New decade, end of the CD?

I've given up explaining why vinyl rules, if you don't get it then that is your loss. But I also do have all my collection on digital files also, I have a Zune device and use the Zune software to manage my collection. I can stream audio thru our Xbox or plug my devie into my audio system (home or car) and enjoy all my music.

I'll miss CD's and cassettes.  I used to go to the record store a lot in high school and get used CD's (I got some gift money for it, luckily), and built up quite a collection of music.  However, I've decided not to invest in them anymore unless the album is indispensable for me.  I can't afford to purchase something that is simply going to become obsolete in a few years, now that MP3's reign supreme.  DVD's are the same way. 

Vinyl is nice, but expensive if you are starting from scratch.  A new ipod or other MP3 player is even more expensive!  I just leave all my music on my computer, and listen to it there.        

Interesting topic this, and slightly worrying as well for a record collector and general music enthusiast.

I can't see the CD disappearing completely in my lifetime, there'll always be second-hand at least, so I'm not worrying too much. I'll keep buying CDs right up to the day I die (which is not soon I hope!). Maybe one of these days I'll even get into vinyl which seems to be very much alive and kicking.

But Mp3? Never. The physical aspect of the product is very important to any serious music and record aficionado and essential to the proper listening experience. And of course it's always nice to braggingly show your collection to friends (I'm definitely a materialist in that way ) or just spend some quality time re-organizing it. Having a bunch of files on my computer means nothing to me. Another thing is I don't listen to music outside the house, so mp3 players are irrelevant to me anyway.

Giving up cd's would mean giving up a hobby, an important part of my life, as pathetic as that may sound to someone who is not a record enthusiast. It would take that something special out of the joy of listening to music. It would just plain suck.

So let's all keep buying those CDs and vinyls and keep the flame of physical music products burning. Even though proggers, jazzmen and classical fans are a minority, even the minority can have a lot of power in these kind of things.

In case the CD really disappear from the market (at least we can keep our existing collections!) the real problem for audiophile music lovers is:
is the device that will replace the CD deck available will be as good sounding as a CD deck (of the same price)?

If high-quality downloads are available (there are already some in classical music), that MAY be good and maybe superior to CD.

A server on which you rip your CD MAY BE better than a CD setup cause it rips several times (if there's a tiny dust at some point, it comes back and rips again) so you may endup with a more perfect signal than what comes out from a classic CD deck.

Devices such as the Naim HDX

http://www.naimaudio.com/hifi-product-type/568

On the paper it works


Edited by oliverstoned - March 31 2011 at 04:03

oliverstoned wrote: In case the CD really disappear from the market (at least we can keep our existing collections!) the real problem for audiophile music lovers is: is the device that will replace the CD deck available will be as good sounding as a CD deck (of the same price)? If high-quality downloads are available (there are already some in classical music), that MAY be good and maybe superior to CD. A server on which you rip your CD MAY BE better than a CD setup cause it rips several times (if there's a tiny dust at some point, it comes back and rips again) so you may endup with a more perfect signal than what comes out from a classic CD deck. Devices such as the Naim HDX http://www.naimaudio.com/hifi-product-type/568 On the paper it works

oliverstoned wrote: A computer is a very bad source for a musical system. And burning a CD on a computer is not like the ripped original.

Edited by VanVanVan - March 31 2011 at 08:34

Mr ProgFreak wrote: "The physical aspect of the product is very important to any serious music and record aficionado and essential to the proper listening experience" Nonsense. To some? Surely. But the music is not contingent on a physical medium. A music aficionado is - or should be - someone who sits in a comfy chair in front of a more or less expensive audio system, enjoying music coming out of the speakers. The music is what it all should be about, not the medium used to store it. IMO there are many who claim that a physical medium is essential simply because they're used to it. There are also some who claim that vinyl is essential, which people who are used to CDs would object to - and at the same time they would insist that having a CD is essential when they're talking to people who favor downloads ... from a neutral perspective it's obvious that they're doing the same as the vinyl guys. My suggestion: Get used to the fact that things change.

There's obviously more to the listening experience than just the music coming out of the speakers, as you already demonstrated by mentioning the comfy chair.

The vinyl may be essential to some listener, if they feel like it, and they're welcome to feel that way. After all, we all enjoy our music in our own way. But as I said, if collecting records is a hobby of yours, it should go without saying that the physical medium is absolutely essential.

oliverstoned wrote: A computer is a very bad source for a musical system. And burning a CD on a computer is not like the ripped original.

I was going to say that this is nonsense but then I realised that you must be assuming that the CD has been ripped to mp3.

I rip my CDs to FLAC and run a Squeezebox server (on a *computer*) which allows me to stream the music I play around the house via various Squeezebox devices.  The Squeezebox Touch in particular has a very good DAC and I use that as a source to my main hi-fi.  I believe I would have to spend a lot of money on a CD player to get similar quality.

Bear in mind that all a CD player is is a very specialised computer.  And the fact that the disc is being read on the fly means that there are potentially more errors in the digital stream than you would get from a FLAC produced by a perfect rip of the same CD.

^ What you're describing is simply impossible - unless you have a really crappy 10 years old computer which doesn't actually make digital copies.

Maybe Oliver's test disk had previously encountered la femme fatale, the orange juice? 

Edited by harmonium.ro - April 05 2011 at 09:32