30 Years of Perfect Sound?

I can tell you one thing about CDs, they can skip just as bad as a record if the scratch is in the wrong direction. This might be the fault of the CD player and not the Medium. I have had finger prints cause problems also, again this may be a flaw with the CD player. And DVDs are even worse but that is another story.

So bottom line, while the CD maybe the "perfect" medium, the CD player can become seriously flawed. Yes, a turntable can also become out of wack, but I can adjust it myself where-as a CD player I can not. So for portability I will use an iPod but at home it's Turntable only.

Being a Human Being, and thus imperfect, I will stick with the "imperfect" medium.

He should listen to gear more and report what he hears rather than make technical conjectures why he thinks something must sound better. For example I have been privy to listening tests between a top of the line Wadia (and other stuff) to a battery powered Hiface directly feeding I2S into a PCM1704 DAC chip - it murdered the Wadia - a joke comparison. I also have a Playback Designs DAC - via PCM its a bit ordinary compared to my reference DAC but via DSD it is in another league.

Thanks
Bill

The recording/mastering studios have more to do with bad sound than the formate itself. I have CD's that sonically trounce LP's and vice versa. To much is being made of the formate and not enough about the way music is being procured to a disc of any size.

"He should listen to gear more and report what he hears rather than make technical conjectures why he thinks something must sound better. "

His site seems to be a nice mix of facts and opinion.

Listening and reporting is only an opinion. Anyone can do that. Doing the technical research to understand why one might hear what they hear is a lot harder. If you look at his site, he appears to do a good job with technical research relating to photography first and audio second. Photography and audio are not unrelated technically.

I gather he is 100% bought into digital photography and audio despite being old enough to recall what preceeded it and I think even working professionally in these areas.

I like his site. Not for analog buffs mainly though he does review some interesting vintage audio gear perhaps not well known to high end audio affectionados.

Or better yet- burn a copy of the manufactured cd onto a good quality cd-r and it improves. Moral of the story-Use as much of whatever you've got to make the experience meaningful for you. I'm pretty happy listening to
Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys on a Victrola if that's what's available. The book is important but it's the story that captivates...