MUSEWIRE – Music News: ONKYO recently announced a new addition to their stylish yet affordable “Icon series” lineup of consumer audio electronics, with release of their C-30 CD Player. Yes, folks, CDs (compact discs) are “not dead yet.” With this new release, Onkyo joins a large group of electronics makers who have not given up on the format.

While many have said “CDs are dead,” the fact is that many have rediscovered the format and a younger generation learning to love physical media along with vinyl LPs and cassettes. In fact, for those like me who were picking up some gems at a bargain on eBay, we’ve now found prices have doubled for many albums no longer in print and/or not on streaming anyplace.

And really, there are millions of discs in the wild, still very happy to be played. Onkyo has clearly noted this and has developed a striking new player that looks way higher class than it’s “affordable audiophile” pricing (pardon the quotes on stuff, it’s a thing).

According to the company, “The C-30 High-Performance CD Player is designed for music lovers seeking a premium, solid playback solution for their CD collections.”

Available in silver (brushed aluminum) and black to match your existing components, the C-30 looks like a $1200 player, while being under $400 (US).

It has a fairly simple but competent set of outputs on back, both stereo (L/R) analog RCA connections as well as digital outputs suitable for connecting to a separate DAC (I roll with a Schiit R2R DAC over here).

Onkyo’s press release states, “(The C-30) features Onkyo’s exclusive VLSC (Vector Linear Shaping Circuit)—a proprietary technology that removes pulse noise from the signal path using advanced algorithms. The result is a clean, distortion-free analog output from its premium 24-bit/192kHz DAC, revealing every nuance of your music with breathtaking clarity.”

Unlike some of the low-end $99 CD players and budget gear, the C-30 offers 107 dB signal-to-noise ratio, as well as a high-precision ±10PPM clock.

The new C-30 is compatible with standard CDs, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs, the C-30 also supports MP3 and WMA file playback.

A competitor product with similar features would be the slightly more expensive Yamaha CD-S303 (105db s/n). The new Onkyo C-30 handily exceeds the specs of similar looking products like the Cambridge Audio AXC35 (93db s/n).

Learn more: https://onkyo.com/home-audio/cd-players/c-30-cd-player

Onkyo’s Icon Series features the Icon A-50 2-Channel Integrated Amplifier, Icon P-80 2-Channel Network Pre-Amplifier, and Icon M-80 2-Channel Power Amplifier. Each model is offered in your choice of elegant silver or bold black finishes, perfectly complementing any high-end listening environment.

About Onkyo
Backed by nearly 80 years of audio innovation, Onkyo products have been at the heart of the finest audio-visual experiences. From the dedicated entertainment enthusiast to the discerning hobbyist, Onkyo is synonymous with unmatched reliability and exceptional quality.

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This original article was first published on Musewire.com and is copr. © 2025 Christopher Simmons. No fee or other consideration was provided for creation of this content, and no AI had been used for composition or editing. 🙂