Are CDs on the way out?

shack · October 2006

steveinaz wrote:

If you haven't heard an 8-track fade---change tracks in the middle of a song--you haven't really lived.

The distinctive "clunk" as it changes tracks is part of the experience....

cfrizz · October 2006

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

I have never seen one in person. I went straight from records to tapes to cd's!

steveinaz wrote:

If you haven't heard an 8-track fade---change tracks in the middle of a song--you haven't really lived.

George Grand · October 2006

Edison Wax Cylinders are going to get hot again too.

All those that keep referring to 8-tracks as something other than tape, guess what. There's TAPE inside those things. Really bad sounding ****, but tape nonetheless.

cmy330go · October 2006

audiobliss wrote:

I was going to mention that, but that device makes it digital, does it not?

It is still an analog process.

This link describes it better than I could.

BTW. Those of you with A.D.D. should force yourselves to read Shack's post. It is a really cool article.

audiobliss · October 2006

I'm not questioning the article, but I certainly don't understand it.

In the first paragraph it says "The signals are sent to a microprocessor via analog to digital converters, then to servos to maintain the reader head position directly above the groove." Then later on in the second paragraph it says "The entire sound reproduction chain is analog."

I just can't seem to reconcile those two statements. How in the world could the whole process be analog if it uses DAC's? Unless, of course, they're not used in the 'sound reproduction chain'? But then why would you need DAC's?

Don't guess it really matters; I wouldn't suppose I'd ever spend that much on a TT anyways.

Libertyc · October 2006

I grew up on 8-tracks. Good old 8-tracks bring back some memories. I used to have an 8-track recorder and even a boom box. You were able to switch through 4 programs to find different tracks. Till this day I still can listen to certain tunes and remember exactly where the program break was.

phono2 · October 2006

I hope that CD's are on their way out. That'll drive the price of CD's and nice used CD players way down.

But I don't think so. The alternatives, like MP3's, don't seem to be all that overwhelming

cmy330go · October 2006

phono2 wrote:

I hope that CD's are on their way out. That'll drive the price of CD's and nice used CD players way down.

But I don't think so. The alternatives, like MP3's, don't seem to be all that overwhelming

Wow. First post? That's refreshing! Most first posts are some question that we have all heard a MILLION times.

Welcome to the forum Phono2!!!

dkg999 · October 2006

Yep, 8 trks bring back some memories. Fell asleep with my GF in the back seat of my '70 Torino Cobra, the Bread 8 trk played all night until it just about melted from the heat! I hate any song Bread did to this day! The GF didn't last long either. In fact, I think it was her tape and I think it was still in the milk crate of 8 trk tapes I sold a while back

dorokusai · October 2006

I was turned-out by my Dad's hippie GF with an 8Track of Aerosmith playing in the back ground....and I have that tape. What's even more odd about that moment is that 8 track was essentially dead at that point, ala cassette tape, and that's what she ka-chunked into the stereo prior to my seduction.

Flash21 · October 2006

Actually my first music reproduction device (I hesitate to call it a "stereo") was an 8-track...in addition to the clunk, it was fond of playing more than one track at a time...really annoying to hear two songs simultaneously.

cmy330go · October 2006

Flash21 wrote:

....it was fond of playing more than one track at a time...really annoying to hear two songs simultaneously.

Some would call that efficiency.

zombie boy 2000 · October 2006

dorokusai wrote:

I was turned-out by my Dad's hippie GF with an 8Track of Aerosmith playing in the back ground....and I have that tape. What's even more odd about that moment is that 8 track was essentially dead at that point, ala cassette tape, and that's what she ka-chunked into the stereo prior to my seduction.

This is the Best Story Ever....

I'm stealing it, slapping a fake name on it (I'm thinking "Jammin' in Jersey"), and sending it to the Penthouse Forum....

I'll mail you the check

jderdock · October 2006

I like it when I buy an LP and it comes with a little piece of paper that give you a code to download the album in MP3 format.

That's the ideal for me.

I won't stop buying records, but it is nice having a portable copy of the album, too.

cmy330go · October 2006

jderdock wrote:

I like it when I buy an LP and it comes with a little piece of paper that give you a code to download the album in MP3 format.

That's the ideal for me.

I won't stop buying records, but it is nice having a portable copy of the album, too.

That is kinda what I do anyway. Since the owner of an album is allowed have a copy in other formats for personal use, I just download the LPs I have so that I can have them on my Ipod to listen in the car. It's a nice way to get a lot of great music cheap without breaking any laws.

Flash21 · November 2006

I feel slightly vindicated by this article:

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/10255

Not that I really want to be right about CDs...

cmy330go · November 2006

Doesn't sound to me like they are planning on ditching them entirely. Just saying that they will have to add more content to them to make them more appealing.

It still kills me that people are willing to pay almost the same price for an album online and have nothing tangible to show for it, except maybe a burned cd with the name scribbled on the front. What a joke.

HiPerf360 · November 2006

cmy330go wrote:

It still kills me that people are willing to pay almost the same price for an album online and have nothing tangible to show for it, except maybe a burned cd with the name scribbled on the front. What a joke.

I couldn't agree more!!!

organ · November 2006

+1 with cmy!
When you buy your music on cd, you get a product, not codes that exist in a hard drive. But the younger crowd don't seem to care.

MLZ · November 2006

I think it is cheaper and easier (though maybe not as quick) to buy a CD than to locate and download a lossless format file (if it is even available.) I don't like the lower quality of Lossy formats!

That is why I buy CDs, immediately rip them to my hard drive in WMA Lossless format and play the music through my M-Audio Revolution 5.1 sound card (2-channel) or my Roku SoundBridge hooked to my HT system. Also, specific music is much easier to find on a hard drive than searching all my CDs.

I also do not have to experience all the problems I keep reading about surrounding licenses and "Digital Rights Management"

I store the CDs in boxes in my basement and go through them whenever I want to swap out what I play on my car's CD changer. I back up my music files to a portable hard drive stored at work so, if something were to happen at my home, I would still have the 450+ CDs worth of music.

Long live CDs!

crazyeyes · November 2006

I don't think CD's are on their way out anytime soon. I think we will eventually see CD's drop off the market and be replaced by downloading programs. I just hope that the music companies will realize that Lossless quality would be a nice option for the people who want to download at that quality.

I think CD's are not as good of quality as they can be. I mean the mastering techniques have changed quite a bit and alot of the studios are boosting the volume on the cd's so that is already near clipping volume so when we put it in our high end systmes and crank it up it will clip and we will get the distortion and side effects of that. The industry seems to be more about who has the loudest CD not who has the best sounding CD and i think unfortunately that is how it is going to be with CD's. I don't think they are on their way out for the general public. But i do see them fading out in the audiophile world alot quicker than to the mainstream user. I myself am only 20 years old and i listen to more Vinyl than anything else. It just sounds better than any CD i have ever heard. With alot of the new artists putting their stuff on Vinyl i see vinyl emerging as the audiophile format of choice not the CD.

PolkThug · November 2006

eff CD's. Thumbdrive!

cbl117 · November 2006

double post:o

cbl117 · November 2006

audiobliss wrote:

In the first paragraph it says "The signals are sent to a microprocessor via analog to digital converters, then to servos to maintain the reader head position directly above the groove." Then later on in the second paragraph it says "The entire sound reproduction chain is analog.".

I'm gonna take a stab at this...It seems the signal is only in the digital domain to control the position of the reader head. Its analog on the 8-track tape, then converted to digital (ADC) to work with the microprocessor, then converted back to analog to begin the music reproduction. They probably had to convert the signal to digital to work with the servos

cmy330go · November 2006

Apparently....two stabs.:D

zombie boy 2000 · November 2006

Wow...

a 100th post for cbl117

followed by a 1000th post for cmy330go.

Double-word score yatzee beeyatch!

cbl117 · November 2006

cmy330go wrote:

Apparently....two stabs.:D

hehe my bad...

bikezappa · November 2006

MLZ

That's a good way to save space also. So you play the CDs through your computor? Can you tell the difference in sound quality between the computor playing and the CD playing with a CD player?

They make a CD storgae machine called the Olive. Do you know about this? I think it stores 100 and/or 300 CDs that are lossless. It costs $1000 I think. The company will even load your 100 cds for free.

Any comments about the sound quality of the computer or Olive?

MLZ · November 2006

I don't have a golden ear (in fact I'm 58, have some tinnitus and do not hear highs) and play through a budget stereo system in my 10 X 12 den (Onkyo TX-8211, Polk R50's and PSW10). I mainly play jazz (like small combo), bluegrass and folk.

I don't hear any difference between my SONY CDP-XE400 CD Player and my PC playing WMA Lossless via a M-Audio Revolution 5.1 sound card so I have stored my 400 or so CDs away. In fact I think I prefer the new setup's sound, but am not sure if I can express why.

I did hear an improvement when I upgraded to the Revolution from the onboard the sound card provided with my PC.

I don't know the Olive, but I purchased a 250 GB internal hard drive for $79 and the 350 hours of music occupy 117 GB. I often work from home (many conference calls around the country) and so was able to rip the CDs while working on other things.

bikezappa · November 2006

MLZ

I'm also 58 with just the begining of tinnitus. I have noticed it for about 3 months. It sounds like the high frequency buzz from a flood light on a dimmer switch. It's in both ears. It can be made louder or softer if I move my jaw in the correct position sometimes. I stopped taking asperin hopping that was the cause but it has little effect.

Has anything helped you?

My docter said there is nothing that can help and to try keep away from loud noises. I had a blast at Woodstock, now the price is to be paid.

Are CDs on the way out?

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