Do you predict that CDs will ever experience a renaissance like vinyl?

Given the relatively recent resurgence of interest in purchasing and using vinyl, do you predict that anything similar will happen to CDs? Granted, CDs have never dipped to the industry lows that vinyl did about twenty years ago, so a "renaissance" may be a misnomer, but do you think we'll ever see a rise in CD sales anytime in the future? Or do CDs just not have the same appeal of vinyl in music collectors' eyes?

 

With vinyl, there is a legitimate argument that a thoroughly analog playback system has benefits. Will CD, the alternative lossless streaming or download, is really just a packaging phenomenon. So the question is whether lossless purchasing will have a rebound vs. lossy distribution which seems to have the upper hand, both for streaming and download.

 

Absolutely not. Vinyl goes beyond "oh wow its so retro, lets buy it!" Vinyl has redeeming qualities, such as nice large album artwork (which is at least the reason I love it). CDs were only good because they were portable, hence why digital music totally destroyed it.

 

CDs have to go away before they can come back.

 

There's no question about it. There's just more to love about CD, IMO.

 

No, CD's killed vinyl because they sounded better. Much better. Period.

 

You're looking at it from an audiophile standpoint, but you have to realize that the vast majority of people who switched to CDs were not audiophiles and did it for the portability and convenience. As further evidence, why did cassettes become popular? They sure as **** didnt sound better on most of the decks people owned

 

And if this were *really* true, then people would have just bought cassettes and used walkmans.

No... CD was truly a revolution in sound. People were tired of having records that skipped, popped, clicked - not to mention the myriad of other problems. CD's sounded better than cassette, too, which is why CD crushed both cassette and vinyl under it's mighty heel.

People were not only willing to replace their existing vinyl collection in 1985, they were willing to pay twice the price they did for a record or tape LOL !

 

A good thread on this-
Nostalgia for cds is beginning »
As Carl stated, compact discs never went away, A poll kinda makes no sense
I'm still buying new release cd singles

 

No. Disagree. It was hardly "convenient" to purchase a CD player for hundreds of dollars. It was hardly convenient to replace their music collection given CD was twice as expensive.

Besides... cassettes already provided convenience. So...no.

 

I get what the OP is saying. No, CD's haven't gone away, but the world has changed in such a way as they are not widely immediately accessible anymore.

 

Yes, but perhaps it will involve some of those 1980s CDs that came out before the so-called loudness wars. After following the Hoffman-initiated Cream "Strange Brew" thread, I'm wondering how many of these "superseded" oldies are worth checking out.

Also, at least I tend to forget how good a CD can sound using a good stereo system.

 

Yes. I've stated here many times they will experience a revival. Needless to say there are a lot of naysayers around here (typically the "vinyl is better" crowd). But if cassette tapes can have a revival then certainly CDs can too. CD's are still more popular than many like to admit though, so a revival won't happen soon.

 

It's 2017 and it took 3 days for a thread that will become a vinyl vs. CD debate. Things are getting slow around here.

 

Could CDs be making a comeback? »

 

LMAO

 

Good point, as with me and my area, physical format shops for new releases have been extinct for quite some time

 

I think there was a deliberate effort on the part of the majors to wipe out vinyl by the industry beginning with cassettes that had bonus tracks not in vinyl, crappy quality vinyl and/or more promotional dollars spend on cassettes and then CDs. Some pressings, of course, sounded pretty good but i found (in my humble experience and opinion) that the quality diminished around this time.

Vinyl was more expensive to produce than either format and the labels made more profit on CD and cassette.

 

I agree.
In addition it is a much affordable option in comparison to vinyl . Members on this forum lose focus that most consumers don't care as much about sound quality.

 

On an audiophile forum, we shouldn't always be so hasty in generalizing formats. IMO, the format is irrelevant insofar as the recording first, the mix second, and the mastering third are properly presented. That includes digital-only, too. Hell, if an 8-track tape has the right ingredients above for a particular track/album, it's my go-to format...well, it has got to sound good as well.

 

No but I don't think they will disappear so easily. They've been predicted dead every year for the last fifteen years because the change from vinyl to CD's happened so fast. It did not happen.

 

There's an equally legitimate argument that a CD source is a better source than an LP and has its own benefits. Of course it is bettered by higher sampling rate and bitrate files, but they are not the norm for download.

But an LP is more attractive than a CD, so whether CD can become a fetish commodity like vinyl, remains to be seen.

 

Total nonsense from someone who doesn't look at sales revenue at all.

'Totally' destroyed would be somewhere along the lines of where vinyl was at its low point, i.e. Under 1% of music revenue.

CD sales, despite declining, still represented aroumd 40% of music revenue in the UK in 2015. I'm sure it will be lower in 2016, but still a significant amount, and it probably makes the difference in some record labels being profitable against not existing at all.

 

You're correct, it was poor word choice on my part, however theres no doubt that digital has cemented the Compact Disc's future death