Cambridge Audio has unveiled the Evo CD, its latest high performance CD transport that can partner with its Evo 75 and 150 streamers.
Cambridge says the Evo CD aims to extract every “intricacy and detail” from your CD collection thanks to its S5 Servo. This piece of tech looks to offer better error correction and faster disc detection, so you can spin your discs without having to worry about poor quality transfers. Format compatibility includes CD-DA, CD-R, and CD-RW.
It’s crafted from the same “premium materials” as the rest of the models in the Evo range, with a stylish metal drawer and sleek black aluminium top panel. There’s also the option of brushed wooden or matte black side panels that are made from sustainable Richlite material.
Cambridge also describes the audio performance as a “deep, rich sound with unrivalled clarity”, and there’s support for the Cambridge Audio StreamMagic app, which showcases information such as album art as well as allowing the user to stream music through Tidal, Spotify, Qobuz and others.
On the launch, Cambridge Audio CEO, Stuart George, commented: “Get back to enjoying those treasured discs in your collection. With Evo now adding award-winning CD playback into the mix alongside streaming – as well as the option to add one of our Alva turntables – you can enjoy the music first, whatever format you fancy.”
The Cambridge Audio Evo CD is priced at £999 / $1199 / AU$1999, and it should be available to purchase now from the likes of Richer Sounds. For those heading to Munich to attend the High End event, you’ll see the Evo CD there.
Is the Evo CD another sign of physical media’s renaissance?
There’s long been doom and gloom about the sales of physical media in any market, and yet, companies still continue to support physical media like Cambridge Audio with its Evo CD and Denon with its DNP-2000NE.
While physical media isn’t exactly booming compared to where it was many, many years ago; there are still signs of life that there’s a market to cater for. And with CD players supporting streaming functions such as apps, they become a hybrid of digital and physical worlds, offering convenience and flexibility.
Perhaps the most telling sign is the price. None of these new CD players are what you’d call affordable, which suggests the market being chased is one that’s older and more affluent. That’s all well and good to shore up the present, but what about the future?
