Which CD Player Should You Buy in 2026: SMSL PL20, Fosi Merak, FiiO DM15 R2R or SMSL PL200?

The right CD player depends on the job. Below, four current models are compared on headphone power, battery, Bluetooth direction and USB ripping. Specs come from FiiO, SMSL and Fosi spec sheets and manuals; test results are credited to the reviewers who ran them.

How Do the FiiO DM15 R2R, SMSL PL20, Fosi Merak and SMSL PL200 Compare?

Which CD Player Is Best for Plugging Headphones Straight In?

The FiiO DM15 R2R ($281.99 in White). Its front 4.4mm balanced jack delivers 810mW per channel into 32Ω on battery and 1150mW in desktop mode (USB-C power, battery bypassed). The 3.5mm jack gives 220mW, or 315mW in desktop mode, and FiiO rates both jacks for 8 to 350Ω headphones. Whether your headphones benefit from the balanced jack is covered in Do You Need a Balanced 4.4mm Connection?

Among the three desktop-only players, the SMSL PL200 has the most power: 1000mW per channel at 32Ω from a single 6.35mm jack on the back panel. That is about three times the DM15 R2R's 3.5mm output in desktop mode (315mW), so for full-size headphones with a single-ended plug the PL200 has more headroom. The Fosi Merak puts 210mW per channel into a front 3.5mm jack, and Fosi rates it for 16 to 300Ω headphones. The SMSL PL20 is the weak one: 40mW from 3.5mm and 160mW from 4.4mm at 32Ω, with both jacks on the rear. In their reviews, audioreviews.org found it suited to efficient IEMs and ichos-reviews to IEMs and very easy-to-drive headphones.

Is There a Portable CD Player With a Built-In Battery?

Of the four players compared here, only the FiiO DM15 R2R has a built-in battery. FiiO rates its 4700mAh battery at about 7 hours of CD playback with a recharge of about 2 hours over USB-C PD, and an ESP anti-skip switch steadies playback on the move. It weighs about 471.5g. The SMSL PL20 and Fosi Merak look compact but need a 5V/2A USB-C supply, and reviewers found a USB cable but no wall adapter in the box. The SMSL PL200 runs on mains power.

Which CD Players Can Rip CDs to a USB Drive Without a Computer?

The SMSL PL20, Fosi Merak and FiiO DM15 R2R all save CDs as WAV files on a USB drive, no computer needed; the SMSL PL200 can't rip:

• SMSL PL20 ($175.99 in Silver): the fastest. Hold the RIP button and it copies the disc to a FAT32 or exFAT drive (not NTFS). audioreviews.org timed about 15 minutes for a 50-minute CD; ichos-reviews needed 15 to 20 minutes for a 60-minute disc.
• Fosi Merak ($132.99): one-touch ripping to 16-bit/44.1kHz WAV on a FAT32 drive of up to 32GB. It rips at 1x speed, so an album takes as long as it plays, and Techaeris and GearDiary found the files arrive without track names.
• FiiO DM15 R2R ($281.99): rips while you listen, also at 1x, to a FAT32 USB-C flash drive (FiiO recommends 32GB or smaller). HiFi Oasis notes the WAV files carry no track names or album art.
• SMSL PL200 ($532.99): can't rip. Its USB-C port is a USB DAC input for a computer or phone.

Which CD Player Has Bluetooth to Send Music to Wireless Headphones?

The FiiO DM15 R2R transmits CD or USB audio over Bluetooth 5.4 with aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, aptX Low Latency, aptX and SBC. It doesn't transmit LDAC, and FiiO says aptX Lossless isn't available on its Qualcomm QCC3095 chip. If your headphones support no aptX codec, the connection falls back to SBC.

The SMSL PL20 has two-way Bluetooth 5.3: it sends to headphones or speakers and receives from your phone. ichos-reviews found it SBC-only; audioreviews.org notes it offers no aptX or LDAC but found transmission clean and lag-free. The SMSL PL200's Bluetooth 5.1 only receives, with LDAC, aptX HD, aptX, AAC and SBC from a phone; it can't send to headphones. The Fosi Merak has no Bluetooth. For what LDAC changes in practice, see What Is LDAC?

How Do I Add Bluetooth to a CD Player That Doesn't Have It?

Put a Bluetooth transmitter on the player's digital output. The FiiO BTA30 Pro ($132.99) takes optical, coaxial or USB input and transmits LDAC, aptX HD, aptX Low Latency, aptX or SBC. With the Fosi Merak:

1. Connect the Merak's optical output to the BTA30 Pro's optical input with a Toslink cable.
2. Set the Merak's output mode to optical.
3. Switch the BTA30 Pro to transmit (TX) mode, press its input button until the OPT IN light is on, then pair your headphones.

The Merak and BTA30 Pro together cost $265.98. The same setup gives the SMSL PL200 Bluetooth output through its optical jack, or through its coaxial jack with the BTA30 Pro set to COAX IN.

Which CD Player Is Best for a Hi-Fi System?

The SMSL PL200. It is the only one here with balanced XLR outputs alongside RCA, it supports MQA-CD, and its AKM AK4499EX DAC doubles as a USB DAC for a computer at up to 768kHz/32-bit and DSD512. Coaxial and optical outputs let it feed another DAC. As a top-loader with a magnetic disc puck, it needs clear space above it. In hifidaydreaming's test of four SMSL CD players, it was the only one that played gapless. It can't rip, and its headphone jack is on the back.

On a tighter budget, the SMSL PL20 works well as a transport, feeding its optical or coaxial output to a DAC you already own, which is how audioreviews.org and ichos-reviews both preferred it.

Who Should Buy Which CD Player?

• Headphone listeners, at home or on the go: FiiO DM15 R2R ($281.99, White). The only battery here, up to 1150mW per channel from its 4.4mm balanced jack in desktop mode, and aptX Bluetooth out.
• Budget wired-headphone listeners who also want to rip: Fosi Merak ($132.99). Gapless playback, 210mW and WAV ripping; add the FiiO BTA30 Pro for wireless.
• Anyone digitizing a big collection: SMSL PL20 ($175.99, Silver). The fastest ripper here, if you listen on IEMs or through a system.
• Hi-fi system owners: SMSL PL200 ($532.99). XLR outputs, MQA-CD, a USB DAC, Bluetooth input and a 1000mW rear headphone jack.

Browse more players from FiiO, SMSL and Fosi Audio.

Who Should Skip a CD Player?

• Your library is already ripped or streamed. A file player does the job. The FiiO Snowsky Disc ($85.99 in Blue or Black) is styled like a portable CD player but plays microSD files. Do You Still Need a Dedicated Audio Player (DAP) in 2026? explains when one beats a phone, and our music players collection has the rest.
• Archiving is your only goal. HiFi Oasis notes the DM15 R2R's WAV rips carry no track names or album art and handle read errors less thoroughly than computer software such as Exact Audio Copy, so it still recommends a computer and CD drive for bit-perfect archiving.
• You need gapless playback. Skip the SMSL PL20, which pauses between tracks; the Fosi Merak plays gapless.
• You want LDAC straight from the player. None of the four transmits LDAC, so budget for the FiiO BTA30 Pro ($132.99).