Top class CD player wanted

[Sherwood]

I also find streaming tiresome, there's simply too much choice, and it actually isn't that more bother getting up off your ass and changing a cd than it is to pick some new music via streaming, one benefit is you get suggestions after an lp has finished, so you may discover new stuff, which thinking about is actually pretty good, I'll get me coat.

Sorry, i didn't realise that you were meant to stay seated when streaming. Likewise, I never have any problems in making a shopping selection in a large superstore. Perhaps, I need to give the old corner shop a try again!

[montesquieu]

There just no getting away from the fact that it's the future but good luck with whatever you choose.

It's part of the future Oliver but it's not 'the' future.

A common problem when people project into the future is that they always assume the old technology will completely vanish when new possibilities take hold.

I recall in about 1995 taking part in a debate at the National Library of New Zealand, broadcast to the country by TVNZ, entiled 'Do books have a future?'. I was a publishing guru ('Guru' was on my business card - God the 90s were naff) for a big IT vendor at the time. In the face of excitable youngsters (I was all of about 35, a dinosaur even then) showing off CD Rom and the early internet I was arguing that of course books had a future, and a very important one at that.

When printed books came along of course it revolutionised information transmission and communication, and illuminated manuscripts were soon very rare things. But it didn't destroy the written form altogether, calligraphy and illustration are still treasured things. Photography changed portraiture forever but it didn't abolish it. At one time streets of cities, towns and villages were full of working horses. Of course cars replaced them for most practical purposes, but for leisure purposes there is still a thriving hobby out there in all things equestrian. And so on and so on. Unless government's actually ban them (as opposed to making them simply expensive), electric/autonomous vehicles won't stop people tinkering with classic cars.

Those for whom streaming is 'good enough' or meets their needs, that is, all their needs, then that's all they will have. For people seeking a stronger connection to music (tactile, via objects, booklets, personal ownership) physical media will persist alongside. The pushback is happening already.

[Mikeandvan]

Sorry, i didn't realise that you were meant to stay seated when streaming. Likewise, I never have any problems in making a shopping selection in a large superstore. Perhaps, I need to give the old corner shop a try again!

You are if you wish to follow the correct hifi listening protocol re 'golden triangle', the listener must sit/kneel at the top of the triangle, you must not veer from the top of the triangle, not even to relieve yourself.

[montesquieu]

You mean you haven't forced him into upgrading, why on earth not! I agree I do like getting to know my music well, I have one LP I have played religiously for over 20 years. I don't hold on to all of my vinyl though, I like to rotate some of it. I even find CD copies of an LP cheapens it, a vinyl is thee statement of intent...….

I could probably get him a decent turntable and set it all up for him but where's the fun for him in that? I want him to seek it out for himself. If he asks of course I'll help him. I deliberately got him something quite modest, but safe so that he wouldn't destroy his precious albums.

[Sherwood]

I think for most people the debate for or against streaming/file based replay is not about the sound (which may or may not sound better either way depending on how either are implemented) but on the user experience.

I simply can't imagine replacing the whole tactile ritual of vinyl - or even the experience of opening a jewel case, reading the cover or the booklet, putting a CD in the drawer - with the soulless experience of clicking a button on a pad or a screeen, which for me cheapens the whole thing.

I do have about a TB or so of files of various resolutions which I dip into from time to time, and access to Spotify, but the former does not excite in the least, and I use the latter primarily to find new music to purchase on proper physical media.

If the man is looking for a CDP, it's just tiresome to suggest he get a streamer. Anyone who likes that sort of user experience probably has one by now.

I have a large vinyl collection and a huge cd collection. If I was starting today I would acquire neither. In fact, I am surprised that the sale of new CDPs has not plummeted.

For me, the physical possession of "music software" is unimportant. Indeed, had I not spent spent the bulk of my funds on vinyl and cds over the years I would no doubt own an obscenely expensive hifi. I would probably have held a different view in the past when digital was in its early days and when streaming meant low res mp3 files. Today, services such as Tidal offer a huge range of music at a high quality of reproduction. I am not intimidated by the huge range of choice available, nor do I find the process of streaming soulless. I guess my position is primarily about musical enjoyment rather than the physical ownership of "music". Aside from all of this, as someone who has spent much of my adult working life travelling and working overseas, the capacity to transport my music and replay it to a high standard "when on the road" is wonderful. I particularly appreciate being able to download Tidal files to my tablet. It has allowed me to listen to a wealth of "new" and "new to me" music. I probably average about five or so new albums a week.

[Sherwood]

You are if you wish to follow the correct hifi listening protocol re 'golden triangle', the listener must sit/kneel at the top of the triangle, you must not veer from the top of the triangle, not even to relieve yourself.

Perhaps I can interest you in my range of audiophile catheters!

[montesquieu]

I have a large vinyl collection and a huge cd collection. If I was starting today I would acquire neither. In fact, I am surprised that the sale of new CDPs has not plummeted.

For me, the physical possession of "music software" is unimportant. Indeed, had I not spent spent the bulk of my funds on vinyl and cds over the years I would no doubt own an obscenely expensive hifi. I would probably have held a different view in the past when digital was in its early days and when streaming meant low res mp3 files. Today, services such as Tidal offer a huge range of music at a high quality of reproduction. I am not intimidated by the huge range of choice available, nor do I find the process of streaming soulless. I guess my position is primarily about musical enjoyment rather than the physical ownership of "music". Aside from all of this, as someone who has spent much of my adult working life travelling and working overseas, the capacity to transport my music and replay it to a high standard "when on the road" is wonderful. I particularly appreciate being able to download Tidal files to my tablet. It has allowed me to listen to a wealth of "new" and "new to me" music. I probably average about five or so new albums a week.

I get the point that streaming fits your itinerant lifestyle, as it fits that of many young people who have yet to put down roots.

My main points across a couple of posts was that some people 1) don't like a digital user interface to their music collection 2) feel that the physical object is of value in deepening their connection to it and 3) have no plans to embrace non-physical media exclusively, indeed there's evidence that some younger people are actively rejecting the notion that access to music should be via some utility, like water out of a tap.

Those for whom streaming is sufficient are welcome to their embrace of it but they shouldn't try to push it on the rest of us.

EDIT - apologies to Adey I forgot for a bit that this is Wanted: thread in the classifieds

[Sherwood]

I get the point that streaming fits your itinerant lifestyle, as it fits that of many young people who have yet to put down roots.

My main points across a couple of posts was that some people 1) don't like a digital user interface to their music collection 2) feel that the physical object is of value in deepening their connection to it and 3) have no plans to embrace non-physical media exclusively, indeed there's evidence that some younger people are actively rejecting the notion that access to music should be via some utility, like water out of a tap.

Those for whom streaming is sufficient are welcome to their embrace of it but they shouldn't try to push it on the rest of us.

I am certainly not an evangelist for digital or streaming but I am an enthusiast. However, I do feel that CD is a declining technology. Unlike vinyl which has the attraction of large format artwork, I cannot see the CD format being resurrected by future generations for its "nostalgic charm". In fact, I do not see a mass demand by younger users for high quality music per se, let alone a format that takes up a lot of physical space for a decent sized music collection. The latter is potentially a huge consideration given the repeated failure of governments to stimulate the building of new affordable housing and the limited disposable income of those saving for a mortgage deposit. I may be wrong but I am guessing that in as few as five years time, the manufacture of CDP and pressing of new CDs will be in terminal decline.

[Johnny nocash]

I'm not suggesting your wrong Geoff, but if you insert 'vinyl' for every time you say 'cd' it has an old familiar ring to it.
Sure, the old black stuff has the nostalgia factor & is still the best but when people realise that that cd sound is still better than nearly all computer based reproduction then it may not die the death that is being predicted.

[montesquieu]

I am certainly not an evangelist for digital or streaming but I am an enthusiast. However, I do feel that CD is a declining technology. Unlike vinyl which has the attraction of large format artwork, I cannot see the CD format being resurrected by future generations for its "nostalgic charm". In fact, I do not see a mass demand by younger users for high quality music per se, let alone a format that takes up a lot of physical space for a decent sized music collection. The latter is potentially a huge consideration given the repeated failure of governments to stimulate the building of new affordable housing and the limited disposable income of those saving for a mortgage deposit. I may be wrong but I am guessing that in as few as five years time, the manufacture of CDP and pressing of new CDs will be in terminal decline.

We'll see. The sheer amount of discs out there suggests otherwise. Of course there is a huge amount of ephemeral dreck (just as there was in the LP era) but price of rare and indeed normal good quality second hand CDs from some artists is climbing, players are still being made and indeed continuing to get better. Vinyl lives on in large part because it's still the best playback medium for sound quality (in absolute terms at least - of course when it comes to sound per pound, streaming arguably has it), CD doesn't have that advantage but as I said in post above, new technologies don't always make the old ones entirely disappear.

(I still have the occasional night listening to 1930s Lieder recordings - often sets created for groups of subscribers - on 78, I have quite a bit of 1940s jazz as well. I get a huge buzz from getting a wonderfully musical sound from a 70 or 80 year old artifact.)

Also I think it depends on the market. Classical CDs are still being made and selling, and I think will continue to sell for some time.