Why is c.d apparently dead ?

[Jimboo]

Records have been with me all my life as has my Linn deck (mostly). I have cd quality streaming and hd streaming available also. When I slip a c.d into my audiolab transport the sound is full and I control the loudness (mostly). We all to a man and woman embraced the c.d over records. A myriad of reasons helped c.d take off.
People with c.d recordings presented on wax harp on about that analogue sound and how it's how music should sound. The romanticism of crackles and the eBay sellers interpretation of mint grading records do not slow the good old days are back for good vibe.
Record cleaners are so much fun! You can read the covers but not on your phone , people were claiming back space with streaming and then buying kallex units for the old/new nirvana.the replacement of lasers after a few hundred hours and the sheer frailty of the c.d may have contributed to the c.d decline (no £15.00 brush to rub against the shiny disc. Hell, you cannot even watch it go round and round. The fun of that little pop 2.50 minutes in and getting up to turn it over , so real!
Why is the c.d dead? It isn't because of the convenience or the sound , streaming proves that ( I want c.d quality!!!)
Me , I love it. What about you , do you like the market forces and the advertised insistence that c.d quality is better because you have to buy a new box to hear it streamed!! What is the reason.

 

[Al ears]

I have read your post twice and still cannot what questions you want answered.
Are you implying CD is dead because for me it certainly isn't and neither is SACD.
Why should I buy more boxes so I can stream?

 

[Jimboo]

Well ears me old mucker . I don't think it is dead. The industry says it is and so do the sales charts.
Me and ears are keeping the faith. What say you ?

 

[Deleted member 188533]

I still buy CDs. But I think a variety of factors have made them unpopular.

Price. When CDs were introduced they were a new technology and the record companies could get away with pricing them higher than cassettes and LPs. When the technology matured it was never reflected by a price decrease.

The MP3 ( and other digital formats ) and convenience. In the 90s we had dialup internet speeds and an MP3 took an hour to download. Today it takes longer to click through Amazon music or Apple music or wherever you use and find what you're looking for than it does to download it. You can also load it on a phone or a DAP and take it with you and you don't have to fool with physical media at all.

Which leads me to streaming and even more convenience. You don't even need to buy an MP3 anymore. Just subscribe to a streaming service. Most people aren't like the majority of posters on this site. Most people don't really care about the quality.

And last....most music sucks these days. It's a rare thing to have an artist making albums that are worth buying. You have artists making singles. If there is an album at all most of the music is fluff and filler and no one wants it anyway.

I'm sure I'm missing a few.

 

[Jimboo]

Hang on though , price? How much is a record today? They are double often treble a c.d cost. They go down in price records do not.
Maybe modern music is crap (it isn't- Black Midi , the murder capital, Fontaines etc) So why do the likes of us even need to stream what we already own.
So it is about the on demand factor , I want it now everywhere that is the norm.
In the future hifi maybe a thing of the past? Where and what will a thousand pound streamer give you that a phone will not. C.D gone and who knows how long the record boom will last Will it be a little portable box and on demand only in the future?

 

[Deleted member 188533]

Yep today records are more costly than CDs. However at least here in the US, CDs have always been around $15. Now $15 today is less than $15 was in 1988 but the fact is when the technology for manufacturing them matured CD prices were always expected to drop and they never did.

And of course there are still bands making incredible music. But the majority of music these days is aimed at teens and is terrible. It's autotuned nonsense that's more about who you can get as a guest rapper than any musical talent.

Personally I was glad records died in the 80s and I never jumped on the modern comeback bandwagon.

 

[stereoman]

No. They are not dead at all. Vinyl Hype is simply a hype.

 

[insider9]

I listen to CDs not vinyl. I stream also when discovering new music. I get best sound quality from CDs though.

 

[Dom]

CD's are just not cool anymore. Like tape they have had there day in the sun. Why should I use big physical media when I can stream over the air or ground. There maybe some romanticism with CD's, just like there is with vinyl and tape, but we are in the digital world now and things are moving faster than ever!!!

 

[stereoman]

They are very cool and I have not noticed any slightest dip in CD selling...

 

[Dom]

I will never buy an audio CD ever again. So there.

 

[stereoman]

I will never buy an audio CD ever again. So there.

lol

 

[gasolin]

Cd's and lp's cost about the same

180gr lp's and mobile fidelity cd's can have a much higher price

I just a few days ago bought a cdplayer so i could use it with a dac, yesterday i bought a dac to use for my pc and cdplayer

If my cdplayer is to noisy (a little more than the one i replaced it with) i just buy a new (used), if i can't listen to it on tidal hifi i buy it on cd (far from remastered cd's), if it's an older record i buy it on lp, i just bough a focus record (rock from the 70's) tracy chapman and john lee hooker on lp (both from the late 1980's) focus are very limited on tidal and if i want the orignal i want on lp.

if i want to listen to rammstein i will either do it on youtube (free) or buy a cd, since there isn't much on tidal with rammstein.

 

[Deleted member 188533]

I listen to CDs not vinyl. I stream also when discovering new music. I get best sound quality from CDs though.

Same. I sit in front of a computer more than I should and when I'm at the computer I'm usually listening to streamed music on headphones. That's how I find new music. Which I then buy on CD and rip to FLAC.

When I listen to music on my home system it's mostly CDs. A little FM radio if I just have it on in the background.

 

[Deleted member 188533]

There is some more obscure stuff that I can't find on CD. When that happens I try to find the FLAC to buy. I've had really good luck with Bandcamp for that.

 

[abacus]

How users consume music changes over time, (Either through technology or convenience) and expecting one form to remain relevant forever is just wishful thinking. (In the present day convenience rules so physical formats have become a niche market)

Bill

 

[Hawkmoon]

Personally I have ceased buying any more CDs unless they are some kind of special limited edition boxsets which are in some ways collectable or else by artists that I am very much a fan/nerd of. I am keeping my large CD collection but otherwise for new music I am happy with streaming from Amazon HD. My experience from streaming is, so far, mixed. Some 'ultra HD' streams sound fantastic - every bit as good as a well mastered SACD, but bizarrely some others sound worse than the physical CD (I have done a vs b comparisons through the same DAC with the streaming version versus my CD copy). On the basis of this test it would be foolish for me to bin/sell my CD collection.

 

[Samd]

Is the demise (if any) partly influenced by the use of playlists. I don't have any playlists at all so I when a sit down to listen I am totally in 'album mode'

 

[Hawkmoon]

Is the demise (if any) partly influenced by the use of playlists. I don't have any playlists at all so I when a sit down to listen I am totally in 'album mode'

The demise is not within the audiophile community it is with the public more generally, who are just not buying CDs in the numbers that they used to, because most people are happy streaming lossy MP3s to their smartphones and wi-fi speakers, and picking and choosing which tracks they listen to

 

[scene]

Streaming and the likes of iTunes and Spotify have put a massive dent in the sale of CDs. If you've got a new phone, lo and behold you can get your music on it just by running the app. No need to do complicated processes of converting your CD to a format where you can then upload it onto your phone - just browse vast amounts of music and play there and then. Brilliant.

But it comes at a cost...

• You're only renting the music. It's not yours - if the service dies, so does your music. [As is the case if you die, BTW]
• You get the version of the music that's available on your chosen service(s). You want the original release of Heroes, and they've only got the remaster - tough. Your new favourite artist has an exclusive deal with Google Music, and you're on Spotify - tough. Even worse, your favourite artist decides to sign an exclusive contract with Google and you've got Spotify - tough.
• You've got equipment that doesn't support a streaming service - tough.
• You want high-definition sound, but your streaming service doesn't support it - change services...

Yes, audiophiles/enthusiasts still buy CDs, just like they still buy LPs. But most people are happy to go for the convenience, so I suspect CDs will go the way of LPs and become less and less mainstream...

 

[Al ears]

Streaming and the likes of iTunes and Spotify have put a massive dent in the sale of CDs. If you've got a new phone, lo and behold you can get your music on it just by running the app. No need to do complicated processes of converting your CD to a format where you can then upload it onto your phone - just browse vast amounts of music and play there and then. Brilliant.

But it comes at a cost...

• You're only renting the music. It's not yours - if the service dies, so does your music. [As is the case if you die, BTW]
• You get the version of the music that's available on your chosen service(s). You want the original release of Heroes, and they've only got the remaster - tough. Your new favourite artist has an exclusive deal with Google Music, and you're on Spotify - tough. Even worse, your favourite artist decides to sign an exclusive contract with Google and you've got Spotify - tough.
• You've got equipment that doesn't support a streaming service - tough.
• You want high-definition sound, but your streaming service doesn't support it - change services...

Yes, audiophiles/enthusiasts still buy CDs, just like they still buy LPs. But most people are happy to go for the convenience, so I suspect CDs will go the way of LPs and become less and less mainstream...

I think you've just hit it on the head there Scene. Streaming is a bit like turning on the radio, you listen you don't own and if the service fails you have no music.
Me, I'm happy all forms of media but don't put all of my eggs in one basket. Sure I own a fair amount of vinyl so therefore have a turntable, for most else my trusty Oppo 105eu does the job and when I am away my digital music player will stream or play from its own storage.
I continue to buy selected LPs and SACD /CD s just because I can and don't think I will stop just yet.

 

[MeanandGreen]

I haven’t read through every comment, I just want say what my thoughts are on the CD.

As far as I’m concerned it is still the best sounding format, it is now cheaper than it’s ever been and is the best way to physically collect music IMO. The second hand market is full of bargains in almost new condition.

CD is very convenient, it requires only basic care in handling to last decades. You can skip tracks and listen to an album without having to flip it over. I’ve still got every CD I’ve ever owned, going back over 30 years - they are all still perfect and play without fault. It isn’t troubled by microscopic dust and will fully reproduce whatever the original recording was, be that a great recording - or a warts and all wall of mush. If that‘s the recording , that’s what you’re getting. It is utterly HI FI.

Why pay a streaming service to listen to the music I already own and play in their questionable quality? When I have everything I own ripped to my own network for local streaming in full CD quality, there’s no reason for me to stream from a service. Plus why be beholding to what they do or don’t have available?

Playlists are nice, but if I want to play an album, I’ll put the disc in the player and enjoy. Once you’ve bought the media and have it in your hands, it’s yours until you die.

You can source the original recordings or remastered versions as you see fit. You can buy second hand and not have to go through a laborious cleaning ritual to get perfect playback.

You can play it and play it and play it, it won’t wear out or deteriorate.

The CD was never bettered. It will become a niche format, because the masses will be lazy and just stream onto their phone or mono Bluetooth speaker. It’s only people who’ve built large music collections and who care about ownership and quality who will keep it alive.

Or at least I hope. One day maybe all physical media will be no more and that will be a sad day.

I find it baffling, that some new music is only physically available on vinyl now and not released on CD. Totally bonkers if you ask me.

 

[Jimboo]

Good to hear the c.d is alive and well.

 

[iMark]

The best argument to still buy CDs is that with a physical copy you own you never have to worry about music going out of print or not being available on a streaming service.

Between 2001 and 2006 I collected the 17 Rhino 2CD reissues of Elvis Costello's back catalogue. All the original albums with a bonus disc. (Elvis Costello Rhino reissues) All the music on the 17 bonus CDs has been out of print ever since and not available on any streaming service. For me that was a valuable lesson. If you see a limited edition CD you like don't hesitate and buy it. You never know if and when the music will be available again (if ever).

All redbook CDs we own have been ripped to Apple Lossless files and are streamed from my Mac mini to our Yamaha R-N602 while using an iPhone or iPad as the remote control for the iTunes library. That's way more convenient than playing a CD and the sound is great.

I do regret that I didn't buy more hybrid SACDs around 2002. The ones we have play very wel on our Sony UHP-H1 Blu-Ray player.

 

[Dom]

I remember hearing Nirvana. Smells Like Teen Spirit, for the first time at a party. Mini HiFi system with the disk spinning at the top. Trippy spinning disk, was the most interesting experience I had with audio. I still have a fascination for the CD's style, it was new.