Shrinking CD length

[Old Grumpy]

Buyers of popular music (pop, rock, folk, country etc) have generally bought CDs with a playing time of 40-45 minutes long before the so-called "vinyl revival", and this has been the norm in these genres, with the exception of compilation CDs. Only in classical music does the 80+ minutes available in the CD format appear to be used on a regular basis.

Wouldn't know about pop, rock, folk or country CDs (as I don't buy them), but new jazz CDs (as opposed to reissues) can certainly come in at over 45 minutes in a significant proportion of cases.

[Retune]

I'm truly astonished by the number of new releases each month from Brilliant Classics, most of them being of rare répertoire and all new recordings. The baroque and early classical era is particularly well covered, to the extent that I find it well nigh impossible keeping up with them all. Somebody must be buying them!

They also have an interesting specialist piano label, Piano Classics, that seems to release a couple of CDs a month. I first came across them as Zlata Chochieva's original label, before she signed to Naive.

[gurnemanz]

They also have an interesting specialist piano label, Piano Classics, that seems to release a couple of CDs a month. I first came across them as Zlata Chochieva's original label, before she signed to Naive.

I got the Brilliant Classics Rachmaninov Complete Piano Music at a barely resistible download price from Presto. It includes many recommendable recordings, some originally from Piano Classics, including two from Zlata Chochieva, (each of which as single discs would cost the same as the whole nine hours' worth of that complete collection)

Études-Tableaux, Op. 33, 39
Chopin Variations, Sonata 1

[Retune]

I got the Brilliant Classics Rachmaninov Complete Piano Music at a barely resistible download price from Presto. It includes many recommendable recordings, some originally from Piano Classics, including two from Zlata Chochieva, (each of which as single discs would cost the same as the whole nine hours' worth of that complete collection)

Études-Tableaux, Op. 33, 39
Chopin Variations, Sonata 1

That IS tempting! I have those two, but not the rest.

[mikealdren]

Well, if a big box reissue happens and I am moderately interested, I feel some urgency, knowing it won’t be around long.
There is a lot of talk about people using their computers here for streaming services. I strongly recommend a dedicated streamer. Much better sound, features such as AirPlay and Chromecast, and no annoying computer related distractions. They also look like proper audio components and have become very inexpensive.

I think this depends on how your computer is set up, I feed the digital output from my computer so a high quality external DAC and the sound is superb but the computer's internal DAC is very poor. I firmly believe (and my ears confirm to my satisfaction) that while the signal remains digital, bits are bits and the equipment used to process this side of things rarely affects the sound.

[Master Jacques]

On the opposite side to short length on CDs, it's been wonderful to have Wagner's Ring available complete on 1 Blu-ray disc without any need for side changes.

... aimed at those of us willing and able to listen to all 17 hours or so without a break, presumably? Personally, I rather like the opportunity CD gives us to stand up, stretch a leg and do anything else needful before poor, dear Waltraute calls up her sister.

[Cockney Sparrow]

I have to acknowledge the right of every music lover to listen with equipment that suits them.
That said, for myself I'm with you m-a, resistant to branded components that have IT integrated in them and will inevitably become redundant with "upgrades" (cf Sonos, I'm sure there are others but I stopped reading/scanning audio magazines etc. a long time ago). And manufacturer takeovers or disappearance.
I see Chromecast audios* are going to become "unsupported" by Google at a date they have announced but I only paid £15 each for them. (*In the right set up they will output bit perfect audio to a DAC).

I think this depends on how your computer is set up, I feed the digital output from my computer so a high quality external DAC and the sound is superb but the computer's internal DAC is very poor......

There was a time in this forum when statements like this used to be rather inflammatory :

I firmly believe (and my ears confirm to my satisfaction) that while the signal remains digital, bits are bits and the equipment used to process this side of things rarely affects the sound.

...........but those days seem to have passed.

[richardfinegold]

I think this depends on how your computer is set up, I feed the digital output from my computer so a high quality external DAC and the sound is superb but the computer's internal DAC is very poor. I firmly believe (and my ears confirm to my satisfaction) that while the signal remains digital, bits are bits and the equipment used to process this side of things rarely affects the sound.

I used computers as my streamer/ servers for a while, and it’s possible to get excellent sound. A streamer after all is just a networking computer in the casing of an audio component. Ultimately it ice it makes annoying to have a computer in the audio chain for many reasons, one of which is that it makes it difficult to use a computer for other tasks. I therefore was using an old laptop for years and that brought its own set of issues

[Retune]

It's a shame about the audio Chromecast, but if you have a component like a receiver that has HDMI connections you can use a regular Chromecast or some other streaming device (even a Raspberry Pi running a DLNA renderer if you are geeky enough) to do much the same thing. Everything stays digital until it hits the receiver's DAC, so there should be no loss of quality upstream of the DAC. A receiver may well have things like Chromecast, Airplay, or DLNA built in, though long-term support for integrated technology like this can be flaky. Using a plug-in device to handle the streaming will be pretty much future-proof as long as HDMI is around. You might just need to buy another cheap dongle at some point, or if you are a Raspberry Pi nerd, update your software (an advantage that open platforms have over things like Sonos, where you are at the mercy of their support policy).

The source of the music can be some streaming service on your phone or tablet, or it can be your own music stored on the device (1TB microSD cards are cheap these days), or if you want to get fancy, an external media server. Most apps won't give you gapless playback when streaming locally stored music via Chromecast, but Hi-Fi Cast is one that does (if you enable gapless mode).

[Pulcinella]

Today's Guardian has an article that suggests that CDs are on the way out.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/30/car-cd-players-end-format

[smittims]

Hmm... I can't help feeling that this is journalist-seeking-reputation. There are still plenty of Cassette tape fans. They may stop making and selling new CDs but there are enough around to ensure people will still play CDs until the earth becomes uninhabitable . And who would have predicted the return of 'Vinyl' ? Or Gramophone records, as I still call them .

[gurnemanz]

Today's Guardian has an article that suggests that CDs are on the way out.


https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...ers-end-format

A few weeks ago Guardian/Observer suggested there was a CD revival underway.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jul/28/cd-sales-rise-taylor-swift-collection-nostalgia-90s-oasis-bashy-metronomy-kitty-liv

[kernelbogey]

CDs now redundant? *

This piece relates more to pop, kids' entertainment etc but it's an interesting view of 'the CD'.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/30/car-cd-players-end-format

* I can't find a better existing thread

[LHC]

According to the BPI, 11.6 million CDs were sold in the UK in 2022. Although numbers were down slightly last year, income from CD sales actually increased by about 10% in 2023 to around £97M.

Streaming and downloads numbers are much bigger, but I would suggest that CDs will still be available for many more years yet.

[mikealdren]

I used computers as my streamer/ servers for a while, and it’s possible to get excellent sound. A streamer after all is just a networking computer in the casing of an audio component. Ultimately it ice it makes annoying to have a computer in the audio chain for many reasons, one of which is that it makes it difficult to use a computer for other tasks. I therefore was using an old laptop for years and that brought its own set of issues

Yes I agree with you but I have a dedicated computer for my HiFi with all my CDs stored on it as a jukebox. You can get reasonably priced mini computers that fit the bill admirably nowadays.