Are CD players dead


I went to an audiophile meeting today and the owner of the store said Cd's and cd players are dead. He said you need to start learning about computer audio or you will be left behind. Is what he is saying true?
taters

Showing 2 responses by mitch2

I have been researching this and I am still not convenced I can beat the sound of either of my CD/DVD players using a digital transport and DAC - without spending a lot of money. Both my Ayre C-5xeMP and MUSE Erato II players do hi-rez, which means I can download available music and burn hi-rez DVDs to play on the players. The computer audio gear still doesn't seem sorted out and appears to be changing monthly. I was just reading how some believe the 2011 Mac Mini is not as good sounding as the 2010 version due to shared USB ports and other issues, and the life expectancy of a DAC before it is upgraded/improved seems to be less than a year. I am sure I will be moving toward a computer source when things stabilize, but I will probably still keep one of my disc players around as a backup and a baseline of what sounds great.
I think Pettyofficer and Fusion10 bring up good points; CD sources may not be the future but, the future of computer sourced audio is not quite here yet. We will know when it gets here because;
1. source material will be readily available by download,
2. there will be a convenient, quick, uniform, and somewhat idiot-proof method of accessing the source material, that includes easy access to the metadata, and
3. playback will sonically surpass that from good CD players.

I understand that you can't go from 0 to 100 mph in an instant, so I do appreciate that there are folks who are committed to making the computer thing work and that they are the ones working through the learning curve and moving the industry forward. I simply don't have the time or inclination to be involved at that level, yet. Therefore, when computer based sources become as easy as finding and playing a CD from my collection, and/or when the playback methods sonically exceed what I hear from my players, I will be ready to make the switch.