Just bought a new Yamaha CD-S2000. Own a Modwright Transporter.
Run a 2010 Mac mini server w/8 megs ram. I am enjoying them both in
the same rig, sometimes w/the player as transport. The server/router r
on another floor of the house. I find when playing the physical cd I am
more likely to read & enjoy the liner notes in the casing. I've close to
3 terabytes of CDs that I've enjoyed over the last several years as I
explored the tube rolling options the transporter allows. 6sn7s & rectifiers,
bad boys, black glass, metal basers, mesh plates, black treasures,
psvanes, valvos, & mullards. Lotz of fun, but when I wanted to further
enhance 'neutrality' on the front end I purchased the Yamaha. Reason?
Totally subjective. I like very much I-Peng on the iPad/iPhone & believe
the Transporter is a marvel of flexibility & sophistication. It will always
have a place in one of my systems. But, that said I have fond memories
of a CDS3/555ps I owned & the many hrs. listening/learning/exploring
(isn't that what the hobby is about?) in yrs past. Like vinyl, I will always
strive to find a way by which to introduce & integrate the medium so that
I maintain the ability to enjoy the various 'flavors'. For me it cannot be either/or.
It must be both/each, acknowledging the roots of the past while embracing the 'youthful' future. Each medium requires a certain 'attention', whether one has the resources, stamina, patience, or good fortune to posses the finest player/table/dac matters not, but the pleasure is in the effort, the attention. The soul of the 'muse' is @the heart of the music. The reward is in the searching, the discovery that music is 'bottomless'. So for me, no,
the cd player can never die as a musical source.
I look forward to my VSE mods, but 2day 'it's all good'....