Linn has announced that it will cease production of CD players.

[asindc]

Not sure if this has been discussed here yet, but here is the link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8368895.stm

As someone who has just very recently begun dabbling in streaming audio, I am not surprised. Streaming AIFF files from my PC laptop through an Apple TV that links to my Cary CD Player/DAC via toslink cable has produced eye-opening results so far. It is only through critical listening that I can tell the difference (on most selections) between the CD and the streamed version of it.

Anthony

 

[amey01]

Yep - too right there. While this seems to have a bit of a marketing/shock value to it, it certainly is the way we are heading. Why would you want to play CDs any more?

 

[tonepub]

Yep - too right there. While this seems to have a bit of a marketing/shock value to it, it certainly is the way we are heading. Why would you want to play CDs any more?

Because you don't want to screw around with ripping, tagging, backing up and replacing the album art for thousands of CD's....

 

[TomDac]

It is my strong belief that CDs and CD players will go the way of the turntable and vinyl... Sorry you analog guys..

I know, I know.. black pizza rules. :bowdown:

It's so much cheaper for the record companies to sell digital files than it is to mass produce CDs, package them, distribute them, etc. etc..

Tagging & artwork and ever liner notes can be included in the file when you purchase the music and for existing CDs, tagging and finding artwork is done when you rip it. Yeah, it's a PITA when you have tons of CDs, but you only have to do it once.... just make sure to back everything up so you don't have to do it all again when your hard drive crashes... (hint: RAID5)

 

[amey01]

Because you don't want to screw around with ripping, tagging, backing up and replacing the album art for thousands of CD's....

Or you don't want to screw around driving all over town, parking the car, battling crowds, trying to find physical media amongst racks of mainstream crap. Even if you're after something mainstream, you finally realise nobody has specifically what you want, you then order what you want, leaving a deposit, having to return in the car to some inconvenient location at some point in the future (probably when you are busy with other things now), then not getting a return call at all, forgetting about what you even wanted in the first place! Good riddance!

Unless you are after the latest album from JayZ, Britteny Spears or Lady Gaga and not much else, the above will likely be your scenario.

 

[Gordon Gray]

Adam,

With all due respect, I totally disagree with your depiction of what's involved with buying a CD and the available selection thereof.

With companies like Music Direct, CD Universe, Arkiv, and other responsible e companies, I can find / purchase literally everything I want. And at this point, I probably order 5 to 10 CD's per month.

The basic issue is a computer based system versus a CD / vinyl based system.

I must admit I'm getting a bit too old to embrace the former but who knows. I may eventually be convinced that the sonics are equal to or better than a non computer based playback system.

Having said that, I still enjoy selecting / listening to my music the "old fashioned" way.

GG

 

[Bernard]

Adam,

With all due respect, I totally disagree with your depiction of what's involved with buying a CD and the available selection thereof.

With companies like Music Direct, CD Universe, Arkiv, and other responsible e companies, I can find / purchase literally everything I want.

Yeah, I buy most of my CDs from Amazon. The stuff I like is not in the stores. A bonus is when you find something used real cheap.

 

[JonFo]

This is the way of the future.

I still order physical media online, but the first (and often only) play it gets is in my CD-R ripper.

I play back all 1,600 or so of my CD albums via my DLNA (network streaming) playback system built into my AVP preamp. Most files are .WAV or FLAC.

The only physical media playback is the small (100 or so) DVD-Audio and SACD discs. and even those are done on a system with tightly synchronized clocks using the DenonLink system.

The audio quality of perfectly ripped CD's playback through the perfectly clocked internal decoder is way superior to all physical playback approaches.

 

[tonepub]

I agree with Gordon... I find all of the new releases I want at Music direct and fortunately because of the magazine, I get most of the Audiophile stuff as promos.

So all the $$ I would have spent on audiophile label stuff goes to my three favorite local used record stores.

It's not that I don't like the music server thing, I just don't like being an IT guy.

Analog can be a pain, but it still offers up more than digital, when the planets align... But it's a lot of work!

 

[amey01]

I just don't like being an IT guy.

......and very valid point - overall, it's obvious I'm a music server convert - but that's the part about music servers I DON'T like.

To be fair, it's not very often, but troubleshooting wireless network issues or upgrading my Squeezebox server when I'd rather be listening to music is something I loathe!

 

[FISH_MAN]

I really think that cd's where perhaps a crutch to the future of hi quality downloads. I am still unconvinced though that digital downloads can reproduce music the way that vinyl does although I remain hopeful as turntables and cartridges are very expensive and some people do not like the tinkering involved. I actually prefer tinkering with things they get my mind off the regular BS and allow me to have a little fun kind of like a model train however I do not think 20 to 40 years into the future people will cherish their cd players and cd collections the way they do their records.I would like to see some nice hi end streaming pieces come out that have some really nice tone controls and room correction built right in perhaps even an amp so as to have a single piece solution for people who strive for a simple yet good sounding 2 channel system.

 

[churchill]

Yeah, I buy most of my CDs from Amazon. The stuff I like is not in the stores. A bonus is when you find something used real cheap.

I also buy CD's from Amazon, Music Direct, and Elusive Disc. I also rip new CD's ASAP, as I listen mostly to lossless through a squeezebox and DAC.

I still like to have the physical media for backup and liner notes, etc.

 

[Gordon Gray]

This is the way of the future.

I still order physical media online, but the first (and often only) play it gets is in my CD-R ripper.

I play back all 1,600 or so of my CD albums via my DLNA (network streaming) playback system built into my AVP preamp. Most files are .WAV or FLAC.

The only physical media playback is the small (100 or so) DVD-Audio and SACD discs. and even those are done on a system with tightly synchronized clocks using the DenonLink system.

The audio quality of perfectly ripped CD's playback through the perfectly clocked internal decoder is way superior to all physical playback approaches.

So we have CD-R, DLNA, AVP, WAV, FLAC, DVD, SACD, etc.

Frankly, who cares as long as one enjoys the music.

GG

 

[TomDac]

what's wrong with being an IT guy???

IT guys ROCK :devil:

 

[Waboman]

...I still enjoy selecting / listening to my music the "old fashioned" way.

GG

+1.

I'm just not a fan of digital downloads or streaming. I've even considered a Sonos system. But in the end, I always come back to my shiny 5" discs.

 

[Jimna]

So we have CD-R, DLNA, AVP, WAV, FLAC, DVD, SACD, etc.

Frankly, who cares as long as one enjoys the music.

GG

sage words indeed :bowdown:


but i too have been buying more hard drives and less CDs. i network all my audio hardline through out my house so i can play 24/96 sacd rips of Dark Side of the Moon on my denon upstairs or simply listen to a vinyl 24/192 rip of the same down stairs if i want. it might be more work the first time, but its way less after that forever.

embrace progress as long as it doesn't compromise the efforts of the past has always been my motto.

....and IT does rock! :rocker:

 

[amey01]

Adam,

With all due respect, I totally disagree with your depiction of what's involved with buying a CD and the available selection thereof.

With companies like Music Direct, CD Universe, Arkiv, and other responsible e companies, I can find / purchase literally everything I want. And at this point, I probably order 5 to 10 CD's per month.

The basic issue is a computer based system versus a CD / vinyl based system.

I must admit I'm getting a bit too old to embrace the former but who knows. I may eventually be convinced that the sonics are equal to or better than a non computer based playback system.

Having said that, I still enjoy selecting / listening to my music the "old fashioned" way.

GG

Fair enough - but two things:

1: The record stores we get here ain't what you're used to - that much I know for sure. It is almost fun shopping in stores over in the US!

2: Yes - buying online from CD Universe et. al. is certainly better than my scenario above (and I buy most of my stuff online these days), but then I stop and think...... If I'm going to go to the effort of searching and finding online, then I may as well just download as well - why wait two weeks for something physical to appear in the mail (sometimes damaged) that I then only have to rip. The "Buy Now" button may just as well download straight to my NAS.

Hence my stance.

 

[Audioseduction]

Adam,

With all due respect, I totally disagree with your depiction of what's involved with buying a CD and the available selection thereof.

With companies like Music Direct, CD Universe, Arkiv, and other responsible e companies, I can find / purchase literally everything I want. And at this point, I probably order 5 to 10 CD's per month.

The basic issue is a computer based system versus a CD / vinyl based system.

I must admit I'm getting a bit too old to embrace the former but who knows. I may eventually be convinced that the sonics are equal to or better than a non computer based playback system.

Having said that, I still enjoy selecting / listening to my music the "old fashioned" way.

GG

+1

I won’t add streaming media to my system until the play back is as good if not better then my Esoteric X-03SE playing SACD during critical listening. I do look forward to the day when that happens and it is at a affordable price.

 

[Audioseduction]

i network all my audio hardline through out my house so i can play 24/96 sacd rips of Dark Side of the Moon on my denon...

How do you rip a SACD? They have built in copy protection.

 

[sleepysurf]

+1

I won’t add streaming media to my system until the play back is as good if not better then my Esoteric X-03SE playing SACD if not better during critical listening. I do look forward to the day when that happens and it is at a affordable price.

Streaming hi-res tracks (24/96 or 24/192) via USB, firewire, or S/PDIF, into a state-of-the-art DAC (Berkeley Audio, Weiss, +/- Benchmark, others) supposedly gets you pretty close (arguably 100%) to SACD or analog. If SACD (or DVD-A) sounds better, it's more likely due to better recording and mastering, rather than a limitation of the file format. No doubt Linn's announcement was intended as marketing hype for it's line of audio streamers, but I'm sure they truly believe they have the "goods" to back up their claim.