'Already a member?' Demonstrably, yes.
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Thursday, 20 December 2018 09:02 (five years ago) link
It's kind of wild looking for a new CD player these days, so many weird off brands you start longing for the good old days of reliable known brands like GPX or Coby.
― blood, loud screaming and nudity (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Wednesday, 30 January 2019 08:10 (five years ago) link
Were brands like GPX and Coby ever considered reliable? I see a base-line Onkyo at the Best Buy website for $169 which seems like a rip-off even with its DAC, so, i guess i see your point.
― bodacious ignoramus, Wednesday, 30 January 2019 16:08 (five years ago) link
I snagged a Tivoli Model CD that came up on Kijiji, it looks nice on the desk. But damned if I can tell the difference in sound from the Panasonic portable player I was using before that... $20 on eBay. So I'd recommend those if looks/remote control function aren't factors. There's a long thread on stevehoffman about how surprisingly good these are :)
― maffew12, Wednesday, 30 January 2019 16:41 (five years ago) link
you're really looking for a DVD or Blu-ray player, they all play CDs and if they have digital out you can hook them up to a DAC
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Wednesday, 30 January 2019 17:02 (five years ago) link
if you have a dedicated DAC already, definitely
― maffew12, Wednesday, 30 January 2019 17:03 (five years ago) link
i was gifted an Onkyo CD player, it's pretty damn good. The CD has to be extremely fucked up to skip, compared to old-school players which would skip if you coughed in the next room.
when i first posted in this thread I probably had about 1500 CDs. Down to maybe 600 now?
― omar little, Wednesday, 30 January 2019 17:09 (five years ago) link
You should've been with me last weekend when I went into a local car audio store to upgrade my car stereo. The clerk asked me what I was looking for, and I made sure to mention it needs to have a CD player. He gave me the same "Okay, psycho..." stare I get from people when I tell them I still buy CDs.
At home, I'm still using the same desktop CD player I've had since 1999. It's a 51-disc changer (not that I ever put more than a few in at a time). The buttons on the remote have been acting wonky for the last five or so years, but it still plays great.
― Rod Steel (musicfanatic), Wednesday, 30 January 2019 17:58 (five years ago) link
Don't most cars still have CD? I need to use mine more... I often end up listening to the radio on short trips, rather than: turn on Bluetooth, wait for pairing, max the volume*, pick a song*What I'd really like is cassette! I don't have a decent digital audio interface at the moment, so it's easiest to record anything live/make a mix to tape.Or a car without a blinding screen... imagine it!*can automate, don't want to
― maffew12, Wednesday, 30 January 2019 18:16 (five years ago) link
It's a 51-disc changer
wow I had no idea this was a thing
― resident hack (Simon H.), Wednesday, 30 January 2019 18:19 (five years ago) link
why 51 though
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 30 January 2019 18:24 (five years ago) link
i had one friend who had a 101 disc changer, like this one: https://www.ebay.com/p/Pioneer-PD-F908-CD-Changer/66791977?iid=163412537779&chn=ps
― mizzell, Wednesday, 30 January 2019 18:25 (five years ago) link
The buttons on the remote have been acting wonky for the last five or so years, but it still plays great.― Rod Steel (musicfanatic)
― Rod Steel (musicfanatic)
Disassembly is easy; the buttons are all part of one piece of molded rubber with contacts in the back that abuts with the board -- clean both sides with isopropyl, dry, and reassemble. My son had many spills on our remotes over the years and have done this dozens of times.
― bodacious ignoramus, Wednesday, 30 January 2019 18:40 (five years ago) link
The 51 and 101 disc varieties have a carousel for the bulk and a single drawer for single plays.
― bodacious ignoramus, Wednesday, 30 January 2019 18:43 (five years ago) link
I have like 30 jandek CDs so a player like that sounds perversely interesting
― resident hack (Simon H.), Wednesday, 30 January 2019 18:53 (five years ago) link
My current newish one is a Phillips, and it does this annoying thing of hesitating for a couple of seconds between tracks while it reads the new information. Completely fucks up continuous mixes.
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Wednesday, 30 January 2019 23:28 (five years ago) link
my new amp has an onboard dac so I just bought a Sony DVD player for $10 off crait sounds better than the once expensive Marantz that had died
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 30 January 2019 23:34 (five years ago) link
I actually need to replace my CD player, think I'm gonna go for a PS1 as discussed elsewhere (?) since they apparently have good DACs
― sleeve, Wednesday, 30 January 2019 23:43 (five years ago) link
This is the exact one:https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1517&bih=695&ei=LDxSXLijLYeijwS5hLLgCQ&q=sony+51+disc+cd+changer&oq=sony+51+d&gs_l=img.1.0.0i24.1356.2857..4383...0.0..0.133.832.7j2......1....1..gws-wiz-img.......0j0i10j0i8i30j0i5i30.5TF0QDiGGCQ#imgrc=unefVozfpY8NcM:
― Rod Steel (musicfanatic), Thursday, 31 January 2019 00:09 (five years ago) link
Sorry about the formatting.
― Rod Steel (musicfanatic), Thursday, 31 January 2019 00:10 (five years ago) link
Just picked up a used Onkyo 7030 to replace my skippy old beater - it’s a real pleasure being able to throw any old disc in it and get reliable sound, and it sounds beautiful too (tho my ears aren’t reliable enough to say for certain it’s an audio upgrade).
― Una Palooka Dronka (hardcore dilettante), Thursday, 31 January 2019 02:27 (five years ago) link
Were brands like GPX and Coby ever considered reliable?
That was kinda the joke!
I actually wound up buying a Sony for $7.20 at a Goodwill and it's working fine so far.
― blood, loud screaming and nudity (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Thursday, 31 January 2019 21:55 (five years ago) link
i got a cool tascam cd player for a song
it doesn't have a whole lot of features but it's very sturdy and i like the rugged aesthetic
https://cdn3.imggmi.com/uploads/2019/2/1/695e846ddc2d1bb6a4083c9c39d70a8b-full.jpg
― the late great, Thursday, 31 January 2019 22:16 (five years ago) link
load cd.press play.what more does anyone need.love the minimalism.
― mark e, Thursday, 31 January 2019 22:30 (five years ago) link
would buy
― sleeve, Thursday, 31 January 2019 22:30 (five years ago) link
lol, minimalists love the Muji wall mount thing. it is cute. I wonder if anyone has hacked an optical out
― maffew12, Thursday, 31 January 2019 22:44 (five years ago) link
I remember it being really hard to find single-disc players in the late 90s/early 00s.. everything was either a 5 disc changer or one of those 50/100 disc blooming onion things. Seems like it's swung around now.
― brimstead, Thursday, 31 January 2019 23:02 (five years ago) link
love the rackmountable look a+
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 31 January 2019 23:11 (five years ago) link
I have a rack-mountable Tascam 3-head cassette deck that would sit nicely next to (above/below) that disc player.
― bodacious ignoramus, Friday, 1 February 2019 18:42 (five years ago) link
Me from the HTRK thread talking about the brilliant Standish/Carlyon album Deleted Scenes...
Unfortunately two times I played the cd (out of maybe 10 or 12 times) it sounded flickery towards the end in a bad cd-r way. I'm afraid I'll play it years later and it wont even work. I had this problem with the Lush box set and I hate to think that this is becoming a real issue with labels using cheap cds (?) I love cds, don't do this to me, music labels.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Friday, 5 April 2019 18:10 (five years ago) link
I think there might be something wrong with the first disc in a 3CD Terje Rypdal box I bought last year. It's an ECM disc, which upsets me - I thought if any label was gonna be top notch about quality control it would be them.
― grawlix (unperson), Friday, 5 April 2019 18:37 (five years ago) link
None of my proper label-released CDs have ever given up the ghost. I've got releases going back to the 80s that are fine. But I noticed this week that my copy of the Walker Brothers Nite Flights had an odd mottling on the top. It's a Sony on demand release. Anyway I agree it would be a pity if CD quality were to suffer because of their unpopularity. I love buying cheap CDs right now. Have barely bought any vinyl in the past two years
― Duke, Friday, 5 April 2019 20:50 (five years ago) link
It's too bad you can't get buy good thick jewel cases anymore. All the ones they make now are flimsy af.
― brimstead, Friday, 5 April 2019 21:31 (five years ago) link
Oh yeah, the 'digipaks'. So trash for collecting.
― D. Joe, Friday, 5 April 2019 21:53 (five years ago) link
I think they meant the jewel cases that are used today are lower quality than previous, and it's true.
― a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 5 April 2019 21:57 (five years ago) link
Digipaks suck too.
― a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 5 April 2019 21:58 (five years ago) link
One of the larger indie labels (want to say Sub Pop) packages their CDs in those larger-than-normal digipaks - the kind that doesn't fit in a standard-sized CD slot.
― Rod Steel (musicfanatic), Friday, 5 April 2019 22:49 (five years ago) link
yup that's Sub Pop, hate those
― Emperor Tonetta Ketchup (sleeve), Friday, 5 April 2019 22:50 (five years ago) link
Drag City have reverted to just flimsy sleeves that look like one of those free magazine covermount promo things you'd get in a gift bag at CMJ circa 1998 and immediately throw in the garbage
― Paul Ponzi, Saturday, 6 April 2019 01:11 (five years ago) link
I kept all my covermounts, and put them up for sale on Discogs a few months ago. I've sold at least 75%, including some big bulk orders - turns out that a lot of people collect them. Makes sense that they would, as they're cheap even by second-hand CD standards.
― mike t-diva, Saturday, 6 April 2019 10:14 (five years ago) link
Since the 80s, when I was a maniac collector, and beginning to sell at record etc. shows, this was always very helpful: Bags Unlimited---still a source of CD (and other format) acessories: http://www.bagsunlimited.com/search?searchterm=CD
― dow, Saturday, 6 April 2019 16:02 (five years ago) link
Since having a couple of albums pressed to vinyl, I have begun to question the idea that vinyl sounds better. However, pressing albums to CD seems unappetising because I figure that they would be tough to shift and people simply don't value them as much, apart from a minority.
― mirostones, Saturday, 6 April 2019 16:53 (five years ago) link
CDs of any era > new vinyl
― Paul Ponzi, Saturday, 6 April 2019 16:57 (five years ago) link
vinyl sounds "better" if the music has been mixed and mastered for vinyl, not just pressed on it
― blokes you can't rust (sic), Saturday, 6 April 2019 17:00 (five years ago) link
and how many new vinyl releases fall into this category?
― Paul Ponzi, Saturday, 6 April 2019 17:15 (five years ago) link
vinyl sounds "better" if the music has been mixed and mastered for vinyl, not just pressed on it― blokes you can't rust (sic), Saturday, 6 April 2019 18:00 (sixteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― blokes you can't rust (sic), Saturday, 6 April 2019 18:00 (sixteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
The point is still the same though surely, that there are dynamic ranges that are trivial on a CD that will cause problems on vinyl.
To clarify though, I do enjoy the sound of vinyl and also think that when people are listening they are not just weighing up scientific data about dynamic ranges etc. Personally I think the main advantage of vinyl is long life span rather than improved sound quality as such, I have plenty of LPs that are nearly 50 years old or more that still play fine even if there is some deterioration.
― mirostones, Saturday, 6 April 2019 17:19 (five years ago) link
The last Adele album sounds a lot better on vinyl than CD, actually. a lot more dynamic. *shrugs*
― brimstead, Sunday, 7 April 2019 00:17 (five years ago) link
Adele is still on XL, a label founded on dance 12"s that basically require attentive mastering to be playable out.
― blokes you can't rust (sic), Sunday, 7 April 2019 00:56 (five years ago) link
I imagine if it was possible, it would already be happening, but is there the possibility of print-on-demand CDs becoming a thing? Like CDs of lasting quality and not terrible CDR discs or whatever those Lush box set and Standish/Carlyon discs were.
What kind of quality CDs are being sent from Bandcamp artists?
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 2 February 2020 19:43 (four years ago) link
I've never gotten a CD from Bandcamp that was a CD-R unless it was explicitly stated it was a CD-R (Legendary Pink Dots do limited pressings on CD-R and sell 'em). They're all manufactured. Last CD I had trouble ripping was the Loreena McKennitt Live at Royal Albert Hall set... took a couple hours to rip a clean set of FLACs from those.
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Sunday, 2 February 2020 20:56 (four years ago) link