How the compact disc lost its shine [Archive]

Firebottle

29-05-2015, 06:32

Interesting article.
The bonus for me now is I can pick up CDs for £1 or even 50p :)

Quite a few years back but has anyone heard of or even seen a vinyl-disc? Vinyl replay on one side and CD on the other :mental:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2007/oct/15/thevinyldiscisnothingbutagimmickytalkingpoint

Rothchild

29-05-2015, 07:03

Yeah, now the the second hand vinyl market has been picked clean (certainly in charity shops - unless you want another copy of No Parlez or Alf...) CDs are the place to go for a cheap source of interesting music.

Gordon Steadman

29-05-2015, 07:33

I'm starting to feel grateful for when I was born. People of my age have seen so much happen and stuff being developed. Like many, I've had gear and software in almost every format. Somehow I missed out on 8 track and DAT but all the others have passed through Nodrog Towers.

As CD coincided with my better years financially it meant I could indulge hugely in music, both new and familiar. I have reached the stage now though, where there seems to be nothing new of great interest. I long ago settled on the music I love best and the crap that passes for pop these days has a bit of trouble impinging on my consciousness.

90% of the CDs I had were given to charity shops when we moved out here but all the heavy old vinyl came with us.

I haven't listened to a CD now for months. They are all on the Mac anyway and I've gone back almost exclusively to vinyl. So I've started collecting equipment instead!! All the stuff I lusted after when I was young and couldn't afford. Its nice just to look at it on the shelf (well....floor) and sometimes even listen to it.

In these fast moving days, I reckon the fat cats can consider themselves lucky that the CD gravy train lasted as long as it did. 'Perfect profit for ever'? As likely as perfect sound.

Reffc

29-05-2015, 08:20

CD will be around for a while and thankfully so imho. I prefer physical media for music and always have although I have access to high res music storage and replay through it's inbuilt DAC, I never use it because the software interface is rubbish (on this one anyway) and have zero intention of investing an a laptop for ripping and storing music or for streaming. A laptop is the last place I want to go when I want to listen to music. I have enough choice of classic in my current music library and can go online to find new music I like, and if I like it enough, buy a CD or LP. I'm thankful for not jumping on board the convenience bandwagon where the next best thing is just around the corner, or so we're told. There will always be a limiting factor to the SQ we hear and that, ultimately, is speakers and room. We're pretty close to extracting the best we probably can now imho in that respect.

struth

29-05-2015, 08:30

have to say i have only had one cd on since i got the Pi ...shame on me! new toy I guess :lol:

StanleyB

29-05-2015, 08:48

I still prefer CD. You can't accidentally delete it. You can sell it on legally when you no longer want it. And your family doesn't have to worry about ownership after you pass away.

walpurgis

29-05-2015, 09:30

I have no intention of doing away with my CD collection (or my vinyl). After many years of fairly costly evolution, the CD side of things in my system now sounds superb and am very happy with the results. I may look into other modern formats this year though. I might get one of those Raspberry Trifle thingies, you never know.

awkwardbydesign

29-05-2015, 09:30

I use all 3 formats, streaming CD rips mostly, but LP and then CD sound best on my stereo. The CDs don't tend to glitch like files can, and the cat likes the way the drawer goes out and in. So we're both happy.

struth

29-05-2015, 09:34

Stratmangler

29-05-2015, 09:38

The CDs don't tend to glitch like files can, and the cat likes the way the drawer goes out and in

Doesn't sound like your file playing setup is particularly robust.
Watchya using?

I will add that I have no problems with glitches playing any files on my server, and that includes the 2/192 stuff.
I only get the occasional glitch if I have set the server off on some processor intensive activity such as rescanning the library (my serving machine is is but a low powered NAS device, a Zyxel NSA310, and it can complain if under a heavy load. Rescanning the library is such a heavy load).
Under normal circumstances things just play without glitching.

Macca

29-05-2015, 12:00

Good read that article, thanks for posting it up.

I've got about 300 cds of which about 200 actually get listened to. I rarely buy new releases since there is not often anything new that grabs me. Sign of geting old, perhaps?

I just don't fancy adding the ballache of adding a computer to the music replay process. Computers are great but dicking about with settings to get them to work properly has never interested me.

I was hard core vinylista until about 1995 when vinyl disappeared. Slowly got used to CD, the fact that it had noticeably better timing than my belt drive TT was a big help in converting me, but otherwise I still thought of Cd as no more than a replacement for the cassette. It wasn't until I discovered passive pre-amps that I actually began to really appreciate how good the format actually was.

The music business never saw downloads etc coming but not surprising really it is so hard to predict trends and where they will go. Those who can with any success rate are few in number and probabaly very wealthy.

Gazjam

29-05-2015, 12:57

yes get one Geoff. even i have succumbed to the inevitable

Getting a cat Grant? :)

awkwardbydesign

29-05-2015, 15:41

Doesn't sound like your file playing setup is particularly robust.
Watchya using?

A ReadyNAS though a Squeezebox Duet. I think one of the ReadyNAS drives is on it's way out.

mikmas

29-05-2015, 16:11

Must admit I haven't bought a CD for some time .. when I did it was instead of downloading which to me was fairly pointless

At the moment I am content with recording from Radio 3's 'late night' progs such as Jazz on 3 and World on 3 and listening via Pi. Mostly from Late Junction though who regularly feature live sets or particularly artists. This week they have been heavily plugging Eska ... and with very good reason, sheer beauty in sound:
http://www.eskaonline.com

Always keep my eye open for CDs in charity shops but to be honest most are either dirge or damaged....

Haselsh1

29-05-2015, 18:07

I have around six hundred CD's so only a modest collection but I have no intention of giving up on them at any time soon. I also have no real interest in anything current music wise so I concentrate on all of the old classic stuff that I never bought first time around. If the music is particularly good then I hunt it down on vinyl and hope it is not completely knackered.

As far as sound quality on CD is concerned, I am fairly happy with the current state of affairs. I think it is exceptional considering.

JohnMcC

29-05-2015, 19:22

No vinyl in Charidee Shops? Yew orter cum tew Norfolk, Bor! Last week I picked up a five LP box set from 1970 of Du Pre, Barenboim and Zuckerman playing the Beethoven Piano Trios. It had obviously belonged to an enthusiast, since he recorded each time he played the record on the inner sleeve, and noted that he'd had them all cleaned in 1988 - since when he hadn't played any of them. One LP had been played 5 times, one only once, the others two or three times. But to look at you'd say none of them had ever been played - no marks on the vinyl and none round the spindle hole either. And the box set cost me . . . errr . . . don't think I should admit this . . . £2. Thing is, round here people are still donating their deceased partner/parents collections to the charity shops. Sad - but terrific bargains to be had - not telling you where, though! But even the big Oxfam shop in Magdalen Street, Norwich has loads of decent vinyl.

Rothchild

29-05-2015, 20:23

It true John, for classical there are still rich pickings to be had but the days of an interesting and eclectic mix of rock, pop and soul seem to be gone.

struth

29-05-2015, 20:29

NRG

29-05-2015, 20:53

Was there some backtrack editing? Loads of bargains in the local southern charity and second hand shops, we have a great local 'collectables' shop that is an amazing source of used vinyl... Long may it continue.

Marco

29-05-2015, 21:18

I will add that I have no problems with glitches playing any files on my server, and that includes the 2/192 stuff.
I only get the occasional glitch if I have set the server off on some processor intensive activity such as rescanning the library (my serving machine is is but a low powered NAS device, a Zyxel NSA310, and it can complain if under a heavy load. Rescanning the library is such a heavy load).
Under normal circumstances things just play without glitching.

Same here with my RPi/IQ audio DAC set-up. Everything just 'works', seamlessly and consistently - and above all, sounds superb!

I still love my CDP and DAC though, and with approx 2500 CDs, those will be going nowhere! However, for me, genuine music fans should have access to all three sources (vinyl, CD and streaming), as the sheer variety and quality of musical enjoyment that can offer, is phenomenal :cool:

Marco.

Stratmangler

29-05-2015, 22:38

A ReadyNAS though a Squeezebox Duet. I think one of the ReadyNAS drives is on it's way out.

The Receiver part of the Duet can only handle 24/48 natively, and can play FLAC and MP3 natively.
Which means that anything above 24/48 needs to be resampled on the fly, which is quite processor intensive.

My lowly NAS doesn't do any on the fly conversions.
My NAS doesn't have to cope with heavy lifting duties because my Squeezebox Touch has the EDO applet installed and the Touch feeds a DAC capable of processing 24/176.4 and 24/192.
All files from my library are served natively - no downsampling on the fly is required, and serving 24/176.4 and 24/192 FLACs is actually quite a trivial thing to do when there's no additional processing required.

Rothchild

30-05-2015, 06:49

A useful link to keep in your bookmarks:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/CDs-Vinyl-Under-%C2%A30-01/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A229816%2Cp_36%3A-1

All the 1p cds on Amazon.

Macca

30-05-2015, 09:18

It true John, for classical there are still rich pickings to be had but the days of an interesting and eclectic mix of rock, pop and soul seem to be gone.

Anyone within striking distance of Stoke should try upstairs in Rubber Soul Records. Several thousand rock, pop and soul albums for a quid each. I've bought about 100. All needed a good clean, only 2 are unplayable after that, most are perfect or near perfect. Allow yourself about 4 hours if you want to root through the lot, though.

Marco

30-05-2015, 09:31

We'll need to plan a trip to Rubber Soul next time I'm down, mate - sounds too good to miss! :cool:

I'd also echo the sentiments that there's plenty of all genres of music available on second-hand vinyl (not just classical) - *if* you know where to go, and that's generally not charity shops. Charity shops can be great for finding classical music in often superb condition, but these days not much else.

The best places for finding rock, pop, jazz and dance music, etc, are small independent record shops and market stalls, which usually have tons of different stuff just waiting to be discovered, most often at good prices.

Check out where your local one is by looking here: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?9282-Name-your-fav-local-independent-record-shops For some reason though, there tends to be more of these in the north of the country, than in the south...

Marco.

Andrei

30-05-2015, 10:01

Anyone within striking distance of Stoke

Snigger. That includes every fullback in the Premier League doesn't it?

Macca

30-05-2015, 10:05

They beat us six-one last week so not sure what you're trying to say... ;)

Marco yes you should come over and check out Rubber Soul it is a goldmine. Lots of rare stuff as well as the bargain upstairs bit.

Clive197

30-05-2015, 11:26

...............genuine music fans should have access to all three sources (vinyl, CD and streaming), as the sheer variety and quality of musical enjoyment that can offer, is phenomenal :cool:

Marco.

+1. "oooooooooo yeess":exactly:

pcourtney

30-05-2015, 12:39

>access to all three sources (vinyl, CD and streaming)

+1

have been downloading some nice DSD files from various websites over the last 2 months, I'm pretty impressed with most of them so far :-)

rdpx

01-06-2015, 13:51

A useful link to keep in your bookmarks:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/CDs-Vinyl-Under-%C2%A30-01/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A229816%2Cp_36%3A-1

All the 1p cds on Amazon.

I waded through all the Charlotte Church and Harry Connick Jr to find Thelonious Monk's Brilliant Corners for £1.27 delivered.... cheers!

Rothchild

01-06-2015, 15:55

I waded through all the Charlotte Church and Harry Connick Jr...

Yeah you don't want too many dupes in your collection ;-p

There's not so much in the 1p bin these days but if you nudge it up to a quid (bottom left) there's a lot more interesting stuff to be had

JADISMAN

01-06-2015, 16:22

I suspect that the CD has bought more music to more people than any other format, with the exception perhaps of the radio, but that is more random and ephemeral.

I've tinkered with downloads and streaming but my heart was never really in it and now I simply can't be arsed.