Media deliberately ignoring CD medium?

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Sixtyten

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Oct 6, 2015
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Ah yes "new" cassettes. If they were released on Metal tape and encoded with Dolby "S" I could see the point. But they are now mostly Type I tapes, of questionable provenance, missing any sort of noise reduction, and usually mastered from brickwalled recordings. Aimed to be used in hipster-y "new" cassette players which have mechanisms and performance which make a £19.99 Saisho Personal Stereo from the 90s look like a Nakamichi Dragon.

I think I'll pass...
 
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Ah yes "new" cassettes. If they were released on Metal tape and encoded with Dolby "S" I could see the point. But they are now mostly Type I tapes, of questionable provenance, missing any sort of noise reduction, and usually mastered from brickwalled recordings. Aimed hipster-y "new" cassette players which have mechanisms and performance which make a £19.99 Saisho PHF from the 90s look like a Nakamichi Dragon.

I think I'll pass...
I wonder if they come with a free pencil.......
 

iMark

Well-known member
Elvis Costello is one of the artists who says he doesn't like CDs and prefers LPs. I really don't understand what's actually wrong with the CD. It's a nice physical copy of an album, easy and cheap to make and there is no waiting list at the pressing plants. And a well mastered CD sounds very good too and doesn't wear.

Another problem that rarely gets mentioned is the ecological footprint of vinyl compared to CD's. Pressing fresh vinyl is incredibly wasteful.

I'm old enough to remember the switch from LP to CD. Everyone was incredibly happy with the switch. Not everyone had a decent system with a record player. The CD started as a very expensive medium but later became much more affordable. Plus with CDs there is the option to import them in a computer library.
 

Oxfordian

Well-known member
Elvis Costello is one of the artists who says he doesn't like CDs and prefers LPs. I really don't understand what's actually wrong with the CD. It's a nice physical copy of an album, easy and cheap to make and there is no waiting list at the pressing plants. And a well mastered CD sounds very good too and doesn't wear.

Another problem that rarely gets mentioned is the ecological footprint of vinyl compared to CD's. Pressing fresh vinyl is incredibly wasteful.

I'm old enough to remember the switch from LP to CD. Everyone was incredibly happy with the switch. Not everyone had a decent system with a record player. The CD started as a very expensive medium but later became much more affordable. Plus with CDs there is the option to import them in a computer library.

All my CD’s are on my laptop, memory card for the car and as a back up should the worst happen, so a useful format.

My LP’s hmm, don’t have those copied anywhere, not sure how I could, not so useful format.

Cassettes, well I would if my next car had a tape player as standard fit, can you buy a good hifi quality deck any more?

So CD’s are the best format for keeping your purchased media safe, But why do I prefer to buy LP’s? It’s so confusing.
 
Jan 23, 2022
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At the risk of sounding spammy, my colleague Callum Booth wrote ***** accompanied by this video, where he shares why this forgotten medium deserves reconsideration.

(Links deleted by moderation - you have made two posts so far- both with unsolicited links to YouTube. You are welcome to participate, but please don't do this.)
 
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Jan 23, 2022
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Might as well delete the entire post then, mods :confused: Honestly just wanted to share what I thought is a great take on why CD's deserve reconsideration, and wouldn't know how to share it otherwise. You can find the vid on YT if you search for "CDs: Forgotten, but still amazing".
 
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I like LPs most likely for nostalgic reasons. Listing to an LP feels more of an event. At least to me, anyway.
The difference in experience between CD and streaming feels much less.
I agree. The ‘event’ that playing a record now entails makes it seem special, whereas once it seemed almost automatic.

I have in recent months streamed more than ever, such that even playing a CD or SACD now seems quite different, in a nice way. All I can say is that I listen far more intently to LPs and CDs, whereas it’s all to easy to click away to another track on Qobuz.

I’ve previously used the analogy of attending a live concert, with dressing up, getting the train or driving to the event, settling in a seat etc., as part all of the experience. Maybe the relative effort required in going to a concert and playing an LP -v- streaming adds to the enjoyment?
 
I’ve commented about this before, IF cd wants to make a “comeback” then it has the capability to promote the Hi-Res version of cd. The SACD. It’s already out there, hybrid discs will play on all CD players. It’s got everything going for it, im bemused why it’s not been done on a larger scale.
 

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