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Why are CDs the current hot topic?

H2oman7.62mm said:
I never gave up on CDs, and that's probably why I don't get the current flood of CD and CD player content on YouTube as well as many of the music and hi-fi gear related sites. I have CD players and changers in my trucks, and I have a carousel style CD changer plus remote DAC for my vintage home system. I have purchased way more CDs than LPs over the past 10 years, and I don't see that ever changing.

Why are CDs the current hot topic?
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I read recently that CD sales were increasing. I knew it was only a matter of time. From reading this forum, vinyl people advise sticking with albums pressed no later than 1985, because the quality of the new pressings is not as good. Well, it was in 1985 that I threw up my hands at the poor pressing quality of vinyl, and went with CDs. What did me in was buying the Boz Scaggs album with 'Loan Me a Dime' on it, and having to return it nine times due to defects, each one located in a different part of the album - so it wasn't just a poor pressing. I swore after the ninth album that I was never going back to vinyl, and I'm sticking with that.

Two other things are that you can't play vinyl in a car, and it's easier to rip songs from a CD than a vinyl album, so I'm not hanging onto songs I don't like for the sake of a few good ones.

By the way, I just ordered a second CD player as a back-up to the one I'm currently using. Just in case. I love the CD format.
 
E2 said:
At the other end of the spectrum people are getting away from physical media don't care for having a lot of stuff.
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I don't have a lot of stuff. Every time I move I end up giving away some stuff. Right now I am thinking about donating some CDs that I don't listen to much. Libraries always need CDs... Plus the ones that I own can probably fit in a shoebox or two.

I have a total of 4 CD players, two full size (Fisher and JVC) and two Panasonic portable units. One of the full size units (the Fisher) is about to get donated as well. It could use a new belt. And honestly it is the least favorite player of mine anyway. It works but has those tray issues and the sound is not as refined as either the JVC or the portable Panasonic units with the MASH DAC...

So I really don't own a whole lot of physical media. Except for the Stevie Ray Vaughan "Soul to Soul" CD that I just purchased for $8.53. Because this thread inspired me. LOL.
 
The real question is what to do with FM tuners and not CDs. The FM dial has gone to crap frankly so now I just do internet radio. Streaming JB Radio right now. Sounds good.

And honestly it might have been a Stevie Ray Vaughan song that was played which sent me on the journey to the CD. Watched some videos and then read the Wikipedia on him and then landed on the Soul to Soul CD. I have heard those first two albums plenty. So I thought I would explore a bit of his later stuff. Auditioned it on YouTube and then bought the CD.
 
This website is about audio gear so there ain’t a ton of other ways to play your own music. It is a marvelous medium.
As far as being redundant there’s people that still listen to the same music over and over for 40 years.
 
Quadman2 said:
Why?

As some have shared:

cheap format
robust source
lots available
less player maintenance
good variety still
compact
high play rate
small foot print
easy to rip
less maintenance

Q
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And I would add to that: great sound quality. Some will argue that LPs are better in that regard, but I would say that on good equipment both can sound great... though IMHO, I would still say that CDs beat vinyl.
E2 said:
But what I want is not inexpensive. Ralph Towner Solstice was $20, and I rarely buy new CD's. SHM Japan wasn't much more than the standard CD, which I have. Just wanted a cleaner CD version.

Where can I get cheap Brian Eno CD's I want?

If one is into more esoteric material it is not cheap.

Lastly what is cheap?
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I get what you're saying, and as someone with a large collection, I already own so much of the common, more easily found for cheap titles that I'd ever want. Still, my musical interests are really broad so I cast the net wide and in doing so, I can often find something interesting to me that I don't already own in sales of cheap CDs. The key is not to look so much for specific titles, but to allow yourself to be surprised by waht you may find.

Even if you have yo buy new to get certain titles, they still tend to be far less than the cost of LPs.
 
I stopped buying CD's years ago, probably have a couple of thousand, and I havn't listened to one in a long time. Guess I missed the news.
 
H2oman7.62mm said:
I think he is more of a black coffee caffeine tweaker.
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why-not-both-why-not.gif

We used to do late morning bong hits and espresso shots in grad school.
 
KarinS said:
From reading this forum, vinyl people advise sticking with albums pressed no later than 1985, because the quality of the new pressings is not as good. Well, it was in 1985 that I threw up my hands at the poor pressing quality of vinyl, and went with CDs.
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1978 was the last year for consistantly good recordings.
 
^ as to the sudden spate of videos on the subject of the resurgence of CD's popularity, I'd say this is the main driver. All these "audio" channels have to keep creating new content and getting clicks, or they die. Since nearly every subject in audio has already been beaten to death by years of videos from dozens of channels, this is the new hotness. Once one talks about it, the others will, in turn, feel obligated to do the same.

I don't doubt there has been some nascent boost in the sales of CD's, and there are a few probable reasons for that. But now that it has been noticed, it's being talked about. The fact that numerous content creators have tunnel vision, and are all talking about it at once, probably creates a false impression of how large the trend actually is.

The same way news media will get hung up on a particular type of crime, or some sort of specific disaster (fires, tornadoes, building collapses, whatever) after a notable occurrence of same, and can't seem to stop reporting on it to the exclusion of other events for days or weeks on end, YouTube channels within a certain wheelhouse will all get focused on the same "thing" once a few of them have dropped videos on it. Pretty basic herd behavior in a business where one has to try and stay relevant (and not be "scooped" by your competition), or you aren't getting subs and making money.
 
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