Ready to dump your CDs?

With people wondering about getting off the SACD bandwagon, I was wondering if anyone out there is thinking about getting off the CD bandwagon? Has anyone stopped buying CDs in favor of single layer SACDs only? Will the day come when people dump CD players for SACD players (SACD only players)?

 

Unless SACD suddenly really takes off, it won't happen.

 

I doubt it... at least, I don't think the general public will. CDs replaced LPs because they are superior in portability and durability, not because they have better sound quality. I think to really be embraced by the general public, a new format would have to offer something more than just better sound quality.

 

It took me years to collect my CDs. I will never dump any. I am happy with this format. Can't imagine starting all over again!

 

One more thing. Are any of you rebuying SACD titles you already own on standard CD?

 

Don't ya think that if SACD became the standard delivery medium for music replacing the CD, it wouldn't be too long before these discs sounded over-compressed and EQ'd for broadcast? We don't even use the CD to it's capacity, and I remember thinking (back in the eightees) that with all the additional "headroom" CD's give us, we will never have need for the excessive compression of the vinyl days.

Just because a format CAN sound better doesn't mean it will. It's nice to know that we have a format that offers so much potential, coming from an industry that really has no intention of using it.

 

And when that day comes Gary, I'll be pushin' my garbage can over to your front door 'cause I'll probably still have Steve's gold cd's..

 

Andy,

I've almost stopped buying CDs and concentrate on SACDs now.

I do occasionally buy a CD - in fact, today I bought the first two Lucinda Williams CDs which have been re-released by Smithsonian Folkways out of Canada. I will probably continue to buy the odd CD to fill holes in my collection for artists I really like.

On the whole, SACDs are where I'm going. I have all the DCC Golds and will buy any CDs they make in the future, but would prefer SACDs. I also look for second-hand MFSL UD I's as a sideline, and if I see them at a good price I buy them.

I guess in the last 5 months I've bought 150 SACDs and 15-20 CDs. Wait a second, I bought the Grateful Dead box set too.

I have bought SACDs of music I already have; just to name a couple: Sonny Rollins "Way out West", Miles "Cookin'" (not here yet) and the three Patricia Barbers (MoFi). No problem. I like giving CDs to friends.

Regards,
Metralla

 

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Hello friend.

 

Well Metralla, my address is 316......

Hi man, nice to see you back.

 

I'm not ready to dump my CD collection yet...

I look at it this way - vinyl albums dominated for 40 years from the 1950's thru' to the mid 80's before CD's took over as medium of public choice.

By that reckoning, as much as I'd like one of the new formats to come through, it could be another 10 years before a dominant new format takes over and captures the public's imagination in the way that CD's did.

Long way to go yet...unless the majors decide to force something on us...

 

I'll add to the pessimism expresssd by Gary. Not only will they find new ways to screw with the sound, they will be making wierd and crazy multichannel remixes to wow the buyer. It's already happening with DVD-A. And, do you think the public will come to appreciate the increased fidelity? Nooooooo! They will figure out a way to compress it si it sounds good on the radio and in the car! It's what the public wants.

 

Re: Re: Ready to dump your CDs?

You're probably right that LPs sound better, but I don't think the general public sees it that way. I think they believe CDs sound better--you know, more WOW.

 

Re: Re: Re: Ready to dump your CDs?

On the flip, Many CDs sound much better than their LP counterparts. The opinion is wide open.

 

Again, something being called "better" is a matter of personal opinion, not fact.

 

Re: Re: Re: Ready to dump your CDs?

I don't necessarily think LPs sound better, actually. I just meant that I don't think sound quality was a major factor in causing CDs to become adopted as the preferred format of the general public. People liked CDs because they are smaller than records, you don't have to turn them over, more music fits onto one, and you can scratch 'em (to a large degree) and they don't skip, and you can skip instantly from song-to-song or play em in random order. I think if you did a survey of people who were buying music in the 80s, and asked them why they stopped buying records and started buying cds, I think very few would say "because cds sound better and can convey a larger amount of the frequency spectrum". I think almost everyone would cite the other reasons I listed above.

The general public doesn't stop to notice the difference between good and bad mastering, so I doubt the subtle improvement SACD offers over CD is enough to grab their attention and make them adopt a whole new format. The format that replaces cds will be one that offers dramatic improvement in areas besides sound quality, like storage capacity, ease-of-use, or durability and portability.

 

You are right czeskleba.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Ready to dump your CDs?

In a word, Convenience. I know people that rip everything to MP3 so they can put it on their MP3 player (Holds a thousand songs!! Yeah Baby!!). Apparently, CDs are not convenient enough

 

Metralla...isn't it wonderful that we have some Riverside/Prestige titles on SACD? Let's hope that trend keeps up. I haven't ordered any of them yet but do intend to do so. Are these hybrid? Have they been remixed for multi?

 

15 years ago the record industry got me to abandon a 2000+ lp collection and rebuy the entire thing (well, almost the entire thing as some lp's are still NOT on cd).

i will never, and i say never with conviction, rebuy the entire collection for a third time. should cd's go the way of the lp i will buy a couple of back-up cd players and listen to what i have for the remainder of my life.

renny

 

I really can't see the SACD's and DVDA's, etc. as anything more than fads. Sure they sound amazing if you have the equipment- but, CD's should be it: the last format. I really hope that the new MoFi and DCC concentrate on standard redbook CD's- there is still so much potential. When all the multi-channel formats go the way of Quad., we don't want to lose those labels again. MoFi should start another line of aluminum audiophile releases- and re-release the originals! I'm sure we'd all buy "I Robot" or "Year Of The Cat" if they were re-released. That would keep them in the black while they work on new product.
My store doesn't carry any DVDA's, and we have a few SACD's used. I always have to tell people what it is, and that it won't play on their stereo and, therefore, we never sell them.


nashreed

 

Having been a victim of the 8-track (at the time 8-track sounded a LOT better than cassette), I haven't considered dropping CD for SACD, or even purchasing an SACD player. I will not consider purchasing an SACD player until I am sure I am not buying into a dead format.

However, I HAVE considered dropping CD for vinyl. I'm extremely impressed with Steve's CD mastering projects, and a lot of the MFSL stuff (I kind of like their EQ curve) but beyond that, after 15 years of CD I'm pretty much convinced that most CDs don't sound very good. There is something about digital sound that is just not very pleasing unless the mastering engineer REALLY knows what's up. I've been through the original pressings and the remasters and the reremasters of a lot of titles, and something just isn't right. I get tired of the CD sound and turn on the TV.

I recently went back and listened to some of my old vinyl, and it just SOUNDS more pleasing, even without the greater dynamic range. Or maybe that's WHY it sounds better, I don't know. CD only sounds great at very high volumes. I don't think CD was any great improvement over vinyl, sound-wise. (Maybe better than some of the thin recycled vinyl junk they put out for a while, and multi-generation repressings. However, some old first pressing LPs sound really GOOD. For example, The Doors. It's hard to choose beteen a red label Electra and a DDCC gold. They both sound incredible.

I think that since the days of vinyl we lost something and gained something, and I'm not sure if what we lost isn't more important than what we gained. When I first heard CD I was blown away. It got old fast, although it took me a long time to realize it. Since SACD might easily affect me the same way, and because there is no gaurantee the format will survive in an age of MP3s, I think I'll stick to DCCs and MFSLs and think about buying vinyl again.

 

Always fun to relive things from over a decade ago in order to see how the projections/predictions/questions turn out.

 

Why would I dump something I've spent 30 years collecting?