Can You Use a Portable CD Player In Your Car? This One You Can!

It often pays to be safe rather than sorry with tech, especially in an age of breakable touch-screens. When it comes to CD's people are particularly wary, and for good reason. From games consoles like the Xbox 360 tearing discs apart to vinyl being scratched, disc-based media deserves protection.

If you've a CD collection and need to listen on-the-go to that high-bitrate sweetness then a portable CD player is a must. Don't think that just because it uses CD's it's all outdated tech, though, as our SE10 CD player features modern innovations in a classically simple design. From playlist creation to repeats and disc protection, the SE10 is like having a high-bitrate version of Spotify without all the faff.

Can I Connect a Portable CD Player to My Car?

The first thing to check before you rev your engine and smack play on your favourite disc is that you can, in fact, hear the audio through the car. While the SE10 does come equipped with internal speakers we recommend using your car speakers for any in-car audio.

You can easily check if you can connect a portable CD player to your car:

1. Check the CD player output ports. CD players and other audio devices will doubtless have many ports, but it's the output or just out ports you want for this purpose. These ports will carry the audio out from the CD player and into your car, which can then play the audio through its own speakers.
2. Check the car dashboard / cockpit input ports. It's no good the CD player outputting audio if your car isn't taking it in! Make sure you identify your car input port.
3. Connect the CD output to the car input. Viola! Assuming your ports are right, the car stereo system is on and the CD is playing you'll hear your CD's through your car's stereo system.

In the case of our SE10 CD player, the output is a simple AUX port. This means you can use a standard 3.5mm jack and you're sorted.

Is a CD Player Safe in the Car?

Once you're all connected up, you might have some concerns about safety. For one, you don't want the audio distractingly-loud since you're driving.

But also, as we eluded to at the start, discs can be fickle. The last thing you want is to go from audiophile road-trip to lamenting a scratched-up CD. The SE10 uses modern features to ensure you can keep on driving even while listening to CDs in all but the toughest terrain. The features to look out for when you want to use a portable CD player in your car are Skip and Shock protection.

What is Skip Protection?

The first key feature keeping your CDs safe while driving is Skip Protection. Skip protection stops discs from dropping audio when they are temporarily disrupted. This technology makes the disc "read ahead" so-to-speak, so if there is a jolt and the CD cannot be read for a few moments there is still audio which has been read which is ready to play. While this "buffer" of audio plays, the CD has a chance to begin reading again. The end result is seamless playback even when you jolt the player which is perfect for the starts and stops whilst driving.

What is Shock Protection?

You might assume shock protection is some sort of short-circuit failsafe, but actually the "shock" in this case is physical rather than electrical. Electrical shock is probably the most common use of the term nowadays, but shock can regardless still mean a sudden physical movement.

Shock protection in the SE10 can be active for up to 120 seconds at one time. This helps actively prevent physical damage to the disc as you go over bumps or cobblestone roads. For long periods on rough roads I would advise removing the CD from the player entirely, as you might not be able to guarantee that the disc has time to settle otherwise.

Remember that pausing or stopping the CD won't necessarily stop damage. The CD is still sitting in the drive and able to spin / shake. Shock protection still has its time constraints, even if the CD isn't actively playing.

Choose the Best Car CD Player for You

The SE10 uses these modern preventative features to work seamlessly on most car journeys, even on the way to campsites and hillside cottages! Which is just as well, because the SE10 is a light a portable CD player which you can pop in a coat pocket and take everywhere with you.

From taking your favourite CD on holiday, an audiobook set for the kids on an arduous motorway haul or even enjoying with the included earbuds on your commute the SE10 can do it all.

Have a look at the original black and new white variants below, both included with a set of earphones.