Going back to CD a good idea? hmm

[ISAC69]

I sold my DAC and burn all my files into CDs also I have hundreds of original CDs . the sound is much better through my ROTEL 1520 CDP .

I think DACs in general have a negative effect on the sound especially on Classical , Jazz and unplug music .

 

[ESLee]

Without sounding pedantic, many CD players buffer, so it's not truly realtime.

But there is still noise from NAS drives, Mac's, laptops and so on, no?

What about all the Wifi Interference from using modems and and wireless devices such as iPads and iPods near sensitive audio equipment? I should imagine that adds an element of colour.

 

[plastic penguin]

Yep my thoughts exactly Eslle...seems to be a bit of a divide, but i guess its what suits the individual. Yep CD player for me i have had enough of folders and ripping etc.. lol

Agreed: I have limited experience with streamers/dacs but much prefer my Naim CDP than a Marantz 7004, Rega Dac and Dac Magic.

 

[Blackdawn]

If you store all your digital music on your computer or NAS at some point the hard drive/NAS will break. Whereas CD's last longer, 20+ years. Disc players will probably last longer than HDD/computer as well.

Is there a HD Cloud server which you can connect to and stream HD music from? i.e. your entire collection streamed, do without NAS or HDD.

 

[daveloc]

By the time I've booted my mac, clicked the Chordette on, opened audirvana and browsed a million files I could be enjoying a CD,

+1. I've gone back to CD from computer based music, primarily because the need to switch on a video device and navigate a menu system that's unique to the playback system is just more trouble than it's worth compared to "drop disc in tray, push to start playback".

If you have multiple users in the house and/or have moved over to track-based rather than album-based playback, then YMMV. As a single person with a single primary playback system I now regret the effort I made to rip my CD collection in the first place.

What about the new Blu-Ray Audio format?

So long as the producers insist on implementations that require a screen, the worst of all worlds, since you have the selection overhead *and* no ripping option

 

[ESLee]

A friend of mine stores all of his iTunes library on iCloud and streams them to his Beolab 5's. Trouble is, iTunes doesnt support flac and struggles to stream ALAC wirelessly, meaning 320kb is as good as he can get.

What a waste of such fine speakers!

 

[CnoEvil]

Without sounding pedantic, many CD players buffer, so it's not truly realtime.

But there is still noise from NAS drives, Mac's, laptops and so on, no?

What about all the Wifi Interference from using modems and and wireless devices such as iPads and iPods near sensitive audio equipment? I should imagine that adds an element of colour.

There are more technical folk on here than me, but here is my understanding:

- All but a few CDPs don't re-read when they come to errors, but attempt to mask the problem by extrapolating the good data.

- The streamer can be located away from the NAS

- RFI and EMI can usually be greatly mitigated using screened leads and isolated sockets; and also if the unit has a well sorted power supply.

 

[stevebrock]

If you store all your digital music on your computer or NAS at some point the hard drive/NAS will break. Whereas CD's last longer, 20+ years. Disc players will probably last longer than HDD/computer as well.

Most NAS users myslef included have 2 drives in there NAS set up as RAID 1 - in effect mirrored so you have 2 drives indentical

if one fails then you have a back-up

 

[Macspur]

Quite refreshing to see how many people still love the physical CD format and some even going back to it after trying streaming... even more pleasing.

I do rip all my CD's to an external hard drive, but purely to enable me to make and share compilations of my music, but when it comes to serious listening, it's CD all the way for me.

Mac

 

[ESLee]

You have a point on re-reading. Saying that, I like the way modern DAC's and streamers 'support' 24/192 playback yet, until fairly recently, always downsampled for playback.

I still use both methods but for me, the not so humble CD will always have a place. If I had to give up one setup, the Mac and Chordette would be fleabayed without second thought.

Maybe it's because I associate streaming with wifi and the Internet and all the other nasties of the modern age. Seeing what people are listening to on Spotify via Facebook makes me want to vomit. CD's are convinient enough but still have the charm of a physical item.

I'll shut up now.

 

[plastic penguin]

FWIW I think all formats have their merits. Most will offer something a little different IMO.

 

[andyjm]

You have a point on re-reading. Saying that, I like the way modern DAC's and streamers 'support' 24/192 playback yet, until fairly recently, always downsampled for playback.

I still use both methods but for me, the not so humble CD will always have a place. If I had to give up one setup, the Mac and Chordette would be fleabayed without second thought.

Maybe it's because I associate streaming with wifi and the Internet and all the other nasties of the modern age. Seeing what people are listening to on Spotify via Facebook makes me want to vomit. CD's are convinient enough but still have the charm of a physical item.

I'll shut up now.

It is likely that in the near future the catalogue of music available for download will exceed the music available on CD. It may already be the case. The bulk music buying generation does not buy CDs, they download.

You may end up having no choice but to obtain your music online.

 

[Macspur]

You have a point on re-reading. Saying that, I like the way modern DAC's and streamers 'support' 24/192 playback yet, until fairly recently, always downsampled for playback.

I still use both methods but for me, the not so humble CD will always have a place. If I had to give up one setup, the Mac and Chordette would be fleabayed without second thought.

Maybe it's because I associate streaming with wifi and the Internet and all the other nasties of the modern age. Seeing what people are listening to on Spotify via Facebook makes me want to vomit. CD's are convinient enough but still have the charm of a physical item.

I'll shut up now.

It is likely that in the near future the catalogue of music available for download will exceed the music available on CD. It may already be the case. The bulk music buying generation does not buy CDs, they download.

You may end up having no choice but to obtain your music online.

Not a chance.

 

[MakkaPakka]

What about the new Blu-Ray Audio format?

So long as the producers insist on implementations that require a screen, the worst of all worlds, since you have the selection overhead *and* no ripping option

Pretty sure that Blu Ray audio has specifically been designed so that you can play them without having to have the screen on.

 

[p_m_brown]

Interesting to read all the views.

I spent a lot of time looking into ripping, storing and a means to listen to music digitally as we were simply running out of space with our collection of circa 2000 CDs and counting! I found a great way of doing this was to invest in a NAS and a Sonos connect used as a controller.

True, it does take time to rip loads of CDs but I sold the CDP I had and then decided to go all out with digital so bought the Leema dac to raise the sq bar.

As for physical music, I have bought more CDs and vinyls in the last few months than I have for ages so haven't looked back!

 

[BigH]

I sold my DAC and burn all my files into CDs also I have hundreds of original CDs . the sound is much better through my ROTEL 1520 CDP .

I think DACs in general have a negative effect on the sound especially on Classical , Jazz and unplug music .

So you don't use a DAC at all?

 

[BigH]

What about the new Blu-Ray Audio format?

So long as the producers insist on implementations that require a screen, the worst of all worlds, since you have the selection overhead *and* no ripping option

Pretty sure that Blu Ray audio has specifically been designed so that you can play them without having to have the screen on.

Yes but I did not mean that, I meant if you buy a cdp you will not be able to play BD audio on it, if that format takes off and its a big if, then you may want to change again. A BD player will play Blu-Rays, BDA, SACD and cds. Thats what I'm saying.

 

[BigH]

You have a point on re-reading. Saying that, I like the way modern DAC's and streamers 'support' 24/192 playback yet, until fairly recently, always downsampled for playback.

I still use both methods but for me, the not so humble CD will always have a place. If I had to give up one setup, the Mac and Chordette would be fleabayed without second thought.

Maybe it's because I associate streaming with wifi and the Internet and all the other nasties of the modern age. Seeing what people are listening to on Spotify via Facebook makes me want to vomit. CD's are convinient enough but still have the charm of a physical item.

I'll shut up now.

It is likely that in the near future the catalogue of music available for download will exceed the music available on CD. It may already be the case. The bulk music buying generation does not buy CDs, they download.

You may end up having no choice but to obtain your music online.

Not a chance.

You don't think so, some lesser known artists their music only seems available as downloads (Linn Records) I can see that happening more in the future.

 

[Al ears]

What about the new Blu-Ray Audio format?

So long as the producers insist on implementations that require a screen, the worst of all worlds, since you have the selection overhead *and* no ripping option

Pretty sure that Blu Ray audio has specifically been designed so that you can play them without having to have the screen on.

Blu ray audio discs do indeed not require a screen.

I stream files through my Oppo which does require a screen to do so.

However I would not ditch my CD player as, although that function can be performed by the Oppo, I find my CD player to be of better quality. The Oppo is reserved for SACD / DVD playback.

 

[BigH]

What about the new Blu-Ray Audio format?

So long as the producers insist on implementations that require a screen, the worst of all worlds, since you have the selection overhead *and* no ripping option

Pretty sure that Blu Ray audio has specifically been designed so that you can play them without having to have the screen on.

Blu ray audio discs do indeed not require a screen.

I stream files through my Oppo which does require a screen to do so.

However I would not ditch my CD player as, although that function can be performed by the Oppo, I find my CD player to be of better quality. The Oppo is reserved for SACD / DVD playback.

That maybe so but but your cdp costs £2,000? and how much is the DAC? So that hardly surprising, if you only had the Oppo would you buy a £500 cdp?

 

[BigH]

What about the new Blu-Ray Audio format?

So long as the producers insist on implementations that require a screen, the worst of all worlds, since you have the selection overhead *and* no ripping option

Pretty sure that Blu Ray audio has specifically been designed so that you can play them without having to have the screen on.

Blu ray audio discs do indeed not require a screen.

I stream files through my Oppo which does require a screen to do so.

However I would not ditch my CD player as, although that function can be performed by the Oppo, I find my CD player to be of better quality. The Oppo is reserved for SACD / DVD playback.

That maybe so but but your cdp costs £2,000? and how much is the DAC? So that hardly surprising, if you only had the Oppo would you buy a £500 cdp?

 

[ESLee]

Theres no way digital catalogues are the way forward for all. Absolutely not. In fact certain 1st press CD's are so sought after as newer versions were cocked up over the years. Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms being a good example.

I'm aware that it's the chosen format for many, especially younger people. What we've got to remember is that that demographic, in general, care little for sound quality.

Unfortunately, In order to make digital music distribution financially viable high quality downloads will always be niche.

 

[andyjm]

Theres no way digital catalogues are the way forward for all. Absolutely not. In fact certain 1st press CD's are so sought after as newer versions were cocked up over the years. Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms being a good example.

I'm aware that it's the chosen format for many, especially younger people. What we've got to remember is that that demographic, in general, care little for sound quality.

Unfortunately, In order to make digital music distribution financially viable high quality downloads will always be niche.

The market may not give you the choice. A few old buffers posting on a HiFi website are not the target customers for mainstream music sales. My kids (all in their teens) buy music, but have never owned a CD player, and have no CDs.

It is possible that in the long run a few niche manufacturers may continue to press CDs, but unlike vinyl that still has a cult 'its analogue' following, CDs have no such claim and are just another digital delivery mechanism. My guess is that they go the way of the floppy disk, VHS tape, HDDVD and the Dodo.

 

[peterpan]

Here in Holland there are many people who are back by vinyl, because of the bad soundquality of cd's (and thew ripped version of course). The loudness war have destroyed the soundquality.

 

[ESLee]

I'm not claiming CD to be the best choice for everyone, merely saying it'll be around longer than many assume.

Kids are happy to listen to there mobiles, laptops and other devices via tinny speakers and think nothing of it. Simply because thats whats popular, does not mean it is superior.

As you say, a few old duffers arent going to change a thing. Although I'm 28, I do agree.

I'm off to have a coffee and pop on a Compact Disc.