A Respected Hi-Fi Brand’s New CD Player Is Refreshingly Affordable

It’s the brand’s most affordable (and compact) portable CD player to date.

Shanling

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By Tucker Bowe

Published May 11, 2026

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Updated May 11, 2026

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Shanling has been making CD players for the last three decades, and, judging by its recent releases, it doesn’t appear to be stopping anytime soon.

In the last several months, the Chinese hi-fi manufacturer has introduced the EC Zero AKM ($319), a portable CD player with modern features, as well as the CD80 II ($349), a CD player for home hi-fi systems.

And now it’s out with another one. The EC Play is the company’s most compact portable CD player to date. At just under $200, it’s also its most affordable.

Shanling EC Play

Three compact digital audio players in silver, gold, and black with buttons and display screens on a white background. — The Shanling EC Play is a modern portable CD player that comes in three finishes: Feather Green, Onyx Black and Moonlight Silver.

Nostalgia meets modern

The Shanling EC Play is a new-age Discman built in the same vein as the brand’s other portable speakers. According to the brand, it “combines the nostalgia of CDs with modern wireless and high-resolution audio features.”

Its main “modern” feature is that it supports two-way Bluetooth. So if you don’t want to use wired headphones, it can stream music to your wireless headphones or a Bluetooth speaker.

For the rare instances when you want to stream music from your smartphone to the CD player, it can also function as a Bluetooth receiver (say, if you don’t have wireless headphones).

Person holding a beige Q5 SoundPro audio device with buttons and a connected cable on a table. — The EC Play has an aluminum construction and weighs 418 grams. It’s the brand’s most compact portable CD player to date.

External CD/DVD drive with an open lid and a disc partially inserted on a wooden desk near a colorful keyboard and a white mug. — It features an advanced active magnetic clamp system adapted from the brand’s previous EC models, promising “to help improve playback stability while reducing mechanical vibration and noise.”

But the EC Play has a few other modern tricks up its sleeve.

It features a 3.5mm coaxial SPDIF digital output, so you can add CD playback to your home’s existing hi-fi system (as well as compatible speakers or soundbars).

It can also be hooked up to your computer or desktop via USB-C, and function as a USB DAC or a dedicated headphone amplifier.

Beige portable CD player with control buttons and a partially visible CD inside, placed on a wooden surface. — On the back of the EC Play, there are USB-C input/outputs for power and connecting to a computer. There’s also a 3.5mm coaxial SPDIF digital output for integrating into a traditional hi-fi system.

Light green portable audio player with black braided wired earphones on a wooden surface. — The EC Play features a built-in DAC (Cirrus Logic CS43198) and dual SGM8262 headphone amplifiers.

As far as headphones, the EC Play has two headphone jacks: 3.5mm (single-ended) and 4.4mm (balanced). You can choose from various gain settings to match the power requirements of your wired headphones.

Shanling claims it can deliver up to 700mW at 32 ohms through the 4.4mm balanced headphone output, and thus should be powerful enough to drive both sensitive in-ear monitors and more demanding full-size headphones.

Black Shanling audio player with control buttons, small display screen, and dual headphone jacks. — The EC Play is capable of delivering up to 12 hours of continuous playback, which is the best battery life of any of the brand’s portable CD players to date.

Three square portable CD players in black, gold, and silver with buttons and headphone jacks on a gray surface. — The three finish options for the Shanling EC Play.

Availability and pricing

The Shanling EC Play comes in three finishes: Feather Green (which looks almost gold), Onyx Black and Moonlight Silver.

It costs $199 and is available now.

Silver portable CD player with control buttons, small display screen, and headphone jacks on a white background.

Shanling EC Play

$199 at Shanling

About the Author: Tucker Bowe has been on Gear Patrol’s editorial team since 2014. With a passion for consumer tech and hi-fi, he tracks everything from headphones and turntables to smartphones and wearables. If it lights up or makes noise, he probably covers it.

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