CD players - Are they a dieing breed?

[SpikeC]

Yes CD Players are a dying breed - and I have not used mine for quite a few years

All my CDs have been ripped to uncompressed FLAC file format and now sit on a NAS drive - this enables me instant access to my entire collection without hunting through racks of CDs; they are now in the loft with the cassettes, vinyl and VHS tapes :wave:

I have an audio streamer connected directly to a power amplifier and speakers, as others have said using an iPad I can now browse the entire CD collection, create favourite playlists etc. all from the comfort of my armchair. Better still is that the ripped CD audio quality through the streamer sounds clearer to my ears than it did using the CD player, and to really take listening into the 21st century I'm no longer limited to 16 bit 44.1 kHz material. I can download and store 24 bit, 88 kHz, 96 kHz and even 192 kHz albums on the NAS drive which sound far better than CD quality.

I completely agree streaming directly off the internet is not as good as CD (although a lot more convenient), but there is a whole new world of listening opening up to 'audiophiles' that is there right now and takes us well beyond CD which let's face it is over 30 years old! Thankfully things have moved on...

 

[richardw42]

I've got about 10000 tracks in iTunes which usually get played as complete albums through Sonos.

PI have got about 2500 on my phone which I listen to for around two hours a day walking dogs. It's always on shuffle so stuff I haven't heard in ages gets a play. Sometimes if I hear a track when I'm out it'll prompt me to play the album when I get home.

Listening to CDs is pretty rare at home but I still play them in the car even though car has iPod input.

 

[steve_1979]

How many of those 3000 do you play on a regular basis?

...At work I often listen to them on random for 8 hours a day ...

I think PP will be horrified when he reads that.

I'm sure I remember reading once that he is a strong advocate of the... "sit down quietly and listen to a whole album with no other distraction" 'school' of listening.

No and no. Of course I like to plug 'n' play but listen to a whole album with no added distraction? Fat chance! I put albums on but rarely hear half a bloody album.

Let's assume the average track is 4 minutes long - playing Devil's Advocate - even on random select, you would hear around 1900 tracks. This is also assuming you listen back-to-back music. I'd say Steve, based on that principle, wouldn't get much work done.

Yes, I have my system on around 6-8 hours a day but most of that is radio, also includes little'un watching a film on DVD, which leaves me about 30-60 minutes post-watershed TV of actual listening. :wall:

My preferred method of listening to music is when I'm relaxed at home and I can listen to a whole album from beginning to end as the artist intended. I also like to spend hours at a time casually browsing through music on YouTube or Spotify. :type:

However when I just want a bit of backgroung music while working it's nice to play music on random. It's like having a radio station that only plays music that I like without there being any DJs or adverts to spoil it.

 

[steve_1979]

Let's assume the average track is 4 minutes long - playing Devil's Advocate - even on random select, you would hear around 1900 tracks.

When I listen on random for a whole 8 hours it plays about 100-120 tracks.

 

[plastic penguin]

Let's assume the average track is 4 minutes long - playing Devil's Advocate - even on random select, you would hear around 1900 tracks.

When I listen on random for a whole 8 hours it plays about 100-120 tracks.

Which takes me back to the original question....

 

[MajorFubar]

Which takes me back to the original question....

The original, original question was 'are CDPs dying out'. Think we've probably agreed that they are...

 

[Macspur]

Which takes me back to the original question....

The original, original question was 'are CDPs dying out'. Think we've probably agreed that they are

Well, some of you may have.

 

[relocated]

I agree that cd players will gradually die out but that the discs will last longer as a retail product.

Since ripping my 600+ cds I have rarely used the cd player, even though when I listen I am firmly in the 'listen exclusively and to the whole album' camp if I am using the speakers.

Don't listen to music on the move. I have started to listen to music if I am on the computer but this is always via headphones and Rdio or Spotify to seek out new music to then buy new or S/H and rip.

I have yet to purchase a music download and have no wish to [often] pay more for a lesser product that I never actually own forever. CD quality is perfectly good enough for my ears[science tells us that we all only need 16bit] so 24bit downloads are of no interest whatsoever.

 

[MajorFubar]

The original, original question was 'are CDPs dying out'. Think we've probably agreed that they are

Well, some of you may have.

No. It's an indisputable fact. You only have to look at the fact only a tiny proportion of different models are made and sold compared to years ago. Partly this will be because people have bought one and they're happy to stick with what they bought, or they're happy to use their DVD/BD player instead, but on top of that, CD sales have been in freefall for the last ten years too..

 

[CnoEvil]

Yes CD Players are a dying breed - and I have not used mine for quite a few years

All my CDs have been ripped to uncompressed FLAC file format and now sit on a NAS drive - this enables me instant access to my entire collection without hunting through racks of CDs; they are now in the loft with the cassettes, vinyl and VHS tapes :wave:

I have an audio streamer connected directly to a power amplifier and speakers, as others have said using an iPad I can now browse the entire CD collection, create favourite playlists etc. all from the comfort of my armchair. Better still is that the ripped CD audio quality through the streamer sounds clearer to my ears than it did using the CD player, and to really take listening into the 21st century I'm no longer limited to 16 bit 44.1 kHz material. I can download and store 24 bit, 88 kHz, 96 kHz and even 192 kHz albums on the NAS drive which sound far better than CD quality.

I completely agree streaming directly off the internet is not as good as CD (although a lot more convenient), but there is a whole new world of listening opening up to 'audiophiles' that is there right now and takes us well beyond CD which let's face it is over 30 years old! Thankfully things have moved on...

Welcome to the forum...........and I very much agree with your findings.

Cno

 

[matthewpiano]

The thousands of tracks played at random idea doesn't appeal to me one bit. I'm very solidly a full album or (in the case of classical music) complete work man, and it is incredibly rare for me to listen to individual tracks or even any sort of compilation.

I have approximately 3,000 CDs and about 600 LPs and I'm always picking up new stuff. I have got about 200 of my CDs ripped in FLAC and accessible through the Squeezebox Touch but I hardly ever listen to them this way and nearly always end up putting the original CD into the Roksan or spinning an LP on the Rega. They both sound significantly better than the Squeezebox (which I admit would probably benefit from an external DAC) and I prefer the experience - browsing my shelves, handling the artwork and sleeve notes and using the CD player or turntable, both of which are a pleasure to use.

I believe CD players will be around for a good while yet, albeit a smaller choice of them, just as turntables have always been available. If it ever looks like either is likely to completely disappear I will be rushing out to buy a couple to have in back stock.

 

[CnoEvil]

I believe CD players will be around for a good while yet, albeit a smaller choice of them, just as turntables have always been available. If it ever looks like either is likely to completely disappear I will be rushing out to buy a couple to have in back stock.

IMO. TTs have hung around as there was no other viable great sounding (analogue) alternatives......but in the case of CDPs, there is; which imo. are better vfm, sound superior (at the same price level), are more versatile and have less to go wrong.

 

[MajorFubar]

Yeah no need to worry about turntables dying out; they'll be around a long time yet IMO. Certainly the specialist models. And I think that's what will happen to CD players, too: all that will be left are specialist models which are attracted to a minority of HiFi buffs who prefer the physical-media experience.

I never did think CDs would kill off records completely, but as I said earlier, I can't see two digital formats (CDs and downloads) co-existing in a mainsteam way, if and when the time comes where the quality of the typical download is indisputably as good as CDs.

 

[Macspur]

The original, original question was 'are CDPs dying out'. Think we've probably agreed that they are

Well, some of you may have.

No. It's an indisputable fact. You only have to look at the fact only a tiny proportion of different models are made and sold compared to years ago. Partly this will be because people have bought one and they're happy to stick with what they bought, or they're happy to use their DVD/BD player instead, but on top of that, CD sales have been in freefall for the last ten years too..

You better tell the likes of Rega, Wadia, Audio Research, Sugden to name but a few, all of which have brought out new models of CDP's in the last couple of years.

 

[CnoEvil]

You better tell the likes of Rega, Wadia, Audio Research, Sugden to name but a few, all of which have brought out new models of CDP's in the last couple of years.

It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall of their R&D departments.......very traditional companies often take the longest to see the light. :shifty:

 

[steve_1979]

When I listen on random for a whole 8 hours it plays about 100-120 tracks.

Which takes me back to the original question....

How many of the 3000 tracks do I listen to regularly?

All of them.

I listen to music for an average of about 8 hours per day which works out as roughly 3500 tracks per month. Of course I go through phases of listening to some albums more than others but they all get played fairly regularly.

 

[DistortedVision]

Yes sadly CDs are declining but I expect it will become a niche product like vinyl rather than fade into obsolescence like tapes. I think all audiophiles pretty much feel the same about it - they want to own a physical product and not just a file. Of course there is the cover sleeve and album art as well. I've only ever bought one album download and that was because it wasn't available on physical media. I have the say the whole process of buying it and listening to it was sterile and emotionless. Also if my memory serves me correctly the quality was only 224 kbps - hardly hi-fi.

I seem to buy little new music these days compared to the past - that's another story. But it will be a sad day for me when the music I like is released as a download only. I expect it will be for most of you as well....

 

[The_Lhc]

The original, original question was 'are CDPs dying out'. Think we've probably agreed that they are

Well, some of you may have.

No. It's an indisputable fact. You only have to look at the fact only a tiny proportion of different models are made and sold compared to years ago. Partly this will be because people have bought one and they're happy to stick with what they bought, or they're happy to use their DVD/BD player instead, but on top of that, CD sales have been in freefall for the last ten years too..

You better tell the likes of Rega, Wadia, Audio Research, Sugden to name but a few, all of which have brought out new models of CDP's in the last couple of years.

He didn't say nobody was making them, he said not as many were being sold as there used to be. You can't exactly argue with that, it's a simple statistic.

 

[manicm]

I would be quite happy to have my music on a hard drive if a lossless alternative proved as good as CD. I tried downloading an album onto a flash drive into my Onkyo 8050 ("lossless" FLAC) and while it was very good quality, CD still sounded better. I was really disappointed. I would love to do away with the bulk of hundreds of CD's

I've been labelled a lunatic several times on WHF for saying so, but have just tested music via USB on my Cambridge Audio 751 player, which goes through the same DACs as CDs etc, and you know what? WAVs beat FLACs et al everytime on it. Try an uncompressed WAV through your Onkyo and you might just be surprised. Yes the downshot is no album art but what's more important?

 

[manicm]

You better tell the likes of Rega, Wadia, Audio Research, Sugden to name but a few, all of which have brought out new models of CDP's in the last couple of years.

With the exception of Rega, the others have stratospheric prices and you know what? At that level I'll just throw in the towel with CnoEvil and get a great Naim or Linn streaming system - cos if I could afford it then I can afford to hide ugly Ethernet!

Sorry Macspur - to spend that much on a CD player today you've got to be a silver disc lunatic - no offence to others - to each his/her own after all. But I don't see any sense in it at all.

 

[andyjm]

I would be quite happy to have my music on a hard drive if a lossless alternative proved as good as CD. I tried downloading an album onto a flash drive into my Onkyo 8050 ("lossless" FLAC) and while it was very good quality, CD still sounded better. I was really disappointed. I would love to do away with the bulk of hundreds of CD's

I've been labelled a lunatic several times on WHF for saying so, but have just tested music via USB on my Cambridge Audio 751 player, which goes through the same DACs as CDs etc, and you know what? WAVs beat FLACs et al everytime on it. Try an uncompressed WAV through your Onkyo and you might just be surprised. Yes the downshot is no album art but what's more important?

As FLAC and WAV yield exactly the same audio data, either:

1. Cambridge have made a rotten job of the FLAC decoder in the 751 player

2. Your player is faulty and it should be returned for a replacement

3. Maybe the 'lunatic' label is correct.

Good luck.

 

[Macspur]

You better tell the likes of Rega, Wadia, Audio Research, Sugden to name but a few, all of which have brought out new models of CDP's in the last couple of years.

With the exception of Rega, the others have stratospheric prices and you know what? At that level I'll just throw in the towel with CnoEvil and get a great Naim or Linn streaming system - cos if I could afford it then I can afford to hide ugly Ethernet!

Sorry Macspur - to spend that much on a CD player today you've got to be a silver disc lunatic - no offence to others - to each his/her own after all. But I don't see any sense in it at all.

I did say to name but a few; you can include the likes of Arcam, Marantz, Audiolab and Cyrus all still producing CDP's.

Have you seen the price of a high end Linn streamer? give me a solid well built reliable CDP any time and if that's lunacey then I'm happy to be mad.

Don't get me wrong, I can see the merits of streaming, it's just not for me and I wouldn't be so rude as to question another persons mental state for preferring it.

Mac

 

[matthewpiano]

Very much with you on this one Macspur.

 

[manicm]

I would be quite happy to have my music on a hard drive if a lossless alternative proved as good as CD. I tried downloading an album onto a flash drive into my Onkyo 8050 ("lossless" FLAC) and while it was very good quality, CD still sounded better. I was really disappointed. I would love to do away with the bulk of hundreds of CD's

I've been labelled a lunatic several times on WHF for saying so, but have just tested music via USB on my Cambridge Audio 751 player, which goes through the same DACs as CDs etc, and you know what? WAVs beat FLACs et al everytime on it. Try an uncompressed WAV through your Onkyo and you might just be surprised. Yes the downshot is no album art but what's more important?

As FLAC and WAV yield exactly the same audio data, either:

1. Cambridge have made a rotten job of the FLAC decoder in the 751 player

2. Your player is faulty and it should be returned for a replacement

3. Maybe the 'lunatic' label is correct.

Good luck.

No, no, and no. You can also call Cyrus lunatics as they quote 'get the best results from uncompressed FLACs' - which currently only very few software packages can achieve like dbPoweramp. Your vanilla EAC cannot rip this.

And no need to get insulting - it's one of the WHF house rules if you'd care to read them.

 

[plastic penguin]

Give me a good quality CDP anytime... my old streamer's a mushroom etc etc. Gone totally bonkeroonie. Fwaf!