Cd’s when are they obsolete ?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by pocofan, Apr 7, 2018.

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  1. NettleBed

    NettleBed Forum Transient

    Location:
    new york city
    I guess I could be wrong but I doubt that avoiding compression is much of a contributing factor at all to the "vinyl revival" of the last 10 years. Based on what we already know about the importance of sound quality to most people who listen to music (it's not very important) it wouldn't stand to reason avoiding compression on CDs has much of anything to do with it. Certainly, the sales of audiophile-grade CD remasterings didn't indicate that a mass market existed for that.

    It is a mix of nostalgia, simply being the cool thing, and the result of being a music lover in a world where many of the reasons why CDs were created in the first place no longer have as much importance or meaning as they once did. CDs were a way to make music more portable, more durable, take up less space (both in the home and in the store) and be easier for the consumer in general (most people loved that with CDs there was no way to have sonic degradation: for the most part, they either played perfectly or they didn't play; no tedious cleanings or careful handling were required in order to keep the album from sounding as good as it could). But once digital files (and streaming access) became available, CDs suddenly weren't so portable, convenient or as physically small. If all you're listening to are digital files anyway why bother to keep an antiquated delivery mechanism around? (obviously, there are some reasons, but I'm speaking for the masses here). Plus, the CD was exactly the same as the digital file. The digital file might not be as high of a resolution, but - again - most people either don't care or truly can't hear a difference. Thus, the circling back to vinyl. If one is going to engage in the practice of not listening to music as non-physical files/streams and instead use a physical medium, then vinyl records give the customer *more* of what he/she buys physical media for. You can have an album digitally now without a jacket or jewel case... but if you're going to go down the road of keeping one around in physical form, why not have it be the one where you really can appreciate the artwork and read the liner notes without a magnifying glass? If you're going to engage in something so luxurious and inefficient as owning physical media, why not have it be something that isn't an exact copy of what you get as a DL or stream? Why not get the thing that requires the most care and effort from the user, rather than the least?
     
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  2. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Nothing new though. Stores have been doing that for years now. A couple of stores went 100% lp 5-7 years ago in this city.
     
  3. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    In regards to the vinyl resurrection, The head of marketing at Deutsche Gramophone had said in an interview that from their research it was concluded that most of the vinyl buyers do not have a turntable, have never listened to the records they bought but they get them because they are trendy.
     
  4. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I think so because it's not the primary driver of the resurgence. It's just one of many reasons people got back into it. But I think it would've had some sort of impact as the SQ angle was hyped a lot. Even Neil Young got in on the act mentioning the same misconceptions about cds as everyone else. It got a lot of column inches in the press which would've helped publicize the whole resurgence even more.

    I think it's an interesting question and it would've been interesting to see the over all affect.
     
  5. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Well it can feel like that sometimes. I find the discussions odd though. For years and years people never really complained about cds much, bought them, stored them, coveted them as physical objects. Now people are doing an about face and pretending like they hated them all along, which I am not buying :) , and are willing to get into arguments about when cds will disappear.

    Fair enough there are some who have been anti-cd form day one and never bought them so I'll give them credit for sticking to their guns. But I don't believe every anti-cd poster fits into that category.

    I can't recall any discussion about cd obsolescence we've had where tempers don't flare up from to time.
     
    OptimisticGoat, Man at C&A and clhboa like this.
  6. pathosdrama

    pathosdrama Forum Resident

    Location:
    Firenze, Italy
    I think vinyl resurgence has been fueled by two aspects:

    1) digital versions easily available. Back when vinyl started its comeback, that was the main selling point: you get the tactile experience, we (labels, especially indies) give you a freely downloadable digital counterpart to listen in your mp3 player. With streaming, things got even easier.
    2) Visual/tactile experience. Vinyl is the ultimate music collecting item, it looks great on a shelf (CDs do not, let's face the truth), it sounds warm, it gives music a ritualistic dimension.

    IMHO, millennials who started collecting vinyl did it according to these couple of aspects more than CDs being compressed.
     
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  7. R. Cat Conrad

    R. Cat Conrad Almost Famous

    Location:
    D/FW Metroplex
    Sorry, I've been too busy to contemplate any hostile takeovers since your post. ;)

    That said, there are lots of examples of businesses which start small and eventually dominate markets to the point that they buy out or eliminate competitors. It's especially true of intuitive businesses with new angles. CDs as a popular format may currently be on the wane, but newer formats and hardware with backwards compatibility can keep out of favor formats ...and folks with large collections... thriving during periods where sales decline.
    :cheers:
    Cat
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2018
  8. Catfish Stevens

    Catfish Stevens Forum Resident

    Location:
    Anoka, MN
    Is the thinking nowadays that there was cabal that had a meeting to ruin all music with compression and EQ?

    I was there in the early 80s when CDs first came out. And people had mixed feelings about how they sound good and noise free (no surface pops from dirty records) but they seemed a bit sterile sounding and lacked the warmth of the records every one had or they sounded like muddy crap like early Dark Side Of The Moon CD releases from using LP production tapes. Edit: many releases also sounded perfectly fine and were revealing improvements over their lp counterparts

    So anyway my point is that remasters at least in the beginning were a response to a market demand and not something foisted upon an an unwilling public.
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2018
  9. Massproductions

    Massproductions Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    as long as my CDs last until I drop, I don't give a poop what happens afterwards!
     
  10. Massproductions

    Massproductions Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    and they paid twice as much for the record than the CD. As PT Barnum said "There's a sucker born every minute!"
     
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  11. Massproductions

    Massproductions Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    I think it's because millennials don't have any original ideas! Instead they dig up older stuff from our past and claim it cool and "hip" like they invented it. Such as vinyl records and the endless reboots of movies and TV shows. Next thing you know, roller skates and poodle skirts will be the latest rage. COME UP WITH SOMETHING NEW KIDDIES!
     
    ClassicalCD likes this.
  12. Massproductions

    Massproductions Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    The nice thing about CD's being "dead" or "uncool" is you can get them really cheap or even free because fools are giving them away after they rip them. The same thing happened with vinyl after the CD came out. LP's were being dumped into the trash. Now people are paying big bucks for original pressings. I'll hang onto my CDs for when people realize again why they are better, and I'll sell off the ones I don't want and make a killing :p
     
  13. scobb

    scobb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    In Europe there was a pressing plane (can't remember which one) that made millions of bad CD's that rotted so it can and does happen. I had several tin machine CD's replaced.

    I answer to the original question.... when no one has an interest in this thread!
     
  14. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    UK PDO.
     
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  15. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    Luckily they were replacing them even years after release.
     
  16. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    For the ones where they had the license. But yes, you could get them replaced. Many didn't according to the used bins.
     
  17. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    You are right. When they could not replace, they offered to send me any other CD I wished.
     
  18. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    UK supermarkets is an area where competitors have come in and changed they way the larger supermarkets operate (fewer lines, concentrating on the core business, etc.). The newer upstarts don't have home delivery, which is a telling statement.

    Artists are now buying out their catalogs, so they will determine what formats are available. However, many seem to think expensive boxsets are the way to go.
     
  19. Sear

    Sear Dad rocker

    Location:
    Tarragona (Spain)
    I have some unofficial CDs (russian counterfeits and others) ... Do they worn out ?
     
  20. vinyl diehard

    vinyl diehard Two-Channel Forever

    I thought you were talking about vinyl there. You would have to beat the s+×t out of a CD to have it mistrack. Compared to vinyl, they are robust and going to give you solid noise free playback forever. They are the most perfect physical format, like it or not.
     
  21. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    CDs in digipacks get scratched from just removing and replacing the disc in the paper slot. Car players sometimes cause damage just by inserting the disc.
    None of this might make the cd skip, but a lightly scratched cd is worthless if you try to sell it on nowadays, unless it's a real collector's item.

    Point being: It's easy to damage a CD despite being careful.
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2018
  22. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    i personally don't buy them to sell.
     
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  23. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Me neither, but I like to have the option open, just like when buying a car. I don't want the car to be worthless after a week of use if I can help it.
     
    anorak2 likes this.
  24. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    None of this is true! No one is saying that they hated CD's all along, except maybe a small minority of dedicated vinyl collectors. Personally, I LOVED CD's and still own them and listen to them. My best memories of collecting were in the 90's with CD's. It just seems to me that it's a plain fact that CD's have been overtaken by newer technologies which can do everything CD can to as well or better. That's not "hating CD's", it's just being realistic. Tempers flare up because a fair number of people can't bear to think that the CD isn't going to remain the top dog music format. Talking about CD's becoming obsolete makes them nervous and defensive.

    It made sense to covet CD's when it was the only game in town for digital music, but when you can fit your entire collection in lossless format in your pocket, every advantage that CD ever claimed in the sonic and portability department has been superseded. And I really don't think jewel cases and booklets are that much of an advantage. You can't really look at a world where disc players have virtually disappeared from cars and computers as a world in which the CD still rules. I really HOPE that when my current home disc player finally dies I can get an equivalent one, but it's not looking entirely certain. Technology moves fast and the little silver discs are getting left behind. It sucks, but it is happening, and it isn't all bad. I would not trade the FLAC format to go back to carrying a dozen CD's in a bag everywhere.
     
  25. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    if everything ends up streaming and downloads, all i will be buying is second hand .... or maybe i'll just burn all my stuff and sit and play my acoustic guitar.

    i'm glad someone likes the idea of having something that you don't have, but i'm not.

    not defensive, scared or any other thing, i'm just not interested in some hokey pretend it's yours online crap
     
    OptimisticGoat likes this.
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