Are you still playing CDs after, comp based syst?

i've spent so much on my PC audio front end (and still not done), it far surpasses my Denon changer in SQ. i have no desire to pull a disc and mess with the button pushing and CD handling. I'd rather just stay seated, grab the iPad and start playing some tunes. but I do know people who really enjoy cover art and liner notes, they still spin discs. Funny, these people also own a lot of vinyl...
there are times when my PC audio setup is down for some reason, or I don't have the laptop in the listening room. There are other times when i don't want to wait on a rip to hear my new disc. Those times it is relly nice to be able to pop a CD into a player. i will always have one in my system. i need to get a nice, single disc spinner, but i am too busy upgrading everything else right now.

If my listening sessions were short, I probably would have bought a very nice CDP. But I work from home sometimes, and that happens in my listening room, and it gets really old constantly getting up and swapping discs throughout the day.. Not to mention the stacks and stacks of plastic cases that I have to re-alphabetize. Even my night work sessions are at least 2 hours long; I'm not a single-disc guy...plus a PC rig can be incrementally updated, a nice CDP cannot.
When I compare the final price of my PC rig to the cost of a nice CDP, used or new, the convenience factor plays a huge role in that decision. I get great sound from my PC rig, but there are too many variables in the all the other systems I've heard to decide the CDP vs PC debate. I'd have to A/B my friend's MF NuVista vs my PC rig. Now that would be something.
Also, Empirical's Mac-based rigs at RMAF 2010 and 2011 were not cold-sounding. But they weren't anywhere near my budget either!

I just buy used or new CDs and rip them. I basically open the CD case once, pop it into my laptop to rip it to my external hard drive, and practically never open that case again, unless I want to re-rip it into another format for some weird reason. So I guess I am a PC audio guy who still buys CDs. People come over and simply marvel at how many CDs I have, and they wonder why anyone would still be buying shiny discs..."they sound better than the iTunes stuff," I tell them; I don't get into details. Whenever this happens, it reminds me of the old CD vs vinyl issue, and it makes me feel really old! CDs are going to be around for a long time still.

Mitch/Larry, this is why I decided to go with a PC audio setup, instead of buying a really nice CDP. I was at a crossroads, had bought a cheapo changer, and I knew I wasn't a single-disc guy, so after much hand wringing I went PC audio and never regretted it.
Petty officer, yes lots of new artists are only available via .mp3 download. I feel your pain. The indie music scene seems to think producing music with poor dynamic range is "stickin' it to the man." Some bands think going into a studio with tons of great recording gear is "selling out," I guess. I don't know how this kind of sound got popular, maybe it's all about budget, maybe not. Consider the Arctic Monkeys. Their first album was not well produced, but was very catchy and capitalized on their huge club following. Set all kinds of sales records. I will say that the quality of the 256kbps downloads on iTunes has improved greatly, but I still won't buy them. I vote with my wallet, but the vast majority of people really don't care about sound quality, and it is that majority that has most of the buying power. How do we change the sonic preferences of 20 million U.S. teenagers?
All that said, a lot of serious musicians make sure their music is available for lossless download somewhere on the 'net, consider Total Control's Henge Beat. Very edgy garage punk/synth pop; a lesser known Australian band made a very specific decision to release their album on the internet, and made sure a lossless version was available on allmusic.com, along with downloadable artwork so you could make your own CD jewel case. Of course that specific download is no longer available...and yes I have a lossless copy!

@ mountainsong, look up Henge Beat's album Total Control on allmusic.com...other sources might include discogs.com or even amazon.com, i buy cds from amazon almost monthly.