When CDs first came onto the market in 1982 .......

the phillips and sony machines were the first i'd heard late '82/early '83 at Pacific Stereo. i liked the sound of the phillips better [warmer] but the sony had real alphanumeric display while the phillips just had red LED lights. 

Sting, “The Dream of The Blue Turtles” was my first CD. Still own the CD but both the Yamaha CDX1 and Technics SLD1 are long gone. The Yamaha died, the Technics I gave to a friend and I bet still playing today. My system back then was a college system that was mediocre at best so I couldn’t tell the difference but I knew CD’s were here to stay. Progressed to better CDP’s over the years and wasn’t until a few years ago I bought a new table. Both the table and CDP sit as most my listening is streaming. 
 

What I do recall was at our house parties in college, CD’s we’re definitely more convenient. Hands down, more convenient.

I remember Dire Straits CDs sounded good. The rest, not so much.  Also remember CDs were more expensive than I liked.

My father had a nice mid fi system from Lafayette(rumored to made my luxman) in college and grad school a techniqs receiver and turntable.  The tt was plastic, p mount direct drive and was no where near the Pickering on dads.  Early cd was a hitachi from circuit city and wqs disappointingly bright and sterile.  First job led to first high end system. Nakamichi cdp stasis amp and pre amp.  Better but still not musical.  On a chance experience in a dimly lit reference room I heard the sound I craved, a spectral two box system at over 10k.  The salesperson  was amused when I said that is the first digital I can listen to.  It was a rega p3 and dynavector 10x 4  total 800 dollars. 

Sony’s CD-1 was the first CD player on the market...not much larger than the cd itself...I believe it was $300 .....used it for a few years and then upgraded when the market got flooded with cd players from every brand imaginable.....gave it to my nephew a few years later...Wonder if it’s worth anything today. CD’s had more slam than vinyl then and that extra bass really impressed alot of people. Cartridges today are so refined and inproved over the carts of the 70’s-80’s, that they are superior in their Musicality to many of today’s cd players.