Continuing with CDs?

i feel the reduced availability of optical drives is going to be (already is?) a factor in the inevitable (?) CD revival

a nice functioning 1980s silverface CD player hits right in the nostalgia zone aesthetics-wise, becomes a treasured flea market score rather than e-waste landfill

the last few times I've gone op/charity/thrift shopping there have been some suspiciously young men flicking through the CDs and ignoring the vinyl completely

plus of course there's definitely much better value/hitrate to he had in the used CDs

not to mention that (good) CDs sound really really good

my silver disc spinners of choice for the last 5-6 years have been old Denon universal players - D2910 - D2930 - D3910 - really good sound, play SACD and HDCD and DVD-A - nice models in their day that can be had for not much and also do a great job with DVDs!

NAD
Yamaha
Marantz
Cambridge Audio
Rotel

all still make CD players

plus any DVD player can serve as a CD player

I don't think they are on the brink of extinction by any means

I've long wanted a Technics 5 disc changer with spiral play feature (plays the first track of each CD, them moves on to track two, etc.) There's a nice one now on Craigslist for $50. I absolutely don't need it, but...

looks like my beloved onkyo cs-265 is awol now. glad i got another one before the panny, my 3rd. the first got stolen, the second suffered a horrible accident involving a glass of water in a vegas motel.

5 CD changers are all over Craigslist

Never heard of spiral play that's wild

I still get a little wistful thinking about the Sony 200 and 300 CD changers I had in the late 90s and early 2000s. I have roughly 9k CDs, but don't own a CD player (just a little USB CD-R I use to rip new CDs).

That said, a 1TB microSD card in a phone with a nice DAC with all 9k of those albums on it makes it hard to get *too* wistful...

koogs many of the current minimal bluray players with no display and 2 buttons, like yours, are multi-region in nature (all region DVD, blu-ray region is switchable from the menu) which might be useful. My local retail chain blew their stock out for $30 apiece so I bought 3 in prep for the optical drive famine ahead. Mind you, 4K players are still being pushed and have audio (generally only digital tho).
If you can get something to do optical or coax digital out, there are many USB-powered ultra minimal $10 boxes on eBay which will DAC that to stereo. Ironically the cheapness means the circuits are very simple and sound pretty good!

also! heat is the enemy of optical semiconductors so if you have a component system, make sure the amp is always at the top of the pile!

I'm thinking about getting one of those top loading CMT-EX bookshelf systems and using it as a transport, anticipating the joy of watching the disc spin (though I'm guessing it'll have maybe a year of life left in it before something goes wrong). Simple pleasures.

Gerald Mc-B-B and others with the sleeves: what did you do with all the jewel cases?

If you have polystyrene recycling in your area, you could recycle your jewel cases, but better still, I'd give them to someone who'd reuse them. (Hell, I always need jewel cases.)

If you have a library, Goodwill or something like Housing Works Cafe in NYC that sells or loans CD's and uses jewel cases, it may be worth asking if they'll take them and use them to replace any broken ones.

there was a major semiconductor plant in Japan that burned down last year, I’ve heard new CD players etc were hard to get as a result

(my new player is dvd multi region but single region for br - and i had to pay extra for that, but only a dozen or so quid. double what i paid would get me full multi region blu but i don't have any foreign brs)

I've had the same Technics cd player since the 90s. would like a NAD to go with my amp but i don't use it enough to justify.

oh, thinking about it, the new dvd player was also missing any kind of line out for audio, only had a single hdmi port, something else i thought was a backwards step

Gerald Mc-B-B and others with the sleeves: what did you do with all the jewel cases?

― eatandoph (Neue Jesse Schule), Tuesday, 16 November 2021 11:06 AM (three hours ago)

It certainly sucks that jewel cases are that hard plastic which isn't recyclable. But that shouldn't stop one getting rid of them (it should just stop artists & labels from using them anymore, come on!)

For new CDs and decent quality ones, I haul them down to my local second-hand record store and donate them to the cause - they can spend a bit less on replacement cases.
For the cracked and scuffed and sticker-smirched ones, I throw them in the rubbish, sadly.

The spacesavingsleeves are great and I've had a lot of them now for many years and they remain in good condition, not sticking to each other or the CDs or anything.
They are a bit inconsistent in their design though, in terms of the gap between the sides and suchlike, so some can be a challenge to fold the back under-tray art into.
That's the only complaint though. I have a huge collection, and other than jewel cases with printing on them, or the occasional coloured jewel case, everything else is now shrunk down into those sleeves.
It's the only way I can remotely fit onto my shelves!

https://uc9aa0d3a241ae7f7d4b87f09f44.previews.dropboxusercontent.com/p/thumb/ABUab0pgc8Q-UD0C4ROW7mAsqh2kXK4DDFybtgL5t8C99fuNB0c4KKAYu5H3CdtVFK66U1TwMeZpM6qqYcrZFT6vwlqBlGxShAiz6E8todNSxB3Ln4Sfq8utDK3Tw8B0ardRaj55fhmXEd150aD9XLJDPIKxmg77b_N6rO0l5617aoNDj4k5A9UbG-sdZgs1jm_ulwP-aD4h--KJIf3UFq5fwg884G105FubDUdkl4oTG4mbIGM-RwdJYvCz5_04w9qMLO2j4jV-nBzhKhYxqUNBH3jeBnt9t5c_d4vnIzLVlHieR1XnF_0gG-eeKyBaeg1GYWtFslzPPMW2eAjCA876pJujL_QMXlrLMJDxh4zt8nt0e72Cp8953Vw0FkDvIFbyQomO6JREmgsSGQcNICBj8hrl9AkmO_smKvBSDM5NSBCT9uP2NCI5COhEGgz1kt1tgb4_ysPTl70eC7uf4qe6/p.jpeg?size=2048x1536&size_mode=3
https://uc95cbc861219dfac99ff209ca91.previews.dropboxusercontent.com/p/thumb/ABW1f_c2KCZMQhsMpUq8zxISXnIw2_-DkfdaadQUxe4rmN19JfLg4M8lsMu3FU7xAqc2vN99I5GWButqvSsi1CM4JyjN43JSEFOiStn9hKnQrd-K96dohgDhZrTiQdbDDKbuYpRpynpr8VKqs_mfDaZKKeTBUMh3oP3552Mc_4kWNDBPcXpLp9BRQJdqVc1RGO9nplzQ06VCBclWhKKeVPu0o9mT5pzO-4tzuLyVQSqWHwArHtDNVnYcQH9GOIUAVlinrMIPevV1vmNK2QI-9HJQ6XoOt-RU4uQwAwWbp0ThBUzGgaRRA6Y6qxgQhCxb5HQfrFqFnn6mzupE5bKOq02CcZIoHbS_H28nvNR_b-ivePXnlTBw5-RkXvD1n2viwq6YN5xQJmBIA7tqVXuKu6q4/p.jpeg?size=2048x1536&size_mode=3
https://uc224f70a6e269930e405bda84f3.previews.dropboxusercontent.com/p/thumb/ABUxovmMdDtIy_SrPngGf-d1BXZjBQP8e_W1KmcW67kxH61z--YDldcF3uW2OQmKKhFVdiDtu1eP9jQze8od4t8DEIOvMeKp2avztdsiP_4vz6OttXZBCEPnjphxNjJabGuUVhf2Xpz3LlSd_V6bRII77V2eMxkkHmOMBrSNFTGXth2ZL8377UADdOVuNkirTM39ZD-dR5WQiMxthuYloZ7QUpCCXHRzfm5AcmHZU_UkAMfP4qHjjBp_1sM9ATVVWXFucYCuq_Cu5zRLSS0r7sxSVePveR-KOSdgzEmT7qwAZammvv0CYgyqWUtYPWkasRGr8P21MZlLLWM22YVepWd7uq_SIWNEAp9P0xnVUHtKLFvlTS5VlxgCE44Aw3XK6PhqVSH8lE1XebPi60D4Uc_vMGNX-ljx9AskBuT484_JKQptMuCLiXGE55TI8VvkgHQwnBS2Fysjejf8RqHRHlwY/p.jpeg?size=2048x1536&size_mode=3

Wow, that's a sight to behold!

I'm going to put some bags of jewel cases on the curb and see if they're adopted. If not, I'll call some of my local stores to see if they want them. I've already asked a couple of libraries who weren't interested. I didn't know they weren't recyclable!

some fine fine Aussie classics and obscurities I spy there Raven

Oh now that's the stuff we want to catch the eye, matttkkkk!

So yeah that Machine Translations near the edge of one of the shelves has a very Happy red jewel case, so it gets to be special.
(My partner bought the recent vinyl reissue, which is quite pretty but I think she found the pressing disappointingly quiet? Vinyl, it's risky!)

lolol I was scrolling past those pics thinking "wow this person has an almost raven-level shelf situation"

raven I’m here for the HTRK too, but it was The Mark of Cain which raised an eyebrow!

Ohhh I thought it may have been Mark of Cain in the bottom corner there. I listen to them surprisingly often.

lolol I was scrolling past those pics thinking "wow this person has an almost raven-level shelf situation"

― bobo honkin' slobo babe (sic), Tuesday, 16 November 2021 6:05 PM (three hours ago)

Haha hello Kit! Come back to Oz and you can stay upstairs from the CDs!

Oh look, Dropbox has renamed those files or something? Shouldn't have entrused the image embeds to a faceless corporation.

This thread should've been called "CDs: C/D?"

i like the title in that obviously there's a lot C about them but at what point does the D-ness overwhelm it for you? this is a space for those questioning.

f. hazel I would literally pay you to make that, my ilxmail works fwiw

sleeve, I actually spent the last couple days looking into Raspberry Pi-based standalone CD players with dedicated controls and a little LCD display. There are nice yet inexpensive DACs available for Pis with a variety of audio outs...

a combo Pi CD player with optical and USB inputs for its DAC would be so sweet

i like the title in that obviously there's a lot C about them but at what point does the D-ness overwhelm it for you? this is a space for those questioning.

> Raspberry Pi-based standalone CD players with dedicated controls and a little LCD display

what does that get you above, say:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Denon-DCD50SP-Compact-CD-Player/157122758

(and i wonder if you could stick a pi in that somehow?)

i'd like some kind of retro case for mine, like a gutted deco radio or something.

Dunno anything about Raspberry Pi, but that Denon appears to have no display at all, LCD or otherwise, and it's $499 and out of stock at Walmart.

says it has an OLED display, I think that's showing the logo and model number in the pic. But that's absurd money for a CDP.

I stand corrected -- that display is impressively subtle in the pictures. No evidence of CD-text, though.

(i did look on the Denon website and they still make comparable players, just that model is out of stock on that one place)

i guess a display isn't as necessary for something that only plays single disks. you're pretty much going to know which disk you just inserted, but will be more useful for any Jukebox kind of thing.

also, i found what-hifi's list of recommended CD players that I'd mentioned i didn't spot when i flicked through the awards issue and that relatively cheap for a CD player is the list is to be believed

High end disc replay is alive and well, it's the entry-level stuff that's almost vanished. Richer Sounds has a couple of models under £200 from brands I've never heard of, and then you're into Denon/Cambridge Audio territory.

Had the pleasure of listening to a ridiculous system last weekend (Koogs: my old audiophile partner-in-crime from L'boro/Mcr days, who did not stop with this stuff when I did, in fact he accelerated :/ ): Cyrus transport / Chord DAC into Benchmark pre / Bryston monos / Wilson Benesch speakers+sub. I think Pan Sonic's "Mutaaattori" at 90dB will stay with me for a while. Wilson Benesch / Dynavector / Chord vinyl front-end too. All marvellous, and, ooh, at least 1% better than the system he had 15 years ago for 1/5th the cost :)

(Meaning that his early '00s system was 1/5th the cost of this latest, er, evolution. Still, better this than a fancy car I suppose).

It’s all about the mastering for me...And then there’s the value ratio. I’d like to have everything on vinyl, but if I can pay $1-5 for a CD for a record that costs $50 or more? Well…. No contest.

OTM. Even on the high-end (e.g. MFSL reissues), I can't imagine paying $100 for a cumbersome double vinyl set when a single SACD is a fifth of that.

decided to start collecting cds this week. i've completely had it with vinyl. i've moved house so many times in the past few year and i can't be bothered dragging round even around 100 records. admittedly, i hadn't bought new music in a very, very long time since aside a few albums from friends, since i couldn't afford a decent turntable or new records, and didn't think discs were worth it/lack of optical drives in computers now... but i think that we moved on from cd too quickly. nothing about new vinyl is worth it anymore to me... new pressings have such poor qc and when i was buying, it always seemed to be pot luck...

i used to argue that cd was futile, now that we have ample storage space and hi-res distribution online, but whacking a disc on and paying full attention to the music away from the screen makes it all feel a little more worthwhile for me. cd is also efficient and inexpensive for independent artists wishing to release their music physically. everyone i know is waiting months upon months for vinyl issues now and half the time have been disappointed with the results.

i spent the past few days moseying charity shops for used discs and it's been exciting to browse and find a touch of tactility again. a little nostalgia in there too. i'm ripping in my finds to itunes/alac for backup/ipod with a usb optical drive for now, but i would like to have a nice hi-fi set up with a player & amp. any recommendations for budget units/bookshelf speakers?

perfect sound forever.

maelin otm

perfect sound forever

forever

Anyone have experience of those £50 wall mounted vertical cd players that they have on Amazon? I have a 'proper' CD player in the room with the hifi but it would be nice to be able to play a cd in the room we do most of our living in.

(i saw those when they were talking on the other thread about adding a cd player to a raspberry pi and wondered if you could fit one in the plastic casing)

the built in speakers (in the muji versions which are the only ones i've seen irl) strike me as a bit inadequate.

https://www.instructables.com/Adding-an-audio-jack-to-a-MUJI-wall-CD-player/?&cf=1

or search eBay for wall mounted cd player and you'll see some clones that have line out.

if there's ever one with digital out I'd be on it

ebay same as Amazon for this i guess..nvm

Thanks, didn't know Muji sold them. Yeah, not interested in the built in speakers as I would plug it into an amp. The main reservations people have in reviews seem to be that there's often no cover and they can be a bit noisy.

i wonder about voltages and stuff with that mod. would that be line-level out, headphone-level out, something else? also, you now have two cables hanging down.

true. maybe I'd lay it down next to my turntable so it's like a mini-me situation

Anyone have experience of those £50 wall mounted vertical cd players that they have on Amazon? I have a 'proper' CD player in the room with the hifi but it would be nice to be able to play a cd in the room we do most of our living in.

https://www.wired.com/story/you-should-listen-to-cds/

Latest (last?) update, mostly CDs among the remaining stock
---links to product via the Web page version of this newsletter at end:
Smog Veil Newsletter Clearing The Air #180.2
December 2021, special edition

FINAL SALE! FINAL DAYS!
continues until 12/31 only
55% off ALL releases on our site!
FREE U.S. SHIPPING

Thank you fans for the amazing response to our closing shop 55% OFF FINAL SALE! We're nearing the end of the sale and note that the web site shop will close on December 31 at 3 PM eastern time.

The final days of the final sale are here, so ACT QUICK!

While supplies last, everything on the Smog Veil web site is 55% off! PLUS: free shipping in the USA!

Please note that all of the Peter Laughner box sets are sold out. You may still find them in the wild at your favorite record shop, online retailer, or by download and stream.

NO CODES NEEDED! DISCOUNT TAKEN AT CHECKOUT: 55% OFF THESE TITLES as well as ALL in-stock Smog Veil titles, HERE's LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE HAVE REMAINING IN STOCK:

WAREHOUSE FINDS--VERY FEW OF THESE REMAIN:

Easter Monkeys "Splendor of Sorrow" CD/DVD

Les Black and the Amazing Pink Holes "We Are What We Are" reissue CD with bonus tracks

Les Black and the Amazing Pink Holes "Breakfast With The Holes" reissue CD with bonus tracks

H.G. Lewis and the Amazing Pink Holes CD

Pie & Ears Volume 1 comp CD

Pie & Ears Volume 2 comp CD

x_x "Albert Ayler's Ghosts Live at the Yellow Ghetto" LP

REGULAR STOCK, ACT QUICK FIRST COME FIRST SERVED ON THESE TITLES:

ADELE BERTEI'S PETER and the WOLVES book

CLEVELAND STEAMERS:
"Best Record Ever" LP
"Who's Next" CD
"Terminal" LP or CD

Chris Butler "Got It Togehter" CD

Ralph Carney & Chris Butler "Songs for Unsung Holidays" LP

Lair Matic Assembly 7"

Pink Holes 7" (pink vinyl, note that orange vinyl copies are sold out)---links to product
Mr Stress Blues Band "Live at the Brick Cottage 1972-1973" LP

Obnox "Bang Messiah" CD

Schwartz Fox Blues Crusade "Sunday Morning Revival" LP

If a link doesn't work, that means the release is sold out. All sales final.
links to product via the Web page version of this newsletter: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Smog-Veil-Records-Clearing-The-Air-December-2021--special-edition--2.html?soid=1102941868062&aid=CaWtgVeGy1I

I like that they're using more cardboard for albums but they're getting ridiculously tight, I accidentally ripped the card of a recent Van Der Graaf Generator sleeve and a Throbbing Gristle release was so determined to keep the CD inside that I said fuck it and cut it with scissors