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Post by brubacca on Oct 5, 2015 8:00:37 GMT -5
I saw an online report that there were only 4 or 5 CD players being utilized in sound system at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest this year. Everything else was Vinyl/Streaming.
I'm guessing that there were a lot of systems there.. So
Is the CD player going the way of the dinosaur?
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Post by garbulky on Oct 5, 2015 9:48:32 GMT -5
I find DACs to be better value than CD players so I personally have no use for a high end CD player. I just need them for the rare transport duty.
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Post by drtrey3 on Oct 5, 2015 11:19:17 GMT -5
I use my Oppo for surround listening, all the cd layers and high res two channel is played via files.
Trey
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Post by jmilton on Oct 5, 2015 11:33:41 GMT -5
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Oct 5, 2015 11:53:23 GMT -5
CD players are going the way of the dinosaur and quickly.
Mark
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Post by brubacca on Oct 5, 2015 12:25:25 GMT -5
I was just really shocked.
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novisnick
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Post by novisnick on Oct 5, 2015 12:32:48 GMT -5
CD players are going the way of the dinosaur and quickly. Mark Weren't they in the room next to the TurnTables?   |
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Post by audiosyndrome on Oct 5, 2015 12:40:33 GMT -5
I think CD players are still very much in vogue especially with the senior generation of audiophiles (the majority of audiophiles IMO) who have not adopted computer audio or streaming which might both be beyond their capabilities. And may often have thousands of CDs.
Russ
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Post by Priapulus on Oct 5, 2015 12:46:51 GMT -5
I haven't had a CD player for several years. I just rip media on the computer.
Sincerely
/b
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Post by teaman on Oct 5, 2015 13:07:31 GMT -5
I am with Russ, I own over 1000 cds and literally have no use for streaming. I like the physical availability of a disc that I can take from home to car to friend's etc. My transports will always be in use.
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Post by foggy1956 on Oct 5, 2015 14:51:40 GMT -5
I am with Russ, I own over 1000 cds and literally have no use for streaming. I like the physical availability of a disc that I can take from home to car to friend's etc. My transports will always be in use. All of my music is digital files on a HTPC and transfer to a HRAP for all portable use, vehicle or walking |
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KeithL
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Post by KeithL on Oct 5, 2015 14:52:08 GMT -5
It really depends on your priorities... but first I'd like to remind you that there are actually THREE choices involved.
1) A CD player - With CDs, you have an actual disc that you can touch, and liner notes you can read, and for the most part they just work. However, if you have a lot of CDs, one downside is that you have to keep track of them - which means organizing them, putting them back where they belong when you're done, and remembering where they belong. And, if you have two or more rooms, it means either having multiple copies of your favorites, or doing a significant amount of looking for, and fetching and retrieving, whatever you want to listen to. Another problem is if, like me, you sometimes don't want to hear the whole album, or change your mind in the middle; if that's you, then you spend a lot of time taking out a CD, listening to one or two tracks, putting it back, taking out another one, etc, etc, etc. This is even worse if your CD player, and your CD shelf, happen to be across the room from your favorite chair.
2) Streaming - This is where you buy a subscription to Tidal, or Spotify, and just play songs like you channel surf - with a remote control. It's pretty much the ultimate in convenience, but it still isn't perfect. For one thing, only one or two streaming services really has proper audiophile music quality, and even the best possible service is at the mercy of your Internet connection. For another thing, you're generally stuck using one particular music player program, and even a really good music streaming service may not have ALL the albums you like. This is especially true if you listen to really obscure stuff, or if you're the sort of person who buys the US release, the Japan release, and the Denmark release because each one has a different bonus track. (If you're at all mainstream, then this isn't a problem - you'd be amazed at how many titles someone like Spotify does have). And, finally, some of us just like HAVING their music. Personally I can't stand the thought that, if my favorite streaming service were to go out of business, my entire music collection would be gone... poof! (There are CDs I've had for twenty-plus years; I can't name any music service that's survived that long.)
You can also do your own "in house streaming" by ripping all your CDs to a server, then having it stream to other equipment in your house. Unfortunately, you do have to rip all those CDs; you have to set up and maintain a server; and you still might have "network issues". However, it eliminates one of the big drawbacks of physical CDs; namely that you can play any song from any room in the house (that has a player), so no more looking for discs, and having whatever disc you want to listen to turn out to be in another room.
3) The third option is what I would call locally stored digital audio. That's where you take your CDs, or files that you've bought, and put them all on a hard disk. You now have the same exact quality as CDs, or high-res audio if you buy some of those, and you get to keep the original discs, AND you have your music on a real disc. My "music source" is a laptop computer, with a pocket sized USB hard drive sitting next to it. That drive contains a few thousand of my favorite CDs - at full CD quality; it also has several dozen high-res albums I've bought here and there. I can play any song from any album at the push of a button, or set up (and save) a list of a few hundred favorites, from as many different CDs as I like, and the whole list will play at the push of a button (I could get that from a streaming service). Also, if I wanted to, I could make that disc available to other computers over my home network. However, I also have my entire music collection in my hand, on a hard drive that I own, and that continues to work regardless of what happens on the Internet - and I can make a backup copy of my entire collection in a few hours (all I have to do is to back up that drive). I'm not a huge fan of cover art, or folder information, but if I was I could scan those and put them there as well. Another upside is that, since I've stored my music in a standard format (FLAC), I can use whatever music program I like to play them. (So, if my favorite player stops being my favorite player because they add too many silly features, or double the price, I can simply pick a different one.) About the only real downside is that, at some point, I had to rip those CDs - which means that, just once, I had to copy them onto that hard disc.
I think the biggest "sea change" in the industry is simply the recognition that digital audio played on a computer really is the equal of a CD player (after all, a CD player is just a digital music source and a DAC). Another way of saying that is that a CD player is just a special purpose digital music player - which is limited to a certain type of digital music. (I would expect that, over the next few years, CD players will be viewed much like turntables are today - as a specialty player for folks who really like one particular medium - and are happy to buy a separate player for that one source.)
(Incidentally, and somewhat interestingly, most computers also have a CD drive - and can also be used as a CD player. After all, when I rip CDs to play on my computer, I use... a computer. However, the "user experience" of playing CDs on a computer - as a CD player - really isn't very good. Clicking on a picture of a Play button - on a screen - with your mouse - really doesn't seem like much of "a hi-fi experience" to me... which is why, if you ARE going to play an actual CD, the controls on a typical decent CD player are much nicer to use than a computer - which is one of the reasons why most people who do actually like playing discs much prefer a separate "real" CD player.)
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Oct 5, 2015 16:20:25 GMT -5
I am with Russ, I own over 1000 cds and literally have no use for streaming. I like the physical availability of a disc that I can take from home to car to friend's etc. My transports will always be in use. I have over a thousand CD's also (having purchased them since the format started). But, I ripped all of mine. Now, I used the ripped copies for my critical listening, listening over Sonos while in the pool or hot tub or on my deck or cooking in the kitchen or sitting in my office or while eating in the dining room or while getting ready for work in my master suite or while chilling in my second listening area. For the car, I still have the disks, so I can take them but I rarely do...I listen to XM there. Net, the "physical availability" for me is no longer needed because the "digital availability" is so amazing that it overcomes the need to hold a disk in my hand. When the guys at Sonos told me I would be hooked on digital copies once I got into it, I thought they were nuts. No...they were quite right. Mark |
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