The Long Overdue Death of Retail Compact Disc

[soundboy]

I love the CD! Never really counted how many I have....roughly 3,000? Another 1,300 SACDs?

The death of CD is greatly exaggerated. Tens of millions are still sold each year. Don't forget that the world's second biggest music market, Japan, still sell 70+% of its music on CD.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I don't want DRM. I'm not a thief and I don't want to be treated like one. As long as I have an option to get music uncompressed, no DRM I'll be fine. The issue is that with electronic sales where is my market place that I can purchased used tracks legally?

A CD is a physical object that passes to me and confers ownership.

I dislike most invasive DRM systems as well (steam is the notable exception), I mean some mechanism which would allow unhindered playback, but not unlimited and easy distribution of music files.
Where's is a CD present a minimal challenge of copying it's content to WAV/FLAC files if such files placed on current usb flash memory sticks, will present no challenge at all copying and question of reselling becomes more pressing. How can be sure that the album you're trying to sell, you didn't simply copy the files to your pc? Maybe DRM is the wrong term here, maybe some form of ROM storage.
My point you can't apply first sale doctrine to plain files, thus you won't be able to sell the DRM free music files you've purchased. How music producers could trust bad actor which sells music files he never purchased.
TL;DR: You can't have cake and eat it too. Choose either licensing/renting model with DRM free music (can't resell it) or some sort of protection on physical media which you can resell.

 

[MrBoat]

Love my CD's and the fact that I manage to keep them in pristine condition.

I was so glad to get rid of dust pops and scratches that I swore I'd never bitch about CD's. They sound killer on the old Alpine in my truck.

 

[Stanton]

I suspect we will be talking about the demise of CDs for as long as we talked about the demise of the thing they replaced...LPs...which are now making a comeback!
I can't say that I still buy LPs, but I will definitely take a CD over the "digital download" any day...because it's mine, it will survive an EMP, and DRM can't suddenly "take it away".
We could have a similar discussion about video/movies.

 

[NINaudio]

As long as Amazon still sells CD's I'll still be buying them. I like having the physical media myself and then ripping it to FLAC so I can stream it to my devices. I've not found much in the way of FLAC downloads for obscure musical tastes, so CD is still the way to go for me.

 

[Bucknekked]

Here we are, audioholics, having a nice exchange of ideas about whether or not CD's are becoming obsolete. Is anyone else feeling the irony of our entire hobby, serious audio, having already become obsolete?
Our entire hobby, such as it is, is slipping away in to obscurity, not just CD's.

I love listening to music and fooling around with the equipment and technology that makes it work. I have a very large family. Even though I share as much as humanly possible, I'm still the only one that takes audio seriously. My family all have music systems, but, none of them are "on purpose" selections of serious gear.

I would wager that there isn't another member of my family, or someone in my neighborhood, that buys and rips CDs. Everyone streams or just plays whats handy on whats handy. Bluetooth speakers abound.
Audio as a hobby? I doubt it. Home theater in a box? All up and down the street.

@MrBoat gave me a line on some new-to-me music this week. 50 year old titles. I will go and chase those down on CD. It might take me two or three weeks to lay my hands on some of those that weren't all that popular to begin with. But, I'll make the effort because I love the music. The physical media, the CD, is still king in my book for the way to acquire it. Legally. Buy the CD, used or new, and I'm legally good to go from a usage point of view. Screw the lawyers. Screw the RIAA and the music police.

I am a cranky old man and its far too late to change that.

 

[MrBoat]

Here we are, audioholics, having a nice exchange of ideas about whether or not CD's are becoming obsolete. Is anyone else feeling the irony of our entire hobby, serious audio, having already become obsolete?
Our entire hobby, such as it is, is slipping away in to obscurity, not just CD's.

I love listening to music and fooling around with the equipment and technology that makes it work. I have a very large family. Even though I share as much as humanly possible, I'm still the only one that takes audio seriously. My family all have music systems, but, none of them are "on purpose" selections of serious gear.

I would wager that there isn't another member of my family, or someone in my neighborhood, that buys and rips CDs. Everyone streams or just plays whats handy on whats handy. Bluetooth speakers abound.
Audio as a hobby? I doubt it. Home theater in a box? All up and down the street.

@MrBoat gave me a line on some new-to-me music this week. 50 year old titles. I will go and chase those down on CD. It might take me two or three weeks to lay my hands on some of those that weren't all that popular to begin with. But, I'll make the effort because I love the music. The physical media, the CD, is still king in my book for the way to acquire it. Legally. Buy the CD, used or new, and I'm legally good to go from a usage point of view. Screw the lawyers. Screw the RIAA and the music police.

I am a cranky old man and its far too late to change that.

Hi-fi existed way before now and I have not been any more awestruck recently, than any other time finding it in the past. Except for, going from vinyl to CD. That was the most notable, audible change, all at once like.

Same here though. I don't really know anyone else who cares except for one who ends up being competitive about it and he's more about HT and his music portion of his system pretty much sux. My oldest brother is a hi-fi head. He and I are 10 years apart and yet have the most in common out of 5 of us kids. He lives 2k miles away though, so we don't get to mingle much over the music anymore. Otherwise, people can't sit still for involved audio anymore. They can't even put their phones down long enough to poop, never mind listen to a whole album or 6.

Like others, I do rip them to my pc as well.

 

[TechHDS]

Here we are, audioholics, having a nice exchange of ideas about whether or not CD's are becoming obsolete. Is anyone else feeling the irony of our entire hobby, serious audio, having already become obsolete?
Our entire hobby, such as it is, is slipping away in to obscurity, not just CD's.

I love listening to music and fooling around with the equipment and technology that makes it work. I have a very large family. Even though I share as much as humanly possible, I'm still the only one that takes audio seriously. My family all have music systems, but, none of them are "on purpose" selections of serious gear.

I would wager that there isn't another member of my family, or someone in my neighborhood, that buys and rips CDs. Everyone streams or just plays whats handy on whats handy. Bluetooth speakers abound.
Audio as a hobby? I doubt it. Home theater in a box? All up and down the street.

@MrBoat gave me a line on some new-to-me music this week. 50 year old titles. I will go and chase those down on CD. It might take me two or three weeks to lay my hands on some of those that weren't all that popular to begin with. But, I'll make the effort because I love the music. The physical media, the CD, is still king in my book for the way to acquire it. Legally. Buy the CD, used or new, and I'm legally good to go from a usage point of view. Screw the lawyers. Screw the RIAA and the music police.

I am a cranky old man and its far too late to change that.

Back in the early 70s I would visit friends most of my friends had a stereo system wasn't hi-end either, Pioneer stereo Realistic stereo, Kenwood..ect.. and usually at least two stereo speakers, JBL, Polks, Advents, Realistic Optimus speakers, cassette deck turntable and than the CD single player came into play in the 80's. Today? Outside of my Son's that have good systems No one that I know now even remotely has anything other than a soundbar or radio. Your right this hobby may be dying off. I have seen with my eyes people with ear buds streaming music from their cell phones. They don't own 1 CD, or they have this little and I mean very tiny speaker usually bluetooth, off to the side streaming Pandora or iHeartRadio.

 

[Irvrobinson]

You're right this hobby may be dying off.

I agree, and I think only two things are staving off the demise. The first, of course, are geezers like us. There are still a lot of us, and we have a large fraction of the wealth in the world. Second is home theater. I've been in several homes that have professional home theater installations. The owners don't seem to know much about what the installers did, beyond the display or screen size and some esthetic factor, but I've seen relatively expensive speakers (mostly Revel and B&W), subs galore, and often a Marantz pre-pro. It's not "hi-fi" in the 70s sense, but like Porsche SUV profits make Caymans possible, home theater seems to make great speakers and huge power amps possible.

 

[TechHDS]

I agree, and I think only two things are staving off the demise. The first, of course, are geezers like us. There are still a lot of us, and we have a large fraction of the wealth in the world. Second is home theater. I've been in several homes that have professional home theater installations. The owners don't seem to know much about what the installers did, beyond the display or screen size and some esthetic factor, but I've seen relatively expensive speakers (mostly Revel and B&W), subs galore, and often a Marantz pre-pro. It's not "hi-fi" in the 70s sense, but like Porsche SUV profits make Caymans possible, home theater seems to make great speakers and huge power amps possible.

@Irvrobinson, Top of the afternoon to you Sir!, When I think about what the 'Millennials' are missing out with this hobby it's kind of sad to me anyways. I have been in this hobby that I love a very long time I am not as knowledgeable as You are, or some of the other old timers in here on the technical end. I enjoy reading the Threads and post in here by You and the other's I have pick-up a lot of great tips from hanging around in here. What I have been seeing mostly is people with the biggest HDTV that they can afford and a DVD or Blu-ray player on a stand and that's it nothing else. I will ask them, like you have this really nice HDTV, have you looked into a surround system? They usually go what's that? or nope not interested in spending all that money. The one's with kids all have the latest iPhone or Android phone or a iPad with little headphones ,earbuds. I tell them how awesome the sound tracks are in the movies they are watching and they still could care less. Sad I tell you.

 

[GESmith]

NOOOOOOOO! don't go. I'm still buying CDs. Loved the sound of my Oppo UDP-203. No not going back to albums. Oh yeah, UDP-203 and 1080 p Plasma love the picture. Long live the CD

 

[Goodband]

Hi. My name is Irv, and I'm an audio dinosaur. I buy my music only on CDs.

(I do occasionally listen to Amazon Prime Music on my headphones at the office, but only because the incremental cost to me is free, and the listening isn't serious.)

Hi my name is Mathieu and I am a 38 years old dinosaur. I buy my music only on CD's and use the physical disc for about 80% of my listening.

For me, picking a CD from my rack, puting it in my cd player and reading the booklet add to my listening pleasure.



Envoyé de mon Nexus 4 en utilisant Tapatalk

 

[TechHDS]

NOOOOOOOO! don't go. I'm still buying CDs. Loved the sound of my Oppo UDP-203. No not going back to albums. Oh yeah, UDP-203 and 1080 p Plasma love the picture. Long live the CD

@GESmith, congratulations on your first post! I see you been a member since 2016 and your first post! Nice! Please continue to contribute more around here.

 

[3db]

I had mixed feelings about the CD format. The sound was good for the most part but I hated the itsy bitsy liner notes which is difficult for me to read.

That being said, will the CD come back as a niche market much like vinyl and even more absurdly, the audio cassette?

 

[Mikado463]

Hi. My name is Irv, and I'm an audio dinosaur. I buy my music only on CDs.

(I do occasionally listen to Amazon Prime Music on my headphones at the office, but only because the incremental cost to me is free, and the listening isn't serious.)

Hi Irv, apparently I'm an older dinosaur than you for I still buy Vinyl ! I still prefer physical media for I enjoy album covers, liner notes, etc. When I'm back home in Upstate NY I have a abundant supply from various Record / CD stores (Record Archive, Rochester, NY to name one)

 

[Irvrobinson]

Hi Irv, apparently I'm an older dinosaur than you for I still buy Vinyl ! I still prefer physical media for I enjoy album covers, liner notes, etc. When I'm back home in Upstate NY I have a abundant supply from various Record / CD stores (Record Archive, Rochester, NY to name one)

Actually Mikado, I suspect we're about the same age (60s), and I grew up and was educated in Western NY too.

 

[jimmeq57]

This got me thinking how I have found CD's to be the most reliable format. Downloads (not streaming) may end up being more dependable; time will tell. Since 1983 I have experienced one CD that did not play. Less than a dozen "glitches" while playing. This cannot be said of vinyl, cassette, reel to reel, DAT tape, 8-track or any other format that comes to mind. The CD's I bought in '83 sound just as good as they sounded new. Every single time I put a disc in the tray it has played fine. Every single time. This is the only format I have used that performs this well.

When I buy a CD I get the "free" MP3 download but rarely listen to it. I like to wait until I can listen at home on my HiFi. I hope, like vinyl, CD's will be around for many years to come. I'd like to see more CD releases and re-releases remastered without compression. (I know; I'm asking a lot.)

 

[Irvrobinson]

There's even a LinkedIn thread on this topic:

https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/content/?anchorTopic=509737&keywords=The CD isn't dead&origin=NEWS_MODULE_FROM_DESKTOP_HOME

Some of the comments are pretty amusing. Remember, LinkedIn is not an audio enthusiast site, so be amused and not disgusted. I especially like: "There is a noticeable difference in sound quality between a CD and streaming. The CD is more clear and present as well as louder, but I use both either way." and: "Dynamic range of CD's is far superior to streaming..."

 

[j_garcia]

The convenience is the only good thing about digital media. I still buy the CD for things I really want to retain.

 

[John Parks]

Hi, I am John (no last name – this site is anonymous, right?). I am 54 and have been buying music since the ‘70s. I love my CDs and will continue to buy them. In fact, y’all can have my CDs when you get my guns: pried from my cold dead fingers! Sorry – got carried away there…


I really miss the “Ye Olde Record Shoppe” experience, where one can make friends with the proprietor, chat about what is new, find cool stuff that may or may not be obscure. Mom and pop shops, local chains, national “warehouses”, heck even my nearby Best Buy (I knew the buying manager and he would order awesome music not found on the Billboard Top 100) have all gone by the wayside. Now, there are very few places in town – most dried up as did the brick ‘n mortar stereo fronts.


Hopefully, I am not too old to adapt. I am finishing up my “family room” (aka, the “MAN CAVE” but I had to rename it to justify the expense and promise to let my two little girls – and maybe my wife - in once in a while) and counted at least eight fast and easy ways to access music, from LPs to CDs to computer to phone. I love the convenience of streaming Tidal from my phone (probably the easiest way bring up some tunes and wake up the kids in the morning) but nothing beats the experience of opening up a new (to me at least – it may be used) CD (SACD, DVD Audio, Blue-Ray Audio) turning on the system, loading the tray and pressing play while I pour over and caress the artwork and liner notes. Nope, nothing, except… vinyl. The OP mentioned the smell of a new CD, which is cool – has he never smelled a new LP? I could pretty much tell where the vinyl was pressed or where the jacket was manufactured just by the smell. It was an incredible aphrodisiac back in the day! Well, it would have been if my girlfriend was into music like I was. Who am I kidding – it would have been if I had a girlfriend…