[bdiament]

Hi rab777hp,

I have CDs from 1983 that have been played over and over again, in many players, through the years. Some have lived in my car through hot summers and cold winters. Not a single one of them has failed or shown any signs of deterioration.

Best regards,
Barry
http://www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
http://www.barrydiamentaudio.com

[rab777hp]

Cds get scratched, fact of life. They arr also physical objects, theycan get damaged destoryed and stolen.

[oluf]

The future seems bright for audiophiles:

http://www.product-r...dheim-soloists/

http://www.amazon.co...e/dp/B0016DER2W

Both are audio only Blu-ray discs with 7.1 lossless Audio. Ripping may be a problem, but MP4 should be able to handle the 7.1 without loss (?)

[bdiament]

Hi rab77hp,

You said:
"Cds get scratched, fact of life. They arr also physical objects, theycan get damaged destoryed and stolen."

I guess I'm lucky. I handle them carefully and they're all okay.

By the way, hard drives can fail too.

Best regards,
Barry
http://www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
http://www.barrydiamentaudio.com

[kayester]

I rarely buy music online because:
a.most of the music sold online is not high fidelity and sound quality means something to me, even if mid-fi is what most people appreciate and enjoy.
b. the cd inserts still matter to me.
c. the cd remains a viable, retrievable backup when a hard drive crashes and is available to play through the home audio system any time, even when the network is down.
I am sure if I thought about it for another five minutes I'd have another three reasons, but in truth, reason no. 1 is the most important.
d.

[Wondercow]

rab777hp said:

Used cds are good, for a low price you can get a disc that is physically OK. It will deteriorate over time with playing, but all you have to do is rip it once, and then you're good.

Whoa! I haven't heard that misconception since the late 80s :-) CDs don't suffer any wear when playing because there's no physical contact with the medium. Records and tapes will degrade with play because the media comes into contact with the play head which causes friction and thus wears down the media. CDs don't have this problem.

[rab777hp]

which is why you always have backups

[Jon Seff]

[quote name='Wondercow']
> [quote name='rab777hp']
> Used cds are good, for a low price you can get a disc that is physically OK. It will deteriorate over time with playing, but all you have to do is rip it once, and then you're good.
Whoa! I haven't heard that misconception since the late 80s :-) CDs don't suffer any wear when playing because there's no physical contact with the medium. Records and tapes will degrade with play because the media comes into contact with the play head which causes friction and thus wears down the media. CDs don't have this problem.
[/quote]
Well, CDs can scratch easily, and the coating can wear off over time as well.

[Wondercow]

rab777hp said:

Cds get scratched, fact of life. They arr also physical objects, theycan get damaged destoryed and stolen.

A better statement would be "CDs can get scratched" or "My CDs get scratched" ;-) Many of us, me included, have CDs that do not have any scratches. This is quite easily achieved through proper handling of the media.

[sdaniela]

I agree that CDs sound better, and back in the day I listened to music exclusively on that format. Then one day I realized that I no longer listened to CDs. I was only listening to music on my computer (via iTunes), my iPhone or my Apple TV. Suddenly, it occured to me that I wasn't spending much time in front of my expensive audio system or speakers, and my CD players were gathering dust. So, I stopped buying CDs. Why bother if the final result is still going to be a ripped AAC file that I enjoy through iPhone headphones or computer speakers?

I think that's the real issue here: people's listening habits have changed, so that even if they buy a CD, they still don't benefit from the added quality given the sonic limits of headphones, car acoustics and computer speakers.

[kirkmc]

natmusak said:

>
I don't think we're going to see the death of high-end sound systems. Other than those buying them for home theaters, many people are going to grow up not ever hearing CD-quality music in the first place. So they'll think their MP3s sound outstanding on their stereos.

I think it's also important to note that stereos have gotten much better over the years. What you get for a couple hundred dollars today is as good as a top-of-the-line system when I was young, in the 70s (or so I'm told; I'm not an "audiophile".) So maybe those MP3s do sound good, because even middling systems are quite good. It's only the high end stuff that has gotten a tiny bit better.

[Wondercow]

[quote name='Jon Seff']

> [quote name='Wondercow']
> > [quote name='rab777hp']
> > Used cds are good, for a low price you can get a disc that is physically OK. It will deteriorate over time with playing, but all you have to do is rip it once, and then you're good.
> Whoa! I haven't heard that misconception since the late 80s :-) CDs don't suffer any wear when playing because there's no physical contact with the medium. Records and tapes will degrade with play because the media comes into contact with the play head which causes friction and thus wears down the media. CDs don't have this problem.
Well, CDs can scratch easily, and the coating can wear off over time as well.
[/quote]
I don't disagree at all, but as I just posted, these things can be avoided with proper care. More to the point though, rab777hp claimed that CDs wear due to playing.

[glangmead]

Kirk, could you possibly provide a link or more information about the Haydn MP3 set you mentioned? I wonder if it's less expensive on MP3 CD than as a download (if it's even available as a download).
I lament the lower quality of compressed audio that I've been downloading and buying for the last few years, but I also like the buying experience much better (previews, links to "buyers of this also bought that", etc.). I figure, eventually lossless downloads will exist and I'll repurchase the things that matter the most to me.

[kirkmc]

glangmead said:

Kirk, could you possibly provide a link or more information about the Haydn MP3 set you mentioned? I wonder if it's less expensive on MP3 CD than as a download (if it's even available as a download).

I didn't include a link, because the label doesn't have anything on their web site. However, it's listed here, on the site of MDT, a British classical music seller:

http://www.mdt.co.uk...fers/NI1722.htm

This is the set that's also available in a big box from Brilliant Classics. Excellent recordings; I have the CDs.