Vinyl is not obsolete, Will CD become obsolete ?

[Cable Monkey]

The biggest problem CD has is that the players have finite lives. We return to vinyl because there are very fine players both vintage and modern and that is what continues to drive manufacture and sale of vinyl.

The second biggest problem is that the contents of a CD can be copied and played without either the CD or a player involved. This is fundamentally different to vinyl in that it is possible to have in your possession the contents of a CD, complete with artwork without physically having that CD or a CD player.

In short, we need and have players to play vinyl. We don't need CD's or players to enjoy what a CD can do.

 

[abbydog]

I like antiques but not audio antiques

You might when you see the amount of stuff junked for want of IC's and mechs.

 

[vuk]

anyone without a proper turntable shouldn't even bother posting in this area of the forum. your opinions on audio are as useful as those of a chef who has no garlic in his kitchen.


vuk.

 

[Mescalito]

anyone without a proper turntable shouldn't even bother posting in this area of the forum. your opinions on audio are as useful as those of a chef who has no garlic in his kitchen.


vuk.

In this day & age, what do I need a t/t for? Certainly not to listen to music with. CDs and/or streaming allow me to do that with greater fidelity than any t/t ever made.


Chris

 

[Tony L]

'Obsolete' does not mean 'useless'. Both vinyl and CD will be essential to the serious music lover pretty much indefinitely as so much music exists only on these forms - I can think of much great music that doesn't exist digitally at all yet, and similarly many excellent CDs where even a low-res MP3 is not readily available to download. And this is just thinking of titles, not taking crap modern remastering that sensible listeners would try to avoid into account.

 

[abbydog]

a proper turntable

Does the acoustic gramophone count? I hear you cannot tell it from live in tests?

greater fidelity

Now there's a thing...

 

[Steven Toy]

anyone without a proper turntable shouldn't even bother posting in this area of the forum. your opinions on audio are as useful as those of a chef who has no garlic in his kitchen.


vuk.

Not so.

 

[Jo 90]

Crikey... Some pretty entrenched positions on this one! Good debate. I read a cracking (and very technical) whiteppaper recently suggesting that despite all the arguments hi-res audio beyond 16bit 44.1 is superfluous.

Oh yes, the 24bit 192 brigade will steam in with counter claims but this paper just ripped them all apart.

So, will the CD die out ? Well it's no longer new so that screws up all those marketing weenies out there (they have to keep inventing new, better or we do not buy their stuff) so cd has already been blown away by the download/mp3 age.

Remember, money is made from the masses not the geeks reading this forum.

On that basis, cd is a distant memory in the minds of the clever marketeers that dictate our future. You are not in control. I just bought a very modestly priced but very well designed and built CD player (shock). I will not name it because to many people unless it costs a gazillion pounds, its not hifi.

It is brilliant ! I still derive much pleasure from discovering new music and as I live in the middle of nowhere, hi res downloads are not an option. I will continue to buy CDs and of course vinyl wherever I can as I'm much more interested in the music than just the technical discussion

Let the debate continue !

 

[Mescalito]

'Obsolete' does not mean 'useless'. Both vinyl and CD will be essential to the serious music lover pretty much indefinitely as so much music exists only on these forms - I can think of much great music that doesn't exist digitally at all yet, and similarly many excellent CDs where even a low-res MP3 is not readily available to download. And this is just thinking of titles, not taking crap modern remastering that sensible listeners would try to avoid into account.

All, of course, perfectly true. I have quite a few albums which, to the best of my knowledge, have never been digitally released. I digitised them myself, so they are not a problem.

But you are right, there are some things I would dearly like to own which have not been digitised.

However, they are becoming fewer and fewer. There are lot's of blogs out there which specialise in making hi-res flacs available of records which are never likely to get official digital release.

Having said that, who would have thought that Tiny Tim would get a CD releas?

Chris

 

[Rapid 17]

Crikey... Some pretty entrenched positions on this one! Good debate. I read a cracking (and very technical) whiteppaper recently suggesting that despite all the arguments hi-res audio beyond 16bit 44.1 is superfluous.

Oh yes, the 24bit 192 brigade will steam in with counter claims but this paper just ripped them all apart.

So, will the CD die out ? Well it's no longer new so that screws up all those marketing weenies out there (they have to keep inventing new, better or we do not buy their stuff) so cd has already been blown away by the download/mp3 age.

Remember, money is made from the masses not the geeks reading this forum.

On that basis, cd is a distant memory in the minds of the clever marketeers that dictate our future. You are not in control. I just bought a very modestly priced but very well designed and built CD player (shock). I will not name it because to many people unless it costs a gazillion pounds, its not hifi.

It is brilliant ! I still derive much pleasure from discovering new music and as I live in the middle of nowhere, hi res downloads are not an option. I will continue to buy CDs and of course vinyl wherever I can as I'm much more interested in the music than just the technical discussion

Let the debate continue !

Come on Jo, which CD player did you buy ?

 

[formbypc]

In this day & age, what do I need a t/t for?

To listen to music that's never been released on CD, but has been released on vinyl?

To listen to LPs produced direct from analogue masters when those masters were fresh out of the studio, and hadn't decayed, shed any oxide, and before the record companies chose to digitally remaster them?

Certainly not to listen to music with. CDs and/or streaming allow me to do that with greater fidelity than any t/t ever made.

Only for the music which has been released in these formats, surely, which somewhat limits your choice.

 

[formbypc]

Crikey... Some pretty entrenched positions on this one! Good debate. I read a cracking (and very technical) whiteppaper recently suggesting that despite all the arguments hi-res audio beyond 16bit 44.1 is superfluous.

Oh yes, the 24bit 192 brigade will steam in with counter claims but this paper just ripped them all apart.

If the counter-claims follow the paper, how can the paper 'rip them apart', since they couldn't have been available to those who wrote the paper .... ???

Are you seriously suggesting that 16/44 is the absolute best we can do with digital technology, and nothing surpasses it? Really? No improvements in digital tech since 1983?

 

[Mescalito]

To listen to music that's never been released on CD, but has been released on vinyl?

To listen to LPs produced direct from analogue masters when those masters were fresh out of the studio, and hadn't decayed, shed any oxide, and before the record companies chose to digitally remaster them?



Only for the music which has been released in these formats, surely, which somewhat limits your choice.

I still have an LP12/Ittok/Troika/Lingo/Linto. It now lives in my study on a wall shelf next to the PC. I only ever use it to digitise vinyl.

And in reality, apart from some very obscure psych, there's actually very little out there I want that only exists in vinyl form. It is decades since I actually bought any vinyl.

Chris

 

[spartaco]

I do think that the CD will loose its importance like the LP did.

I passed to computer --> USB --> DAC and left my over 20-30k quid cd transporter nearly unused. I bought recently over 200 CDs but I copied them into iTunes and if I'll be listening to them is from the iTunes database not from the CD transporter. The last decision will be done when I receive the transporter back with new mechanics and other small updates.If then that will be better than some hi-res downloads I really wouldn't expect that.
Actually since a few days I'm listening exclusively with my turntable.

Most of the listeners will use in the future stuff like spottily other will download music files and the audiophiles will go for hi-res downloads. Only a very small quantity of persons will buy CDs.

 

[pqpq]

I'll always have a turntable because I have loads of vinyl which has never been issued digitally and because I like playing vinyl. I realise that "liking" the format is just a foible of mine, but as someone who's much more interested in music than hi-fi, having access to formats is more important to me than their sonic differences.

Cds are different. Yes, I have lots of CDs where the music has never been available in any other format (including downloads) but I almost never use a CD player because I stream them.

So I'll continue to play vinyl, but I won't be playing CDs again. I suspect though that both formats will be considered obsolete, despite their differences, because only a tiny number of enthusiasts will continue to use them.

 

[Shufflegroove]

Vinyl is so superior to every other medium in my opinion. I became a hifi buff at the age of 13 and remember when cd players came out. They sounded inferior way back in 1983 when I had a Dunlop Systemdek 11 and they sound inferior now (although much improved) compared to my Oracle Delphi V/SME V/Lyra Titan. Yet people got rid of there vinyl collection and replaced with cd's!!!
I do listen to cd's but when I put a record on the difference is night and day. I am not impressed with computer audio either. Some argue about the convenience but how difficult is it to take a record out of a sleeve and put on a record deck?

 

[Mescalito]

Vinyl is so superior to every other medium in my opinion. I became a hifi buff at the age of 13 and remember when cd players came out. They sounded inferior way back in 1983 when I had a Dunlop Systemdek 11 and they sound inferior now (although much improved) compared to my Oracle Delphi V/SME V/Lyra Titan. Yet people got rid of there vinyl collection and replaced with cd's!!!I do listen to cd's but when I put a record on the difference is night and day. I am not impressed with computer audio either. Some argue about the convenience but how difficult is it to take a record out of a sleeve and put on a record deck?

That's because it is technically and sonicly superior,(IMO, of course).

Chris

 

[tdiddey]

Hey:

Because media hypes most new technology as instantly better and life
improving. Look at how many folks are ditching cd's for mp3 players or
pc based systems. I find the whole mainstream new loathing for Physical
media sad and amusing. I like cd's( and vinyl) and find mp3's merely a convenience medium.
Tdiddey

Vinyl is so superior to every other medium in my opinion. I became a hifi buff at the age of 13 and remember when cd players came out. They sounded inferior way back in 1983 when I had a Dunlop Systemdek 11 and they sound inferior now (although much improved) compared to my Oracle Delphi V/SME V/Lyra Titan. Yet people got rid of there vinyl collection and replaced with cd's!!!
I do listen to cd's but when I put a record on the difference is night and day. I am not impressed with computer audio either. Some argue about the convenience but how difficult is it to take a record out of a sleeve and put on a record deck?

 

[Purité Audio]

MP3's are a convenience medium, in much the same way as compact cassettes were,
Keith.

 

[arthur]

anyone without a proper turntable shouldn't even bother posting in this area of the forum. your opinions on audio are as useful as those of a chef who has no garlic in his kitchen.


vuk.

Utter flaccidity me old cvck!

Or, more simply, bollocks.