Happy 40th Birthday to the compact disc

[Bodhi]

On this day in 1979 Philips introduced the compact disc and first CD player. And the rest as they say is history!

I bought my first cd player as a student back in 1986, a Sony FH-15R compact hifi with the optional CDP-7F. I'm amazed at how far not only cd players, but also compact discs and mastering processes have come along in that time. Today there is a wide variety of audiophile cd's such as XRCD24, Ultra HD CD, UHQCD, K2HD, DXD SHM Platrinum & SHM-SACD which, along with the latest high end cd players and transport/dacs, have narrowed the gap to vinyl.

Here is an interesting article about the history of the compact disc .

 

[thomask]

I bought my first CD player on 1984.

It was Technics.

The sound was rather bright and scratchy compared with vinyl.

But it was easy to play and no pain with dust noise.

When I moved from Berkeley to Chicago 1988 by car, I gave up vinyl since I had no room to move them inside my car.

My first serious CD player was California Audio bought 1989.

After getting separates of TEC TL 0X and DCS Elgar and upsampler on 1999, I felt that sound quality out of CD could be almost good as vinyl.


Thomas

 

[thedudeabides]

Yeah! Happy birthday.

 

[spiritofmusic]

How many here would rather spin a cd than stream? Count me in.

 

[Al M.]

How many here would rather spin a cd than stream? Count me in.

Me too. I stream YouTube, but for listening on my system it's spinning CDs. My favorite high resolution medium.

 

[NorthStar]

It's the same thing with a 4K Blu-ray disc versus streaming.
...SACD hybrid multichannel versus streaming.
...LP stereo versus streaming,
...R2R tape versus streaming.

Isn't it?

 

[Al M.]

It's the same thing with a 4K Blu-ray disc versus streaming.
...SACD hybrid multichannel versus streaming.
...LP stereo versus streaming,
...R2R tape versus streaming.

Isn't it?

Not quite. You can't stream analog, and many streaming fans consider physical playing of a digital disc anachronistic. I could care less.

 

[microstrip]

If all the CDs in the world were piled up, they'd circle the Earth six times.

 

[Al M.]

If all the CDs in the world were piled up, they'd circle the Earth six times.

Yes, but allegedly no-one listens to them anymore . Notwithstanding the fact that for example my Simaudio Moon CD transport is shipped from Canada to Europe by the multiple pallets each time. And that's just part of the high end, not the broader market.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Spent some time today ABing a YBA cd transport versus a Paul Pang server and another experimental server, thru an Ares Cerat Kassandra dac, in an all Ares Cerat system incl the $120k Symphonia horns.

Abs no attempt here to draw any firm conclusions. But after multiple toing and froing, it was consistently the case that music from the cdp was more fleshed out, tonally neutral and differentiated, and naturally warmer, than from either server.

Not night and day (we're still talking digital v digital, than v analog), but it reinforced my view that the majority have dumped cd a little too readily.

 

[Al M.]

Spent some time today ABing a YBA cd transport versus a Paul Pang server and another experimental server, thru an Ares Cerat Kassandra dac, in an all Ares Cerat system incl the $120k Symphonia horns.

Abs no attempt here to draw any firm conclusions. But after multiple toing and froing, it was consistently the case that music from the cdp was more fleshed out, tonally neutral and differentiated, and naturally warmer, than from either server.

Not night and day (we're still talking digital v digital, than v analog), but it reinforced my view that the majority have dumped cd a little too readily.

Thanks for the report. I cannot pretend to be surprised.

 

[BlueFox]

I still buy CDs if they aren’t available as a download from HDTracks. Of course, I rip my new CD so it can be played by the Lumin. I rarely turn on my CD player.

 

[NorthStar]

Spent some time today ABing a YBA cd transport versus a Paul Pang server and another experimental server, thru an Ares Cerat Kassandra dac, in an all Ares Cerat system incl the $120k Symphonia horns.

Abs no attempt here to draw any firm conclusions. But after multiple toing and froing, it was consistently the case that music from the cdp was more fleshed out, tonally neutral and differentiated, and naturally warmer, than from either server.

Not night and day (we're still talking digital v digital, than v analog), but it reinforced my view that the majority have dumped cd a little too readily.

It's the same thing with vinyl; too many (the majority) have dumped LP a little too readily.

When is the next LP's anniversary birthday? ...And how old?

 

[DexterMiller]

It's the same thing with vinyl; too many (the majority) have dumped LP a little too readily.

When is the next LP's anniversary birthday? ...And how old?

It will be 100 in 2048.

 

[DexterMiller]

The 74min. average max. playing time was suggested at the behest of (the late) conductor Herbert Von Karajan; saying it should be able to contain Beethoven's 9th on one disc.

 

[spiritofmusic]

So, 1979 is the anniversary? I thought it was 1983?
What cd title was released in 1979?
Are we confusing the date w the first digital mastering?

 

[NorthStar]

So, 1979 is the anniversary? I thought it was 1983?
What cd title was released in 1979?
Are we confusing the date w the first digital mastering?

You are almost right Marc.

"The first commercial compact disc was produced on 17 August 1982. It was a recording from 1979 of Claudio Arrau performing Chopin waltzes (Philips 400 025-2). Arrau was invited to the Langenhagen plant to press the start button. The first popular music CD produced at the new factory was The Visitors (1981) by ABBA."

• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_disc

So, 2022 would be the 40th Anniversary year of the compact disc. Anyone agree?
1982-2022

 

[NorthStar]

It will be 100 in 2048.

1948

? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LP_record

Correct.

So, today in 2019 the compact disc is 37-years-old.
And the LP is 71-years-old.
And the average WBF member (active/passive), I have no clue; my guess between 50 and 70-years old.
...The youngest, below 20. ...The oldest, above 80.
If I would try harder I'd say the average is about 55? I'm talking active members, plus passive members, plus guest readers. It's impossible to determine exactly.

 

[ack]

A tribute to digital, analog and music, from the latest Gramophone magazine

 

[tima]

40 years is but a drop in the bucket on the way to forever.

At the outset, it was Herbert von Karajan who convinced Philips to invest 100 million marks in a CD pressing plant in Hanover Germany. Of the CD vonK remarked "all else is gaslighting".