What did we do before music streaming services and Bluetooth-enabled smartphones? We had CDs. Books of it. We were making “CD mix tapes” and some of our friends were a little naughty and got their music for free on LimeWire.
It is clear that times have changed. But the relevance and quality of the Compact Disc (16-bit/44kHz, so a lot better than your Spotify files and the resolution now recognized as the gateway to high-res audio) is not. And products like Yamaha’s five-CD changer, the high-end Hegel Viking, Arcam’s CD5, Pure’s C-D6 (a DAB radio with built-in CD player) and B&O’s hugely expensive six-CD vertical CD player are all evidence that the format is not experiencing a small renaissance.
And it gets even better because this particular Lenco CD player not only combines our love for all things see-through (hello Nothing Ear(a) earbuds, LG’s OLEDs and even this massive transparent horn speaker system), but it’s also portable – and cheap!
The Lenco SCD-24TR (that’s what it’s called) is a portable CD player and FM radio that can operate on both mains power and batteries. The eye-catching transparent design is perfect for watching your CDs spin in motion and your songs spinning.
You spin me around, baby (right around)
It’s hardly new technology (the CD was actually first unveiled in 1979, the same year I made my debut) and you won’t find Bluetooth audio or phone charging here. But I still maintain that the joy of sharing CDs and listening to an entire album together, from start to finish, is something that will help you get to know your friends or partner better – and, above all, make music tangible again.
Yes, the best music streaming services provide easy access to music, but you often bypass album art – and music platforms can cause you to veer a little off course when you’re trying to listen to artists and acts you love. Also, not all bizarrely named Spotify Daylists or Blend mixes are a hit.
I recently found an excellent cache of CDs in my mother’s car. They were a musical time capsule – many covered in my own Sharpie scribble from the days I made her Eric Clapton, Cream and Jackson Browne albums via iTunes. I’ve lost that skill (or at least that laptop with a CD drive) and I’ve lost that time with her, but the music we sang together on road trips is a fond memory.
The Lenco SCD-24TR is available for around £59.99 in the UK (which is about $76 or AU$115), and honestly it seems like a nice idea for summer…