a.dent Posted February 15 Posted February 15 12 minutes ago, El Tel said: I have been ridiculed for suggesting that my listening experience is impacted by my mood and demeanour on a given day. Go figure. At least I can claim some elements of self-awareness. Yes. This day to day variance in our appreciation will have a MUCH bigger impact on what we are hearing (or interpreting) than comparing CD to streaming. Some days everything sounds great but other days everything sounds s++t. 4 2
MattyW Posted February 15 Posted February 15 (edited) 1 hour ago, bob_m_54 said: That doesn't even make sense. I can listen to Led Zeppelin over a $10.00 transistor radio, and enjoy it more than listening to Justin Bieber over a $10,000 stereo system. And then you bring in the "phone speakers". What is the point you are trying to make? None of it relates to perception vs reality as far as whether something makes a real improvement to your audio. Or am I confused, and that is your point. Are you saying that if you like the music, it will always cloud your judgement as to whether it sounds good or not? My point is merely that you aught to know what you like the sound of. No one can determine that but you and yes that includes the music. My point is that some these days perfectly enjoy listening to a phones loudspeaker though I would assume anyone here is perfectly capable of determining that they like more. What more is there to understand but only you and your own ears and mind can determine what you like. I don't think it's rocket science understanding this point do you? It's a very simple point. Edited February 15 by MattyW 1 1
MattyW Posted February 15 Posted February 15 (edited) 56 minutes ago, El Tel said: I have been ridiculed for suggesting that my listening experience is impacted by my mood and demeanour on a given day. Go figure. At least I can claim some elements of self-awareness. I'm with you on this as my mood, and time of day impacts on my enjoyment of music also. Also how stressed I am with work and life etc. I need to be somewhat relaxed to enjoy music in the first place. Edited February 15 by MattyW 3
Hi-Fi Whipped Posted February 15 Posted February 15 2 minutes ago, MattyW said: My point is merely that you aught to know what you like the sound of. No one can determine that but you and yes that includes the music. My point is that some these days perfectly enjoy listening to a phones loudspeaker though I would assume anyone here is perfectly cables of determining that they like more. What more is there to understand but only you and your own ears and mind can determine what you like. I don't think it's rocket science understanding this point so you? It's a very simple point. Agreed, listening to how music sounds and listening to music are two completely different things imo. Give me my favourite tunes and a Bluetooth speaker and I’ll listen all day with a smile. The dots and dashes that bog down so many here simply get in the way of enjoying the music. Streaming music is hard and complex all of a sudden? Give me a spell, could not be easier nowadays, it’s just the overly complex people that take something easy and make it complex. 3
MattyW Posted February 15 Posted February 15 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Hi-Fi Whipped said: Agreed, listening to how music sounds and listening to music are two completely different things imo. Give me my favourite tunes and a Bluetooth speaker and I’ll listen all day with a smile. The dots and dashes that bog down so many here simply get in the way of enjoying the music. Streaming music is hard and complex all of a sudden? Give me a spell, could not be easier nowadays, it’s just the overly complex people that take something easy and make it complex. I'm guilty of over complicating it, though simple or complicated so long as it's enjoyed that's the main thing yes? Edited February 15 by MattyW 1
Satanica Posted February 15 Posted February 15 32 minutes ago, MattyW said: My point is merely that you aught to know what you like the sound of. No one can determine that but you and yes that includes the music. I prefer the sound of good sound, why would anyone prefer anything different?
MattyW Posted February 15 Posted February 15 1 minute ago, Satanica said: I prefer the sound of good sound, why would anyone prefer anything different? Yes, and you can determine that for yourself.
aussievintage Posted February 15 Posted February 15 I am noting how the discussion has diverted to using your ears to determine what you like, from the original point of trusting your ears to determine technical imperfections in streaming setups. Quite a different thing. 1 1
NPC Posted February 15 Posted February 15 39 minutes ago, aussievintage said: I am noting how the discussion has diverted to using your ears to determine what you like, from the original point of trusting your ears to determine technical imperfections in streaming setups. Quite a different thing. The original point was on popularity of CD vs vinyl/streaming, rather than preference. Regardless, your point on thread creep is not without merit. I am just as guilty there. Let's avoid sidebars into emotional response and other irrelevant segues such as networking (there is already a whole sub dedicated to pontificating same) and try to stay on topic 2
SonicArt Posted February 15 Posted February 15 To be pedantic the thread title asks if CD is still as popular as vinyl or streaming, I would say yes is all the answer that's required 5
crisis Posted February 15 Posted February 15 On 15/02/2025 at 9:47 AM, bob_m_54 said: I have a NAS, which was actually very easy to "get it to work". And I do store over 2,000 of my own CDs that I ripped, which for me, is very handy when I want to listen to music either in my shed, or in the house. Not only that, if I just want to play background music without having to get up to change CDs, I just cue up a bunch of albums to play, or even just play random tracks from an era, or a genre, depending on the situation...... And the best bit... they never end up in the wrong cases, taking you hours, if not days, to resolve. Yeah I don't think stupid is the right word and I don't think people who do it are stupid. That out the way, I for me it doesn't make sense as I can stream most of what I want to listen to from Tidal etc. So I don't see the point of basically replicating the content on a personal data base. The reason I couldn't "get it to work" was , I suspect, the clumsiness of the Prisma system which, despite its very good sound, is flawed when it comes to useability.
rantan Posted February 16 Posted February 16 44 minutes ago, crisis said: The reason I couldn't "get it to work" was , I suspect, the clumsiness of the Prisma system which, despite its very good sound, is flawed when it comes to useability. This is exactly why I maintain my preference for CD and vinyl. To borrow a word from the quote, usability, is king and not being able to get it to work is a story often told by streaming users, despite positive protestations from others who seek ( or tolerate ) more complexity in their music re production process. *****Just so I am clear, this is not and never has been, a personal put down or negative comment to anybody whatsoever and I concede that everybody gets to their own Nirvana, by various means and all the best to all of you, it's just that I personally don't get it.***** 4
betty boop Posted February 16 Posted February 16 1 hour ago, SonicArt said: To be pedantic the thread title asks if CD is still as popular as vinyl or streaming, I would say yes is all the answer that's required Yes 1
Redbook Posted February 16 Posted February 16 16 hours ago, muon* said: Yes, I never considered that nightmare scenario. Two rules at my place. 1....Don't drink my last beer. 2.....Don't touch my CDs. 3 2
Hi-Fi Whipped Posted February 16 Posted February 16 3 hours ago, SonicArt said: To be pedantic the thread title asks if CD is still as popular as vinyl or streaming, I would say yes is all the answer that's required Yes but my gut feel is that more contributors in this thread stream or play vinyl more than listen to cds as a daily listening source. 1
Cacofonix Posted February 16 Posted February 16 (edited) For me the only best thing about online music content is I usually get to listen to an album before ordering it on CD. No more wasting money on duds. But it's a pretty bland buying experience having a CD shipped to your front door. Convenient yes, but bland. Going back to the '90's, my favourite music store was Rhino Records in Timaru, NZ. The owner Warren would regularly travel to the US, going to gigs and festivals and meeting with independent labels, bringing back some fabulous stuff, a lot of it curated to his favourite customers tastes, including mine. He had 4 headphone stations, each with a Denon CDP. Warren would see you come in and enthusiastically hand you a wad of CD's by hitherto unknown artists and bands. You could then sit down inside the front window of the store and listen to music while keeping an eye out for the pretty girls and people you knew passing by on Stafford Street. And I'd always get toasted before leaving home because let's face it, that's the best way to assess music you're listening to for the first time. All in all, a totally immersive buying experience. So excuse me while I cling to my 'dying' format. Edited February 16 by Cacofonix 4 3
muon* Posted February 16 Posted February 16 4 minutes ago, Cacofonix said: For me the only best thing about online music content is I usually get to listen to an album before ordering it on CD. No more wasting money on duds. But it's a pretty bland buying experience having a CD shipped to your front door. Convenient yes, but bland. Going back to the '90's, my favourite music store was Rhino Records in Timaru, NZ. The owner Warren would regularly travel to the US, going to gigs and festivals and meeting with independent labels, bringing back some fabulous stuff, a lot of it curated to his favourite customers tastes, including mine. He had 4 headphone stations, each with a Denon CDP. Warren would see you come in and enthusiastically hand you a wad of CD's by hitherto unknown artists and bands. You could then sit down inside the front window of the store and listen to music while keeping an eye out for the pretty girls and people you knew passing by on Main Street. And I'd always get toasted before leaving home because let's face it, that's the best way to assess music you're listening to for the first time. All in all, a totally immersive buying experience. So excuse me while I cling to my 'dying' format. Love your avatar. 1 1
Cacofonix Posted February 16 Posted February 16 29 minutes ago, muon* said: Love your avatar. I've also moved her albums from F to M in my alphabetically ordered CD collection. I did the same when Lou Reed and J.J. Cale passed. Grace Jones is already in the G section because there's only one Grace and she may well be immortal anyway .
bob_m_54 Posted February 16 Posted February 16 23 minutes ago, Cacofonix said: I've also moved her albums from F to M in my alphabetically ordered CD collection. I did the same when Lou Reed and J.J. Cale passed. Grace Jones is already in the G section because there's only one Grace and she may well be immortal anyway . You just brought up another reason why it's handy having your own CDs ripped and stored on media somewhere (NAS or ext drive). You don't have the problem of people not knowing the concept of ordered storage, when they put them back in the rack.. . As for listing artists under their surname, I used to do that (actually my CDs are still like that). And bands or groups were listed by the first word (except for "The"), obviously. But then you get things like Jethro Tull, Molly Hatchet, Harvey Danger, Gnarls Barkley etc etc... who just go and stuff up that system... Well they do in my head... 1
vinilink Posted February 16 Posted February 16 Maybe this can answer OP question. https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/2014618/the-cd-is-back-i-tested-the-new-discman-rival
Satanica Posted February 16 Posted February 16 (edited) 10 hours ago, Hi-Fi Whipped said: Yes but my gut feel is that more contributors in this thread stream or play vinyl more than listen to cds as a daily listening source. Yeah, right as I type this surely streaming is so far ahead in current music consumption that the other two are virtually insignificant. Granted, audiophile numbers would be different. I do find it quite amusing that ten years ago, most audiophiles seemed to turn their noses up at steaming, but now it's cool and has seemingly replaced CD as the most popular digital audio consumption method. Edited February 16 by Satanica 3
rantan Posted February 16 Posted February 16 12 minutes ago, Satanica said: Yeah, right as I type this surely streaming is so far ahead in current music consumption Sure, not in dispute. But then again BOSE and SONOS are best sellers 15 minutes ago, Satanica said: but now it's s cool and has seemingly replaced CD as the most popular digital audio consumption method. Being the most popular does not mean it is a superior medium. The music you play is never "yours" it is merely a licence paid to a multi national corporation who seek ultimate control of music and leaves many artists out of pocket and unable to make a living. Just ask any local band or musician how much they love Spotify. 1 1
omara31 Posted February 16 Posted February 16 I’d like to upgrade my CD transport. The current Cambridge Audio CXC is okay as it feeds into a DAC & Amp set up I’m very happy with but I’d like to explore the potential sonic improvement without going nuts and spending over $3k. The older quality CD (and SACD players) I see advertised - e.g. Marantz etc. - seem quality. I assume they are all able to be connected to a DAC and bypass internal DACs. Can anyone confirm that here? Is it just a matter of connecting the cables to my DAC rather than my amp?
rockeater Posted February 16 Posted February 16 13 minutes ago, omara31 said: I assume they are all able to be connected to a DAC and bypass internal DACs. Can anyone confirm that here? Yes 13 minutes ago, omara31 said: Is it just a matter of connecting the cables to my DAC rather than my amp? Yes 1
muon* Posted February 16 Posted February 16 Yes, but you really need to do the research on older players and find out which ones are best when used as transports. 2
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