Why Do ~You~ Still Play CDs?

Why Not

At ATOMIC Records, California they have thousands of CDs all in very good to excellent shape some still in their original wrappers -  at the most 4.99 with many and I mean many for .99 cents.

I buy the .99 cent one's for their case alone, to replace the cases I break.  And I have the tendency to break/crack the cases.

So there you have it.  Cheap prices, great condition what more can I ask for. Ok OK so I am cheap wish they were for free - 

Have an awesome Holiday.

Because a lot of the CD’s I have are not on any streaming services is one reason. I can say the same about a bunch of records I have.

@Lalitk

@soix

+1

The sound quality coming from a CD player is the sum of all its internal component... physical transport, streamer, and DAC (as well as its power supply, internal design, case... etc). The quality of streaming is the quality of the streamer and your DAC. Assuming we are talking about a very good streamer, it will isolate you from network noise (if not then this can be an additional variable). So, to make a valid comparison you have to have all the components the same level of sound quality. Difficult for most.

I have had a number of CD players, DACs, and streamers over time. Currently I have a great CD Player / DAC (functioning as both... great for comparisons) and streamer (which has internal memory for ripped CDs). I have compared a number of albums which were the same recording and mastering. The short story is the CD, internally stored files, and streaming sounds the same. So, just as in comparing vinyl, the sound quality is dependent on the equipment you are using, not on the media. There is an additional variable thrown in to vinyl, the pressing number as unlike digital where each recording is the same analog is not. But typically this is not a huge difference. 

Only the Dead man

Classical music is a dreadful fit on most streaming services. Classical does not comprise songs and albums, nor is it driven by artists. Most classical stuff comprises works written by composers. Works usually have several movements. Before Presto started streaming classical, we had Primephonic (I think) which was bought by Apple and promptly shut down.

CDs were outclassed by SACD about 25 years ago. I don’t know any streaming service which even matches 5.1 channel DSD.

I still buy lots of SACDs and CDs where there is no SACD version. If there is a high-res download (not stream!) I will consider this.

I buy 4k Blu-ray disks because streaming simply cannot match the bandwidth.

My disks are always available!