No love for Compact Disc's? Yesterday the CD turned 26...
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SpeakerLabFan
< speakerlab 7's
Mr. Lin
Lunatic Member
and it passed without a whimper here on AK.
Nah, it's still alive and well in my primarily turntable/vinyl oriented system. Ever heard an XRCD, or one with K2HD mastering?
avguytx
Lunatic Member
I still listen to CD more than vinyl. It's just more handy to load 5 CD's in the carousel than it is to flip sides every 25 minutes or so when you're doing stuff around the house. Now tape on the other hand....that's history for me and has been for 15+ years. After CD came out, I never used tape again except for making a "backup" copy that I ultimately just got rid of or lost thru the years.
Doctordirt
Silence is Broken
Yeah, tape was the way to make compilations and particularly useful in the car. Casettes, anyway. Was a crappy medium, but better than having the song interrupted the way 8-track used to do it. So the tapes usefulness faded when the finally allowed the same versatility to make compilation cd's at home, since it doesn't translate into dollars lost to the makers. I can bitch that CD's don't sound the same, but as someone else already pointed out, mastering can be a big part of that, and the reduction of noise that the CD gives and the losslessness of the recording is a big plus, plus having complete control the track selection make it a superior medium, in my humble opinion. Still somewhat inflexible, especially with level control, but a better product overall. Digital can't respond the same way as analog can, but for a automotive application, analogue's best remedy was the cassette, until the cd came along and playback was perfected. The tradeoff's between tape and cd sound quality are a wash, but the convenience of a cd, durability, speed of transfer, no noise, etc make it a superior product.
ponderbear
waltzing with sin
People complained about the overly revealing nature of CDs when they first came out, anyone remember that? I was thrilled, I was actually interested in the various tape artifacts that could be heard. I knew there was always this odd buzzing sound in various older Kinks and genesis recordings, and on CD the fact these were tape machine motors was pretty obvious, and I thought that was cool.
I listen to some of my CDs from the early CD era like some Beatles albums, Dark Side of the Moon and Led Zep. There is definitely a shrillness that is unpleasant. As most are saying, it really boils down to the masters. It took some time but the digital artifacts are simply not there like they used to be. Take an immaculately recorded album like Paul McCartney's Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (just because I happen to be listening to it right now). I can't imagine anyone really complaining about it. The oud and acoustic guitar on "Jenny Wren" just sound amazing.
That said, most of my non-vinyl listening nowadays is highest-possible bitrate mp3s on my macbook, streamed wirelessly over a Roku Soundbridge. Let's face it, the convenience of a 40,000-song library on a laptop that can be shuffled at random or recombined in infinite ways is pretty freaking awesome. I would have been totally in love with this sort of thing when I was a kid collecting albums in the seventies, laboriously making mix tapes for myself and friends. And that's CD's strong suit- easily mixed and highly portable.
I still make CD complilations for use in the car. But that's all I use CDs for anymore.
I listen to some of my CDs from the early CD era like some Beatles albums, Dark Side of the Moon and Led Zep. There is definitely a shrillness that is unpleasant. As most are saying, it really boils down to the masters. It took some time but the digital artifacts are simply not there like they used to be. Take an immaculately recorded album like Paul McCartney's Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (just because I happen to be listening to it right now). I can't imagine anyone really complaining about it. The oud and acoustic guitar on "Jenny Wren" just sound amazing.
That said, most of my non-vinyl listening nowadays is highest-possible bitrate mp3s on my macbook, streamed wirelessly over a Roku Soundbridge. Let's face it, the convenience of a 40,000-song library on a laptop that can be shuffled at random or recombined in infinite ways is pretty freaking awesome. I would have been totally in love with this sort of thing when I was a kid collecting albums in the seventies, laboriously making mix tapes for myself and friends. And that's CD's strong suit- easily mixed and highly portable.
I still make CD complilations for use in the car. But that's all I use CDs for anymore.
Mr. Lin
Lunatic Member
Actually, cassettes are alive and well among a small group of us. While it's true that a lot of pre-recorded tapes sound like garbage, we're using top-quality decks and top-quality cassettes and coming out with a sound that kicks the tail of the average CDR or regular CD. Just as it's all about the mastering with a CD, it's all about recording technique and quality equipment when using cassettes.
AnalogDigit
Realistic fan.
I still like CD's. I enjoy making CD compilations from many sources (cassette, LP, 45, reel, CD) and then transferring them to cassette. The only medium that I did not care for is 8 track.
hypertone
Keepin' it Analog
That's the spirit! :thmbsp:
andy
Super Member
If you ask me, the CD is the best thing that happened to home audio since stereo. I know there are a lot of audiophiles who hate that it pushed records into obscurity, but for 99% of people it was a vast improvement over their worn out, dirty records being played on a BSR changer with a worn out stylus and a cheap ceramic pickup. It brought a truely hi-fi source to the masses.
grateful
Super Member
Are you sure? I thought birth was ~1980. That makes it 28 and still not as good as vinyl.
grateful
Super Member
This quote shows a lack of understanding about mastering. Try recording the same analog source material that you love so well onto a cdr recorder. It will kick the snot out of any cassette or reel to reel deck.
Brett a
~◦●○o0o○●◦~
Funny thing is, the LP going to outlive the CD as a medium! We've seen indications that the CD is already well on its way to obsolescence, as LPs trudge along, even picking up new converts.
I do think the only future in CD sales will be at the used music stores (both online ans in storefronts). They'll be able to survive another 20 years or so as people like us will still be collecting the soon to be old medium. I had a guy working for me-maybe 24 years old- who thought it was "quiant" how I kept music on CD. (and in jewel cases non-the-less!) In his 24 year-old world, people just don't keep CDs. It's all on the ipod and hard drive.
It's good to point this out. CDs did bring improved listening to the masses. But now they're trading it in for the convenience of mp3 and other lossy formats. I guess they prefer digital degradation to analog distortion.
But not everyone has to like the sound.
