The CD Player.

[bigfish786]

I use my turntable so much these days, it's easy to forget the CD Player sat underneath it. I put it on just for a bit of background music, and so I don't have to get up every 15 mins to flip a record over.

rather than leaving it at a low level, I've found myself ramping up the volume, and really enjoying the music. What a cracking piece of equipment this is. It's days like this when I really appreciate the work that's gone into making that silver disc sound so good.

I should make more of an effort to use the thing more often.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I use my turntable so much these days, it's easy to forget the CD Player sat underneath it. I put it on just for a bit of background music, and so I don't have to get up every 15 mins to flip a record over.

rather than leaving it at a low level, I've found myself ramping up the volume, and really enjoying the music. What a cracking piece of equipment this is. It's days like this when I really appreciate the work that's gone into making that silver disc sound so good.

I should make more of an effort to use the thing more often.

I use mine everyday and I love cds .

It's a shame that people do not use the cdplayer like they used too a specially younger people who only bother with streaming it's just a sign of the times .

but I will carry on using the cdplayer I have a big collection of cds still I do a bit of streaming but think my cds sound better then the steamed music does so still a big fan of the cdplayer .

 

[radiorog]

Ive just moved into new flat, with my speakers now being at much better listening positions. The sound from system is now wayyy better, Icant really believe it. Cd pkayer sounds a-mazing!! Played phobe through bluetooth yesterday,and the lower sound quality was even easier to hear than before. Big big difference. More than likely due to dacs I guess. Anyhoo, cd players can totally rock.

 

[Macspur]

I use my turntable so much these days, it's easy to forget the CD Player sat underneath it. I put it on just for a bit of background music, and so I don't have to get up every 15 mins to flip a record over.

rather than leaving it at a low level, I've found myself ramping up the volume, and really enjoying the music. What a cracking piece of equipment this is. It's days like this when I really appreciate the work that's gone into making that silver disc sound so good.

I should make more of an effort to use the thing more often.

I'm not surprised, the Moon is a fine player.

I do admit I do find myself listening to Spotify more than I used to, but CD will always be King for me.

Mac

www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net

 

[MajorFubar]

Agree with all of the above. Attached to first class DAC circuitry (be it internal or external), as a digital replay medium IMO there is nothing really left to improve unless you are a bat. Which was a double-edged sword for a business reliant on selling new improved stuff to punters. They did try, with DAT, MD, DCC, and various flavours of so-called hi-def audio discs, but no one was interested in another physical digital audio format.

 

[Al ears]

I use my turntable so much these days, it's easy to forget the CD Player sat underneath it. I put it on just for a bit of background music, and so I don't have to get up every 15 mins to flip a record over.

rather than leaving it at a low level, I've found myself ramping up the volume, and really enjoying the music. What a cracking piece of equipment this is. It's days like this when I really appreciate the work that's gone into making that silver disc sound so good.

I should make more of an effort to use the thing more often.

I quite agree. Whilst many rely on streaming I am still quite happy to slot a disc into the drawer of my universal disc player. That's all discs, including SACD, that still has some advocates as to being what CD should have been, especially in Japan, and Blu-Ray audio discs.

 

[Andrewjvt]

There is no difference at all using a transport to my dac or sendibg the files from my pc to the dac sound quality wise but

I hve my music arranged very simple on my jriver under just 3 sections.
Hard
Soft
classical

I like to just hit random and not know what is going to play next.

I cant imagine going back to fetching a cd and sticking it in again.

I still have all the hard copies of my music though. I buy about 6 - 10 new cds a month on average and once its ripped i sometimes dont even play it straight away and allow it to come on over the random. This way im never over familar with whats playing and even have to look sometimes to see who it is.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

I'm going to go into business making CDs you have to get up and turn over halfway through....

 

[Al ears]

I'm going to go into business making CDs you have to get up and turn over halfway through....

May I wish you all the best in your venture. I am sure they will sell like hot-cakes and make you really rich.....

...... would you perhaps consider taking on a partner in this business?

 

[matthewpiano]

I still play CDs a lot, and my current first choice CD player, the Onkyo, is a bit of a gem. For listening at home I'd say the balance is around 70% CD and 30% vinyl. Spotify only really gets used in the car, and particularly on Fridays when there are new releases to check out. I don't see this changing. I've always liked the CD format, and the performance extracted from it improved so much as it matured. I think it has reached its peak as a format some time ago but I'd say it is a much higher peak than some people give it credit for.

 

[Gazzip]

I still play CDs a lot, and my current first choice CD player, the Onkyo, is a bit of a gem. For listening at home I'd say the balance is around 70% CD and 30% vinyl. Spotify only really gets used in the car, and particularly on Fridays when there are new releases to check out. I don't see this changing. I've always liked the CD format, and the performance extracted from it improved so much as it matured. I think it has reached its peak as a format some time ago but I'd say it is a much higher peak than some people give it credit for.

PS Audio have just released a new CD transport known as the DirectStream memory player, which they claim is a "game changer"...

At a whopping , predicted £5500 RRP release price in the UK it had better be bloody game changing!

 

[Al ears]

I still play CDs a lot, and my current first choice CD player, the Onkyo, is a bit of a gem. For listening at home I'd say the balance is around 70% CD and 30% vinyl. Spotify only really gets used in the car, and particularly on Fridays when there are new releases to check out. I don't see this changing. I've always liked the CD format, and the performance extracted from it improved so much as it matured. I think it has reached its peak as a format some time ago but I'd say it is a much higher peak than some people give it credit for.

PS Audio have just released a new CD transport known as the DirectStream memory player, which they claim is a "game changer"...

At a whopping , predicted £5500 RRP release price in the UK it had better be bloody game changing!

All PS Audio gear is expensive and 'game changing', they are I fear a bit late into the game as most people stream these days. ;-)

Storing music in some buffer system is nothing new.

Having said that there still seems to be a large number of manufacturers still producing very high end pure CD players, Hegel being one.

 

[Electro]

Cd is my number one choice and probably always will be, but I find myself listening more and more to spotify premium .

Even though spotify does not sound quite as good as CD it can still sound absolutely amazing .

I use an old i pad and a Cambridge Audio id 100 dock to extract a digital output which is sent to a Monarchy Audio digital interface proccessor which reclocks and boosts the digital signal to my Electro dac which upsamples it to 24/192 and converts to analog at this frequency .

As for vinyl I have sold my turntable ( LP12 / Lingo) and I don't miss it one bit even spotify sounds better imo *smile*

 

[MajorFubar]

PS Audio have just released a new CD transport known as the DirectStream memory player, which they claim is a "game changer"...

At a whopping , predicted £5500 RRP release price in the UK it had better be bloody game changing!

So by that description it either reads CDs into RAM and they're claiming that improves sound quality, or it has built-in storage for multiple CDs. Neither of which is game changing. There's nothing you can do with CDs that's game changing, unless you believe there are still opportunities to improve the sound of the DAC and analogue sections

 

[satycool]

Though I also lazy stream from my NAS. I still prefer slotting in a CD. I usually just flick through my digital media which does leave a empty souless feeling no matter how good the music is knowing it's just a file sitting on the HDD with no artwork, no disc, art and no physical ownership! Looking at my CD collection and the artwork on inlay/disc do catch my attention and interest more then a digital menu on my phone/tablet, and actually do make me play a CD because of the art and curiosity of the album, yet listen to it properly rather then get the NAS urge to skip though albums quickly. The CD sound is fantastic (using Cyrus CD and DAC and Mono 300). I just love the whole package of CDs: ease of use anywhere, able to rip them, great sound, look good, the artwork on CDs and inlays (esp distinguished designs as from labels I like Carpe Sonum, Fax (RIP Pete Namlook), BineMusic, Ultimae...etc), the size, The extras that sometimes come with CDs such as booklets/posters/info (one of my personal fav unexpected info was written.on the inside of the inlay about the struggle of red-indians on a ambient-techno album Exquisite Corpse - Inner Light). It's also the functions that are available e.g.: pause. skip, shuffle trk order. fwrd or rewind to certain points on any track, repeat play, can be handled easily without fear of damage, and the feeling of owning something esp on rare, OOP, limited print releases which all make the CD a icon format that's much more convenient that vinyl and more appreciated then digital.

 

[Gaz37]

I have been exclusively using Spotify for a couple of months but a few days ago put a CD on and was amazed at how the quailty was so much better than Spotify, we're talking HDTV compared to a 1970s manual tuning B&W portable TV type difference.

I'm afraid that I haven't listened to vinyl for over 15 years but my memory was of rumble, hiss and scratches so genuinely don't see the attraction, having said that I didn't have a prticularly good record (old Garrard of some description) deck & nor did I look after my records very well.

It's also possible that my Spotify experience isn't as good as it could be as I listen on either a Galaxy S6 smartphone or a Kindle Fire HD via a headphone to RCA adaptor cable.

 

[MajorFubar]

To be fair to records, and with the inherrent weaknesses of the medium disregarded just for a second...

my memory was of rumble, hiss and scratches so genuinely don't see the attraction, having said that I didn't have a prticularly good record (old Garrard of some description) deck & nor did I look after my records very well.

...those who genuinely see the attraction tend to have a particularly good record deck and they look after their records very well.

 

[Gaz37]

To be fair to records, and with the inherrent weaknesses of the medium disregarded just for a second...

my memory was of rumble, hiss and scratches so genuinely don't see the attraction, having said that I didn't have a prticularly good record (old Garrard of some description) deck & nor did I look after my records very well.

...those who genuinely see the attraction tend to have a particularly good record deck and they look after their records very well.

That's a fair point

 

[Gaz37]

Would my Spotify experience improve if I charged my phone through a fancy power supply? :-D

 

[bigfish786]

I suppose the same could be said of any media, do it right and it is fantastic, do it wrong, and you will wonder why everyone else loves it and you are left scratching your head.

For example, some of my first vinyl purchases in the 80's were picture discs. As a naive teenager with a Sony stack system, I knew no better. It sounded thin and crap.

Second vinyl experience was a Dual TT bought off eBay with a knackered cart and a slack belt, and a power supply that was obviously not the correct one. The result? Crap squared.

Do it right (3rd time) with a rotel DD TT from the 70's and wow. Superb. Added a nagaoka cart to this and was totally blown away.

Same media, totally different experience.

 

[MajorFubar]

I suppose the same could be said of any media, do it right and it is fantastic, do it wrong, and you will wonder why everyone else loves it and you are left scratching your head.

For example, some of my first vinyl purchases in the 80's were picture discs. As a naive teenager with a Sony stack system, I knew no better. It sounded thin and crap.

Second vinyl experience was a Dual TT bought off eBay with a knackered cart and a slack belt, and a power supply that was obviously not the correct one. The result? Crap squared.

Do it right (3rd time) with a rotel DD TT from the 70's and wow. Superb. Added a nagaoka cart to this and was totally blown away.

Same media, totally different experience.

Correct. And to be fair that's the instant attraction of digital replay: a CD played on even a cheap DVD player from Argos will kill cheap record players. When your initial experience with records has been rubbish, few are tempted to spend more because they don't understand that the quality increases exponentially each time you double the price, general rule of thumb.

 

[bigfish786]

I agree, had it not been for a friend of mine investing in a Michell Gyro SE, I would never had listened to vinyl again. But once I'd heard vinyl done well. What can I say. I was so surprised. The detail, timing, soundstage, musicality, the essence of music I'd not heard before, not only did it make me invest in a good quality turntable, I also upgraded every component in my system. And it was money well spent.

Music done right is an absolute pleasure.

 

[Gazzip]

I agree, had it not been for a friend of mine investing in a Michell Gyro SE, I would never had listened to vinyl again. But once I'd heard vinyl done well. What can I say. I was so surprised. The detail, timing, soundstage, musicality, the essence of music I'd not heard before, not only did it make me invest in a good quality turntable, I also upgraded every component in my system. And it was money well spent.

Music done right is an absolute pleasure.

Not sure I agree with this but each to their own. I bought myself a high-ish end turntable and cartridge recently, and although I enjoy the sound it does not better the detail, timing, musicality and soundstage of my digital system. It is just different, that is all...

 

[Macspur]

Though I also lazy stream from my NAS. I still prefer slotting in a CD. I usually just flick through my digital media which does leave a empty souless feeling no matter how good the music is knowing it's just a file sitting on the HDD with no artwork, no disc, art and no physical ownership! Looking at my CD collection and the artwork on inlay/disc do catch my attention and interest more then a digital menu on my phone/tablet, and actually do make me play a CD because of the art and curiosity of the album, yet listen to it properly rather then get the NAS urge to skip though albums quickly. The CD sound is fantastic (using Cyrus CD and DAC and Mono 300). I just love the whole package of CDs: ease of use anywhere, able to rip them, great sound, look good, the artwork on CDs and inlays (esp distinguished designs as from labels I like Carpe Sonum, Fax (RIP Pete Namlook), BineMusic, Ultimae...etc), the size, The extras that sometimes come with CDs such as booklets/posters/info (one of my personal fav unexpected info was written.on the inside of the inlay about the struggle of red-indians on a ambient-techno album Exquisite Corpse - Inner Light). It's also the functions that are available e.g.: pause. skip, shuffle trk order. fwrd or rewind to certain points on any track, repeat play, can be handled easily without fear of damage, and the feeling of owning something esp on rare, OOP, limited print releases which all make the CD a icon format that's much more convenient that vinyl and more appreciated then digital.

Well put.

Mac

www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net

 

[MajorFubar]

What’s interesting to note is how the arguments to defend CDs against ripping/streaming often mirror those that were used to defend records against CDs in the 80s. Primarily these concern the tactility of the medium and its packaging, the feeling of greater connection with the artist and their product, and the perception that from purchase to replay it’s more of a valued experience.

What’s clear from this is that for some people, the erosion of the physical product, first from records to CDs and now from CDs to downloads, coupled with the creation of a world where just about anything is available virtually, has had a serious devaluing effect and created a feeling of detachment and indifference.