Are CD players dead

I think Pettyofficer and Fusion10 bring up good points; CD sources may not be the future but, the future of computer sourced audio is not quite here yet. We will know when it gets here because;
1. source material will be readily available by download,
2. there will be a convenient, quick, uniform, and somewhat idiot-proof method of accessing the source material, that includes easy access to the metadata, and
3. playback will sonically surpass that from good CD players.

I understand that you can't go from 0 to 100 mph in an instant, so I do appreciate that there are folks who are committed to making the computer thing work and that they are the ones working through the learning curve and moving the industry forward. I simply don't have the time or inclination to be involved at that level, yet. Therefore, when computer based sources become as easy as finding and playing a CD from my collection, and/or when the playback methods sonically exceed what I hear from my players, I will be ready to make the switch.

Until there are commercially available music downloads with audio quality at least equivalent to CD's (which Apple, et al assuredly are not)and at a cost reasonably equivalent to CD's (which HD Tracks, et al most assuredly are not), neither CD's nor CDP's will be dead. If you use computer audio, you either have to rip a CD --which someone had to have purchased -- or download from an original sales source, which is expensive for good audio quality. This is the reality.

If the record companies had any brains, they would be selling direct downloads at CD quality bitrates, instead of letting Apple, Amazon, steal their profits.

Neal

Devilboy, that's a good point. I'm not sure how sales of CD players are going (as opposed to CDs). However, there sure are lots of CD players still in production. I'm sure sales are not what they once were, but I would think they are still selling plenty of units, otherwise we would expect to see the supply dwindle more than it has.

I remember when CDs first came out. The sound was atrousious, but it didn't matter to the Manufacturer's.
Everyone jumped on the bandwagon, and dumped their LPs.
It was only after a decade of listening to CDs with 10 or
12 bit resolution did anyone notice something amiss with
the Music. The formula was very simple, there was nothing to compete against CD, LPs were on their way out, so why
should manufacturer's waste profits to improve the sound of
CD? Now we understand the term, "Redbook CD Standard".
Same thing will happen to Computer Audio if it is the ONLY
Format available. A Monopoly of Products/Formats will only
lead to cheaper manufacturing, and less Sound Quality. A
decade later people will find something amiss with their
Computer Audio Music, and regress back to CD, just like
they are regressing back to LP. Manufacturers lose,
Customers lose, Sound Quality loses, Competition loses,
motivation to improve S.Q. loses-if everyone gets on the bandwagon of a Computer Audio Format Monopoly. Computer
Audio will only survive if it has something to compete against-a Monopoly Format aint it!

Pettyofficer wrote: "A Monopoly of Products/Formats will only lead to cheaper manufacturing, and less Sound Quality. A decade later people will find something amiss with their Computer Audio Music, and regress back to CD". Gee, I agree with much of what you wrote in this thread, but I have a hard time with this statement. There is no analog poetry or magic in lasers and shinny plastic disks. The only thing I see that CD has going for it in the long run is the current standing stock of titles in a reasonably durable format. Hopefully we will progress forward to combine the ease of use of iTunes with the quality of HD formats.

Speaking of iTunes, it has been pretty well established in this and other threads that the stand alone CD player is dying as a tool for mass marketers to sell, and for the masses to buy to play music. The CD player is not being killed by HD tracks and low volume and difficult to implement audiophile computer software however. It is being killed by universial disk players, and by iTunes and all the iPods, iPhones, iMacs and yes, even PC computers that run this crappy format. A bit ironic isnt it. Remember when Steve Jobs wouldn't do color on the Mac until Apple could "do it right" in high resolution and high color density? Too bad Apple wasn't that descriminating with audio resolution in there products. Hopefully we are not stuck in an infinite loop of mediocrity. In any case, I do not believe "competition" for non-disk driven digital formats is going to come from either analog or redbook.