30 Years of Perfect Sound?

The recording/mastering studios have more to do with bad sound than the formate itself. I have CD's that sonically trounce LP's and vice versa. To much is being made of the formate and not enough about the way music is being procured to a disc of any size.

" burn a copy of the manufactured cd onto a good quality cd-r and it improves "
If your CD burner is doing it's job the sound will be identical.

CDP's do have jitter. But as we all know by now the amount of jitter has been reduced by newer generations of players to a level that is measurable but no longer audible, even to the most discerning ears. AES has had some interesting but lengthy papers on the subject.

The only thing that computer audio has murdered is the sound.

Actually CD's don't spin at high rates as someone above has stated. I'm not sure of what RPM they turn at but if you've ever watched a CD player operate with the top off you will see that it turns much slower than an LP. And as far as them being flimsy, when you take into consideration there size they flex much less than most LP's. There not perfect, but technology a side, they still sound better than any hard drive solution I've heard or owned.

Johnny,,, have you watched one spin while it plays? I have, to the eye it's quite slow, try it.

Audioengr,,, We have demoed many hi end hard drives at audio club members homes and at length , the survey after was split about 50/50 as to which each member preferred. I preferred the CD.