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............
128x128jafreeman
I just don't ignore the others who report on the glitches and problems they've encountered. There are two sides to this story.
I don't disagree there will always be individuals with problems in anything.

It doesn't take too much arm twisting for me to try something. If there are reported successes, I will give it a go ... glass half full instead of half empty. I guess we just have different attitudes which is perfectly OK.
When I listen to computer audio I am prone to skip songs, change artists, genres, etc. When I put on a CD in my listening room, I actually sit back and enjoy the album. For whatever reason, listening to CDs is more enjoyable for me right now. I think I am a bit overwhelmed by the music server and dac options available too, and their prices.
Convenience is heavily driven by listening preferences - those who listen to entire albums vs those who prefer select songs within albums. I can see myself abandoning all LPs, tapes and CDs along with their associated gear if I did not want to listen to entire albums. But I do, and the fact that these mediums sound better than the current technology, makes listening and this hobby even more enjoyable.
Hi Grannyring,
I like your approach. When I find that CA is clearly sonically superior I'll happily make the transition(sound means much more to me than convenience). I've heard some very good sounding CA systems but they weren't better than a high quality CD set up. I could live with either but right now there's no compelling reason to change what I currently have.
Charles,
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Frankly, I don't give a rats a$$ what the medium is. I just want it to be good and convenient. Audio is not a hobby for me at all. It just happens to be the only way I can get superior sounding music. If someone invented an inexpensive and convenient way to get great music, I'd dump every piece of equipment that I own in a heartbeat and never look back. Playing a vinyl LP holds no romance for me...and I own two turntables and 3,000 LP's. I own a thousand cd's and an excellent cd player..I can't wait to put together a great sounding computer audio set-up to get away from the time consuming ritual of searching for cd's..and putting them away. To be able to simply go to an iPhone or iPad and choose my music is a dream come true. I will still never sell any of my cd's or LP's...I'm crazy like that. But, I do want great sound and convenience. The nostalgia of holding an LP or a cd doesn't mean squat to me...I only care about the music. The more convenient the better. If it's more convenient, it means I can listen to more of it.
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