When will CD's stop being commerically available?

[JLM]

I've only got a modest collection of CD's and a rather ragtag collection of CDP's.  Tried a SB years ago and ran into the same software glitches that bug users to this day, so I ran back to CDP's.  Note that the older I get the more fearful of computers I become.

I suppose the demise of CD's is inevitable, but how soon?

And what are the current cheap, mindlessly simply music server options that I can use with my nice SPDIF DAC?

I looked at Apple Mini, but now they don't have a disc reader at all and they seem to look more like a PC every day.

Plz help, TIA

[steve]

Hopefully never. One can do alot with a player, if there is enough room.

Cheers.

[richidoo]

I think CDs will be here for a while because adults that earn money still use them. Younger consumers are starting to skip physical media. Pia Toscano, for example, the singer from American Idol has several singles out but never published them on a CD. mp3 is the only format available. A sad shame for an artist with a body like that.   Adult music is still all available on CDs.

I understand you bailing on Logitech, I did too when my Duets simply would not work no matter what we tried. Sean was gone and the whole Slim Devices vibe was becoming the Logitech borg, which brought back bad memories about using logitech computer peripherals. There was so much wrong, I couldn't see how they could fix it all in a timeframe I could tolerate. I was right, logitech users are still complaining to this day about that same BS issues, although I hope it is somewhat better now.

I switched to Sonos and still happy with that decision. It is reliable, doesn't crash, great tech support, self contained server, fast library scans, self update, intuitive interface, wireless mesh network, lots of great features. After 4 years of ownership I still recommend it.

When Sonos first came out, smart phones were an exotic toy. The Sonos controller was a nice feature and showed album art and graphical interface for controlling the playback. Nowadays smartphones laptops and tablets are everywhere so the Sonos controller is unnecessary. This allows a person to get a Sonos "Connect" line level hardware player for 349 and control it with their phone. That's a lot less than the package deal I got for 1200 with player, controller and amplified player.  I'm sure the new Sonos controller is very nice, but you can add that later if you like the system, or get an ipad instead. 

The advantages of this type of audio source have been covered elsewhere. But I'll just add that having it all in one smart box that never screws up and can be easily programmed to play internet radio shows on daily schedule or months ahead of time for special events makes Sonos a step above the rest. Not running a separate server application on a different machine is worth the Sonos premium, but now the prices are the same. When you factor the cost of a slimserver host, Sonos is cheaper. It can source files from any dumb fileserver, typical 2TB NAS (6000 flac CDs) for $170 nowadays.   I spent 1500 for a smart NAS 5 years ago, just so I could run slimserver on it without an extra PC. 

I wish the Sonos digital output had less jitter. I wish I had my own iPad. I wish Sonos could run plugins. Nothing's perfect. But compared to the frustration of Logitech hardware players I have found the Sonos to be very satisfying. My DAC ignores the jitter and my laptop is always in my lap anyway. The plugins I want to run could never be powered by Sonos puny brain. So all is well. Except for the rats nest called my music library. Sorry for the rant, I rewrote it to make it shorter, but maybe I should get a job as Sonos salesman?

[BobM]

They will start disappearing when it stops being easy to use them. Car companies are removing CD players from models beginning next year, so the decline of the CD is coming soon.

Now the home audio CD player is only going to stop being produced when a viable alternative becomes available that can sell for a profit.

I personally think we will start seeing more USB jacks on the front and back of CD players so they can serve a dual purpose - spin a disk or play a file. But then there will need to be an improvement in the design so you can page through a USB drive and select what you want to listen to. Maybe via wireless connection to your smartphone?

[Barry (NJ)]

I personally think we will start seeing more USB jacks on the front and back of CD players so they can serve a dual purpose - spin a disk or play a file. But then there will need to be an improvement in the design so you can page through a USB drive and select what you want to listen to. Maybe via wireless connection to your smartphone?

My Oppo BDP-83 has 2 USB ports, 1 front and 1 rear, and I can use those to play media on a thumb drive. I think I coukd use a disk drive as well, but I believe they recommend it have its own power-supply.

[mdconnelly]

Perhaps the real question is whether CDs will disappear before vinyl.    But I suspect they'll be around a good bit longer until Internet bandwidth and download availability (of lossless) content become sufficiently mainstream.

My take on the Squeezebox technology is a bit different.  The Squeezebox Touch is, IMO, a fairly elegant, inexpensive and good sounding solution - particularly when played though a separate DAC.  I've got a Touch, Duet and SB3 and have very, very few problems with any of them these days (which is certainly different from just a few years ago).  Whether Logitech has any real future plans for this technology is another question worth asking but, hey, the price of entry is pretty low.  And, support for the iPad, iPhone and Android devices is excellent with numerous free or cheap apps available.

It does require a modicum of tech savy to get it properly setup so for some, it may not be a sufficiently simple solution, but hey, it does integrate with iTunes if that's your thing, provides access to lots of good Internet radio, and is a great hobbyist solution if you're into ripping and tagging your own CDs - all of which can also be used to feed most any other digital music solution in the future.   

I suspect that we'll be seeing quite a few more elegant solutions in the next few years.  But until music is readily (and legally) available, fully tagged with album art, it'll likely happen slower than we might think regardless of the technology.   

[JLM]

Thanks for all the feedback.

My understanding is that Sonos SQ is a step behind but SB (with mods)/PC/Mac are a step ahead.

I don't want to go backwards regarding SQ.

With the lack of CD's on store shelves, I'm less optimistic than you all about it's longevity.  But I guess I'll try to get more use out of my disc spinners while a more "elegant" solution appears for us computer dummies.

[BobM]

It might be reverse Polish logic, but I suggest getting a quality CD player now and keeping it around to play your CD's for the remainder of your life.

I wish I did this with my 8mm recorded tapes of the kids. I do still have the camera to play them back, but if that goes so go the memories. I also have kept my Nakamichi cassette deck and Teac reel to reel to play back all those tapes I have lying around too.

No, I didn't keep my 8 track player - those tapes were shot. 

[richidoo]

I'm in same boat with 8mm Bob. I remember Crutchfield selling a new Sony 8mm video player for $150. You just figure these technologies will be around forever. I plan to rip the videos to HDD with the camera, someday... haha 

I once sold a bunch of LPs to raise some cash, thinking they were current releases and easy to replace, but that was right at the cliff before they disappeared. By the time I had the money it was over.

I think that day is coming for CDs, but with CDs replacement being non physical and lower quality sound, people are less likely to dump them.

[mdconnelly]

Hmmm, I'm also in the abandoned 8mm camera boat. Tons of family stuff that I can only watch on the camera itself.  Gotta do something about that soon.

I once had a ton of reel-to-reel music recorded on an excellent Tanberg deck, but in a fit of perhaps misplaced-nervosa, I got rid of that years ago to justify buying... wait for it... a CD player!   . 

Never did save 8-tracks (had a car player that would routinely eat them).  Also dumped all my cassettes sometime back when my cassette player broke.  I kinda doubt I'll ever get rid of my vinyl and will likely keep my CDP and many of my CDs until something *far* better comes along (or the CDP breaks and can't be fixed).

FWIW, my Oracle CD transport still sounds better than playback through the SB Touch, although hi-res playback via the Touch is a real contender.

Hey, it's only gonna get better, right? 

[tmazz]

Car companies are removing CD players from models beginning next year, so the decline of the CD is coming soon.

While I agree that this my signal a decline in the use of CDs they are far from extinct. Car companies are offering models without CD players as a cost savings for those who don't want them they will certainly be available as options. There is an embedded base of billions of CDs out there so even if new production shifts towards other formats there will be demand for divices to play those CDs for many years to come. And who knows as today's teens and 20somethings grow up, get real jobs and some disposable income some of them just may discover the advantages of better sound and start to seek out better muscal formats than the compressed MP3s. Hey one can only hope, it happened once already with turntables.  

[JLM]

After having my last and my Dad's VCR's both die I bought a VHS/DVD player/recorder a year ago to copy those old tapes.

As long as DVD/Blu-Ray/3D formats are popular, I'll have a machine to playback CD's.  Thank God for Oppo.   

[Inscrutable]

Why do I feel older just reading this thread? 

It is inevitable ... virtually every medium's decline has been in the name of convenience and feature set - not quality. you can't argue the convenience and feature set of streamed digital vs CD. The only saving grace is that we CAN get better hi-rez digital for these (or evolved) devices. There will be more HDTracks or equal popping up over the coming years, at better prices.  Vinyl will stay thanks to a reasonably large installed base combined with (potentially) superior sound quality. CD will eventually go the way of open reel, 8-track and cassette. It was ALREADY a winner by virtue of convenience, now the sword cuts both ways.

[downtempotone]

I, too, agree that the CD will have its demise one day, but hopefully when I am pushing up daisies! Having been born in the 60's, I've experienced, vinyl, cassette tape, CD and MP3. But frankly speaking, listening to good vinyl on my well tempered lads turntable is the best sound for my aging ears.

Of course, I virtually replaced my record collection with the CD version (if I could find it - I have an eclectic taste). And so on with MP3s. However, I just cannot get used the digital sound reproduction on analog ears. Maybe its my generation, but the millennium babies are used to digital only and do not seem to want to embrace the "old' analog medium. Its a shame, but is the natural progression of things.

My last hope it that my children will discover music that they have never herd before when they find my 400 or so cassette tape, over 1,000 vinyl albums and over 3,000 CDs!

[BobM]

My youngest daughter has already claimed "dibs" to my vinyl and stereo after I'm gone, but she will have to wait until I'm cold in the ground before she steals my music.