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We love to give practical buying advice on the latest gadgets here at TechRadar.

That’s what we bring you in these Money No Object columns you canread the whole series here.

Rotel Michi Q5 Transport DAC in a hi-fi listening room with TR�s �Money no object� franchise badge

That handle is to open the player up and place your CD in.

I stand here because I was wrong."

What you’re look at is the Michi Q5 Transport DAC.

Correct, it doesn’t actually have ‘CD player’ in the name.

Rotel Michi Q5 Transport DAC on dark background

That handle is to open the player up and place your CD in.

The Q5’s top-loading CD mechanism is easily my favorite aspect of this product.

Why not a slot-loader or tray?

“Slot loading is noisy.

The top of the Q5 CD loading lid, held in a hand

Yes, that’s the lid that goes over your CD, closing them in.

For me, it’s real-estate well-used.

Why no touch capacitive buttons?

You’ve guessed it noise.

Rotel’s Michi Q5 Transport DAC o a hi-fi rack, in a listening facility

Know this: it’s all about sound quality and noise reduction with Rotel.

The sound of Rotel: engaging, real, and never too much

How does it sound?

In the tuning process, it’s important not to cross that line.

The top-loading feature of this Michi CD player/Transport DAC is quite something

Impressive, isn’t it?

Despite all of its higher-res credentials, I think I’d still stick to CDs.

My 2011 Mazda has a CD player fitted in the dash and I adore it.