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your first CD

I don't remember my first CD, even if I could it would still probably be too embarrassing to mention.

My first cd player was a JVC xlz-555 which I bought second hand in 1993, it had a headphone socket. Now here is the thing, it sounded great through that headphone socket into a pair of 'phones. Plugging it into the amp and my jpw sonata 'speakers was a different matter, sometimes it would sound bland but inoffensive and sometimes a horrible glassy sound.

So through the 'phones I was getting good sound and I felt it wasn't the medium at fault and I kept on buying cds and just listening to them through the phones, I'm glad I did because now cd sounds good through the system as well after a few (many!) changes, it's taken a long time though.

Mark
 
My very first CD player was Sony's Discman D5 and if I recall the very CD i popped in there was The Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense - if memory serves it sounded really clean and I too bought into the wonders of a medium which would outlast me.

That didn't last. No more CDs in my library. They all have been digitized and I do maintain vinyl but no more silver discs.
 
I have an attachment to cds, I like the idea of something spinning with a laser reading it.

Old fart I know.

Mark
 
I held out against the idea of CDs for a number of years. It had been suggested that the prices were being fixed artificially high, given the cost of actually producing them. The government in Ireland conducted an investigation, which exonerated the industry. Later, there was a similar inquiry in Britain, which again failed to find any fault. Being cynical by nature, I suspected that the industry had brought some kind of pressure or incentives to bear to achieve the desired result, and I wouldn't buy a CD on principle. Then, some time in the nineties, I was recording a programme at the RTE Radio Centre in Dublin (built on the site of Marconi's old house, apparently). Afterwards, the producer told me that RTE had co-produced a couple of new CDs, and gave me a copy of each. One was Mary Black - the collection, and the other was A Woman's Heart. They were in a drawer for a couple more years until I saw a handy little CD/radio/cassette player in a sale which I thought would be ideal for the kitchen. Out of curiosity, I played the CDs. That Mary Black one is fabulous in terms both of music and sound quality, and the clarity of her voice. I now use it for testing any new equipment, because I'm so familiar with how it sounds. Having made the step, I started buying CDs, although I don't have nearly as many as records, thankfully.
 
My first CD was Domo Arigato by Durutti Column, bought when it was released in late 1985 IIRC. It was originally a CD only release and I did not own a CDP for a couple of years as I could not afford one. We simply dubbed the CD to cassette and stored the CD.

I started out with an Aiwa CDP which sounded horrible, so I sold it and moved to a Rotel RCD865 in about 1990. That was just as bad, but we kept it for several years as vinyl was getting hard to source. It took a Naim CD3.5 and FlatCap purchased sometime around 1993/1994, if memory serves correctly, to get me going with CDs. I sold that and moved to a streamer in 2012 FWIW.
 
I find it interesting that many hear didn't like CD, the impression I get is that it sounded 'glassy', 'hard' etc, all presumably in comparison with LPs. I had my hifi-formative years listening to studio tapes on monitor loudspeakers (Lockwoods). In comparison, LPs never sounded right. Far too mushy and noisy. Maybe that's why I took to CD right away, they sounded much closer to what I was used to.

S
 
My first CD purchase was Dire Straits / Brothers in Arms, as suggested by a previous posting. I seem to remeber this being used by most shops as a demo disc due to it's 'DDD' rating.

Players in order of purhcase :

Marantz CD73
Linn Karik
Linn Karik + Numerik DAC
Linn Ikemi
Naim CDX
Naim CDX + XPS
Linn CD12

I'll never part with the CD12 ! I've yet to hear anything to better it, including all the digital streaming c**p !
 
sergeauckland said:
I find it interesting that many hear didn't like CD, the impression I get is that it sounded 'glassy', 'hard' etc, all presumably in comparison with LPs. I had my hifi-formative years listening to studio tapes on monitor loudspeakers (Lockwoods). In comparison, LPs never sounded right. Far too mushy and noisy. Maybe that's why I took to CD right away, they sounded much closer to what I was used to.

S
Click to expand...


Real life human voices don't sound as hard and grey as they can come across on a recording sometimes I find.
Conversely, violins don't sound as 'sweet and resonant' in real life as compared to recordings sometimes so I know it goes both ways.
Standing next to a drum kit in the pub for that tribute band is quite painful, I won't be found there.

Mark
 
My wife bought me a 2nd generation Philips CDP for my birthday, so I went out bought "Savage" by the Euyrhthmics to chek it out.
I was astounded by the sound. The week before, I had purchased R.E.M.'s "Murmur" on vinyl. That was the last LP I ever bought.

At the time I had an LP12/Ittok/Karma setup. The CDP was simply better.

Chris
 
This was the last time I was an early adopter. I bought a new Mission DAD7000 and started listening with a Decca Shostakovich CD. The dynamics were good but nothing else, it was a joke. Brass sounded like a kazoo, the orchestra sounded as though a blanket had been thrown over it, it was harsh, there was no sense of space and sounds decayed in a series of steps instead of smoothly. I tried for a week and then gave up CDs until 1994.

The rest of the system at the time was a huge Kenwood/Trio tuner, LP12 with Mission 774 arm, Quad amps and ESL57s.
 
Just to be different, I went from tape to CD very late and missed vinyl completely.
My listening was on a technics, I can't remember which model. But I do remember the first CD I bought which was Neds Atomic Dustbin, God Fodder the day before it was released.
Much better than tape but I now listen to vinyl more than I listen to CD.
 
Faux said:
Just to be different, I went from tape to CD very late and missed vinyl completely.
My listening was on a technics, I can't remember which model. But I do remember the first CD I bought which was Neds Atomic Dustbin, God Fodder the day before it was released.
Much better than tape but I now listen to vinyl more than I listen to CD.
Click to expand...

In a way, I did too as I never found vinyl acceptable. I had a Revox A77 for a while on permanent loan from my employer, but had to give it back when I left, so bought a Nakamichi 482Z. I recorded many tapes from BBC Radio 3, which were far more satisfying than LPs of which I had only a few.

Probably the biggest HiFi mistake I ever made was to "upgrade" my Connoisseur BD1 to a Linn LP12 in a vain attempt to improve LP playback to something acceptable. It was no better, so kept mostly to tape until CD arrived.

S.
 
My first ever exposure to CD was on the platform at Pisa rail station in summer 1985. I had a couple of hours' wait for a connection in the small hours, and was sitting trying to keep warm while reading a book. A guy sat next to me and took out a strange device which I realised was a portable CD player. I'd never heard CD up to that point and, intrigued, I asked him whether I could hear what it sounded like. It was a Phil Collins album and I was really struck by the clarity and lack of background noise compared with my grungy old cassette walkman.

I have had an up-and-down relationship with CD since: the acceptability of the format in my experience has been quite dependent on the rest of my system. My first CD player in about 1987 was part of a Sony "music system", which included a truly abysmal record deck, so I found myself listening to CDs in preference. The loan (and subsequent purchase) of a Rega Planar 3 a year or so later turned the tables completely, which was lucky, since I was starting to consider selling off all my vinyl. I bought an Exposure X and a pair of Royd Edens after that, which slewed the balance very much toward vinyl for several years.

My current Vacuum State preamp and push-pull 300B amps make CD rather listenable, though for longer-term enjoyment my Funked Pink Triangle still runs rings around it, providing all the detail and presence with a far more open soundstage and much less fatigue after an hour or so.

Alex
 
Ahh 1987....
Denon DCD610
Rotel RA820BX
Mordant short speakers on Lin Kan stands
Sting - Nothing like the sun.

seemed like pure heaven to me after ditching a crap hitachi LP system....
Kept it for 18 years before heading up the Naim ladder....
 
My first cd player was a Hitachi if I recall, bought in January 1987 and cost about £200.00, soon changed it for a Phillips.

Did not think at the time that either were much better than my Dual record deck or Hitachi cassette deck to be honest. Just easier to use. Sold the Phillips in 1989 and did not buy another player until a Meridian 206b in 1991. Just stuck to my newly acquired Linn Axis and then LP12 in that period.

Mind you cd's were expensive in 1987, usually about £12.00 and there was only a few racks in the shops, still mostly vinyl and cassettes on display back then. Vinyl albums were half the price at about £5 or £6.

Firsr cd purchased was "First Circle" by The Pat Metheny Group.
 
Mescalito said:
My wife bought me a 2nd generation Philips CDP for my birthday, so I went out bought "Savage" by the Euyrhthmics to chek it out.
I was astounded by the sound. The week before, I had purchased R.E.M.'s "Murmur" on vinyl. That was the last LP I ever bought.

At the time I had an LP12/Ittok/Karma setup. The CDP was simply better.

Chris
Click to expand...

My first CD player was a Linn Karik (1992).
At the time I had also an LP12/ittok/karma setup. To my ears, the LP12 was still way better than the Karik
JC
 
Back in the 80’s I worked for one of the big electrical retailers. Each branch was give one Philips C.D. player and one disc (we had Phil Collins Face Value) and told to turn it on every morning and press repeat. If someone wanted one it would be a special order.

After about a week of this it was driving everyone mad! Then one day somebody noticed that it was no longer playing. On inspection we found out someone had cut the wires (including mains cable) and stolen the machine! Guess he was an early adopter!
 
zekezebra said:
Back in the 80’s I worked for one of the big electrical retailers. Each branch was give one Philips C.D. player and one disc (we had Phil Collins Face Value) and told to turn it on every morning and press repeat. If someone wanted one it would be a special order.

After about a week of this it was driving everyone mad! Then one day somebody noticed that it was no longer playing. On inspection we found out someone had cut the wires (including mains cable) and stolen the machine! Guess he was an early adopter!
Click to expand...

Judging by the responses on here about CDs, I don't suppose the thief is a PFM contributor........

S.
 
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