Gray
Well-known member
Not that I'll be around, but I wouldn't bet against my standard CDs lasting 100 years.
(A few are more than a third of the way there already).
(A few are more than a third of the way there already).
podknocker
Well-known member
Indeed. As I mentioned above, I have CDs around 38 years old and they are as good as new. CDs are fabulous.
Al ears
Well-known member
I would also agree. Have some quite ancient ones but I cannot ever recall ever having one that didn't play.
Still buy them but they are immediately ripped to .flac files, although they do get played on my main system on occasions.
podknocker
Well-known member
One of my favourite albums is the first Dire Straits album and I did own it on CD years ago. I either lost it, or sold it, so I thought I'd buy a new one to 'christen' my Omnia's CD drive.
For some weird reason, it would skip at random. A CD firmware update from IAG did help, but it still loses its way with this CD. All the others are fine, even the very old ones.
I think CD mastering and pressing has become worse over recent years. I don't think they care anymore, even with CD sales increasing.
I have no idea why this CD won't play the whole way through without jumping and losing it's way.
It was 1989 and Rock City Nights was my first CD, my wife bought it for me along with a Marantz CD50SE player for my Christmas present that year, the CD still plays just fine whereas the CD player was sold for spares after sitting in my leaky loft for 20 years.
The CD was made/pressed (what's the correct term?) in West Germany by PDO if that is of any interest to anyone - probably isn't 🙄 and it still plays just fine.
nopiano
Well-known member
I must have getting on for one thousand CDs but somehow I’ve never bought a gold one. I do have a few HDCD format that no DACs seem to properly decode any more, and rather more SACDs which really are better.
But no special editions, unlike a few direct cuts and half-speed mastered LPs.
But no special editions, unlike a few direct cuts and half-speed mastered LPs.
What is HDCD, that is a new acronym for me?
And, are SACD that much better than a normal CD, are they a worthwhile investment over say a One Step vinyl, I know that a special player is needed but with the cost of top drawer vinyl going higher and higher I just wonder if getting a SACD player and a few SACD's might be a worthwhile alternative.
Al ears
Well-known member
the issue s with SACD are, as you say, need a certain playback device, they are not cheap unless you can find them second-hand, and didn't really take off in Europe like they did in Japan so have limited content.
In my opinion they are only worthwhile investing in if you already have something you can play them with like some Sony bluray players or others, you don't need a different turntable to play one-step vinyl...if you see what I mean.
nopiano
Well-known member
Better than I can explain…
High Definition Compatible Digital - Wikipedia
I bought a Reference Recordings CD of Malcolm Arnold works conducted by the composer. That used HDCD encoding. Several others used to light the indicator on my Krell CD player which contained a Pacific chip alongside the twin Burr BrownnDACs.
SACD are essentially high definition CDs, but as above you need a suitable player, like my Marantz. Probably less relevant than ever now we have hi-res streaming.
podknocker
Well-known member
I had a few HDCDs back in the day. I might still have a few, but I'm not that bothered about looking for them. I know Pacific Microsonics started this 20 bit CD format and you needed a 20bit DAC to get the extra bits off, at the expense of higher noise I think. I never really heard a difference, but I didn't have very revealing kit way back then. Microsoft bought the IP for this stuff and of course there are several 24 bit DACs these days and all Microsoft operating systems are compiled to work with this bit depth. So many niche standards over the years, but I doubt there will be any more.
My first CD was Dire Straits 'Brothers in Arms' and I paid £14.99 I think in 1986 just after buying my Philips FCD562 midi system. I was obsessed with the format and started buying as many as I could afford. The Dire Straits CD was faulty and had 2 quite large clicks on 2 tracks. I remember me and my sister returning to WH Smiths, when bus fares were 2p per journey! The replacement CD was also faulty with the same clicks and I remember the running time on each CD was 55 minutes and 16 seconds. I was so angry and disappointed as this was my first album on CD and it was faulty. I took the 2nd disc back to Smiths many months later and got another replacement, just in case this and the previous one had come from a bad batch. Amazingly, the 2nd replacement was perfect, without clicks and the running time was now 55 minutes and 14 seconds, so they'd managed to remove 2 seconds from the remaster. I realised a few weeks later that it was the transfer which had gone wrong and they'd remastered it in Germany, possibly due to the return of my CDs, but looking back they'd probably had hundreds returned, as it was such a popular album at the time. I've owned this album on vinyl, cassette, CD and SACD, although the SACD has disappeared and I know it would cost a fortune now, if I wanted to replace it.
The Rolling Stones released 50 tracks on a Blu Ray audio disc a few years ago and I bet this format sounds amazing, with plenty of space for large compilations etc. I think this format has gone the same way as SACD and is yet another niche version. If these and DVD Audio had been a bit cheaper and perhaps had better marketing , they might have been around a bit longer and possibly overtaken CD sales eventually.
My first CD was Dire Straits 'Brothers in Arms' and I paid £14.99 I think in 1986 just after buying my Philips FCD562 midi system. I was obsessed with the format and started buying as many as I could afford. The Dire Straits CD was faulty and had 2 quite large clicks on 2 tracks. I remember me and my sister returning to WH Smiths, when bus fares were 2p per journey! The replacement CD was also faulty with the same clicks and I remember the running time on each CD was 55 minutes and 16 seconds. I was so angry and disappointed as this was my first album on CD and it was faulty. I took the 2nd disc back to Smiths many months later and got another replacement, just in case this and the previous one had come from a bad batch. Amazingly, the 2nd replacement was perfect, without clicks and the running time was now 55 minutes and 14 seconds, so they'd managed to remove 2 seconds from the remaster. I realised a few weeks later that it was the transfer which had gone wrong and they'd remastered it in Germany, possibly due to the return of my CDs, but looking back they'd probably had hundreds returned, as it was such a popular album at the time. I've owned this album on vinyl, cassette, CD and SACD, although the SACD has disappeared and I know it would cost a fortune now, if I wanted to replace it.
The Rolling Stones released 50 tracks on a Blu Ray audio disc a few years ago and I bet this format sounds amazing, with plenty of space for large compilations etc. I think this format has gone the same way as SACD and is yet another niche version. If these and DVD Audio had been a bit cheaper and perhaps had better marketing , they might have been around a bit longer and possibly overtaken CD sales eventually.
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daveh75
Well-known member
Frankly, you're just describing the HiFi industry in general AFAIAC.
I can't think of an industry more full of morally bankrupt shysters.... Other than finance, perhaps!
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Just been updating my Discogs catalogue and found out that the Neil Young CD box set I picked up a couple of weeks ago is a HDCD set, they play just fine via my 6000CDT / Hegel H95 combination.Better than I can explain…
High Definition Compatible Digital - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
I bought a Reference Recordings CD of Malcolm Arnold works conducted by the composer. That used HDCD encoding. Several others used to light the indicator on my Krell CD player which contained a Pacific chip alongside the twin Burr BrownnDACs.
SACD are essentially high definition CDs, but as above you need a suitable player, like my Marantz. Probably less relevant than ever now we have hi-res streaming.
Al ears
Well-known member
In my experience HDCD plays just fine on any player I have ever had, I don't recall it needs a special machine as its not like SACD or Bluray Audio
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