The Death of the CD?

[rauschwerk]

I suspect quite a bit of the problem is that 192k samples/sec (which is what is meant 192kHz signals)+ 24 bit samples is totally wasted on the human ear

Indeed.

I suspect it is the presence of these shortcuts and the artifacts they imposed that could be heard in some of the early CDs

'Some' being the operative word. Telarc were producing wonderful digital sounds as early as 1978.

[Pabmusic]

How extraordinary. None of my CDs has ever got scratched. Replacement cases hardly cost a fortune, anyway.

I have a good stock of old Gramophone free sampler CDs - not that I listen to them (perish the thought!), but the cases are useful for replacing damaged ones.

[MrGongGong]

An expression including 'life' and 'get' springs to mind.

and why not use your ("Thursday") car ?

"They'd replaced the radio under warranty when my ("Friday") car "

most of us only have different underwear for each day

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

most of us only have different underwear for each day

Oooh; there's posh!

[3rd Viennese School]

I've still to buy a personal CD player (see my posting on that Death CD thread!) but is it worth it if they are going to stop these things?

It seems to me that they are quicker to phase out CDS than they were tapes!

[mathias broucek]

An expression including 'life' and 'get' springs to mind.

What a novelty - I've been coming to these message boards for a while and haven't been trolled before. Thanks so much for your gentle kindness and compassion.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Please can we keep on topic.

[Parry1912]

I've been coming to these message boards for a while and haven't been trolled before.

Then you have been very fortunate indeed!

[old khayyam]

How extraordinary. None of my CDs has ever got scratched. Replacement cases hardly cost a fortune, anyway.

How fortunate. I have often brought a cd home from the shop to find one of the little teeth has broken off and is rattling around inside. Am i about to make a journey back into town to get a replacement..?


Unfortunately for everyone here, i cant say enough about my love for the vinyl lp. This love is magnified as i sit back and watch people of all generations being herded through one format-change after another, each one heralding a new 'golden dawn', while vinyl prices sink lower and my library grows bigger..

[MrGongGong]

We talk now of digital resolution finally comparing to analogue; imagine how good analogue would be if we had continued to innovate in that field. Digital attempts to represent the music, but its just a sample - broken down into code. Analogue is the music.

I love this stuff ............ Granular hearing indeed
so thats (roughly) 44,100 little bits per second that you can hear as discreet elements ???? hummmmmmm
I have on my desk a little glass bottle containing the swarf from an LP I cut in a sound installation with a disc cutting machine, I guess that's the nearest thing physically to it NOT being code, the grooves are an analogue "code"
what about this ?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/watz/2631108862/in/set-72157605938577977/

???

[umslopogaas]

#15 old khayyam. I am also a fan of vinyl and have about seven thousand LPs occupying shelves on every wall in the house that can stand the weight. I have some CDs too, but seldom play them except in the car when I dont like what's on the radio. I bought the CDs mainly when they first came out because I was persuaded that they were a superior medium. I still accept that they are, but the lure of vinyl was too strong to resist. Interest in vinyl is declining, as collectors age and die out: the next generation has very little interest. I spend a lot of time watching prices on ebay (I dont buy or sell, but I like to keep an eye on what my pricier items are fetching) and the majority of items are not collectible: they are offered at 99p and attract no bids. A minority of collectible items still attract healthy interest, especially, for example, early stereo Decca (SXL 2000 series), Columbia (SAX), HMV (ASD), RCA (SB) and to a slightly lesser extent Philips (SABL) and Mercury (AMS).

So far as scratches are concerned, there's no comparison. Even very small scratches on vinyl are audible, big ones can simply trap the stylus and the record is effectively wrecked. I must have dumped two second hand LPs for every one I've kept. On CDs, small scratches dont seem to matter, I once bought a second hand one that looked as if it had been used to scrub the floor, but it played fine. I have never bought a defective CD, they seem almost indestructible. And of course they are so much more adaptable, you can play them in the car, on your portable stereo (I did once read that some pop star had fitted his Bentley with a record player, but it wasnt an option for most of us).

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I really do fail to understand all this talking down of the CD, when there is such an embarrassing rich treasure chest of these wonderful discs available.

[Curalach]

I really do fail to understand all this talking down of the CD, when there is such an embarrassing rich treasure chest of these wonderful discs available.

. . . and in real terms so inexpensive.
When I started collecting recordings (LPs) they cost up to ten times what it cost me to go to a concert. Nowadays I could buy at least 5 CDs for the price of a concert ticket and often more.
We are truly blessed.

[rauschwerk]

We talk now of digital resolution finally comparing to analogue; imagine how good analogue would be if we had continued to innovate in that field. Digital attempts to represent the music, but its just a sample - broken down into code. Analogue is the music.

Harry Nyquist of Bell Labs proved as long ago as 1926 that if you sample a signal at at least twice the frequency present in that signal, you can reconstruct the original perfectly. His theorem still stands. There are, of course, technological problems which were not entirely solved in some of the earliest CD players.

All engineering, including audio engineering, is subject to trade-offs. The PCM had to be 16 bits to meet the objective of getting Beethoven's 9th on a disc of convenient size. It was no doubt decided (correctly in my view) that this would give sound quality that was at least acceptable to the great majority of listeners. Those who want higher sampling rates and more bits/sample can now find it.

Analogue LP suffers from the need to use dynamic compression to get reasonable playing times. There is also an inherent high frequency loss as the stylus approaches the spindle. A surprising degree of pitch variation results from even slight eccentricity. The closest approach to the original sound remains the studio master.

[Stunsworth]

Harry Nyquist of Bell Labs proved as long ago as 1926 that if you sample a signal at at least twice the frequency present in that signal, you can reconstruct the original perfectly. His theorem still stands.

Is that for sine waves or does it also work for musical notes with higher frequency harmonics?