Compact Disc versus Vinyl

[E7]

Well, I am having lots of trouble with CDs. They start skipping like a broken record, and no amount of cleaning seems to fix it. We have actually had to replace some - my favorire Emmylou CD skips on my favorite songs. I think I had better luck with LPs.

I hate to be the harbinger of bad news, nor am I trying to be rude, but you need to care for CD's the same as vinyl records. The fact that you talk about cleaning them, tells me you are NOT doing that. You shouldn't (same as with a record) be touching the playing surface. If you scratch/scuff them, they might not play. If you handle them carefully you will NOT need to clean them. You probably should go to MP3's. opinion

[Roy]

Well, I am having lots of trouble with CDs. They start skipping like a broken record, and no amount of cleaning seems to fix it. We have actually had to replace some - my favorire Emmylou CD skips on my favorite songs. I think I had better luck with LPs.

I hate to be the harbinger of bad news, nor am I trying to be rude, but you need to care for CD's the same as vinyl records. The fact that you talk about cleaning them, tells me you are NOT doing that. You shouldn't (same as with a record) be touching the playing surface. If you scratch/scuff them, they might not play. If you handle them carefully you will NOT need to clean them. You probably should go to MP3's. opinion

I use a Dremel tool to work on brass and other metals. I suspect the fine metal powder that kind of operation generates to be complicit in the demise of both of my VCRs.

CDs have a metal disc protected by clear plastic. As previously mentioned, if the plastic is even slightly scratched, the laser light will be distorted. If there's anything like metal dust on the surface of a CD when it is brushed or wiped, it's likely to scratch the fragile plastic surface.

[rilynes]

A few thoughts on CD's based on 28 years as a broadcast engineer and music show host. Cleaning the playing surface of a CD is rarely necessary, as opposed to cleaning the surface of an LP as a requirement ahead of playing to limit the amount of dust, etc. that would add to the snap, crackle and pop. If you do need to clean a CD, the proper method is opposite that of cleaning an LP: an LP is always cleaned with the grooves; a CD is cleaned by wiping out from the center to the edge as if you were cutting a piece of pie. That way, if you should happen to scratch the surface of the CD, it will be a minimal drop-out of data as it passes over the laser beam "reader". If you clean a CD by going around in circles (as you might clean an LP) you risk making a scratch that is long enough to create a drop-out to exceed the CD player's error correction circuitry. In any case, my experience has been that if CD's start mistracking after a period of time, it is often the laser in the player that needs cleaning. It is designed to focus a sharp point of light on the CD surface, and dust, etc. can diffuse the beam enough that it can't read the data on the CD surface accurately. And yes, there is a possibility in the CD manufacturing process that can make a CD "Marginal" in it's tracking. It might work in one CD player and not in another.
As to LP's vs. CD's? In my use of both media in my professional career, I can only say that the CD was manna from heaven. I could not find the source to cite, but memory recalls a lab test that determined more than half of an LP's high frequencies were gone after the fifth playing,and while not as dramatic a loss, every playing of an LP wore away more of the information in the grooves, even with the best playback styli and tone arms. CD's vs. MP3's? The MP3 is a step backwards in the amount of information available (think not-so-high resolution, more data crammed into a given bandwidth) from a top-quality CD. But my ears (and the ears of most reading this if I have deduced a median age accurately) won't know the difference. I dumped a collection in excess of 3,000 LP's, have built a new library of over 1000 CD's, but find that I listen mostly to BBC3 or view European orchestral concerts streamed free in HD via the internet - or to our local public radio station in the car.

[Roy]

CD's vs. MP3's? The MP3 is a step backwards in the amount of information available (think not-so-high resolution, more data crammed into a given bandwidth) from a top-quality CD. But my ears (and the ears of most reading this if I have deduced a median age accurately) won't know the difference.

The lossy .mp3 is designed to primarily throw away frequencies most of us can't hear. However, you can save all of the CD signal on computer storage(hard drives, etc.) using .wav or .aif files. The file sizes for the same song are much larger than .mp3s. Still, that's what I'm inclined to do.

[E7]

A few thoughts on CD's based on 28 years as a broadcast engineer and music show host.
As to LP's vs. CD's? In my use of both media in my professional career, I can only say that the CD was manna from heaven. I could not find the source to cite, but memory recalls a lab test that determined more than half of an LP's high frequencies were gone after the fifth playing,and while not as dramatic a loss, every playing of an LP wore away more of the information in the grooves, even with the best playback styli and tone arms.

*

AMEN!

[MurphOnMillerAve]

A few thoughts on CD's based on 28 years as a broadcast engineer and music show host.
As to LP's vs. CD's? In my use of both media in my professional career, I can only say that the CD was manna from heaven. I could not find the source to cite, but memory recalls a lab test that determined more than half of an LP's high frequencies were gone after the fifth playing,and while not as dramatic a loss, every playing of an LP wore away more of the information in the grooves, even with the best playback styli and tone arms.

*

AMEN!

Interesting to learn that from rilynes. I still have many of my LPs, including "A Hard Day's Night," and even my 45's from the 1960's, all stored under my layout. My turntable is there, too.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

.......... Pioneer CS88A speakers.

Nice. I still have a pair, but I do miss my old Pioneer quad amp/receiver.

Back to converting vinyl to CD's - easy enough to do - USB turntable; most come with software to use and convert to mp3 format directly and then directly add to ITunes files. I've done may be 300-400 records that I either could not find (easily) replacement CD's or simply was too cheap to buy replacements. I'd rather buy new music anyway.....

[E7]

I do miss my old Pioneer quad amp/receiver.

I too, had a Pioneer Quad Power amp and Preamp waaaaaay back when! Quad was a big deal for a nanosecond or two. I didn't have to ponder what to choose next time I bought because quad had pretty much did a vanishing act!

Back to converting vinyl to CD's - easy enough to do - USB turntable; most come with software to use and convert to mp3 format directly and then directly add to ITunes files. I've done may be 300-400 records that I either could not find (easily) replacement CD's or simply was too cheap to buy replacements. I'd rather buy new music anyway.....

I always wondered how the record guys decided what to re-issue on disc. Might have been some alcohol involved in the process ! It wasn't too difficult to guess what albums were NOT likely to be redone as in OBSCURE. The whole quest for reissues got to be like a game. Stuff goes in and out of "print" on a regular basis and sometimes pretty quickly. I learned not to mess around if there was something issued that I really wanted.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I do miss my old Pioneer quad amp/receiver.

I too, had a Pioneer Quad Power amp and Preamp waaaaaay back when! Quad was a big deal for a nanosecond or two. I didn't have to ponder what to choose next time I bought because quad had pretty much did a vanishing act!

Had a QX-8000 - with the CS-88a speakers paint could be peeled quite easily,

Back to converting vinyl to CD's - easy enough to do - USB turntable; most come with software to use and convert to mp3 format directly and then directly add to ITunes files. I've done may be 300-400 records that I either could not find (easily) replacement CD's or simply was too cheap to buy replacements. I'd rather buy new music anyway.....

I always wondered how the record guys decided what to re-issue on disc. Might have been some alcohol involved in the process ! It wasn't too difficult to guess what albums were NOT likely to be redone as in OBSCURE. The whole quest for reissues got to be like a game. Stuff goes in and out of "print" on a regular basis and sometimes pretty quickly. I learned not to mess around if there was something issued that I really wanted.

Seems that a lot of obscure stuff was re-issued, but locating it is the challenge. Got a new CD this week from Machines Dream....good driving music.

[E7]

Had a QX-8000 - with the CS-88a speakers paint could be peeled quite easily,

It's been long enough that I can't recall the model numbers of my quad stuff. I replaced it with plain old stereo, and still have that amp and preamp and speakers. added a few bits along the way, but haven't lusted for new audio stuff in eons.

Seems that a lot of obscure stuff was re-issued, but locating it is the challenge. Got a new CD this week from Machines Dream....good driving music.

Next buy for me will be van Morrison "Roll With The Punches"

[rilynes]

A question for anyone in the group who copied their LP's to CD's. Have you had any deterioration of those CD's? I was all set to begin transferring my LP's to CD's (this is back in the 90's) but never got around to setting things up. This was pre-USB and required a line-level audio feed to the audio inputs on a sound card in your PC plus some fairly pricey software. Later came the reports that the blank CD's you used in your PC or CD recorder didn't hold up well over time. Can't remember now if it was the green ones or the blue ones that started to give up their data in less than five years. Can't remember the tech differences that made them not as permanent as the commercially manufactured CD's, but was always glad I never overcame the inertia that kept me from starting the project. Maybe there were more dependable blanks available later. Anyone have any experiences either way?

I'm envious of you guys with the early Pioneer receivers and speakers. I started with a Dynaco preamp and 70 watt power amp, built from kits, feeding AR2a speakers (couldn't afford AR3's). AR turntable with a Shure cartrtidge (can't remember the number) and no FM tuner since there was nothing worth listening to in my area at the time. That rig held up well until I wanted FM and CD capability, so made the big move to JBL's and a Sony receiver and CD player.

[J. S. Bach]

My daily driver, an Onkyo TX-4500mk2:

Tyger on Onkyo TX4500mk2 posted to Silver face 08oct17.jpg

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Just the way they put those two little forepaws like that, just 'cause they wanna and 'cause they can, kills me. It's too cute. (Can a man say "cute"?)

[E7]

A question for anyone in the group who copied their LP's to CD's. Have you had any deterioration of those CD's? I was all set to begin transferring my LP's to CD's (this is back in the 90's) but never got around to setting things up. This was pre-USB and required a line-level audio feed to the audio inputs on a sound card in your PC plus some fairly pricey software. Later came the reports that the blank CD's you used in your PC or CD recorder didn't hold up well over time. Can't remember now if it was the green ones or the blue ones that started to give up their data in less than five years. Can't remember the tech differences that made them not as permanent as the commercially manufactured CD's, but was always glad I never overcame the inertia that kept me from starting the project. Maybe there were more dependable blanks available later. Anyone have any experiences either way?

I was very successful finding commercial reissues, so I have a VERY small amount of "home made" stuff. I am not aware of any problems to date, but they could be "toast" as I type this, since I haven't played them in a while! I have a friend who buys ALL his stuff from I-tunes as downloads, and burns his own CD's on a Mac notebook. I'll ask him if he ever had any go bad, as he has a ton of them!

I'm envious of you guys with the early Pioneer receivers and speakers. I started with a Dynaco preamp and 70 watt power amp, built from kits, feeding AR2a speakers (couldn't afford AR3's). AR turntable with a Shure cartrtidge (can't remember the number) and no FM tuner since there was nothing worth listening to in my area at the time. That rig held up well until I wanted FM and CD capability, so made the big move to JBL's and a Sony receiver and CD player.

All my stuff is ancient (Mid to late 70's). Don't have a tuner for the same reason as you mentioned. Never had much luck with Sony. Had a CD player from them.....didn't last a year, and it wasn't mistreated or used hard.....it was just JUNK. Had a Sony VCR the same way. Played about 5 or 6 tapes, next time I went to use it.....dead as a door nail! Sony and I have gone separate ways! Probably just bad luck, but 2 strikes and yer out!

Rich

[Rufus T. Firefly]

A question for anyone in the group who copied their LP's to CD's. Have you had any deterioration of those CD's? I was all set to begin transferring my LP's to CD's (this is back in the 90's) but never got around to setting things up. This was pre-USB and required a line-level audio feed to the audio inputs on a sound card in your PC plus some fairly pricey software. Later came the reports that the blank CD's you used in your PC or CD recorder didn't hold up well over time. Can't remember now if it was the green ones or the blue ones that started to give up their data in less than five years. Can't remember the tech differences that made them not as permanent as the commercially manufactured CD's, but was always glad I never overcame the inertia that kept me from starting the project. Maybe there were more dependable blanks available later. Anyone have any experiences either way?

I know that the quality of burn your own CD's is markedly less than commercial products; I suspect the current product may be better than what used to be available, but maybe not. It's a pretty cheap operation to set up a USB turntable and convert to mp3 files though and if the CD starts to fail, you can just burn another. I only have a few such CD's now. One of the nicer things about going through the wall of vinyl in this process if that you get to reacquaint yourself with some music you probably have not listened to in a long time.