The Shanling CR60 is one of those rare devices that feels like it was designed for a very specific type of person—the kind who doesn’t just listen to music but lives with it, surrounds themselves with it, collects it. If you’ve ever stared at your wall of CDs, debating whether to keep them or finally surrender to the convenience of digital, the CR60 feels like a lifeline. It’s a device that says, “You don’t have to choose.”

At its core, the CR60 is a CD transport and ripper, but that description doesn’t quite do it justice. It’s not just about spinning discs; it’s about preserving what makes them special. Whether you’re playing a favorite album or digitizing your collection, the CR60 treats every disc with a reverence that’s becoming increasingly rare in a world dominated by streaming.

What sets the CR60 apart is how seamlessly it bridges two seemingly opposite worlds: the analog, tactile pleasure of physical media and the convenience of modern digital storage. Let’s start with the ripping feature because, let’s be honest, that’s what a lot of people are here for. The CR60 doesn’t just copy your CDs—it elevates them. Plug in a USB drive or connect it to one of Shanling’s portable players, and the CR60 will rip your discs into lossless formats like FLAC or WAV, preserving every detail of the original recording. No compression, no corners cut. The metadata tagging is automatic and shockingly accurate, which means your ripped files come out not just sounding great but properly organized, ready to slot into your digital library.

But the real beauty of the CR60 is that it doesn’t stop there. This isn’t a device you’ll use once to rip a few discs and then stash in a closet. It’s also a CD transport, and a damn good one at that. It’s designed to connect to external DACs via optical, coaxial, or USB outputs, giving you the flexibility to pair it with whatever gear you already have. This is crucial because the CR60 doesn’t lock you into a single ecosystem. It’s a team player, happy to slot into your existing setup and make everything sound better.

And it sounds phenomenal. Shanling equipped the CR60 with a high-precision Philips CD drive and a Sanyo laser assembly, ensuring accurate playback and ripping. For audiophiles, this means the subtleties of your favorite albums—the dynamics, the warmth, the texture—are preserved exactly as they were intended. Even if you’re just playing a standard Red Book CD, the CR60 extracts every ounce of quality from the disc, making you remember why CDs were once the pinnacle of audio fidelity.

Then there’s the design. The CR60 is compact and minimalist, with an aluminum chassis that feels sturdy and substantial. It doesn’t try to steal the spotlight, but it’s undeniably handsome in that understated, Shanling way. The interface is simple and intuitive—no need for an engineering degree to figure out how to use it. That’s another thing Shanling gets right: they don’t overcomplicate. The CR60 is powerful, but it doesn’t overwhelm you with unnecessary features or clunky software. It just works.

What really strikes me about the CR60, though, is how much it respects your collection. CDs might not be trendy anymore, but they’re still packed with musical treasure. The CR60 feels like an acknowledgment of that—a way to keep your collection alive while also making it easier to integrate into your modern listening habits. Whether you’re someone who swears by physical media or just wants a way to preserve your discs for future generations, the CR60 offers the best of both worlds.

In a lot of ways, the CR60 feels like a quiet rebellion against the disposable nature of today’s tech. It’s not trying to do everything or replace every other device in your setup. It knows what it is—a brilliant CD transport and ripper—and it does that job better than anything else in its class. It’s the kind of gear that makes you want to rediscover your collection, dust off those old albums, and hear them again as if for the first time.

For anyone with a wall of CDs and a love for music that goes deeper than just hitting “shuffle,” the Shanling CR60 is more than a device—it’s a celebration of the medium itself. And in a world where physical media feels increasingly endangered, that’s something worth holding onto.

The Shanling is currently available for only $299 at forte-distribution.com