The Rapid Rise (& Fall) of the CD

Just about the same time I was considering buying a CD player in 1985 my wife gave me the best Christmas present EVER! A Rega Planar 2 TT with a Linn K-9 cart.  It was a complete surprise to me. A dealer in a local hi-fi shop suggested it.  The Rega replaced a somewhat rickety, gear driven, automatic Japanese table.  What a difference -- quiet, accurate unvarying (to my ears) speed, detail, and drive that I had never heard in my home before.  I did buy a CD player because, you know, the handwriting was on the wall: LPs were a dying medium and digital was the future, right? Eventually I began upgrading my system and acquired an excellent CD player and a better turntable.  Not all of my CDs sound great, but some are spectacular.  I can say the same for my LPs.  As I continued to improve my system I made a non-binding contract with myself.  I would try to maintain equal quality in my digital and analog gear.  I have amended the contract to include streaming.  Usually when I sit down for a serious listen in the evening pull out some LPs.  There is just something a little more beguiling in good vinyl playback.  But sometimes I play favorite CDs.  And sometimes I go exploring for new music on Tidal.  Any of these mediums can put me in the zone.  So is there a lesson in my tale and the others that have been told above?  You bet.  We are not in control of the media du jour.  From the time Mr. Edison invented his little machine business decisions have ruled the recorded music market.  Music enthusiasts have demanded improvements in every medium that were not enthusiastically embraced by big corporate execs.  But we are an insistent lot and there are enough of us to create a vibrant niche market where analog was revivified and the same seems to be happening with the venerable, compromise-ridden red book CD format.  Like many of you I haunt used record stores and treasure some of my finds.  Now I'm going to start hunting up used CDs before the price goes up when, you know, the CD revival takes hold.  By Jove! There are a lot of ways to have fun with this hobby. 

CD's burned from Qobuz .wav files are really quite good.

These forum battles over who is right are part and parcel of a venerable American tradition whichever side of the political aisle you are on.

Patton Marches On

+1 @kennymacc -

I totally agree with what you said about CDs and LP . When my age group is gone, those two formats will pretty-much dissolve. I have almost 600 LP’s and 350 CDs. CDs are with five bucks used. LPs are on average worth $10. By comparison Neil Young 50+ whatever year old LP, everybody knows this is nowhere, sells for $30. Who would buy new LPs of poor recording quality because you can get the same poor quality for a subscription To an audio service. The vinyl industry is really shooting itself straight in the mouth by doing stuff like that. My local record store will give me half of what an LP sells for on Discogs. That means my album is worth $30 cause I kept it for 100 years I get $15 for it. I hate Discogs! 
There’s my take on the dissolution of quality audio.

BENT!

@mapman 

yeah, they make great coasters.

bent

An interesting piece appeared recently in Stereophile about this topic. It concedes the statistical decline in CD (and vinyl) sales in favor of streaming, but then argues for keeping one's physical media for a variety of excellent reasons. Here's a link: https://www.stereophile.com/content/it-isnt-just-music