The Death of the CD?

[mathias broucek]

I don't think I'm being nostalgic when I remember thinking carefully before buying what became a treasured LP, and that was the time when my musical experiences really grew.

It's easy and cheap to have a huge collection today. In the past one had to savour!

[EnemyoftheStoat]

It's easy and cheap to have a huge collection today. In the past one had to savour!

Too true, and it doesn't just apply to recordings. Pursuing the Mahler theme, how easy it is now compared to the 1980s to find a performance of even the rarer symphonies. Do we take it all too much for granted?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Too true, and it doesn't just apply to recordings. Pursuing the Mahler theme, how easy it is now compared to the 1980s to find a performance of even the rarer symphonies. Do we take it all too much for granted?

I don't know: but why single out Mahler? Weren't some of Beethoven's Symphonies "rarities" in the first half of the 19th Century? (And, indeed, performances in orchestral concerts of the Second, Eighth or Fourth rarer than domestic playings of the Piano Duet transcriptions? A parallel Thread mentions a dozen recordings by Fürtwängler of the Ninth: IIRC, there is only one of the Second.)

And I find that there are distinct advantages as a listener by the surfeit of cheap performances available. Whereas when I was younger and could only afford one version of a piece, that recording would "become" the work itself: I would play it repeatedly and every nuance gradually became a "benchmark" as to how the work should be performed: that was when I took something "too much for granted". Now, with a library of so many CDs (and with multiple versions of many works), I play individual CDs less frequently, so that the work becomes something to "savour", not any particular recording of it.

I'm looking forward to the days when there are multiple versions of Carceri d'Invenzione or The Mask of Orpheus (or, for goodness' sake, Von Heute auf Morgen!) - I don't regard the paucity (at best) of recordings of these works as halcyon days that future generations won't know they're missing!

[Ferretfancy]

I've been buying CDs since the first issues in 1983, and it has been a wonderful opportunity to build a really big collection - certainly larger than I might have done collecting LPs. There have been some remarkable events which few would have predicted when the silver discs first appeared. As an example, there has been the general availability of historic performances in excellent re-mastered sound, I would not have expected that. Again, although there was a brief flowering of early music recordings on LP, leading one reviewer to say " A pox on Manfredini" there was nothing like the deluge that we have now. Nevertheless, I think that there is a very real danger of music just becoming a product, an outcome that Britten lamented.

I try to be more selective with recorded music than I once was, and spend more resources on going to concerts, although of course in that respect I'm lucky to live in London with plenty of choice.

[Roehre]

...., so that the work becomes something to "savour", not any particular recording of it.

I'm looking forward to the days when there are multiple versions of Carceri d'Invenzione or The Mask of Orpheus (or, for goodness' sake, Von Heute auf Morgen!) - I don't regard the paucity (at best) of recordings of these works as halcyon days that future generations won't know they're missing!

that makes two of us

[mathias broucek]

I was speaking on Friday to the service manager at my local BMW dealer. They'd replaced the radio under warranty when my ("Friday") car was in for another repair and the idiots had forgotton to see if there was a CD in the slot.

Interestingly he said that most customers use a docked iPod rather than CDs these days. Now I know BMW drivers are idiots but I thought that was telling

BTW they agreed to pay for a replacement CD (Cluytens LvB) and something else of my choosing (Des Canyons aux Etoiles).

[Stunsworth]

Interestingly he said that most customers use a docked iPod rather than CDs these days. Now I know BMW drivers are idiots but I thought that was telling

My car is just old enough not to have an iPod, USB or Bluetooth connection. I'll make sure that the next one does.

[MrGongGong]

Now I know BMW drivers are idiots but I thought that was telling

I don't know about "idiots" but isn't there something about hedgehogs ?

[Panjandrum]

I don't know about "idiots" but isn't there something about hedgehogs ?

What the hell has that got to do with the point about replacing the CD player?

[MrGongGong]

What the hell has that got to do with the point about replacing the CD player?

Nothing at all
it was a joke aside
sorry , I didn't realise this was an examination where any "off topic" comments incur penalties

[Ferretfancy]

Nothing at all
it was a joke aside
sorry , I didn't realise this was an examination where any "off topic" comments incur penalties

Now, there's an idea ! How about forfeits, or group downloads paid for by individual fines ?

[EnemyoftheStoat]

Come on EnemyoftheStoat, you know the last movement outstays its welcome - Witold and I can't both be wrong!

.

Well it's over the top and halfway down the other side but it doesn't outstay its welcome as far as I'm concerned.

[pmartel]

Is cd dead???

In retrospect to the thread about d/a converters I decided to ponder the question of cd being dead.

Why am I saying this is that I strongly have always felt there have been limitations to recording at 44.1khz.

Remember when cd's first came out they sounded gawd awful. For this having to be the revolution to change the course of the audio industry, it was a disaster to start, save for a compact nearly indestructable format and somewhat longer format.

NOW enter the 21st century.

The dvd disc with ranges past 96khz and MUCH longer playing times has the potential to sound more analog than before.

For me, I have been doing any audio work on my computer at 192khz and the results have been amazing and this includes transferring of lp's.

What should happen in this generation as there are a plethora of dvd players out there and the dvd audio/vidoe disc should be considered as an alternative to SACD.

Anything I record now is done at 192khz and can make a dvd audio video disc playable on most current dvd players. I consider this the modern reel-reel tape deck.

SO, that said, this is why I stated 'Is cd dead' This format, to me is MUCH SUPERIOR and if the record companies got their acts together, they could be releasing music in this format, OR potentially an SD card style as it could handle the files.

Thoughts??

[aeolium]

pmartel, there's a thread on 'Death of the CD' on the CD Review board which has been running for some time:

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?3663-The-Death-of-the-CD

[jayne lee wilson]

I've been enjoying hi-res downloads for a few years now, played from the Macbook through a Cambridge DacMagic.
Whilst it can be hard to analyse why you should, as a mere human being (as opposed to a cat or a bat) hear something special in these files you nearly always do - a greater naturalness and "flow" to the music, better, more present low-level detail, often a wider dynamic range or at least, climaxes which seem more open and easier on the ear as they become musically fiercer or more splendid. But CD has benefited hugely from the recent spate of new DACs, which seem to get better and cheaper all the time, so I do enjoy the many I have here as well. 24-bit audio is wonderful, especially for large orchestral works, but I see it as a luxurious alternative rather than an essential, particularly if you have a fairly recent CD processor.

In retrospect to the thread about d/a converters I decided to ponder the question of cd being dead.

Why am I saying this is that I strongly have always felt there have been limitations to recording at 44.1khz.

Remember when cd's first came out they sounded gawd awful. For this having to be the revolution to change the course of the audio industry, it was a disaster to start, save for a compact nearly indestructable format and somewhat longer format.

NOW enter the 21st century.

The dvd disc with ranges past 96khz and MUCH longer playing times has the potential to sound more analog than before.

For me, I have been doing any audio work on my computer at 192khz and the results have been amazing and this includes transferring of lp's.

What should happen in this generation as there are a plethora of dvd players out there and the dvd audio/vidoe disc should be considered as an alternative to SACD.

Anything I record now is done at 192khz and can make a dvd audio video disc playable on most current dvd players. I consider this the modern reel-reel tape deck.

SO, that said, this is why I stated 'Is cd dead' This format, to me is MUCH SUPERIOR and if the record companies got their acts together, they could be releasing music in this format, OR potentially an SD card style as it could handle the files.

Thoughts??