Game Over for the CD?
Added 2023-06-13 12:04:17 +0000 UTC"An ever diminishing number of households have CD players" I said.
“Don't forget that anyone with a games console can play CDs” they replied.
Citation needed.
Here’s a video: https://youtu.be/tFFMoWSjxcI
This one revealed a shocker about the state of Sony audio in 2023.
There is one (count it), one, current product left in Sony's ‘HiFi Components’ range.
I know it’s a sign of the times and I’m aware it’s all about consumer demand and I understand that they can’t sell things that aren’t profitable just for the sake of nostalgia…but flippin heck it’d be like BMW silently stopping making cars to concentrate on their bicycle range.
This is a bit of a weird video, but you should have seen the state of it before I edited things down. It was such a bloated, rambling, disjointed mess I really feel like I’ve achieved something cutting it down to this…or anything watchable. Especially considering that I edited the whole thing on my laptop while the builder is killing the old bathroom with extreme prejudice.
I’m going to have to a few days off now as I can’t shoot anything new until the house returns to normal. Take care.
UPDATE: I’d forgotten that a PS5 Digital Edition existed - so I’ve added it in via an overlay. The updated video is the one now embedded and linked to above.
UPDATE 2 - Added in a bit about the previous generation of consoles
Comments
Made me sad. I had a friend die 10 years ago. He would have despised this change. I miss him so much.
Luke Piotrowicz
2023-06-23 12:21:41 +0000 UTCI haven't done anything along those lines - but the most comprehensive video I've made about CD players is probably this one https://youtu.be/Ag2RVk2vx4o
Techmoan
2023-06-19 21:34:28 +0000 UTCMat, what would be the closest version of one of your videos to a "best of" standalone CD player overview? I know about the boomboxes but I was wondering if there is something more comprehensive.
David Fulton
2023-06-19 21:31:42 +0000 UTCI think the last time a major technology got fanfare as it left common consciousness was the telegram. But electric telegraphy had to be on the market for 160 years before anyone was liable to give it a mention as it exited.
David Fulton
2023-06-19 21:29:22 +0000 UTCOk, here's a paranoid thought - What if one decides to purchase a top-of-the-line (as it stands) standalone CD player. And that CD player has any kind of ability to access the net (maybe for firmware updates, or some additional add-on features). Could that website, in cahoots with the record companies that they are almost definitely a corporate in-law of, decide that you've had your innings with that particular version of their IP and simply not play it? Why would they do that? Well, why wouldn't they? And, eventually, would that not also mean that all of the Apple music I've purchased over the last 20 years but deemed by Cook and Co to no longer be profitable to support is discontinued and we end up with gigs and gigs of effectively dead music files? Again, why wouldn't a company do that? Simply move on that from that encoding format. Then we'd have to await some third party developer to create a "key" that allows you to play all those music files... until such time as THAT bit of tech is no longer commercially viable or the developers gets bored, distracted, a better job, dies, etc. But perhaps that's just a faster version of any media format decline. It is not easy to play an 8-Track tape, a 78 rpm record, or a DCC in 2023. Not impossible, though. Could record companies make it effectively impossible to play a given digital format? Will we try to play our iTune playlist that we had so carefully curated over many years only to be told via an overly cheerful banner pop up that the song can only be accessed through a streaming service for a reasonable monthly fee? And, oh by the way, those bespoke live tracks and remixes that you worked so hard to find on slsk and in various sub-sub music discussion boards, "Oh snap! Doesn't look that that song exists! How about this Crazy Frog megamix instead?" Perhaps we should return to a piece of paper wrapped around a comb for music.
David Fulton
2023-06-19 21:07:38 +0000 UTCI have a huge collection of iPods, but when I got a Zune out of curiosity, I found it quite nice, actually. Certainly a premium music player that did not deserve to die so quickly!
robni7
2023-06-18 23:36:17 +0000 UTC"limited to 16-bit 44.1khz which really isn't high fidelity by modern standards" I don't get that tbh. It's not like human hearing is good enough to fully appreciate 24/96 or 24/192. Then there's the issue of putting a 16/44.1 source through a 24/96 or 24/192 DAC. That makes about as much sense as transcoding an MP3 into FLAC and expecting it to sound better.
OzRetrocomp
2023-06-18 04:10:46 +0000 UTCBit of a shock to see that Sony doesn’t make them anymore. I didn’t imagine that would be the case. Another interesting video!
Brent Bossom
2023-06-17 13:36:57 +0000 UTCThe nice thing about CD's is that unlike turntables or cassette decks we won't need to scrounge for the last of old high end gear, or saw off an arm for the new stuff. CD players only really need to spend money on the DAC to sound good. Budget/mid-range CD players will not only sound better relative to their higher end counter parts compared to turntables, but are also limited to 16-bit 44.1khz which really isn't high fidelity by modern standards. Even if all stand alone players just exploded into a million bits, it wouldn't matter that much since there are probably more Sata based 5.25" optical drives than there are humans living on Earth. For every home with a high end hi-fi theres a 100 home PC's, and 1000 office boxes. I mean, who needs a stand alone player when the best option for listening to CD's is a device that can be had for $5 a pallet, works with VLC, will rip at 52x speed, and can be adapted to USB for like $13. I don't see CD playback being that difficult a task for at least another decade or two. SACD fans on the other hand might be screwed.
SovietBear
2023-06-17 06:24:43 +0000 UTCI've got my collection digitized just in case, but I also have a stack of USB CD players and my trusty discman. I've found my (adult) kids are really into CDs as a physical object, and so I suspect it may keep rolling for quite a while longer.
Longplay Games
2023-06-16 20:24:02 +0000 UTCOn a slightly different topic this week we saw the highest number of cassette singles sold since Feb 2004, from Music Week “Returning to Kylie, Padam Padam sold 1,504 copies on cassette, which has not had its own chart for some time. However since the total sales of every other cassette single in the week came to just 15, it is safe to say it was a runaway No.1. The last time more cassette singles were sold in a week was way back in February 2004”
Robert Norman
2023-06-16 20:04:27 +0000 UTCWell, I still have a little stack of CD players to last me for my lifetime. Hopefully anyway.
Bas van Schooten
2023-06-16 15:40:23 +0000 UTCI'm not sure they ever will. They fail so much easier than record players. Seeing what I needed to repair a Minidisc player just showed how these formats are doomed compared to the simplicity of a record player.
Giles Jones
2023-06-16 08:24:26 +0000 UTCI give out burned CDs as promo items at events. I have had a few people tell me they aren’t sure or don’t think they have anything to play them on.
Steven Reich
2023-06-15 22:43:26 +0000 UTCPatents have definitely expired on the CD as of the early 2000’s. Technically it could still be trademarked, but that might not be worth enforcing.
Steven Reich
2023-06-15 22:38:38 +0000 UTChttp://www.roadstar.com/index.php/consumer-electronics/vintage-line/hif-8892ebt-new
Staffan Ahlstrom
2023-06-15 20:37:12 +0000 UTCYou CAN find CD players, but please do not ask me about specs & quality.. http://www.roadstar.com/index.php/consumer-electronics/home-audio/hif-1993d-bt
Staffan Ahlstrom
2023-06-15 20:36:21 +0000 UTCIn the U.S., the average car on the road is 13 years old, when virtually all of them had a CD player -- so that's still many millions of them which people can use. So that's a large part of why new CD players are disappearing: not because nobody wants CD players anymore, but because almost anyone who wants one probably already has one that still works.
VWestlife
2023-06-15 15:12:45 +0000 UTCI don’t imagine Sony ever paid any royalties to Philips due to being co-creators - but if they did, I heard all the CD licensing agreements expired a decade or more back…but have been unable to find any information on this.
Techmoan
2023-06-15 10:18:25 +0000 UTCwell it's actually also a software issue, based on the specs of the ps5 disc edition, it should be able to play cd's, it's just sony decided they didn't want it too. maybe they felt like not continuing to pay the royalties to philips?
David Wouters
2023-06-15 09:56:26 +0000 UTCThat was the case a few years ago when Amazon offered a free download with each CD. The terms and conditions said that if you returned the CD you should delete the download.
Duncan
2023-06-14 22:03:41 +0000 UTCGreat video, if a little disheartening.. What is the World coming to?!! One of my CD players is in the car, of course. Not something offered unless you ask for it these days, I imagine, but then I do drive a 12 year old vehicle. The Sony OEM stereo has a wee slot - that these days is hardly ever used... Or only just enough to keep it functioning. I suppose these days the act of changing a CD whilst driving would land you in hot water anyway. Seriously though, It'd be interesting to know just how many CD players are still out there on the roads, whether there are any interesting units etc. Venturing into the Argos/Halfords black hole there, perhaps? Or a sort of ever expanding universe of head units - moving further and farther away like a loaf of bread dough encrusted with Fiat Puntos and Blaupunkt flavoured raisins. And 8-track chocolate chips.
Paul Watkins
2023-06-14 22:00:59 +0000 UTCTowada Audio ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towada_Audio The last Sony DVD Recorders for use with TVs (which will definitely play CDs) were made by Pioneer. There is even a S / P setting in the service menu to change the company name on the start screen etc.
Duncan
2023-06-14 21:40:45 +0000 UTCTell me more about putting Blu-rays (just DVDs would do for me) into libraries. I have been wanting to do that for a long time but the software I have seen always seems to be paid for from some dodgy site that doesn't accept Paypal.
Duncan
2023-06-14 21:25:46 +0000 UTCI also rip everything to a network share, but that's mostly for backup. I prefer listening to albums and I am still proudly displaying all my bought audio media in my living room and my office together with my books and scores. I am fortunately the local tech head nerd and really bad at getting rid of old stuff, so I have stacks of boring SATA and IDE optical drives from vintage to fairly new in the depot - 21 laptop drives alone from back when upgrading to a small SSD for system speed and keeping the old "large" HD for data was in vogue. They will never stop me ripping! *shows clenched fist to no no-one in particular* This just showed up on Discogs btw... https://www.discogs.com/digs/collecting/cd-comeback-trend-popularity-sales-2022/
Oscar Røhling
2023-06-14 17:21:24 +0000 UTCIt seems wise to keep a decent one stored away, just in case.
Techmoan
2023-06-14 15:12:45 +0000 UTCNot a weird video to me. Found it very entertaining and informative. I am going to hold on to a few CD-players I still have here; almost thought of getting rid of them actually. This video now makes me want to keep them!
Arjan Kooij
2023-06-14 13:38:52 +0000 UTCI love my old PS3. It plays CDs, SACD (Its an early one) DVD and Blu Ray discs just fine. I bought off a kid on ebay as a cheap Blu Ray player and it has the remote control.
Nuts 'n' Proud
2023-06-14 13:36:14 +0000 UTCSo effectively the blind bag of CD sales?
Stu The Brummie
2023-06-14 12:46:28 +0000 UTCAh you just wait till CDs make a comeback like vinyls and, to some extent, the cassettes, have! No? OK...
Alex James
2023-06-14 11:28:45 +0000 UTCAmazing how short-sighted this all seems. The resurgence in vinyl and tape means that CD's are coming back. And UNlike vinyl and tape, - they WILL sound superior because CD's are digital LOSSLESS formats. While I can appreciate the improved lossy-compression formats such as OPUS have introduced, - I remaster music professionally using some extremely high-end proprietary tools and LOSSLESS sounds better. What really got my attention is when I began to use YouTube to demo audio. I began to notice certain artifacts that the compression was adding to the audio. It still sounds really good - but when you compare it with the lossless original - wow! I think that CD's offer real marketing advantages to artists and labels IF they will only leverage those potentials. I.E: Imagine a band has 4 members and each member randomly signs 2% of the CD's they release. These signed become collectible and signed sets have special value to collectors. And that's simply (1) approach that could be used to leverage CD sales. Imagine that there is a small chance that a CD might contain a backstage concert pass in the same spirit of Wonka's golden tickets? There is a marketing goldmine waiting to be tapped with CD's. BTW: One of the most feature-packed Sony CD players I've found on eBay is the model: D-NF610 (It also has a very good D-->A converter). If you're curious to hear what I do and the potential future of hi-end audio, visit: https://www.youtube.com/@spectrelayer
CURTISSCOTT
2023-06-14 10:06:53 +0000 UTCYou make it sound like a very good thing with that BMW analogy!
JockeTF
2023-06-14 08:55:02 +0000 UTCI’d completely forgotten about writing that…or pretty much anything that detailed. I can also see my writing skills have faded considerably since then. Seems it’s all destined to end up as transcribed grunts.
Techmoan
2023-06-14 07:18:42 +0000 UTCI had no idea that CD players are essentially Done. This was a really fun and informative… eulogy really. Never would have imagined vinyl would kill cds in the physical media war. Weird.
Andrew Shaw
2023-06-14 03:32:09 +0000 UTC“Let it go, let it gooo…” This song is now ten years old, the kids that listened to it are now adults, perhaps even with kids of their own. We are so attached to material things, to things that we master so that we feel relevance and being in control. We are not. It’s all an illusion. There is no spoon.
Vladi Ivanov
2023-06-14 03:13:48 +0000 UTCMy first instinct was to be a teensy bit smug and say "Well, that doesn't affect _me._ I buy CDs but I rip them straight into my Mac. They never even touch a CD player." But then I thought about the bigger picture. I guess I ought to stockpile a few new SATA mechanisms as spares, so I can keep feeding my digital media library with cheap-as-free secondhand CDs and Blu-rays. (My local library turned a major corner when they cut their used CD prices from $1 each to a dollar _per bag._ It felt like when the prices of classic Macs at the MIT Flea Market crashed from $50 to $10 all the way down to "I'm sick of storing these. I'll let you have as many as you can carry for almost literally any amount of actual money." The next stop after that is either a retro rebound, or irreversible death.)
Andy Ihnatko
2023-06-14 02:23:19 +0000 UTCEvery time you get melancholy, Mat, I think of this blog entry you wrote in 2008 about Sliding Doors and other paths life could have taken. https://ibb.co/2qBBB69 It's also eerie how some of the topics recently discussed in comments and videos here are touched upon in the blog post.
Grace Robbins
2023-06-14 01:31:13 +0000 UTCInteresting video but makes me sad. I still have my Technics SL-P777 CD Player I bought new towards the end of the 1980s. I will be gutted when it dies. I think one Japanese audio company (that isn't now owned by someone else and therefore now just a brand) and still makes a hi-fi range is Yamaha. I have seen one hi-fi CD player on their site I can find in the stores and isn't esoteric hi-fi prices, in fact I think it's the same price I paid for my Technics 34 years ago! I like the fact that they still offer both Black and Silver.
Gideon Jones-Davies
2023-06-14 00:13:41 +0000 UTCA sad development. With CDs, you didn't have to bother with DRM and watermarks. The replacement comes in the form of streaming services that secretly analyse one's own listening behaviour - after all, one has "voluntarily" agreed to the terms and conditions. Even if the purchased music can be downloaded in common formats, one must assume that watermarks have been applied, which at least theoretically make it possible to trace the buyer. Whether this really has any consequences remains to be seen, but I would not feel comfortable if my music collection found its way onto the internet for whatever reason. I was also surprised that Sony has drastically reduced its involvement in the audio sector. The first hi-fi equipment I got to know was my father's Sony stereo system (TA-515, ST-515, TC-U5, PS-515 FA). I was allowed to use it when I was five years old (around 1985), because my father was of the opinion that I would play around with it anyway and that I should at least know how to do it properly. Wise man! An era is coming to an end. It's a bit strange that my last Sony audio device is probably a kitchen radio I bought a few years ago.
Tunix
2023-06-14 00:10:27 +0000 UTChow good is the CDS300BL as I bought a Yamaha Rs-202d amp & I am after a cd player to hook up to it
Ellis Garbutt
2023-06-13 21:08:38 +0000 UTCI did not know th ps4 & ps5 couln't ply CD's I knew the xbox series x could as I own one the app is audio CD which used to show album art work the second app used to be groove for playing CD's but got repalced by windows media player its ashame really as muisc artist rely on sales physical copies than streaming as artist makes more money that way than streaming
Ellis Garbutt
2023-06-13 20:59:32 +0000 UTCI did have one for its SACD capabilities, but swapped it out a while ago for a SACD player. That gave out, so I swapped that out for another SACD player.
Techmoan
2023-06-13 20:38:39 +0000 UTCDon’t you have a Blu-ray player in your Hi-Fi setup yourself? But indeed, even those are on their way out too 😟 I’ve been getting into collecting CDs from my favorite band again, but with streaming services other than Spotify offering better quality in theory it’s getting harder and harder to justify except for a few exclusive live tracks.
Zippy
2023-06-13 20:27:43 +0000 UTCI find it amusing that it's cheaper to buy a new CD (and and have it delivered) than buy the digital equivalent. My CD collection is growing again!
Big Car
2023-06-13 20:26:34 +0000 UTCThe PlayStation 4 doesn't play CDs either. The last one to play CDs was the PlayStation 3. It's a deliberate decision by Sony, but I don't understand why.
Gadgetman
2023-06-13 20:07:20 +0000 UTCOr it could just be bloody-mindedness.
Techmoan
2023-06-13 19:40:02 +0000 UTCI am suspecting the lack of CD support on the drive version of the PS5 is them cost reducing the drive and removing the CD laser diode plus any other associated circuitry and component. They don't look like off the shelf units, so I'm guessing they're in-house or custom made.
Chris Crowther
2023-06-13 19:38:24 +0000 UTCNot long ago I was listening to some music on Spotify and thought “man, this sounds horribly compressed”. So I set the quality to max and no, still there. Tried purchasing on apple and nope, even lossless downloads elsewhere seemed to have this artifact. So I went to a shop and bought the CDs and of course it was fine. It was the BMG watermarking. It’s awful, and sounds a lot like a crappy MP3, and the only way I could get the audio without it was to purchase a hard copy….
Jason Long
2023-06-13 18:58:39 +0000 UTCIt's not just the PS5. The PS4 can't play Audio CDs either. Interestingly, they also can't play DVD Audio discs, which makes the whole thing a business and/or licensing decision, rather than some bizarre technical one.
Scott Seligman
2023-06-13 17:48:29 +0000 UTCSomeone forgot to tell Onkyo to stop making (or at least selling) new 6-disc CD changers, though.
VWestlife
2023-06-13 17:35:27 +0000 UTCI recently snagged an open box Yamaha CDS300BL so I could start rebuilding a CD collection. Amazing how things come back around. I'm still annoyed Mini Disc never took off as a home media format.
Tristan
2023-06-13 17:21:03 +0000 UTCInterestingly, the Sony UBP-X700 4K/UHD Blu-ray player will play a Video CD, whereas ordinary 1080 Blu-ray players will not (in my experience). Again, there's a bit of stuttering between tracks, though.
Brad Jones
2023-06-13 16:31:34 +0000 UTCAnd there is just one AV amp: TA-AN1000. That's disappointing after having used a lot of Sony products for decades. They should have branded their last decent line up 'My last Sony' ;-)
eric_B
2023-06-13 16:27:39 +0000 UTCThere still is one player on the Dutch Sony website: the UHP-H1.
eric_B
2023-06-13 16:26:24 +0000 UTCYes that’s the same as yesterday when I did the screen caps.
Techmoan
2023-06-13 16:09:47 +0000 UTCI just tried (for the first time) and it played a DVD just fine.
Techmoan
2023-06-13 16:09:11 +0000 UTCRemember in the early 80s we had uncompressed digital sound and supersonic flight. Quality>Convenience
Dvdmike
2023-06-13 16:08:38 +0000 UTCWhen I checked the Sony UK website https://www.sony.co.uk/audio-components there were two turntables and a headphone amplifier (the latter with no price) There were menu links for disc/media players, amplifiers and receivers but nothing behind them.
Rick Parsons
2023-06-13 16:06:11 +0000 UTCI'm somewhat curious whether the PS5 can play a standard DVD. If no, then it might only be equipped with a blue laser for BluRay discs.
Don Eitner
2023-06-13 15:49:56 +0000 UTCQuite fascinating. I wonder if Sony mostly relied on hardware solutions to play CDs rather than a software solution? If they did close down that Malaysian factory (as mentioned earlier), then they probably don't have the chips to put in their PS5s to play CDs? Microsoft have always had a software Media Player and I think the one in the Xbox Store might also work in Windows?
antzpantz
2023-06-13 15:47:25 +0000 UTCSpeaking as someone who had to 'de-dull' the footage, I can assure you the chaff is better left deleted.
Techmoan
2023-06-13 15:27:29 +0000 UTCPersonally I would love to see the full rambling uncut video as a Patreon only exclusive!
Gadgetman
2023-06-13 15:26:05 +0000 UTCWhenever I hear about changing ways that people choose to listen to music, it reminds me back to something I read maybe 30+ years ago about the last Czar of Russia, Nicholas II. Although he lived in the early days of the phonograph, he preferred another way to listen to music. He arranged to have a special telephone line run between the Imperial Palace and the hall where the official Russian symphony performed. He would then order the symphony to perform a particular selection in the evening concert and would listen to it at his palace via the telephone link. (I wonder why that never caught on?)
CrimsonPig808
2023-06-13 14:50:06 +0000 UTCI'd completely forgotten that console exists - I'll add it onto the video with an overlay.
Techmoan
2023-06-13 14:31:39 +0000 UTCI have a >100 year old Edison Diamond Disc record player that still plays music with amazing volume (without amplification), but my Zune? Makes for a bad doorstop. Maybe it'll make a good paperweight. Does anybody need a paperweight? LOL But like Mat, I also have the Tefifon, cassette, reel to reel, phonograph, LaserDisc, ....
Randall Jennings
2023-06-13 14:25:29 +0000 UTCWhat's more baffling to me is that tacking that capability in would be so laughably simple.
Randall Jennings
2023-06-13 14:21:17 +0000 UTCWait... Now 1-8 ...were on Cassette only?
Randall Jennings
2023-06-13 14:19:10 +0000 UTCAnyone with a games console, unless they only have a PS5 Digital...
Chris Crowther
2023-06-13 14:10:17 +0000 UTC"Red Book" CD-DA was co-developed by Sony and Phillips, afaicr, so even though Phillips control the licencing, I'd be surprised if Sony didn't have an exemption. There was a patent suit filed against Sony and Phillips in the late 80s, but I think the patent involved would be long expired (would have expired in 1990, having just looked it up).
Chris Crowther
2023-06-13 14:09:49 +0000 UTCI have a Sony receiver I bought about 18 years ago sitting behind me. I plugged in a Sonos Connect to it and used it sometimes, but then I'd come downstairs and realize i'd left the power on it all night long (or for a week) and get irritated. I recently bought a 2nd hand PlayBar (Sonos) and have used it just as much as I did the other setup. The Sony receiver, btw, still has radio presets set for the city where I lived at the time -- which I left about 16 years ago and have lived in a minimum of four other places (three unique radio markets) since then.
Randall Jennings
2023-06-13 14:07:45 +0000 UTC>I still think of old, superseded and inferior tech Viva la reel to reel!
Randall Jennings
2023-06-13 14:03:19 +0000 UTCI know what you mean - although I keep thinking about how I never noticed when the last properly decent cassette deck vanished and as a result I've transferred that concern over to the CD...perhaps unwarrantedly. But hey, gotta make a video about something, right.
Techmoan
2023-06-13 14:00:13 +0000 UTCI used CDs so heavily in the late 90's and early 2000's that it doesn't break my heart that new devices aren't being made for them. However I agree the loss of a physical music media is fretful - what if we lose the ability to store electronic files (the fall of modern technology)?
Grace Robbins
2023-06-13 13:56:38 +0000 UTCThe PS5 can play mp3s from CD-Rs as far as I know. And of course it can play pcm/wav files. So it would be possible to play CDs on it. I've read somewhere that it's some kind of cost cutting because of licenses. But do you still have to pay some fee for Audio-CD playback? Sony 4K Blu-ray players can play Audio-CDs for sure but as said in the video no analog outputs. My recommendation for anyone looking for a CD-Player: Look on eBay or similiar sites for a nice Sony CD-Player. Lookup what type of laser pickup it uses. They are usually called KSS and then a three digit number. Common ones you can still get very cheap new (old stock?). So basically buy a CD-Player and the correct KSS pickup to fix it later...
Robert
2023-06-13 13:54:56 +0000 UTCSurely by now there's no licence fee to be paid to use CD? Also, I tend to think of Sony as a mass market brand and if it's not a product with mass appeal they won't get involved.
Giles Jones
2023-06-13 13:45:18 +0000 UTCWonderful video as always Matt. I remember being quite taken aback when me and a flatmate went to play a CD in my PS4 and found that it just spat it back out with an unrecognised disc warning. We both had the same reaction as you - Sony invented the CD, why on Earth wouldn't they retain playback on their latest console? In fact we thought there must be something wrong with the CD and not the console at first. This was the generation before the current one as well, so as you said Sony's abandonment of CD is much more historical than it first appears.
John Cartwright
2023-06-13 13:41:52 +0000 UTCIn my more nightmare scenarios of the distant future of music listening, I imagine something more retro than cassettes, LPs or even cylinders. Those visions are of people banging sticks on hollow logs or for the discerning audiophiles of the post-apocalyptic future, playing flutes made from bones.
Mark Hesse
2023-06-13 13:37:13 +0000 UTCSony has been cutting back on many product lines like audio for a few years now. They started shutting down one of their two facilities in Malaysia back in 2020: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2020/12/03/sonys-plant-in-penang-to-close-after-36-years-3400-workers-affected/ https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Electronics/Sony-to-close-audio-product-plant-in-Malaysia-by-2022 https://www.rojakpot.com/sony-penang-facility-close/
Richard Clayton
2023-06-13 13:34:12 +0000 UTCKeep an eye out at thrift stores, charity shops, op shops or whatever they're called i your country. Pawn shops are also worth checking out. That said, secondhand CDs are starting to creep up in price. 5 years ago I could find them from 1-2 dollarydoos each. Now they're more like 3-5 dollarydoos at most places.
OzRetrocomp
2023-06-13 13:21:08 +0000 UTCJust counted 13 things in my flat capable of playing a CD! I just can't imagine shouting at some faceless device to play something. I do a lot of viewing/listening from hard drives, mind you. Permanent copies, though. Even if a favourite band releases a new album, it doesn't feel right to "spoil" it before I've got an actual copy in my hand. Maybe it's me, my age, my background, I dunno. I'm a former university librarian, and twenty years ago, we went "electronic" with regards to journals etc. Threw out years worth of stuff as it was now all online... until publishers changed hands and things we *thought* we had lifetime access to, disappeared. See also the BBC Store. People bought all these programmes, but lost access to them when the store closed. Also, as a former librarian, I like order, shelves, alphabeticalness, chronology etc. It's taken me nearly six years to get a complete Now That's What I Call Music range on CD, purely from charity shops and eBay, and they look lovely on display. (Reissues of anything pre-Now 8, as these didn't originally have a CD release!)
Brad Jones
2023-06-13 13:21:06 +0000 UTCFascinating. I hadn’t realised the PS5 had no CD functionality. For various reasons I recently had cause to try playing a 3D Blu Ray on the PS5 or Series X. However trying to do so resulted in the gentle chirping of crickets and not a lot else. I mean, I understand why of course, but I confess to being a little shocked that came and went so quick.
Jim W
2023-06-13 13:15:37 +0000 UTCAnd just as I was about to start obtaining CDs again! Anyone know how to bulk-buy specific CDs or downloads at a cheap price (legally)? Since Google switched from Play Music to Youtube Music I've been thinking about actually owning the 400+ tracks from my Likes playlist. I'm sick of streaming music being unavailable (offline) or removed from the library due to licencing malarky. Been thinking about getting CDs so no one can take it away from me, but now Techmoan has announced the demise of CD, I'm a bit panicked :)
CBits Tech
2023-06-13 13:10:43 +0000 UTCThat’s definitely the way things are going - a cd mech costs next to nothing now and I’m sure they’ll carry on making these for a good while. You can put these in any old cheap case and knock out a novelty CD player…in fact I’m hoping to get something like this from Japan in a few days. So while these things will be able to play a CD, the build quality we were used to is a thing of the past.
Techmoan
2023-06-13 12:58:24 +0000 UTCGreat video Matt. (Hope the Home Improvement is going well). This video hits personal to me. One of my retirement jobs I've taken is being a music director for area theater productions. It's not a lot of money, but I enjoy the music and keeping busy. Way back, when I first started doing these, I would often provide the cast members practice, or reference tapes for them to learn the music. At first I used cassettes as they were easy. Then making CDs was the way to go. The last 2 productions I did, I announced that I would provide these practice CDs, but more than half the cast said they had no way of listening to them, (some said they could in their cars). I ended up having to convert them to an audio-only YouTube video, unpublished, and then email them a link. I too think it's crazy, and sad that people can't take a physical medium and put it into a playback device and listen to... wait for it... their own personal music! Now I get what my grandfather meant when he moaned about, "the good old days." One final question: Do you think, years down the road, CDs will make the same kind of sentimental comeback that vinyl and cassettes have, with manufacturers like Crosby coming out with cheap, CD players in all sorts of odd containers?
CrimsonPig808
2023-06-13 12:49:18 +0000 UTCI haven’t thought about that, no.
Techmoan
2023-06-13 12:47:11 +0000 UTCIt was a tiny CD elf you were right.
Techmoan
2023-06-13 12:46:15 +0000 UTCYou also have to wonder if those last Sony Hi-Fi or CD components even came from a Sony factory? I suspect they were made by some Chinese or similar company for Sony just for Sony to have some products in those markets to keep their brand a bit more visible.
Leigh
2023-06-13 12:41:50 +0000 UTCI'm glad you were able to get a video out this week. 👍🏻 I'm not familiar with games consoles - at 1:54 I got brain-scrambled because I couldn't figure out who was passing a disk to you from behind the machine. 🤪 Look, I only know how to use Playstation 1 and GameCube (20-25 years ago). I never thought I'd see anyone, including myself, ever download Windows Media Player again. Even that is becoming archaic to me. 🤯 Take care, and pray to the Reno Gods that the workers make haste and not waste. 🤍
Grace Robbins
2023-06-13 12:40:41 +0000 UTCHi Mat. Thanks for the video. Have you thought about plugging in an external USB CD/DVD drive into the Playstation? Personally, I'm about 70% sure you won't get anywhere, but it would rule out theories of it being a drive or hardware limitation. Apparently USB storage is supported on PS5 https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/support/hardware/ps5-usb-ports-guide/
Keir Thomas-Bryant
2023-06-13 12:38:48 +0000 UTCQuite shocked actually to see that Sony doesn't sell any hifi equipment anymore... But I guess that's true now for most mainstrain brands... Finding good, new audio equipment, that's not for the professional or audiophile market seems to be impossible, maybe with the exception of record players (or those are also gone, I bought mine I guess also already 8 years ago...). Trying to find halfway decent loudspeakers also only brought me to the second hand market. Anyway, for me it will be: second hand and using my repair skills to keep it running. I never had a standalone CD player, always used my computer or DVD/Blu-ray player. I'm still using an over 15 years old Samsung USB CD/DVD Burner to import CDs in iTunes. Then I copy them to reel to reel tape or cassette to listen to them :-P
MrHammond
2023-06-13 12:38:01 +0000 UTCEven with the PS3 they dropped SACD support in later models (I think around the same time they dropped PS2 support)
Nuno Silva
2023-06-13 12:37:05 +0000 UTCYou’re right - the piercingly loud whining noises reverberating though the house definitely aren’t the best.
Techmoan
2023-06-13 12:36:14 +0000 UTCI have to wonder if Sony's refusal to offer CD playback on the PS5 (and the PS4 as well) ties in with their post-PS3 stance towards backwards compatibility. Even after the PS3 dropped native PS2 game support, every model could still play any PS1 game if you put the disc in. But now you only have a handful of PS1 games to choose from on PS4/5, and you have to pay Sony an extra $8 a month for the privilege.
Modren
2023-06-13 12:32:22 +0000 UTCYou say you can’t shoot anything, I say give it another couple of days and you’ll happily shoot the builder.
Terry Shepherd
2023-06-13 12:30:59 +0000 UTCWindows Media Player is the recent version of the thing, it was originally Groove Music, the 2013 date is from the release of that app. It's the same media player that is installed with Windows 11 and is frequently updated. You can actually play music CDs in the background whilst playing a game! All that's missing is ripping the CD for that original Xbox nostalgia. All of this should also work with the original Xbox One, given that they share the same OS.
Nuno Silva
2023-06-13 12:30:56 +0000 UTCThanks for reminding me. I should order a spare laser or two for my old Sony CD player while I still can.
OzRetrocomp
2023-06-13 12:27:31 +0000 UTCMy own experience in our bubble of being a fan of retro tech, watcher of Techmoan, owner of a largish library of CDs... I buy a new CD, rip it to my Plex server on the desktop PC and then it goes up on a shelf, never to be used again. Maybe as my generation ages into the "nostalgia" age CDs will see a revival like records? (records which I still think of old, superseded and inferior tech)
Brian Condron
2023-06-13 12:21:13 +0000 UTC
