CD Players Explained

It seems that 2004 is the year of the CD player - the Pioneer CDJ1000 has finally shown many turntablists who were reluctant to use CD's what they can offer, and once they started looking, many people have discovered that CD is a very powerful format, and one which really should be considered.

Our advice on the subject is simple - go with what you are happy with. The 2002 DJ Magazine Top 100 DJ's asked all 100 of their finalists if that use CD regularly in their set, and 86% of them said yes. Some well known names now use only CD, and many pub, club and mobile DJ's have used CD's for many years - it should no longer be considered the poor relative of vinyl, as there are now many features that are only available on CD, and being a creative DJ is about the music you play, and the way you play it, and not about the format you choose to play it on.

Pioneer CDJ1000 - a desktop player

Unlike decks, CD players come in two distinct types - desktop and twin CD players. Both types have their own fans, but basically twin CD players are cheaper, as they allow many common components to be shared, and are favoured mainly by mobile DJ's, who take advantage of the many flight case available for a rackmount unit (frequently together with mixers and amps) to make the unit portable and easy to transport from gig to gig.

Desktop CD players tend to be favoured by DJ's who use, or are transferring from vinyl, as they are more at home with the deck style layout of a desktop style machine.

Both types of CD player are valid, and if you're happy with one type, then stick with it - nothing makes one style better than another - neither is technically better, so go with what you feel most comfortable with - Take a look at what's available, and decide what you do, and don't need.

All CD players perform a basic function - to play CD's - but unlike turntables, they need to provide a mechanism for controlling the actual playback, because unlike a deck, you can't simply touch a spinning CD to slow it down a bit. This is where the money you spend comes in - budget CD players usually provide a couple of pitch bend buttons, which when pushed, temporarily speed up or slow down the track, allowing you to bring your mix into time. A little further up the price range, and you get a wheel to do this job for you, slightly more like a turntable, you spin the wheel forward to add a little pitch, or spin it backwards to slow it. Then come wheels with more features - digital scratching is now quite common on mid price and above CD players, as is "cueing like vinyl" and then you get the Pioneer CDJ800/1000, with it's pressure sensitive wheel, which actually slows and stops the track playing, when you put your hand on it.

One step above that, the Denon 5000 Desktop model (a first for them) actually has a platter that spins in real time, and plays the track as you manipulate the vinyl, making it just about as lifelike as possible. Then there's Final scratch, but that's another story.

Denon DNS3500 CD Player - more features than you'll ever need.

In the same way as we sell decks from budget to top-of-the-range, we also sell CD players from under £200 to well over a grand - and what seperates them is the feature set. A good budget deck will do what it has too, but with no bells and whistles, and a good top of the range twin CD player, such as the Denon DN9000, will offer a huge range of facilities, from digital scratch effect, seamless loops, brake and other platter effects, anti-shock, on board effects, digital sampling, and more other gimmicks and buttons than you'll probably ever use.

Sometimes we feel that manufacturers miss the point with CD players - adding selling points, digital scratching, on board effects and other gimmicks at the cost of proper, practical design and functionality, but as ever, we're here to cut the crap and suggest our 5 favourite CD decks - we've done a list for both twin and desktop players to help you make up your mind.