Are CDs Dead ?

[Only2McInallys]

I still listen to CDs a lot especially in the car where I burn my own compilations of songs.

I have recently had a strong urge to purchase albums I listened to growing up which I had mainly on tape.

I like the idea of owning a physical version of the songs rather than having access to them on the internet,maybe that’s a bit old fashioned and not environmentally friendly.

So for me CDs are very much alive.

Edited January 7, 2022 by Only2McInallys

[Seat68]

I rotate the CDs in the car. 4 in there at the moment, they will get played 3 or 4 times a piece and then something new will go in. I don't have anything close to mess or clutter in my car so having more than 4 wouldn't be acceptable to me but that's a different thread all together. 

[Xann]

CD sold nearly three times as many units as vinyl last year, but there's four times + as much profit to be made ftom vinyl, leading to the erroneous LPs selling more than CD headlines.

CD isn't sexy, doesn't flatter and some record companies squished the f*** out of them with compression, but it's linear, transparent and complete over the hearing range of anyone above the age of two.

Vinyl has pleasing psychoacoustic qualities and retains value. However it's not linear, has a third less dynamic range than CD, only pretends to be stereo and is terribly volatile (not in a burny way, suffers from surface noise and degradation every time you play).

From an artists point of view, if you've spent time and effort recording a single or album, then you see the vinyl cut utterly failing to contain your stereo master, be that a digital container or reel to reel? That's the spell broken.

Also CD player technology is coming on for 40 years old, so it's only really starting to mature now.

At a basic level I recommend buying a CD player that allows access to its DAC, so you can plug your telly, computer, phone, tablet or even your USB record deck into it.

Though really, this is the 21st century and we should be on surround formats by now.

My parents bought Whitney so I had something to play on the CD player they bought me in 1986.

The Withholds are my newest vinyl purchases, only few months old and already they've deteriorated more than the 36 year old CD.

[TB]

34 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

I kept 10% of my LP collection (about 200 albums) because I don't (yet) have them on CD, or they have high monetary or sentimental value. 

I can't see what the problem is with bonus tracks - that's one of the main attractions of CD reissues to me. They're always at the end anyway, so they don't prevent you from listening to just the original album - just stop before the bonus tracks. As for remastering, I can never hear any difference, partly because I'm pretty cloth-eared anyway, partly because I've never cared about hi-fi - I just hear the songs, not the 'sound'. And, given that I play CDs in the car a lot, the compression is probably helpful over engine noise (I particularly wish my classical CDs had more compression and less dynamic range, as I'm forever having to turn the volume up and down in the car). 

I think my problem with bonus tracks is that it stops me from reliving the original vinyl albums from my youth in a more convenient format. Strawbs' Grave New World should stop with The Journey's End. Period. After that, there should be silence, not fumbling to reach the CD player's/remote's stop/eject button. I've even ripped some CDs to non-lossy FLAC and burned it on a second CD  Maybe it's just me.

Amateur guitar/bass/keyboard band player since my early teens, I've never cared enough about hi-fi to invest in a expensive system. On some re-release CDs, I can tell tell the difference in dynamic range. In others I can't.

And yes: I agree that classical music like it should be listened to and listening to it in a moving car isn't the same thing.

[mjmooney]

3 minutes ago, TB said:

And yes: I agree that classical music like it should be listened to and listening to it in a moving car isn't the same thing

I realise my classical comment was flawed - if I'm listening at home I do appreciate the amazing dynamic range from whisper-quiet to room shaking loud of a symphony orchestra. But I'd also like to be able to listen while driving and hear both ends of the spectrum with both hands on the wheel. As it is, I'm resigned to sticking with popular music in the car. 

[Ingram85]

I don’t trust digital media, it’s never yours and can be removed at a moments notice even if you’ve paid for it. 

[chrisp65]

1 hour ago, mjmooney said:

As for remastering, I can never hear any difference, partly because I'm pretty cloth-eared anyway, partly because I've never cared about hi-fi - I just hear the songs, not the 'sound'. And, given that I play CDs in the car a lot, the compression is probably helpful over engine noise (I particularly wish my classical CDs had more compression and less dynamic range, as I'm forever having to turn the volume up and down in the car). 

 

21 minutes ago, Xann said:

CD sold nearly three times as many units as vinyl last year, but there's four times + as much profit to be made ftom vinyl, leading to the erroneous LPs selling more than CD headlines.

CD isn't sexy, doesn't flatter and some record companies squished the f*** out of them with compression, but it's linear, transparent and complete over the hearing range of anyone above the age of two.

Vinyl has pleasing psychoacoustic qualities and retains value. However it's not linear, has a third less dynamic range than CD, only pretends to be stereo and is terribly volatile (not in a burny way, suffers from surface noise and degradation every time you play).

From an artists point of view, if you've spent time and effort recording a single or album, then you see the vinyl cut utterly failing to contain your stereo master, be that a digital container or reel to reel? That's the spell broken.

Also CD player technology is coming on for 40 years old, so it's only really starting to mature now.

At a basic level I recommend buying a CD player that allows access to its DAC, so you can plug your telly, computer, phone, tablet or even your USB record deck into it.

Though really, this is the 21st century and we should be on surround formats by now.

The Withholds are my newest vinyl purchases, only few months old and already they've deteriorated more than the 36 year old CD.

 

Cloth ears and tinnitus.

I’m listening whilst either driving to Huddersfield, or cooking, or sitting in a small room with hard flat surfaces with a fish tank burbling away to my left, or spinning on my head on a sheet of cardboard down the shopping arcade.

1968 stereo with speakers wrapped in elephant print material from the market.

 

 

[LondonLax]

31 minutes ago, Ingram85 said:

I don’t trust digital media, it’s never yours and can be removed at a moments notice even if you’ve paid for it. 

People don’t buy digital media anymore. 

[bickster]

13 minutes ago, LondonLax said:

People don’t buy digital media anymore. 

It's like you didn't read any posts before you said that

EDIT: Even if we're just talking downloads and not including CDs, the vast majority of vinyl sales come with downloads these days

[hippo]

2 hours ago, mjmooney said:

Actually, I'm dreading buying another car, for that reason. Hope I'll be able to get a CD player retrofitted, as it's an absolutely essential requirement for me. 

It's kind of an irony. I'd love and Android device for my older "toy" car. But then I'd lose the cd - hell some don't even have usb.

[hippo]

1 hour ago, Xann said:

CD sold nearly three times as many units as vinyl last year, but there's four times + as much profit to be made ftom vinyl, leading to the erroneous LPs selling more than CD headlines.

CD isn't sexy, doesn't flatter and some record companies squished the f*** out of them with compression, but it's linear, transparent and complete over the hearing range of anyone above the age of two.

Vinyl has pleasing psychoacoustic qualities and retains value. However it's not linear, has a third less dynamic range than CD, only pretends to be stereo and is terribly volatile (not in a burny way, suffers from surface noise and degradation every time you play).

From an artists point of view, if you've spent time and effort recording a single or album, then you see the vinyl cut utterly failing to contain your stereo master, be that a digital container or reel to reel? That's the spell broken.

Also CD player technology is coming on for 40 years old, so it's only really starting to mature now.

At a basic level I recommend buying a CD player that allows access to its DAC, so you can plug your telly, computer, phone, tablet or even your USB record deck into it.

Though really, this is the 21st century and we should be on surround formats by now.

My parents bought Whitney so I had something to play on the CD player they bought me in 1986.

The Withholds are my newest vinyl purchases, only few months old and already they've deteriorated more than the 36 year old CD.

CD tech in terms of players seems to have gone backwards. Few years back I brought a shitty £30 thing from Argos - more than decent sound.

2 of the recent players (around £100) I brought went back - I got crisper sound from my phone !!!

[LondonLax]

33 minutes ago, bickster said:

It's like you didn't read any posts before you said that

EDIT: Even if we're just talking downloads and not including CDs, the vast majority of vinyl sales come with downloads these days

Obviously it was a response to the notion from the previous poster of buying a physical copy vs buying a digital copy. Nobody buys digital copies anymore, it’s either a physical copy or streaming. 

[bickster]

1 minute ago, LondonLax said:

Nobody buys digital copies anymore, it’s either a physical copy or streaming. 

Of course they do, you pay for them in the price of the vinyl, they aren't really free

And people do still buy downloads expecially in the digital DJ community, its the ony place you can get certain mixes for starters

Not only that, there are people in this very topic saying that is what they do

[Ingram85]

3 minutes ago, LondonLax said:

Obviously it was a response to the notion from the previous poster of buying a physical copy vs buying a digital copy. Nobody buys digital copies anymore, it’s either a physical copy or streaming. 

Sorry, it wasn’t a response to earlier posts, I didn’t even read the previous post. I just posted my thoughts on digital vs physical. While I stick to physical media I do tend to buy cd’s from Amazon as they give you the mp3 version for free most of the time. 

[LondonLax]

Just now, bickster said:

Of course they do, you pay for them in the price of the vinyl, they aren't really free

And people do still buy downloads expecially in the digital DJ community, its the ony place you can get certain mixes for starters

Not only that, there are people in this very topic saying that is what they do

Talk about being pedantic! 

There was a period in the early 2000s where people used to buy downloads and store them on MP3 players but those days are long gone. 

[bickster]

3 minutes ago, LondonLax said:

There was a period in the early 2000s where people used to buy downloads and store them on MP3 players but those days are long gone. 

The MP3 player is called a phone these days, there are genuinely people that still use MP3 players too. (Blandy for one)

[LondonLax]

1 minute ago, bickster said:

The MP3 player is called a phone these days, there are genuinely people that still use MP3 players too. (Blandy for one)

I’m sure you can find people who do all sorts of weird stuff, like putting gravy on fish

But going back through the different popular media options over time, people bought vinyl up until the 80s when they switched to cassettes. In the 90s they bought CDs. In the 2000’s people bought MP3s and these days they use streaming services.

Who knows how media will be consumed in the coming decade, it will probably involve TikTok though

[bickster]

So in answer to the original question, no the CD isn't dead nor is the MP3, they both outsell vinyl to this day

[fightoffyour]

Got my old emo/rock CD collection in the car which doesn’t have Bluetooth, only a player, radio or AUX. Haven’t bought any for many years.

Buy a few vinyls of my favourite albums as well as merch and gigs (used to anyway…)

Most of my listening is my mp3 collection, since my iPod survived for a long time and now I’ve got an iPhone with enough storage space to continue with that. Never subscribed to Spotify, don’t like the idea of being tied in for life basically to keep access to the music you want (at least offline, if that’s ever an issue these days apart from on planes).

[OutByEaster?]

I think we're a fairly small demographic - for my nephews (one teenager, one just on the edge of teenship) the idea of owning things like music is odd, it's not the way they think about it - music is just sort of there if they want it, they feel like they own everything already, it's just a matter of connecting to it. For them, music isn't a physical product, it's more like a library that exists online.

It'd be interesting to see who is buying vinyl and CD''s. I have a feeling it's not the young.