Youngsters these days.


My 24 year old grandson finished his tour in the service recently and has been staying with us for the past several months. He got himself a good job, to help out and take care of himself, while deciding what to do in the future - back to school, etc.
After he got a few good pay checks, I joking suggested he buy his Pa a new CD player. If looks could kill. "Why would you want a new CD player?" He asked. I told him "just to upgrade the one I have". "No one buys CD players anymore" he exclaimed. "Then what's your Idea of fine Audio, a WalkMan?" I asked. "WOW! There's not even any such thing as a WalkMan any more" he said. To which I replied, "Ya there is, we have a guy on our forum who swears by em". He just rolled his eyes and said "No - Streaming! Using an iPhone or iPad you can get a streaming package and get all the music you want". "Why would I want to do That?" I asked "I have hundreds of great LPs and CDs, that I'm perfectly happy with." To that he replied "OK Boomer".  I guess that meant he knew I was right.
Why is it that youngsters just don't understand the love that some of us old folks have for our old LPs and CDs and we  have no interest in paying for another monthly service, to listen to all the music we already have?
jhills
Assorted comments:

Give my music to my kids? All. of the stuff I've enjoyed is on a few portable SSDs if they are ever curious. They don't want it. They like what they like, as does EVERYONE. They don't want any of our photos either. We screenshot Snapchats of the grandkids. YRMV

FM tuner? Multiplex noise and commercials, pledge drives and bad news. Been done with that since the 20th century ended. The college stations I WAS tuning in sound better on Tune In. I avoid it in the car, bring my own music on all trips, rentals included. ISKC Blues Cafe is my idea of radio.

Streaming? Love it. The future is here. CD's CAN sound minutely better. Only for megabux in direct comparison. At least HQ streaming allows you to hear the quality of the "discovered" recordings so that you can acquire them if so inclined, files OR physical, whatever floats your dinghy. The biggest problem is maintaining the "handshake" with routers and modem. You can download any trax for when the the internet's down. In that case I'm calling for a bill credit before it comes back. I can usually restore (reboot) the "handshake" as fast as hanging a tape, dropping a needle or powering up a CDP.
Besides, at least 1 out of 3 of my streamers is probably still comnected. I think that a streamer/player with a remote will always play local, no network needed. (If one existed with i2s out I still have room...) Portable SSDs work much better for me than my NAS. Especially in a network snafu circumstance.
I can stream anything to a portable anywhere on my property, bypassing the phone streaming app.

Rent, own?
My kids value space, I value stuff.
I have the portable DVD player and Fender amp they were going to toss out. Probably be better off with someone that could use them. I use battery speakers for portable and flash drives for movies when out.
Tablets on airplanes (if ever again.)
Like George Harrison wrote about value.

Boomer?
Name calling only reflects poorly on the caller. EXCEPT for family.
Besides, if you're <60 you barely qualify for that term.

Vinyl?
The SQ depletes with each play.
It CAN sound better than the CD (for a finite time), often not. Dependant on the mastering (Doug Sax is gone) Today's best engineers like Cookie M. don't do vinyl. ...
Seems like a a rich snobs medium. And I just bought a new phono preamp to enjoy my old records. Never buying any more LPs.
jhills, take that whippersnapper behind the woodshed. Afterward, tell him, "now clean those records"!
LP’s,  CD’s,
all I use, have a good collection, many of which I still have,not heard from the 80-90’s.


 Most of my records, I recorded to my computer, cleaned up,a bit, added bass, mid and treble, recorded to taiyo Yuden cdrs’ for playback,
I love the pops, crackles, and ticks from the LP to cd recording process!!!!
  The tone and sound is analogue, played t(rough my stereo from the CD player is great, they sound like records, and I love it!!

 Have %80 of my CDs and LP’s on cd now.
 Have maybe 500 cds not on iTunes yet, my iTunes is over 90K+ songs. More than I’ll ever listen too.

 When listening, I use my CD player or turntable.
streaming is not for me.,... I’ll use my iPod hooked into stereo when low volume and background music is needed.
otherwise it’s CD and LP.

 As,mentioned here, it’s the,physical product I want/collect.
 I’ve bought maybe 2 albums and 8-9 single songs via iTunes ,I don’t like buying air,,so if I can buy the actual cd or LP, I will.
  • Vinyl?
  • The SQ depletes with each play.

Come on over to my place. I'll change your mind with a mono promo copy of The Dave Brubeck Quartet's "Jazz Impressions of The USA." The album is 65 years old at this point and has been played a couple of hundred times at least, as it is one of my demo records. Paul Desmond's breath can be felt as it comes out of the end of his alto sax.

Frank
Thanks all for all the comments and good advise.

Except for isochronism  take that whippersnapper behind the woodshed. Afterward, tell him, "now clean those records"!
You trying to get me killed? At 69, I'm still pretty spry but he's nearly a  foot taller and out weighs me by about 100 lb. Think I'll just give him a good talking to. LOL

So now thinking of a CDP/DAC, capable of high Rez streaming and will play SACD.  Any such thing?
On a budget, so I'm thinking used and would like to keep around $1K - $2K. My old Denon still works great and sounds pretty fair, until the music gets complicated. Looking for something that is smooth and musical without sacrificing detail and resolution and good at keeping things sorted and in place when the music and vocals get complicated - as in orchestration and Celtic, with multiple instruments and vocals.
Thanks for suggestions....Jim