PC-Audio vs. High-end CD Player-GAME OVER

JC -
You mean the way CDs killed vinyl?
(sorry couldn't resist)

So I guess vinyl is dead too? I think not. Seems like people prefer convenience over the end result. I could see the pc stuff for non serious listing(sort of like a tuner), but not for a serious sitdown. Not everyone is computer savvy or is into carrying $3000+ laptops around or have a PC within reasonable distance of their system. CD's will be here for awhile.

No other medium other than CD has ever issued as many tiles.
CD has not killed LP, and DVD-A and SACD has not displaced the CD. I do not think CD will disappear in a long time. Maybe junk music will be downloaded by younger people, but for classical, jazz and good old rock LP and CD still is the best medium.
Cd is convenient, can be copied with ease and represents a physical medium, which is somnething many still like.
I like to own the medium physically as many music lovers do and downloads just do not do it for me.
I have a music server which is loaded up with my whole CD collection and the sound is very good, but I still keep using my CD transport. Why?
Because I choose the CD to play by visually selecting the music. The artwork, or whow, havent heard this one in a long time or look, lets listen to this one again is my modus of selecting a CD to play.
That is how I choose the music I play, and much depends on my mood. I rarely know the title or many performers in my CD collection, but when I see the CD cover I know what music is in there. Sometimes I do not even know that, and then the music is a new discovery.
That is the way I see it.

Game over? not hardly -- but, the game has definitely broadened and will continue to do so.

If anything, vinyl popularity has increased -- perhaps due more to us dinosaurs or those with collector mentalities, but when done right, analog rules! Perhaps it's just a niche market but a very sizeable one.

CDs aren't going to just disappear either. Hell, they've had a bigger footprint than the 33 1/3 LPs ever had. No, they'll continue as well but certainly and ultimately relegated to a niche market as well.

The real question is what will be the primary means for distributing music in 5 years? 10 years?

Comparing CD to Vinyl is not an accurate analogy by any means. All of you are forgetting tape. 8 Track, DAT etc...Where is it now?

The only thing missing now is a credible place for people to download DRM free Losslessly encoded files online somewhere. Then we can really have this debate. I am sure the record companies will hold on to that power for dear life as long as they can. But eventually, it will change, and CDs will be about as popular as tape is today.

I am not saying it will all be hard drive based..Where it is stored is anyones guess. Could be HDD, could be SSD, could eventually be holographic storage. But one thing is for sure, it will most likely move towards a computer/server based set up for most. The reason being, is there is NO difference in sound quality when the files are lossless and the DAC is designed well. Like all of Gordon's DACs.

Until you've listened to one, you can't say a word about it. I have owned MANY high end CD players, and can say with confidence there is NO sonic reason to miss the CD sound, or deal with the inconvenience anymore.