will CDs eventually become obsolete due to no CD transports surviving?

[Robin L]

Shouldn't Turntables and LPs be obsolete by now? CD transports aren't that hard to make, DVD and Blu Ray transports as well. So the answer is, as long as CDs are being played there will be suitable transports being manufactured. As it is, I've been using used transports (usually DVD or Blu Ray) for over thirty years. Right now, I'm using a used Blu Ray player I picked up five years ago for eight dollars, still works beautifully.

 

[Multicore]

No. There's going to be a revival. Not sure when but a CD revival will one day come and the classic Denon and Nak and Sony and Philips industrial designs will be brought back and/or ripped off. I might even live long enough to see the day but I rather feel I will have disposed of my CD collection just soon enough to make zero profit from the new fashion.

 

[Robin L]

I don't think any CD can last 40 years let alone 100 years. I think blu-rays can actually last 50+ years due to the way there made.

I've got plenty of CDs that are at least 40 years old. They play just fine.

 

[Multicore]

The CD data can be backed up easily and perfectly with external optical drives

Sorta. I'll all you want it so have the files somewhere on a hard drive then ok. But I have found tagging and correcting the erroneous auto-tagged tags and organizing the files is very labor intensive, no fun at all, and, unlike cleaning or organizing closets, unrewarding after it's done.

 

[Audiofire]

I've got plenty of CDs that are at least 40 years old. They play just fine.

As you might know, CD players use some kind of error correction to skip bits of music CDs that couldn't be read.

 

[Robin L]

As you might know, CD players use some kind of error correction to skip bits of music CDs that couldn't be read.

Whatever - 40-year-old LPs that have been played frequently will usually sound like crap. There's no contest. Doesn't matter how the sausage is made. In any case, I look at the surfaces of these older CDs and usually there's no visible flaws. I've got no idea where people came up with the myth of the self-destructing CD, I have yet to witness this phenomenon.

 

[Wolf]

I have seen pin-holes on cds, but usually they are from some form of abuse like a car accident, close storage to a heat source, or being flexed more than they should be. Many of mine look and sound like they did when purchased.

 

[voodooless]

I've got no idea where people came up with the myth of the self-destructing CD, I have yet to witness this phenomenon.

It’s not a myth. In the early days, there was a manufacturing defect that lead to delamination of the surface. I’ve seen it first hand.. must have been 8 or so Never once after that with pressed CDs.

 

[Anton S]

If, by eventually, you mean a hundred years or so, then CD drives will become rare.

You can’t still buy Polaroid film.

Yes, Polaroid film packs are still widely available. An 8-shot pack of Polaroid 600 runs $16 on Amazon, with free next-day delivery for Prime members.

 

[Multicore]

It’s not a myth. In the early days, there was a manufacturing defect that lead to delamination of the surface. I’ve seen it first hand.. must have been 8 or so Never once after that with pressed CDs.

I've seen it too but it is very rare. I consider CDs an archival format.

 

[Anton S]

I have seen pin-holes on cds, but usually they are from some form of abuse like a car accident, close storage to a heat source, or being flexed more than they should be. Many of mine look and sound like they did when purchased.

Yep. I still have plenty purchased in the early 80's that all still play just fine.

 

[Robin L]

They all have a life expectancy and eventually most of them will have given up the ghost, at which point you better hope you have all your CD stuff backed up on hard drives.

Right now, Crutchfield lists 51 CD transports or players. None of them are in the budget category. I think it's premature to be alarmed. Cassette decks and VHS players, that's another matter.

 

[EJ3]

"Become"?

Yes "become". I do not (yet, maybe one day) stream..
Maybe next year I'll do a NAS & start "ripping" my CD's, SACD's, Vinyl, Reel to Reel, Cassettes and whatever other media I have laying around to FLAC or something.
When I get A round TOOIT!
Maybe.
On the other hand, I can just refurbish the drives (something that one can do when they bought the spare parts at the beginning to have on hand.
Same as buying extra batteries for my laptop (and why I have a laptop that can play Blu Ray from it's HDMI port that was made in 2011).
Yep, I have spare parts for it, too.

 

[Robin L]

It’s not a myth. In the early days, there was a manufacturing defect that lead to delamination of the surface. I’ve seen it first hand.. must have been 8 or so Never once after that with pressed CDs.

I've seen it. It was an obvious manufacturing error in the earliest days, hasn't been around for about 40 years. Not a real concern.

 

[tmtomh]

As you might know, CD players use some kind of error correction to skip bits of music CDs that couldn't be read.

Yes, and error-correction and a degree of data redundancy - not to mention the physical arrangement of how the data is written - are all part of the spec and design of the CD format. These features are not evidence of the physical fragility of the format; rather, they are what help make it so robust.

Eventually all CDs will become unreadable, because the clear polycarbonate layer that protects the read side of the disc breaks down in about 1,000 years. And PVC, which is used to make LPs, breaks down in about 450 years. There are all kinds of other factors that can make a particular CD or LP unusable long before that.

If you have some evidence that a significant percentage of the CDs made in the 1980s that play fine now are on the brink of becoming unreadable en masse, please share it.

Oh, and to the point of this thread, I am a CD lover myself - aside from a few LPs of special personal value to me, CDs and similar optical audio discs are the only physical media I've held onto. But with that said, I have always been skeptical of the idea that CDs will have a revival that's anything like the LP revival. I believe the CD revival, if it happens at all, will be more niche and smaller in scope, more akin to the cassette revival. My reasoning is that CDs are not as different from digital files and streaming as LPs are - they and their covers are generally encased in 5" square plastic cases rather than in 12" square paper pieces of art; and people intuitively get that an LP will sound different from a CD and that a CD will sound essentially the same as a digital file or stream. So no one's going to be buying 1980s CDs to hang in their living rooms as art, and there's not going to be a widespread culture of audiophiles, young people, and everyday nostalgic people all seeking out the "unique" sound of CDs.

 

[EJ3]

Right now, Crutchfield lists 51 CD transports or players. None of them are in the budget category. I think it's premature to be alarmed. Cassette decks and VHS players, that's another matter.

Parts are still available for many cassette decks.
I don't know about my oPPo 205 UDP, though.

 

[Matt_Holland]

Could someone explain what the point of backing up CDs is when we can access nearly all music via streaming services?
It’s such a time consuming and ultimately unreliable long term solution that I just don’t get it.

I get keeping the actual CDs or making digital copies of disks that aren’t available on streaming services. But if you like the idea of accessing your own library of content then why not just get a Tidal account, add it to Roon and then add all your favourite albums to your Roon library.

 

[Audiofire]

Could someone explain what the point of backing up CDs is when we can access nearly all music via streaming services?
It’s such a time consuming and ultimately unreliable long term solution that I just don’t get it.

 

[Snarfie]

Funny thing: the devices we use to back up the CDs will probably last way shorter than the actual CDs. Under good conditions, a CD should last for 50 to 100 years. No HDD or SSD will last that long.

Thats why i use a 3TB backup ssd i use around once a month for updates an a couple of times as NAS in combi with my Rapsbery Pi3 for house wide solution. Will last as long as i live probably.

 

[EJ3]

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How 'bout because streaming is not reliable where one lives. Not all of us live in or near cities, (nor do we want to).