I think we might want to project into the future on this.
The kids that are 15 today will have lived with ''downloads'' for 10 years when they get to be 25 in 2016. It is not that far away.
How many of them will have become ''audiophiles'' to the point where they will spend for a 5 inch plastic disk only to be transferred to a pea-sized I-Pod in their ear canal?
The cd will probably keep improving as the LP records have also been improving.
But it is irrelevant. Cd's and LP's will be in niche markets dedicated to relatively few audiophiles who will kid themselves that music is more important than audio-lust and audio jewellery, the only reason left to fuel purchases of expensive cd players and turntables and insanely priced cables and the like. Music SHOULD be more important than the gear of course, but I feel that this is not what high-end audio is about. And there is nothing wrong with that. There can be immense pleasure in the pride of owning electro-mechanical works of art (okay let's call this your average kilobuck amplifier or cd player). Same goes for photography, boating, or antiques.
The rest of the world will be enjoying good sound quality, if maybe not the absolute best, but certainly good enough, with infinitely more convenience, on equipment that will cost an infinite fraction of what is being spent today.
Given the choice between listening to music and artists that I do not enjoy on cd's or LP's that produce spectacular sounds on a megabuck system, and the choice of listening to music that moves me on an I-Pod, I'll take the I-Pod any day. And this is where, by natural choice and just the sheer amount of music out there and the ease with which it can be readily enjoyed anywhere, most are heading, I feel.
There will still be, for some time to come, the warm glow of tubes, a record or CD of your favorite music that you can actually hold in your hands, for us to enjoy with a glass of beer or wine or whatever. But only if we have time to enjoy it.
But we will be like audio-dinosaurus on an exressway, so you WILL grab that I-Pod most of the time.
The kids that are 15 today will have lived with ''downloads'' for 10 years when they get to be 25 in 2016. It is not that far away.
How many of them will have become ''audiophiles'' to the point where they will spend for a 5 inch plastic disk only to be transferred to a pea-sized I-Pod in their ear canal?
The cd will probably keep improving as the LP records have also been improving.
But it is irrelevant. Cd's and LP's will be in niche markets dedicated to relatively few audiophiles who will kid themselves that music is more important than audio-lust and audio jewellery, the only reason left to fuel purchases of expensive cd players and turntables and insanely priced cables and the like. Music SHOULD be more important than the gear of course, but I feel that this is not what high-end audio is about. And there is nothing wrong with that. There can be immense pleasure in the pride of owning electro-mechanical works of art (okay let's call this your average kilobuck amplifier or cd player). Same goes for photography, boating, or antiques.
The rest of the world will be enjoying good sound quality, if maybe not the absolute best, but certainly good enough, with infinitely more convenience, on equipment that will cost an infinite fraction of what is being spent today.
Given the choice between listening to music and artists that I do not enjoy on cd's or LP's that produce spectacular sounds on a megabuck system, and the choice of listening to music that moves me on an I-Pod, I'll take the I-Pod any day. And this is where, by natural choice and just the sheer amount of music out there and the ease with which it can be readily enjoyed anywhere, most are heading, I feel.
There will still be, for some time to come, the warm glow of tubes, a record or CD of your favorite music that you can actually hold in your hands, for us to enjoy with a glass of beer or wine or whatever. But only if we have time to enjoy it.
But we will be like audio-dinosaurus on an exressway, so you WILL grab that I-Pod most of the time.