CDs are Dead / Gone / Exist No More ...

Subject: RE: CDs are Dead / Gone / Exist No More ...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Mar 11 - 06:39 PM

The classical, baroque and older music I mostly buy is only available on cd.
No Alia Vox, Harmonia Mundi, etc. for download.

My library of cds continues to grow. Excellent sound equipment is available, and I have recently bought new speaker systems.
Downloaded material is poor in frequency range, but I suppose OK for popular and folk music (also have a fair collection of the latter on cd).
Some excellent re-mastered old jazz albums being issued on cds.

"The young guys at the office ...."
New iphones and such have excellent frequency response, but I prefer to listen comfortably ensconced in my body-friendly armchair, across the room from the best speakers that I can afford.

Subject: RE: CDs are Dead / Gone / Exist No More ...
From: Genie
Date: 03 Mar 11 - 01:38 AM

Methinks there will always be a market for gizmos that allow us out-of-the-loop "oldsters" to convert our 'archaic' technology (vinyl, cassette, CD) to the newest flavor-of-the-month.
CDs may not have the fidelity of vinyl or even of tape, but they take up very little space & aren't as vulnerable to damage. I imagine it will be a while before our CDs are really obsolete.

That said, I welcome the ability to buy individual songs when all you really want off an album is a few tracks.


And I'm really glad my procrastinator tendencies have resulted in my still having most of my vinyl.

Subject: RE: CDs are Dead / Gone / Exist No More ...
From: Edthefolkie
Date: 03 Mar 11 - 03:51 AM

I have to say that I don't really miss portable CD players. We've had three in our house and all three bit the dust fairly swiftly for assorted reasons.

But the CD format itself is great. Stick a good CD in a good player, turn on a good amplifier and sit in front of good speakers and you have the recipe for good listening. I suppose if you pay thousands you can get equivalent results from vinyl, but there is always the cat fur/inebriated friend/senior moment which will ruin a vinyl disc. Tape - oh my God. Reel to reel is OK but cassette was always an unreliable joke unless you owned a Nakamichi.

Downloads, what a great trick by Apple etc - they sell you a piece of music compressed to within an inch of its life, with no need to spend their money on sleeeve notes, cases, pictures etc. Then a manufacturer can sell you an iPod dock to make an inadequate product sound spuriously "better".

Yes I know you can buy less compressed tracks but they still aren't of CD quality.

Bah, humbug.

Subject: RE: CDs are Dead / Gone / Exist No More ...
From: GUEST,BobL
Date: 03 Mar 11 - 05:05 AM

Nobody's mentioned minidisc!

I copied cassettes and vinyl onto this medium 10 years ago, and have stuck with it. I can't be bothered to re-copy to CD, and the audio quality's not noticeably worse, certainly it's as good as the originals and it's definitely better than mp3. But I'm having to look out for a couple of spare MD decks, against the eventual but ultimately inevitable time when the present ones expire - fortunately there's no shortage of 'em on e-Bay.

Subject: RE: CDs are Dead / Gone / Exist No More ...
From: treewind
Date: 03 Mar 11 - 06:51 AM

I was a huge supporter of minidisc in its day, but when your last MD player finally bites the dust and you find there's no replacement available, you'd better have a backup on some other medium! A second hand MD player off eBay is all very well, but it will be used and still have a limited life.

"definitely better than mp3"
Standard MD is 292k bits/second, LP mode is 132k, LP4 is 66k.
MP3 has standard rates including 64k, 128k, 160k, 192k, 156k and 320k
If you compare the two at similar rates, you'll find less difference. The basic compression method is the same, though not identical.

If I ever get around to digitizing or copying my recorded music collection, it will be to hard disk. When storage technology changes (from IDE to SATA, or from HD to SSD) I'll get a new drive and copy it all.

Subject: RE: CDs are Dead / Gone / Exist No More ...
From: Will Fly
Date: 03 Mar 11 - 07:45 AM

This thread reminded me that, somewhere, I have two Minidisc drives and a load of discs. Must find 'em...

Subject: RE: CDs are Dead / Gone / Exist No More ...
From: GUEST,mattkeen
Date: 03 Mar 11 - 08:26 AM

I nearly always buy CD's rather than downloads and nearly always play music from an ipod. CD's though when listening in the car - my favourite place to listen to music, but must be on my own.

I do like to read the CD booklets - but honestly thats just the first few times I play the music.

Still this is my preferred method - buy CD - listen on shuffle ipod

Subject: RE: CDs are Dead / Gone / Exist No More ...
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 03 Mar 11 - 08:37 AM

Maryrrf:But the younger folks are not buying them,

The younger folk I know all seem to buy CDs still (as well as downloading).

In fact, my own kids and most of their friends still buy a lot of stuff on vinyl. I'd say 25-30% of the new music that comes into our household is on vinyl...and it's mostly not me acquiring it.

My older daughter's friend's band, for instance, who get a fair bit of Radio 1 airplay, released their last 3 singles on vinyl, with a single-use download key coming with the record.

My younger daughter got me Arcade Fire's latest album "The Suburbs" for Christmas, which came as either just download, a CD with download code or a 12 inch vinyl record with download code.

My kids all specified quality tunrtables as being the prime consideration when they were getting music systems! They use iPods, of course, for evryday "background" but when listening seriously they use vinyl or CD, as do most of their friends.

Subject: RE: CDs are Dead / Gone / Exist No More ...
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 03 Mar 11 - 10:16 AM

I still like to buy CDs for the booklet, cover and background info, I remember complaints when vinyl was coming to an end that the 'new' CD covers disappointingly didn't show the artwork so well as on the sleeve of an album. The reduction in the sale of vinyl in main record shops was no surprise but despite the downloading reducing sales my guess is that the people who are more likely to browse along the aisles of the record shops are going to be of a certain age and those who like to take their time to make a selection especially on a chilled Sunday afternoon.

My son used to download music for me and he has made a good compilation of most things that I've wanted which has been great but there is no way that I am going to get a laptop or pc just to store music.

Subject: RE: CDs are Dead / Gone / Exist No More ...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Mar 11 - 01:13 PM

I have a fairly good JVC turntable for my old lps, well weighted and strobe- an oldie I got for $10 at a goodwill store- and have looked at some of the fancy turntables, but not all that interested. The old lps are not tops in shape (many bought used at goodwill and used lp specialists).
The classic material is not being put on vinyl anyhow.

BBC Music Magazine this month has an article on Allegri and some other great composers of choral music. Only on cd. I will re-listen tonight to those I have.
The same issue reviews over 100 new cds. I will probably buy a couple.

Subject: RE: CDs are Dead / Gone / Exist No More ...
From: GUEST,glueman
Date: 17 Mar 11 - 04:53 PM

As a chronically late adopter I have maybe fifteen pre-recorded CDs, most of which came stuck to magazine covers. However I'm beginning to warm to them in their death throes and have begun putting music onto CD. Mini DVDs are another short-lived format I've recently discovered, the cameras to take them are available for buttons and provide perfectly good reproduction. Unfortunately everyone is catching onto film cameras again and the price is rising - I never stopped using the stuff. Ditto cassette tape.

Big supermarket chains like Tesco are good for buying tape, CD, mini DVD and so. I recently bought a digital camera, mainly for its film capability I still use older formats alongside. There was a radio programme last year on the revival of analogue cassette tape in experimental music.

Subject: RE: CDs are Dead / Gone / Exist No More ...
From: sciencegeek
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 06:41 AM

Gack! the technoklutz is finally backing up her CDs onto a portable USB external drive after hubby turned several of her favorite CDs into uselessness - unless you need little plastic coasters. Put them into the player & they won't read. Including my copies of the Fisherman's Friend benefit cds that I got from Ken & Jan at Chanty Cabin back in 2002. Blast!!!

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Subject: RE: CDs are Dead / Gone / Exist No More ...
From: GUEST,matt milton
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 08:20 AM

"The younger folk I know all seem to buy CDs still (as well as downloading).
In fact, my own kids and most of their friends still buy a lot of stuff on vinyl. I'd say 25-30% of the new music that comes into our household is on vinyl...and it's mostly not me acquiring it.
They use iPods, of course, for evryday "background" but when listening seriously they use vinyl or CD, as do most of their friends"

Your kids and their friends aren't typical, according to the sales figures. Assuming sales figures continue on their current trajectory, CDs will constitute less than 50% of music sales within 4 or 5 years, and will have gone the way of the cassette within a decade.

Of course, there is probably a point at which the decline of CD sales will plateau (at least until all the people who grew up buying CDs have died). Equally, while vinyl sales are going up, it's from a miniscule floor to a very very low ceiling (when compared to downloads, paid-for or otherwise).