The Hidden CD Player
Over the past few months, I’ve been doing my best to build a solid record collection. Mostly records from concerts I’ve attended, as a physical reminder of beautiful musical moments. In most cases, the corresponding album can be found in a nice local record store or otherwise through an online shop. At most, there are a few exotic releases that are priced so outrageously high that I’ve decided to leave them aside for now.
But in my head, an alternative has been playing around for quite some time. A kind of vinyl record, but smaller. A CD, you could say. Maybe you’ve already guessed it: you do need a separate player for that. And where I thought such a thing would cost no more than a few tens nowadays, it turns out you still have to pay a few hundred euros for those devices. It’s an option, but just like those expensive records, that feels a bit over the top.
I felt devastated1. Until today, when I was sitting on the couch and looked at the cabinet under my TV, where among other things, the Xbox Series X sits nicely on display. But that’s not a CD player. At least, that’s what I thought. That’s what I assumed, especially since an earlier game console I owned wasn’t one either.
Nothing could be further from the truth. You know what they say about assumptions… I slipped a long-lost audio CD into the tray, installed a media app on my console, and lo and behold. Without me even realizing it, I’ve had a working CD player sitting under my television all this time, just waiting for me to finally use it that way.
The only problem now is that—on top of collecting vinyl—I’ve got myself another expensive hobby.
Not really, of course, just wrote that for added drama.↩