First ever CD

[herb]

Was it the Haitink recording? It always sounded excellent on my Philips CD104 (1985).

I don't think so but the digital Decca LPs at the time were dreadful too, thin, cloudy and mechanical I played the CD first on a new Mission DAD7000, awful, then much later on a Naim CD3, awful. I threw it away as most classical music on the CD3 sounded great. I used an LP12 and FM tuner exclusively between these events, the expensive DAD7000 was given away to a mate. He seemed quite happy with it...

 

[Mullardman]

I think the first CD I bought was Famous Blue Raincoat by Jennifer Warnes. Quite odd really as I had the vinyl and an LP12. But JW's 'The Hunter' wasn't initially avilable on vinyl so by some distorted logic I decided to audition CDPs using FBR....because I knew it well. With me so far?

Anyway all I could afford was a bit over £300 for the Rotel RCD 965-BX. I'm still using it.

Another very early CD purchase was Mary Black's eponymous CD on Grapevine. It was dreadfully bright and piercing to the point of being unlistenable until I dropped it to tape and took the edge off using altered Bias.

Oddly.. I now find it very acceptable on the same CDP but through a rather better amp and speakers.

 

[Tony L]

Another very early CD purchase was Mary Black's eponymous CD on Grapevine. It was dreadfully bright and piercing to the point of being unlistenable until I dropped it to tape and took the edge off using altered Bias.

Oddly.. I now find it very acceptable on the same CDP but through a rather better amp and speakers.

Much of it was down to the analogue subjectivist thing that was so dominant in the UK at the time; really weighty and warm LP12, fairly tight and punchy Naim amps and bright Linn speakers with the ‘reverse EQ’ for that over-warm vinyl front end built in. As a whole it all balanced out perfectly and sounded great, but CD, which is flat within 0.5db or so, just sounded ear-bendingly bright via systems designed to compensate for a very warm record deck. Add to that equipment that was not really designed to cope with such high source voltage on its line inputs and bright and harsh is what you get.

I clearly remember a friend bringing an early Philips CD player (a CD160 IIRC) and a copy of Prince Sign Of The Times and INXS Kick and it sounded horrendous through my entirely analogue-centred Linn Naim system. It just stripped paint. I now have both these CDs in their original issue form (which is what I’d have heard then) and they are fine, actually really well mastered CDs, albeit very ‘80s sounding. Anyway, lesson learned a couple of decades ago, I now always set my system up using well mastered CDs as they are ‘flat’ and then tune the record deck to that. As such both sources sound superb and actually quite similar.

It’s the exact same logic as say mastering on NS10s. If you do so without understanding the rather bright and thin character of the speakers you always end up with a horribly dull and bloated recording as you end up cutting the treble and boosting the bass to compensate for the rather bright and dry speakers (when mastering you always end up with the mirror image of the monitoring rig, which is why it is so, so important to cross-reference and to know the system). So much typical ‘80s hi-fi was designed to re-EQ the often very warm suspended turntables of the day. It just wasn’t ready for CD.

 

[Mullardman]

Sort of agree Tony.. though I never owned any NAIM kit or Linn speakers. At the time of my first CD and CDP, I was using ION Obelisk 3X/X-Pak amps and Tannoy 603's

But.. I will allow that I stuck with my LP12 for far too long...

 

[wwelly]

I bought two CDs at the time I bought my first player...
Squeeze - Singles - 45's and Under
Roger Waters - Radio Kaos

 

[zekezebra]

Had a friend who worked in the local Rumbelows store. They had one C.D. player (Philips) on demo and one C.D. (Brothers in Arms) they were instructed to put on repeat all day.

After a while she told me that they were driven mad by repeats of Brothers in Arms all day every day until one day there was suddenly silence. On inspection they found someone had stolen the player and the C.D. from a shop full of customers and staff.

 

[Jamie]

The day I bought my Phillips CD473, I picked up Brothers in Arms and Hotel California.

It was good to hear decent playback of Brothers in Arms, as I resorted to buying a cassette of it when it first came out after getting 3 or 4 very poor vinyl copies, and gave up. It was one of only two pre-recorded cassettes I ever bought.

 

[chartz]

I think the first CD I bought was Famous Blue Raincoat by Jennifer Warnes. Quite odd really as I had the vinyl and an LP12.

Oddly.. I now find it very acceptable on the same CDP but through a rather better amp and speakers.

Nothing odd here.
Your system was based on the dull LP12/whatever cartridge of the time.
The CD player playing Mary Black was fine, but the rest was definitely not adept.
I know that CD well, and it is not bright at all.