Why CD players will never be dead

hi steve:

i think you miss my point.

1) the fact that some prefer your tranhsports and dac combinations to the zanden does not mean that is in fact better.

2) preference is subjective. i dare say it is possible that i would disagree with the assessment of the zanden relative to your products, because of taste considerations.

as has been said before many fine products are different not better than each other.

again, i will not cast aspersions on your products, its just that hmy preferences differ from yours.

would you bet that i would prefer your dac and transport to, say the lector player ?

Thanks to all that replied. This is a very helpful thread.

Mrtennis,

I have followed your posts to audioengr. I would be careful here as luckily Hifi has now fallen into the arms of the computer world where all the snake oil is cleaned away. Unless you are finding some kind of lucky euphonic coincidence in your set up, it is unlikely any cd player playing in real time can compete these days with a computer server.

You will find focus & purity, with timing & dynamics all in place like no CD/SACD player can match from a well set up computer & DAC combo. I have been there with very exotic players, & they were completely out classed by a humble mac with a decent DAC.

At last digital has come of age like they promised 30 years ago... Don't fall into that audiophile nonsense. The source is unpoluted now... Just worry about all the rest down stream!

i am not disputing the (alleged) benefits of servers or computers as transports.

all i am saying is that when the issue is two products competing with each other there will always be some eho prefer one or the other.

Saying a format or its playback equipment will not die is naive. There were thousands if not millions of 8track players and cassette players before the CD player. Both are now for the most part dead. Other than pro equipment I do not think they are even produces anymore

They almost killed off turntables and the vinyl market. There were tens of millions of TT at one time, every home had one. Only the nitch market kept it going and a good number of people then and now would not believe the rhetoric that CD's sounded better.
I do think vinyl will end, I just hope not in my life time.

I think CD players will die out because DVD and BR equipment can play CD disks. They also do it better in most cases. Just look at the Oppo players of today, I think the output sound quality is better than most CD players unless you pay many thousands of dollars above an Oppo's price.

That’s the problem with computers and digital technology, we have only just started to scratch the surface and in the digital age we discard old for new. Remember the floppy dick there were billions of those.
It's also like what we say in New England if you do not like the weather wait a minute it will change.
IMHO