CD players facing history soon?

Over the years cdp+softwares have improved alot.Players injected new innovations into power supply,mechanism,dac etc+softwares have better musical arrangements,higher res.While they were commenting how good res. discs namely xrcd,hqcd,k2 hd cd,audiophile,sacd etcsound.On oct 10 2011 Star Audio File drop a bombshell with this headline"Welcome to tomorrow where cd players are history and musical entertainment unlimited in scope" when promoting a product. There are millions who have invested their hard-earned money into these proven devices.There are tens of millions cdp,vcd,dvd.bluray etc can play cds,take at least 50 donkey yrs. to phase them out.History?

Hi Joe, don't forget how quickly the LP market died when CD first appeared. Once bandwidth becomes cheaper and live streaming takes off - CD sales will virtually disappear. CD will become a niche format, like LP. Only collectors like myself will keep on buying CD.

WongKK wrote:Hi Joe, don't forget how quickly the LP market died when CD first appeared. Once bandwidth becomes cheaper and live streaming takes off - CD sales will virtually disappear. CD will become a niche format, like LP. Only collectors like myself will keep on buying CD.

Yes, I agree.

Just take a look at DVD (never mind about VCD). Blu-ray sales is on track to surpass DVD. And BDP now is very cheap. You can get one at about RM300. Yes, the BD itself could be expensive but it could also see its premature death.

Now, HD streaming is possible let alone hi-rez music. With the ever advancing tech and broadband, I am not surprise that our way of listening music or watching a movie will be changed in very near future. Now, more and more people are talking about media players, download, CAS, buying hi-rez music from the internet, etc.

It is only ourselves whether or not to jump into this bandwagon. And when to jump into it.

Surely, 'History My Foot' is putting the wrong foot forward in starting a thread, isn't it?

I'm kinda stuck in both eras... cos I for 1 have surely ditched CDs and moved on to PC source; BUT; I'm loving those old recordings being ripped in high resolution 2496 from LPs...

cheers

Can some please explain in plain english how streaming works and the hardware & software needed to enjoy it ?

whenever i meet a manufacturer, i will ask him "is the cd player dead?"

the answer, surprisingly, is "no."

this is becos there are millions of people in the world with millions of CDs and they will still need a cd player to play them.

there will be fewer cd makers, but cd players will still be made.

however, they will not use dedicated cd transports anymore like the old philips cdm series. they will use dvd drives designed for computers and modify them for cd use.

but there is at least one specialist cd transport maker - stream unlimited - which was set up by ex-philips engineers. when philips stopped making cd transports, these guys set up their own company to make cd transports. steam unlimited transports are used by wadia, ayon and a few others.

I still enjoy CD's despite more people may have issues with its limitations and exploring elsewhere, analog or hi-res stuff, thats their own practice. I'll still collect good cd's because I too am quite a collector and the more collectible a cd is, the more I'll be interested to acquire it, only silly prices may limit me from doing so. Yes, the CDP will thrive in my home as long as I'm still able to enjoy hifi. Looking for a decent SACD in future too.

joechoong wrote:Over the years cdp+softwares have improved alot.Players injected new innovations into power supply,mechanism,dac etc+softwares have better musical arrangements,higher res.While they were commenting how good res. discs namely xrcd,hqcd,k2 hd cd,audiophile,sacd etc.On oct 10 2011 Star Audio File drop a bombself with this headline"Welcome to tomorrow where cd players are history and musical entertainment unlimited in scope" when promoting a product. This insulted the inteligent of millions who have invested their hard-earned money into these proven devices.There are tens of millions cdp,vcd,dvd.bluray etc can play cds,take at least 50 donkey yrs. to phase them out.History my foot.

Since I wrote that standfirst - it is not a headline - and review, I will address this.

Why does your intelligence feel insulted and what is your grouse, precisely?

What bombshell are you talking about? It is a bloody tongue-in-cheek introduction to a review (no, it is not promotion of a product but a review) and not a pronouncement of the future. You can't see that?

Tomorrow is the future, in case you have trouble understanding that - whether next week or 50 years or 100 years!

joechoong,

i just read the linn ds review twice and i don't see how the reviewer insulted the intelligence of "millions who have invested their hard-earned money into these proven devices."

I concur with sflam. I read the article with interest and it was certainly informative. No bombshell was dropped . Going by the way technology is progressing, so many options have opened up and therefore, so many choices are available. If you do not agree with the reviewer's views, that's fine, but keep the tone of your observations civil, as has often been mentioned in many posts.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion and it need not mirror the majority opinion. If one is not willing to accept new technology, so be it. No one has suggested that you should dump your CD player immediately! I won't, but I am exploring the CAS/streaming option too, as I find it has many advantages. So, relax and enjoy your music, from whichever source.....

I'm sure there's numerous people or parties who dumped their expensive short lived Laser Discs to flea markets or somewhere and rugi hellava lot of money. I wonder it they felt insulted or frustrated.

there is a difference between feeling "insulted" and feeling "frustrated".
i am sure all the laser disc fellas felt frustrated (not insulted) when vcd/dvd took over.
it was the same when vhs beat betamax and became the standard for video. the sony betamax owners felt frustrated (not insulted).

sometimes the consumer is the winner - for e.g. sacd and dvd-a vs cd. consumers adopted a wait-and-see attitude cos they did not want to be frustrated again and the sacd and dvd-a formats faded away.

It's a matter of preference, convenience and whether one adapts or otherwise. End of the day, enjoy the music in which ever way its delivered and not worry too much about what technology brings forth.

cheers

Be like me....I like all of them...still using cassette, minidisk, CD, streaming, iPod and now LP....dont be surprise if one day I will update this forum with reel player and 8 track cartridge player...heheheh

So in my case.. I am not only going into the future of streaming but also going back in time for some authentic delicacy...

Bottomline....enjoy the music in any means you like...be it from an AM radio transistor which my grandma loves it....or from super-duper-high-end-jitter-free-mega-bucks-shiny-nice-to-look-at CD player...

Thanks for the comments.It may sound that i am putting my wrong foot forward,at least i am making this forum more lively+interesting.Actually i dont feel insulted,just a bit frustrated,so will rephase some sentences+correct my spelling mistakes.I have great respect for this star audiofile author,sometimes they used many tongue in cheek introductions(sensationalize).This may give wrong impression to people.I really pity those trying to sell their cdps,finding hard to sell+keep revising their prices.I was lucky to sell my used cdp after upgrading to marantz pearl.No doubt digital steam players great potential but might find it hard to penetrate into msia market.Also the linn d.s cost around rm10K.With that sort of money one can get a good+decent cd or sacd player.Thank-you

joe choong wrote:
.I really pity those trying to sell their cdps,finding hard to sell+keep revising their prices.

old cd players are not in demand not because of streaming/cas but their transports cannot be replaced. even the philips cdm 12 for the popular marantz 63 is getting rare.

2 or 3 yrs are not old.cmy selling display units,old?ONS, old or new?TQ

During my visit to London recently, I visited 3 HMV stores, all three were doing good business having good number of patrons with CDs in their basket! IMO, for as long as manufacturers continue to roll out new CD releases, eventhough it may not be as much as it used to, and I hope they could tighten up production quality, we should be able to see this format around for quite many years.

Having 3 formats - vinyl, CD and CAS - in my system, all I can say is a that a well recorded redbook 41.1x16 CD is still pretty respectable!

Visited mastering lab in Chiswick, London using PMC speakera system, it was confirmed by the mastering engineers that there should have no difference in CD and vinyl sound because they are mastered to voice the same from the lab in their stance; in his opinion, any difference between them, was due to our playback system that is tweaked to our preference. The engineer also said that turntable is a highly tweaked playback system, which confirmed my statement made during the HF4S CAS Meet at CMY recently. BTY, this engineer masters both digital and vinyl with a direct cutting lathe sitting just behind him.

I keep 3 playback systems, and will continue to maintain all 3 of them mainly because there are certain musics only available in each and not all.

Jo Ki