Last week, I wrote about reconsidering compact disc, and possibly giving it another whirl (or should I say spin?) in my system. Since that time, I haven't come to any hard and fast decisions. The only thing that seems certain is that if I were to try seriously using CD I'll have to upgrade hardware. And I've been wondering this week exactly what sort of upgrades I might pursue. Which brought a rather shocking thought: I might seriously consider doing nothing more than another CD player.
Some would say I'm crazy to consider a CD player. It's 2017, not 1987! Today's audiophile often goes with system centered somehow or other around a DAC. It may be a standalone DAC, or it may be integrated into something else (like an amplifier). That DAC will work with a wide range of digital sources.
Past that, modern digital systems often do away with the spinning of the CD entirely. Many have totally embraced some sort of file server mentality for dealing with CD. Every CD they owned was ripped, and stuffed only a computer hard drive. From that point, any time the CD is played, it is played off the hard drive.
As of a couple of years ago, the modern DAC model was the direction I thought I'd head in if I ever did anything with digital again. It seems more sensible since it gets far more capability than merely playing CDs. I don't see myself wanting to rip all my CDs—even though I have a small collection—but a computer could be more convenient for playing favorite recordings (particularly in background mode). And...sealing the deal, or so I thought, was how cheap DACs have gotten. It's possible to buy a new DAC for less than some new budget CD players.
Given that one can buy a DAC for less than a CD player would make the DAC a better buy. Or so it might seem. But the question that I'm wondering is how much would a DAC cost that I'd be willng to seriously listen to? I've heard a few inexpensive DACs here than there. I have been impressed in some ways, but nothing I've heard has really grabbed me. None of them compelled me to make them a "must buy." None of them really made me want to run all my favorite CDs through them. And I even ran carefully selected tracks through one DAC I heard.
Meanwhile...a CD player from Arcam (not super high end, but also far from rock bottom budget) did impress me in the late 1990s. And that CD player was fed a CD I'd bought just to have a CD to take to audio dealers. I never heard that CD before that day, and yet there was something that made me want to listen. (Interestingly, that CD has since become a favorite. But it's a problematic CD in that it can be painful to listen to on bad equipment.)
Since price is a major consideration, I've started wondering if I wouldn't be better off with a CD player. Admittedly, a new, budget CD player probably wouldn't be much more involving than a budget DAC. But there are a lot of used CD players floating about, and sometimes quite attractively priced. It might be possible to find a CD player I could actually listen to priced at a level that would buy a DAC that I'd be less inclined to listen to.
With a CD player, of course, one loses functionality of other digital sources. (Unless one gets a CD player with a digital input. But those are higher priced than I'm interested in at the moment.) But...am I likely to really do much beyond CD at this point? CD is what is available really cheap on the used market right now. CD is what my library stocks. High resolution audio interests me—but I have a hard time getting past the price of recordings. I've been too spoiled, I guess, by used LPs. And, speaking of LPs, a lot of the newer releases that interest me have also been released on vinyl. It's more expensive than digital, but a few extra dollars here and there isn't the end of the world.
One worry with a used CD player is reliability. I've had pretty good luck historically, and when I spend real money, I tend to be cautious. So I'm not hugely worried about buying "someone else's problems." I am guessing I wouldn't use the player enough to really make wearing it out a huge worry. (Indeed, if I got heavily into running CDs as background, it might make sense to get a CD changer for that purpose. Goodwill always has a selection of CD changers that are good enough for background.)
At this point, I have no idea if I'll pursue a CD player. At least, it's an option, and it may be a good option for the moment. We'll see.
Friday, April 7, 2017
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Reconsidering CD
Recently, I have been thinking maybe—maybe—I’ll give CD another chance.
In a way, it’s strange that I’d think of giving CD another chance. I’ve frankly been an analog die-hard my entire audiophile life. Vinyl has never come back as far as I’m concerned simply because it never went away. Indeed, I had a good system for nearly ten years before I started seriously playing with CD—and even then, I went with a used, dirt cheap budget CD player, and it was used very much as a “second format” once the novelty wore off.
Past this this, it’s also worth noting that CD is a dying format. Why bother with it?
Actually, being honest, a major reason why I’m suddenly interested in CD is entirely because it is a dying format. CD is less and less popular, and thus the used market is flooded with CDs, which are priced at next to nothing. I have seen prices as low as a quarter each. In some cases, a CD may sell for much more than a quarter—but still be considerably cheaper than any LP edition of a given work. (Classic jazz recordings are a good example.) From a view of building a music collection on the cheap, the CD has become what the LP was 25 years ago.
At the same time, however, I see one big problem to pursuing cheap CDs. My current digital hardware is...uh...lackluster. It is adequate for background music much of the time, and it’s acceptable enough that I occasionally (but only occasionally) seriously listen. So if I were to give CD another shot, I should also plan to do hardware upgrades.
Needless to say, upgrades mean spending money. Unfortunately, at this point in my life, I need to spend money wisely. I am not the Mobile Home Audiophile because I’ve found a mobile home has the best possible acoustics! I frankly wonder if I’d see enough return on cheap used CDs to justify hardware upgrades. (Of course, with digital upgrades, I’d be able to do things I can’t do now. Such as playing high resolution digital files. But, again, I’m not sure it would be worth it to me—at least until I have the budget to be able go on a high resolution audio recording shopping binge.)
It also doesn’t help that I remain quite happy with analog. Even if there had never been a rebirth of vinyl, I’d survive. I had no trouble finding worthwhile music to listen to during the nearly 10 years I did nothing with CD. Yes, I sometimes wished I could play a newer release. But there was a lot—a lot—of worthwhile music on old LPs.
In the end, I keep flip-flopping on whether I want to give CD another chance. One day I think yes, and the next day I think no. We’ll see what happens in the end, I guess.
In a way, it’s strange that I’d think of giving CD another chance. I’ve frankly been an analog die-hard my entire audiophile life. Vinyl has never come back as far as I’m concerned simply because it never went away. Indeed, I had a good system for nearly ten years before I started seriously playing with CD—and even then, I went with a used, dirt cheap budget CD player, and it was used very much as a “second format” once the novelty wore off.
Past this this, it’s also worth noting that CD is a dying format. Why bother with it?
Actually, being honest, a major reason why I’m suddenly interested in CD is entirely because it is a dying format. CD is less and less popular, and thus the used market is flooded with CDs, which are priced at next to nothing. I have seen prices as low as a quarter each. In some cases, a CD may sell for much more than a quarter—but still be considerably cheaper than any LP edition of a given work. (Classic jazz recordings are a good example.) From a view of building a music collection on the cheap, the CD has become what the LP was 25 years ago.
At the same time, however, I see one big problem to pursuing cheap CDs. My current digital hardware is...uh...lackluster. It is adequate for background music much of the time, and it’s acceptable enough that I occasionally (but only occasionally) seriously listen. So if I were to give CD another shot, I should also plan to do hardware upgrades.
Needless to say, upgrades mean spending money. Unfortunately, at this point in my life, I need to spend money wisely. I am not the Mobile Home Audiophile because I’ve found a mobile home has the best possible acoustics! I frankly wonder if I’d see enough return on cheap used CDs to justify hardware upgrades. (Of course, with digital upgrades, I’d be able to do things I can’t do now. Such as playing high resolution digital files. But, again, I’m not sure it would be worth it to me—at least until I have the budget to be able go on a high resolution audio recording shopping binge.)
It also doesn’t help that I remain quite happy with analog. Even if there had never been a rebirth of vinyl, I’d survive. I had no trouble finding worthwhile music to listen to during the nearly 10 years I did nothing with CD. Yes, I sometimes wished I could play a newer release. But there was a lot—a lot—of worthwhile music on old LPs.
In the end, I keep flip-flopping on whether I want to give CD another chance. One day I think yes, and the next day I think no. We’ll see what happens in the end, I guess.
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