Best Portable CD Player for airplane use
 

I have a pair of the noise-cancelling Bose headphones, and I was wondering which cd player would be the best for me to use on the plane to complement the headphones. I prefer something with a high volume limit.

IMHO, as far as the basics, any old thing that's a decent Japanese brand will do fine. Volume level, sound quality, and durability will not differ between a $40 Sony and a $300 Sony. However, possible reasons to get a "nicer" unit are appearance, size/weight, and extra features, if any of those matter to you.

I also have the Bose headphones, and use them very happily with a basic $39.95 Sony CD player from Walmart. At home, I have an "audiophile" system (those big black boxes with no remote controls), but for music on the plane, the simplest CD player is just fine, IMHO. It'll be plenty loud, especially since much of the background noise will be gone. It will be a huge step up from the in-flight audio system, which doesn't fully utilize the capabilities of the Bose headphones.

The Bose headphones are the best thing that I've ever purchased for air travel use. I listen mainly to classical music, most of which can't be heard with all the background noise. Now I can listen to anything I want to.

I like to listen to music loudly, and was wondering if there was any really nice system out there that had a higher volume level than any other.

I doubt that there's any significant difference. The volume is probably most affected by your battery charge.

BTW, do you set your Boses on HI when you listen to your CD player? I find that there's too much background noise on HI, whether it's CD player or inflight audio, so I leave mine on LO.

Listening at too high a volume (esp with earphones) can cause hearing loss http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

I feel it necessary to listen to orchestral music loudly, which still doesn't compare to the loudness of other kinds of recorded music, in order to hear the inner voices of the orchestra, as well as get the full spectrum of sound.

I havent' tried them, but I hear that the folks at airhead are one of the best sources for high quality headphone sound. They recommend the Panasonic SL-CT470 ($89.00) as the best sounding player. They manufacture their own line of headphone amplifiers to boost the power and improve the sonics. They sell a small battery powered unit that matches the portable CD player.

http://www.headphone.com/EditorialPr...uyingStuff.asp