DC powered CD players?

[kinx]

I am looking for a *small home CD player which can be powered from a DC power supply. I suspect not many exist, so it may have to be modified.

The power supply chain is: Solar panel > charge controller > deep cycle 12v battery > DC power supply (giving outputs of 5, 9, or 12v).

* I am open to suggestions on models. However something the size of cyrus, MF xray, sugden bijou, etc would be ideal. At a push maybe up to the size of the old slim Rega players. But generally the more compact the better. Also a player with a Toslink optical output would be ideal.


So... does anything off the shelf exist? If not which players could be modified to work?

Thanks!! 🙂

 

[Mooly]

I can only think of portables that would work straight off.

All the mains powered ones have multiple rails so you can not derive those from a battery directly e.g. a plus and minus 15 volt rail. The display often has a higher voltage winding/supply to generate a negative -27volt rail or thereabouts.

It could certainly be done with a dedicated purpose designed SMPS (switch mode power supply) designed to suit a particular player but that would be an enormous undertaking.

Or you could use a 12 volt/240 volt inverter which would allow any player to work..

 

[sofaspud]

I don't know what's on the shelves, but perhaps there is a DVD player built for the auto/RV market that fits the bill and will run direct from 12VDC.

 

[cyclecamper]

Certainly any portable like a discman or any automotive or marine model. Or an inverter lets you use anything that plugs into a wall outlet.

You might find a high-end player with a seperate remote power supply you could substitiute, but like he said you may need to build a custom inverter to get higher rail voltages.

 

[kinx]

Thanks for all your replies. Ok so it seems modding is not going to be the way forward.

My back up ideas were a discman, or more likely an in car HU.

Many thanks

 

[NVD33]

HI,

I have in my garage an audio system made from a car CD player. The 12V power supply is taken from an old PC power supply unit. The sound is good enough for me when I am doing mechanics on my car. If you choose good brand such as Clarion or Alpine the sound can be very good.

 

[Buckapound]

I built a portable CD player from a laptop CD-ROM drive and a DIY CD-ROM controller from eBay. Works pretty well, and runs from 5 vdc, which you can either get batteries to deliver or use a DC-DC converter. However, laptop drives generally (always?) have an integrated chip that contains the DAC, so you can't get an SPDIF output and send it to your own DAC, as you usually can with desktop CD-ROM drives. The desktop drives generally run on 12v and 5v, so the power is a little more complicated--definitely draw more current, so might not be suitable for battery power.

--Buckapound

 

[dizmayed]

Kinx:

Lots of interesting replies. An old, tired suggestion: the RadioShack Optimus CD-3400 portable CD player.

Nominal requirement: 6VDC.

You probably recall it was the darling of the audiophile set in 1993. I still have one, still works. I see someone is selling one on ebay asking ~$120, about the original price if I recall. No toslink.

dizmayed

 

[optimationman]

I have been looking also

I too have been wanting to take a good player and install it in my boat. Lots of 12vdc battery, but as mentioned no way to get the voltage for the display. I have given the display up and as I want better sounding music instead of track info I felt that the display would be out. I looked at the Nakamichi 4 and would almost would work if you could use some low drop out voltage regulators to replace the transistor/zener power supplies. It uses an AD1864. I planned on using a DIY headphone system to connect up to it. Just a thought. Just add a resistor I/V to the AD1864, then connect to the headphone amp.