CD players = dead?

Jafreeman
That loudness war compilation of good and bad dynamic range does not square with many of the CDs I feel sound very good in my system. Don’t let it throw you off something you want--have to listen to it.

I agree, sort of. For example, Dylan’s Modern Times sounds very good - clear, musical and the playing is great. But it’s dynamic range is quite compressed according to the official dynamic range database. It’s a subtle thing sometimes, but when you hear a CD that has very good dynamic range, you know it. It hits you in the face. And there are other aspects of sound to admire: frequency response, transparency, air, etc. so dynamic range might not necessarily be a deal breaker.

I predict compact discs and players will continue a gradual decline in usage but will never disappear. I do wonder if labels will stop creating discs in another decade or two.

Server/DAC audio quality will only improve; I believe a server as transport can exceed optical media but that will eternally be a source of debate,

Vinyl usage and turntable sales will gradually increase. There's so much passion in the vinyl resurgence - I see it as unstoppable at this point.

The best sounding results for me is dB Poweramp to FLAC. Then served through JRiver on my HTPC to an external DAC. It sounds better than anything online. It also sounds better than the original CD served from my OPPO 103.
Where can you download lossless files at Redbook bit rates for less than you can buy the CDs? Everwhere I look they are more expensive which totally blows my mind.

Whatever technology ends up being dominant in the coming years, there still has to be some sort of recording industry to support it and provide content. That's the part I worry about, since the major record companies have been such enthusiastic participants in their own demise. What we seem to have at the moment is a patchwork of world-class musicians scrambling to find distribution for their excellent recordings. Many have begun issuing their own, which may well be the wave of the future and has the advantage of providing a much better financial return to the artists themselves, but has the disadvantage of the absence of marketing and support. As a performing musician, I know that a physical CD is a very handy thing to have in hand to sell at concerts. Also, I was involved in the CD industry at the retail end from the mid 90s until just a couple of years ago. I'm still on board with CDs and I think there's still a future for the CD player. One day they'll probably go the way of typewriters, yes, but that's some way off. And one day (we'll all probably be dead by then) I predict an entirely new, as yet unimagined way of reproducing music will emerge, rendering our present digital universe obsolete.

"And one day (we'll all probably be dead by then) I predict an entirely new, as yet unimagined way of reproducing music will emerge, rendering our present digital universe obsolete."

If Sony's recent opening of a record production plant in Germany is any indication I'd say vinyl might render our present digital universe obsolete.