Are CDs the future??!!

[George Hincapie]

Over the past few months I've probably bought as many CDs as I had done in the previous 20 years combined. There have been some 'business' reasons for this, but other factors have also had a significant influence on my behaviour.

For NVA, CDs are convenient for playing music at shows; they're easy to transport and store / display, they require less meticulous 'handling' than vinyl, they sound good when using a competent transport and DAC, and they don't rely on hotel Wi-Fi networks!

Streaming is convenient at home, and great for checking out new music, but there are still very good reasons to own music in a physical format. Not everything I want is available through a streaming service, and there are no guarantees that all the albums that I have stored as 'favourites' on Qobuz will always be available on that platform in the version that I want.

Then, there is affordability. Single vinyl LPs start at £20 these days and sometimes go up to above £30. Double LPs can be 50% or more on top of that. Secondhand vinyl is also now at premium prices, and sought-after, rare titles can be into three figures. New CDs, even recent releases, can often be found for under a tenner, and secondhand CDs can be had from pennies upwards (especially if you're prepared to put the yards in), with plenty of good titles at around the £3 to £5 mark, even on eBay and Discogs. I've just bought a couple of excellent classical box sets, working out at around £1 per disc. CD packaging and accompanying 'guff' has also improved, so 'pride of ownership' may be greater than it once was.

Most interesting for enthusiasts seeking the best bang for our buck is that there are a number of vintage all in one players from the 80s and 90s that can be picked up for around £50, and are now recognised as having excellent sound quality (now that they are not all being fed through nasal 'flat earth' speakers).

Coming back to NVA, we've been using an Audiolab 6000CDT CD transport at shows. It's a good value machine with excellent sound quality. We decided that we should have a 2nd transport in case of equipment failure. We've been tempted by a good deal on an Audiolab 9000CDT, which has a tray (TEAC mech) rather than a slot (I've heard that the 6000 is being discontinued because the slot mech is no longer being made). The 9000 probably has a little more 'shelf presence'. Whether we will hear a sound quality difference over the 6000, I don't know, but I will report either way.

[George Hincapie]

I own a 6000CDT too. Excellent transport. I wish it had BNC out though.

The display on the 9000 series does look nice though; as you say, additional shelf appeal.

Looking forward to reading your thoughts.

[George Hincapie]

I own a 6000CDT too. Excellent transport. I wish it had BNC out though.

If you're worried about 75 ohm standard, then don't sweat too much about it. Impedance is a moving feast, to an extent.

[George Hincapie]

I own a 6000CDT too. Excellent transport. I wish it had BNC out though.

If you're worried about 75 ohm standard, then don't sweat too much about it. Impedance is a moving feast, to an extent.

I'm sure you're absolutely right Paul; I always worry that adapters just aren't quite the same. Even though I have no personal experience that this is the case!

[TheMarlin]

I buy loads of CD’s now. I bought 15 from my local charity shop (including a few rare SACD albums) plus three factory sealed blue ray DVD’s - all for under a fiver.

I like my vinyl, but prices are getting nuts now.

I have a 6000CDT, using it with a Topping D90. Sounds fabulous.

[Bencat57]

I have to say that were I am local charity shops rarely have any cd,s of any interest and almost never SACD titles . I do however still buy regular items from e-bay , Amazon Marketplace , Magpie , Green Books and other sites .

[Shevans]

Very recently I bought a new NAD CD player and started the task of putting my 1,000 odd CDs back into Jewel Cases. Many moons ago I decided to throw away the Jewel Cases to save on space, in hindsight this was a stupid thing to do.

I have managed to re-case about 400 so far and will be starting on the double albums later this week once I have done a headcount and ordered some more cases, guessing around 200 odd will be needed.

[slinger]

If I do buy these days, it's downloads more often than not. I do, however, still buy CDs from artists directly - usually autographed copies -.via Farcebook, or Twatter sorry, I mean X

[CN211276]

Going against the grain here but CDs are a thing of the past where I am concerned. The only player I have had for years is in the car and that does not get any use because I play rips from flash drives.

When CD crashed in price I binged on them. As well as on line box sets there was a shop in town, no longer there, which sold second hand ones for peanuts. Many a lunch break I would stroll there from work and was like a kid let loose in a sweet shop. From around 2008 till 2015 what was a modest collection got out of hand. Storage space became a big issue and I was providing grounds for divorce. It was 2015 when I discovered lossless streaming and with the kids having fleft the nest we downsized house to a nice detached where volume could not be an issue with neighbours. There was only one way to go, nearly all the CDs were ripped and sold. Needless to say this took years.

Although all my CDs are ripped nearly all of my listening is through Qobuz. In most cases I find it superior, especially remasters. The subscription paid annually is very reasonable and as my listening is mainly main stream I do not have issues with their catalogue. If something is missing I send them the link from free Spotify and it appears. Another downside of CDs is the small print in the booklets. Everything is far clearer on my tablet or phone. I am fortunate in having good Internet and WiFi and cannot forsee lossless streaming disappearing.

[TheMarlin]

I’ve got three Bluesound Node 2i’s, all with the latest greatest power board and power supply upgrades.

They sound good, but my CD Players wipes the floor with them. Just better sounding all round.

Oddly, in each Hifi system, they all feed into the same DAC (Topping D90, D90SE, and D70 Velvet). So I’m theory should sound the same, but just don’t.

Thinking I might need a better streamer.

Using Tidal Hifi, and Apple Music.