Yamaha CD-C603

Five discs, Play X Change and USB playback

CD-C603 is a Yamaha five-disc changer with Play X Change, Pure Direct and a front USB port for MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV and FLAC files.

The player is designed for listeners who want several discs ready to play without giving up the ability to replace them during playback. The tray holds five CDs and Play X Change allows the other positions to be accessed while one disc continues playing; the USB port adds a digital source separate from the optical medium.

Key features

• Five-disc tray with full opening.
• Play X Change for replacing discs during playback.
• Pure Direct to reduce noise during analogue output.
• Front USB port for memory devices.
• MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV and FLAC compatibility up to 96 kHz/24-bit for supported formats.
• Playback of CD, CD-R and CD-RW.
• Analogue RCA output and optical digital output.
• Programmed, random and repeat playback functions.

Play X Change

The Play X Change mechanism allows the tray to be opened and the other discs replaced while the selected disc continues to play. This distinguishes CD-C603 from a single-disc player: music does not have to stop every time the next disc is prepared and rotation between several albums remains immediate.

Five-disc tray

The changer holds five CDs at the same time and uses a fully opening tray, so all positions are accessible when the mechanism is open. Having several discs ready is useful for extended listening, themed collections or environments where the medium does not need to be changed after every album.

Pure Direct

Pure Direct disables the digital audio output and switches off the display when the analogue output is used, reducing potential sources of electrical interference. The principle is the same used by Yamaha on other players and amplifiers: leave only the necessary sections active when seeking the simplest path to the RCA output.

Layout and signal quality

Yamaha updated the internal layout of CD-C603 with the aim of maintaining clarity and dynamics in playback. The multi-disc mechanism requires a more complex structure than a single-disc player, but the arrangement of the audio sections is treated separately from the mechanical functions of the changer.

USB and music files

The front USB port plays MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV and FLAC; for the supported lossless formats Yamaha specifies support up to 96 kHz/24-bit. The player can therefore combine CDs with a memory device containing digital files while retaining the same analogue or optical output path to the amplifier.

Outputs and playback functions

CD-C603 provides analogue RCA and optical digital outputs, allowing a choice between the internal converter and an external DAC. Program, random and repeat functions complete management of the five discs and allow listening sequences to be created without depending on the physical order of the loaded albums.