a compressed(!) stream. Anyway, the need to be able to play CDs will remain for some time. And so Yamaha has once again released a fresh CD player in the form of the CD-S303. Easy to integrate into an existing set-up, and thus equipped with its own DAC. But for anyone who’d like: the device can also be used as a transport thanks to the available optical and coaxial S/PDIF outputs.
Interference-free mode
The Yamaha CD-S303 has another nice feature in the form of a USB connection. Here you can plug in a USB stick packed with music files. FLAC, AAC, MP3, WMA and LPCM formats are supported, with a maximum playback quality of up to 96 kHz/24 bit. Another interesting feature is the Pure-Direct mode: when activated, display and digital outputs are switched off to achieve a pure and interference-free analogue output signal. The Yamaha CD-S303 is available in standard version at €349, for pros there is also a rack version in the form of the CD-S303RK at €379. Available in the colors silver and black.