Does it make sense to introduce/buy CD-only player

I called Conrad Johnson last week to see if they had any plans to produce a CD only player to replace their DV2b player which was introduced in 1998. I was told probably not because making a CD only player was risky business in this age of multiple formats. He recommended considering a universal player from McCormack (which Conrad Johnson apparrently now owns). I really hope that other high end manufacturers don't give up on CD only players but I suppose its possible.

I suggest that you approach digital as if SACD/DVD-A does not even exist. Go buy yourself a top notch redbook machine and enjoy your CD library.

I've put my money on redbook, because the format has just so much music available. With a good player the sound quality is as good as one could reasonably need, for entertainment purposes, anyway. Of course, what constitutes a "good player", and what each of us needs to be entertained, is open to interpretation, but I'm darned sure you don't need SACD to be moved by Mahler, bowled over by Beethoven or seduced by St. Saens.

As soon as the number of new titles available on one of the new formats equals the number of new titles available on CD I'll consider switching. Next year? The year after? I think not.

yes, i does.

i would invest not in sacd / dvd though i bought a marantz sacd player. yes, sacd is a little better, but only a little, it has to be a dsd recording for it to really, really better( the redbook is that good).

there simply in not enough software nor do i think there will ever be.

no high res format has ever succeded at the consumer level ( i think hard drive/ipod is the future).

if i were to invest into a new format, it would be analog ( i currently dont own a record player- but the sound is THE golden standard and there is PLENTY of cheap sofware available unlike the very, very limited and expensive selection of sacd/dvd).

Cd's are very established and will be around for awhile.

anyway it is my opinion, so please take it with a grain of salt.

best regards,

mike

The problem is that manufacturers favor their home team formats for better fidelity. Good SACD player manufacturers don't do a great job on CDs, and I am skeptical about how well they do with adding DVD-A to their machines. Good DVD-A player manufacturers have no credibility with SACD, if they would include this capability in their offerings. I feel like I should get three boxes, one optimized for each format. My system is a two channel set up that I use for movie audio, too, so I am not thinking about multi-channel SACD, yet. I am using a Sony SCD-1 for SACD and CD play and a Meridian 598 for DVD-A and DVD-V play. My sacrifice is having merely decent quality for CD playback on the SCD-1. Maybe the Spectral, eh?

Another consideration is that manufacturers are beginning to devote less attention to further improving CD playback, refocusing their R&D efforts on the new formats. This happened with VCRs when DVD-Vs began taking off. The big, well-built, high end VCRs started to disappear -- out of production. The units still available got cheaper and chintzier, with fewer features, lower build quality, and fidelity peaked out. When I sensed this, I got the last generation top of the line Sony and hoped it would outlast my tape library. This isn't a direct parallel to CDs, because new format players will still play our extensive CD libraries. But the idea does make me think about buying a last, great, high end CD player before the marketplace replaces them with diluted quality product, perhaps embedded in universal players. Not quite yet, though. Maybe the Spectral, eh?

Sorry for rambling. Good luck.

It looks like CDs will be here for quite a while. I would be really surprised if one of the other formats took off in the near future. I just bought a Musical Fidelity TriVista decoder even tho LPs are my first choice. But only you can decide your priorities.