Speaking of the music industry at this point in time, online streaming services have captured the hearts and wallets of consumers. Sales of physical media such as CDs and vinyl have been declining overall, although vinyl has been making a comeback in music circles over the past few years. Professional audio brand hopes that compact discs (CD drives) will also stop their steady decline and return to the market in the future, which is why he is preparing to release a high-quality CD player - CD Box RS 2 T.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America, CD sales totaled more than half a billion dollars last year and vinyl sales rose to over $250 million, yet CD sales are down more than 40 percent from 2017. So it might not seem like the best time to invest in a new CD player, but Pro-Ject doesn't think so.
βWe have always been crazy and made products and investments that were not in line with current trends,β says Pro-Ject founder Heinz Lichtenegger in a press release. βWhen everyone switched to CD, we released turntables. Now that everyone is moving to streaming services, we are investing in a revolutionary new CD player.β
The company acknowledges that many music lovers have likely sent their CD collections to the basement or closet, spending most of their time listening to streaming music. But some people may still keep cherished and beloved CDs close at hand just in case they get in the mood to listen to music offline. And Pro-Ject believes that such listeners should have "the right CD player."
The CD Box RS2 T is described by the company as a premium CD transport, where the transport means that the device was designed for one purpose only - to read CDs - and relies on the quality of a third-party Hi-Fi system's digital-to-analogue conversion, to which it is connected, instead of risking its own built-in preamp and converter, which may not please the sophisticated ear of a true music lover.
This Pro-Ject approach means that users can choose and purchase a high quality D/A converter, or use one they already have, rather than blindly relying on components the company would offer.
Inside the player is equipped with a BlueTiger CD Pro 8 drive and a CD-84 servo system from . βThe entire working fluid is suspended on a proprietary anti-vibration installation, which allows us to control the level of external vibrations reaching the inside of the device,β says Pro-Ject. "The mechanism that reads the CD is protected and not affected by external factors."
The system plays Audio CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs and Hybrid SACDs, with clean audio without any interference on the rear panel digital outputs which include AES/EBU via XLR and I2S+ masterclock via HDMI.
The suggested retail price of the CD Box RS2 T is β¬2499 (approx. $2825).
Source: 3dnews.ru