Need to upgrade your CD player? Denon’s DCD-1700NE promises “beautifully faithful” playback

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Your one-stop-shop for playing CDs, SACDs and hi-res audio

Denon DCD-1700NE
(Image credit: Denon)

Are you in the market for an all-new, full-fat CD player? If so, you're in luck, because Denon has just announced the DCD-1700NE, a CD/SACD player capable of high-resolution audio playback, among many other features.

There hasn't been a bus-load of CD players being released in recent years, but disc-spinning fans will be glad to know that CDs are reportedly making a comeback. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), shipments of compact discs rose for the first time in 17 years in 2021, marking the first time CD sales were on the increase since 2004. The CD revival may not reach the same heights as the ever-growing vinyl revival, but we're glad to see serious new players hit the market.

This brings us back to the Denon: the DCD-1700NE can handle playing just about any disc from CDs to SACDs, and even DVD-R/RWs and DVD+R/RWs that hold DSD and hi-res files (there's no separate USB input). As for hi-res support, the 1700NE can handle playback of up to 192kHz/24-bit PCM and 5.6MHz DSD. There are optical and coaxial outputs, and one fixed line level RCA output.

According to Denon, thanks to Advanced AL32 Processing Plus and a proprietary S.V.H class disc drive, the 1700E can manage pristine, faithful playback with optimal accuracy, even restoring information that was lost during the original digital recording. Plus, the 1700E comes outfitted with carefully selected and tuned internal components evaluated by Denon with an eye toward the brand's distinctive sound.

What's more, the 1700E is designed to minimise the vibration of the chassis and reduce any adverse audio effects of the heavy, powerful components inside to maximize audio quality, according to Denon. Suffice it to say that this CD/SACD player is just about the full package of what you'd want out of a player.

The Denon DCD-1700NE is on sale now and costs £1299 / $1499 (around AU$2296). It's designed to be partnered with Denon's own PMA-1700NE amplifier, which was released last year.

Denon isn't alone in bringing out a new CD player in 2023. JBL announced its CD350 Classic CD player (£799 / $700 around AU$1440) at CES 2023 earlier this month. Seeing new CD players come to the market and CD sales being on the rise is a charming new development, and we'll have to get our hands on the new DCD-1700E to give a full picture of its performance. Will it trouble the Cyrus CDi (£1195 / around $1474/AU$2118), our Award-winning class leader that has dominated for the last few years? We shall have to wait and see.

MORE:

JBL launches Classic Series of hi-fi electronics, including a CD player

As well as our list of all the best CD players out there

And our favourite CD players of What Hi-Fi?'s lifetime

Ruben Circelli
Ruben Circelli

Ruben is a long-time freelance consumer technology and gaming journalist, and was previously a Staff Writer at What Hi-Fi?. Since 2014, Ruben has written news, reviews, features, guides, and everything in-between at a huge variety of outlets that include Lifewire, PCGamesN, GamesRadar+, TheGamer, Twinfinite, and many more. Ruben's a dedicated gamer, tech nerd, and the kind of person who misses physical media. In his spare time, you can find Ruben cooking something delicious or, more likely, lying in bed consuming content.

3 Comments Comment from the forums
  • nopiano
    And most importantly for some, it plays SACD too. I can’t think of any lower cost new player that does. The Marantz Model 30 does, but it’s also a streamer, and twice the price. Denon’s own DCD A-110 series is much more costly* too, though I’ve a hunch they are very similar.

    I know that staff don’t read these replies but a little consumer journalism could have answered that!

    *About £3000 RRP, available for about £2000 if you shop around.
    Reply
  • Mikejs
    Nice to see Denon realising that unless you own a super expensive turntable, arm and cartridge, people are listening to sub standard audio hyped up by an industry desperate for new sales, even if it means making dubious claims to entice the gullible. I'm just intrigued by the claim to reproduce information missing from the original studio recording, how does that work then? Have they got a hotline to the original master tapes to do a comparison? Still an interesting and affordable product that I would choose over any other hyped up audio product.
    Reply
  • Jasonovich
    Denon DCD-1700NE is a step in the right direction, it handles DSD up 5.6MHZ (DSD128) and CD format versatility is an absolute plus. All my surround 7:1 amplification setups have been Denon and I am partial to the brand, love the quality.
    I use Auna Jukebox DAC, it plays almost every audio codec under the sun, DSD512 (22MHZ) included and sounds mighty fine feeding into my Denon and Monitor Audio/Dali/Q speakers. It dispenses with the optical discs, you can access your music files via the external SSD, SDs, USB drives.
    It would be nice if the Denon made use of USB port (I stand corrected if it already has one), making it universal platform which will broaden it's appeal.
    Reply