Perhaps I am being too pragmatic, but I do not have a strong attachment to any particular media. I am simply looking for the best, most emotive and engaging sound reproduction that I can reasonably afford. Also, I do care for flexibility, accessibility and convenience. I have high hopes for computer audio, over and above the cd, simply because it has the potential of providing excellent sound quality alongside great convenience. While my turntable still remains the sound quality champ in my home, my computer setup is beginning to be good enough that I have the hope it might someday surpass it. Were that to happen, I would not find it difficult to dispense with my turntable and analog collection. I do not have any romantic notions about particular technologies. The turntable is as much a technical apparatus as a computer or a cd player. I place the cd player as the least important component in my audio chain. Admittedly, I do so because it still retains some of the inconveniences that bedevil the analog setup, and I have placed my bet with the most convenient of the digital formats.
Are We Talking CDs And CDPs Out Of Existence?
It seems the more we join the "CD is dying camp," the more likely it is to happen. We talk at listening sessions, at club meetings, at expos, on audiophile forums, we go into our dealers just to get opinions, to hear of the trends. Sure, some of our motive is in seeking reassurance that our CD collections and expensive players are still relevant. We are also agonizing over upgrading or abandoning different pieces of gear, but it's this tone of "the end is near" that seems to be hastening the transition. Yes, you can't stop the progress of technology, but there is also the idea of preserving the essence of a hobby. We say computers and files are so much more convenient and compact--forget about convenience--it's a hobby. If it was about convenience, you'd have speakers in your ceilings and a panel on the wall, a remote in your hand, music in every room at the touch of a button, a voice command--a glorified "Clapper." And you'd have that lousy sound to go with it. This is why you have an entire wall of gear--it's a hobby. If you're brewing beer, you don't go to a liquor store just because it's more convenient. Sell the boat and get the fish from the butcher's case. No, forget cooking it, just go out and eat. What, you don't want to get up and look at your collection, don't want to saunter over and put on a new disc, you want to run the whole thing from your lap? We lost knobs to remotes--now you just want a mouse? You're going to turn over that gorgeous fifty-pound player/turntable for a tin CD-ROM? (You'll have to spend for solid state memory, or the moving parts in your computer will be inferior to those in your high-end player.) Hell, forget the computer......there's a box for that and a DAC for the box. You won't have anything to do, nothing to handle or read. I'll take my old-fashioned player with all the memories of having it upgraded several times, the satisfaction of hearing the new plateaus, the assurance of having isolated it from vibration, of building the AC cables and interconnects--all the tweaks that go with big pieces of gear that comprise this hobby............