In a heroic humanitarian effort, Target and Borders are sending their rows of unsold, overpriced CDs to Zimbabwe so they use them instead of their $100 billion dollar bills. Listen to music or buy a loaf of bread. Your choice.

It’s official: Audiophiles are over CDs

The end is near, another war seems imminent, oil prices continue to rise, the dollar is in free fall, and now audiophiles have abandoned the CD.

Don’t get the wrong idea: they haven’t all dumped their CD players for turntables (I wish). Instead, they’ve bought music servers of some kind or another. How can this be happening?

I read the sad news on the Stereophile July 6 voting feature (scroll down to see results).

That week’s question: how do you listen to digital music? The poll says 34 percent still use CD players as their primary digital source. Yikes, I would have guessed much higher, more like 70 percent. Thirty-six percent use a computer-based server, and 10 percent use dedicated servers such as Sonos or Squeezebox. Another 4 percent use iPods! I felt a little better that 11 percent use a SACD or DVD-Audio player. Another 3 percent voted “other.”




  1. Special Ed says:

    Just download FLAC’s off the newsgroups and use these from your wireless server at home. You can convert them to highly sampled MP3s so you can take them on the road. The only CD’s I see anymore are in taxis in foreign countries. And even they are mixes that have the ghetto Sharpie pen label on them. Fuck you RIAA, fuck you very much – you started this shit.

  2. dm says:

    It’s unfortunate because the quality of CD sound has reached a pinnacle. Properly made CDs sound indistinguishable from stereo SACD / DVD-A discs.

    But since almost all new music is so highly compressed, the quality doesn’t really matter.

  3. ikelleigh says:

    I haven’t bought a physical CD in years. Even hard to find import stuff has been easier to find as a download… both legally or with “other” means. Just less STUFF taking up space.

    Next up… converting all of my DVDs.

  4. ECA says:

    Iv been waiting..
    For CAR CD players that PLAY MP3/AAC/WMA to SWAP over to DVD music players…
    Its just SIZE and the amount of DATA..

    CD can have upto 7 albums, a DVD music player can have a WEEK of music(49+ albums) on it.
    Put a music DVD in and you PROBABLY will never really need to change it.

    Im not concerned about MOVIE play back…DONT even want the option. but for the amount of music on a DVD in the car, this would be cool.

    But, we all know that IF THEY DO convert over to DVD, they will charge us, THREW THE ROOF..

  5. Steven Long says:

    “The poll says 34 percent still use CD players as their primary digital source”

    I suppose that doesn’t include those of us that buy the CDs, rip them at a decent quality and transfer the music around on our devices.

    My music almost all originates on CDs, but pretty much isn’t listened to on CD players.

    Also the fact that this is audiophiles muddles the water.

  6. master_of_fm says:

    the only time i have ever used the CD player in my car was because I opened the CD i bought in the parking lot and popped it in. as soon as i got home it got ripped to my ipod and the disk when on the shelf and will sit there until i need to rip it again for whatever reason.

    btw, just ordered my physical copy of “the slip” from nine inch nails even though I have had the download on my ipod for weeks already, also bought the $75 version of ghosts, plus going to see them in oakland in september. if you havent figured it out already i am a nin fan. oh and I have a green nin sticker on the back window of my green volvo station wagon (so it matches)

  7. Stephanie says:

    I’m with you #3!

    At the beginning of the year, after I had put all my albums on my new 80 gigger iPod, I donated all my compact discs to the local library. I figured I could just check them out if I ever needed them again. (Although I think they just sold them rather than putting them in the collection, grrrrrr.) And it is a tax write-off.

    I am saving for a terrabyte for all the DVD’s. I LOVE not having the clutter.

  8. Olo Baggins of Bywater says:

    #1, thanks. How about you pay for the product instead of stealing it? You are the reason the RIAA is doing all that.

  9. master_of_fm says:

    my origninal comment got munched ignore it this is a duplicate

    the only time i have ever used the CD player in my car was because I opened the CD i bought in the parking lot and popped it in. as soon as i got home it got ripped to my ipod and the disk when on the shelf and will sit there until i need to rip it again for whatever reason.

    btw, just ordered my physical copy of “the slip” from nine inch nails even though I have had the download on my ipod for weeks already, also bought the $75 version of ghosts, plus going to see them in oakland in september. if you havent figured it out already i am a nin fan. oh and I have a green nin sticker on the back window of my green volvo station wagon (so it matches)

  10. The Monster's Lawyer says:

    Skeet shooting anyone?

  11. Stephan says:

    I only buy CDs. I rip them and put them on my computer, zune, etc…, but I don’t like buying digital music at all. With CDs I will always have backups of all my music, I’ll have the covers/art/lyrics, and I don’t have to worry about DRM.

  12. Cybberrod says:

    Stephan

    I agree. I do the same thing. I just can’t bring myself to spend real money on a MP3 file and all of the loss-less formats are overpriced.

  13. Personality says:

    Over my life span I have purchased a whopping 12 CD’s. Ha ha music industry.

  14. personality disorder says:

    Personality, what 12 cds?

  15. chuck says:

    I think I bought a CD over a year ago. I’ve ripped all me CDs at 320kbps into my PC. Naturally I’ve backed up the entire set onto an external 500GB drive too.

    So my CD collection sits in the back of my closet waiting to be discovered thousands of years from now by a future archaeologist.

    I think I’ve bought 5 songs, in total, from iTunes. I’ll probably keep buying CDs.

    Apple should setup iTunes “boxes” at places like Wal-mart, so I can just plug in my iPod, buy the songs I want and pay cash in the store for the purchase.

    Can you buy songs from iTunes in an Apple store?

  16. comhcinc says:

    I am with the people who still buy Cds. i rip the cd and the original goes into storage.

  17. #16 – comhcinc

    I’m with you. All this fancy-schmancy download shit is fun, but wtf. With the DRM problems, the need to backup, blah blah blah, it’s just easier to buy a CD, rip it, and store it. That way, no matter what the disaster, you can always go back to playing the “hardcopy” originals in a $25 boom box until things get sorted out.

  18. Proud Alien says:

    Well, well, well. Didn’t realize I am so far behind: I still BURN CDs. I can’t make myself listen to music in a file format. Maybe it is subconscious, but the music just doesn’t sound as good. I will continue buying CDs and I am hoping they are not going away too soon.

  19. Brian says:

    I, too, still buy CDs and rip them, and that’s all I’ll ever do. So, it makes me wonder who exactly was consulted to establish that “CDs are over”?

  20. Jägermeister says:

    Yep, I still buy CDs and rip them to MP3s. I think that if you really enjoy an artist, you should buy their CDs and/or go to their concerts. Especially when it comes to smaller bands that don’t get radio time. I will not buy CDs that only have one good song. Those days are over.

  21. VampBoy says:

    CDs ripped to FLAC for me, mp3s can die a horrible death as far as I’m concerned.

    Home use – played directly on PC with foobar while working. Streamed over network via XBMC on a modded xbox when lounging.

    Mobile – modded ipod with Rockbox to add FLAC support.

    I used to buy 5+ CDs a week while in university but last 10 years I haven’t found a whole lot that I want to listen to and if I buy anything it is typically a release from that time period.

    Dear RIAA, I don’t download music any more, have more disposable income than ever yet I don’t find your offerings of Britney Spears and such to be worth buying. Perhaps it isn’t an issue with people ‘stealing’ music as IMHO most of the music coming out isn’t even worth the cost of my bandwidth 😉

  22. Steve says:

    As an middle-age rocker, I”ve learned that analog beats digital if you have good quality equipment. I buy all formats – vinyl, cd, dvda, sacd, and downloads – but I prefer vinyl played on a good turntable. Digital will probably catch analog some day , but the overall experience (or inconvenience) of listening to an album as it was originally made still gives me the thrill of hearing what it was like in the studio the day Dylan played “Like A Rolling Stone”.

  23. Dave W says:

    I still buy CDs for the reasons most above have stated. I refuse to pay good money for some DRM encoded file that will go onto a hard drive and can be deleted by anyone who uses the machine, or die in a hard drive crash. Plus, I do NOT use a computer to listen to music as a general rule. In fact, I usually have the speakers shut off so I don’t have to listen to Windows’ beeps and whistles. If I want music, I turn on the radio (HD has some great stuff these days) or play a disc outside the computer, where it doesn’t slow things down.

    With a new CD, I rip it to the computer and my Zen, make a copy of the CD to CD-R. The original CD goes back in the jewel box. The copy goes into the 10 year old Kenwood CD jukebox (holds 200 discs) in the living room which is connected to the good sound system.

    I do a fair amount of actual listening on the Zen, while walking.

    And I am in the process of burning some favorite LPs and irreplaceable cassettes to CD before the originals get damaged.

    I really don’t buy a whole lot of music these days. Modern popular music is not to my taste, and I already have most of the older pop music I like. I buy classical and “fill in the gaps” pop music CDs from Amazon when needing to fill out the $25 minimum for free shipping on some other order. Maybe 5 a year.

    Oh, and some used vinyl here and there if I find something I like in good condition and the price is right. There ARE lots of things that never made it to digital.

    On the brighter side, I haven’t bought a 78 in about 4 years. :).

  24. Special Ed says:

    #8 – Hey retard – how MANY times would you like me to pay for it? Most were 45’s and albums, 8-track, cassette then CD. So I have no guilt because I download a copy once in awhile. Just so we are crystal clear here, you AND RIAA can blow me.

  25. PGM-FI says:

    I am with the buy/rip/store camp, but after said activity I have 2 sony megastorage changers to put my new discs into. That way I have a digital copy in the Ipod, and pure CD ready to go for home.
    For those that don’t want to buy CD’s, might I suggest used record stores. Perhaps they’re not located near everyone but in the twin cities there are a few that have a good selection. (Thank you broke UofM students) And with most of their cd’s in the $1-6 range, you can get new and old stuff cheap.

  26. bh28630 says:

    OK, this will cause more than a few to gag but I own over 2400 CDs. I have seven (7) Sony changers that hold three hundred discs each. There’s a single shelf built all around the room about 8 inches below the ceiling to hold the empty cases. Control of the CD changers is via an arcane piece of hardware (SlinkX) that accepts commands from the computer via a fine -but sadly discontinued- piece of software called CDJ. Could I transfer all the music to a lossless format like FLAC? Sure… given nothing else to do for several weeks and a pair of terrabyte drives so if there’s an HDD crash I don’t lose everything.

    RIAA is part of the problem but at the core, there is an issue of fair compensation to the artist. Since much of what I listen to was likely created by a person or people long since deceased, I could say WTF. On the other hand, I don’t really have an issue with a relative earning royalties as a result of some long dead forebear. I do find it appalling that business men and women with no legitimate connection to the artist stick their finger in the pie but I don’t confuse that with the biggest rip off in the world today.

    I have no interest in CDs now as they are nearly all horribly over processed so that folks with ear buds can hear the screech over traffic. On the other extreme, there’s an amusement factor when vinyl fans wax rhapsodic about who dragging a needle through a plastic dust bin. I agree steel in the grooves produces vintage sound… but it sounds like snap, crackle and pop to me.

  27. Steve04 says:

    I’m with the others who still purchase CDs when it comes to buying music. In addition to the other reasons mentioned above (including no DRM, sound quality and having a backup), when I choose to compress the music I can choose the format and bitrate based on my own hearing, rather than what someone else thinks is adequate.

    Although I usually use a flash player for listening to my music, sometimes I just prefer the simplicity of a CD player. No elaborate setup, just pop in the disc and listen to music.

  28. B. Dog says:

    I get very good deals on CDs from my music club — Sony-BMG.

    Also, I enjoy listening to Rhapsody on my computer. Why do FM radio stations suck so bad?

  29. stalinvlad says:

    #5- My car stero plays mp3 & WMA files on not just CDs but also USB keys and/or SD cards
    Its made by Tevion, I got it in Aldis for £39 about $80, 40W x 4ch ,RDS radio and it displays the id3 tag stuff

  30. TheCommodore says:

    Woo hoo – middle aged and still in the majority! I save my downloaded music and my ripped CD’s on my file server. What’s more, with my hearing somewhat diminished over the years, I can’t tell the difference between good quality MP3s and original WAV files from the CD’s. I don’t lose here. Except that it seems harder to locate new music I actually like.


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