Do You Still Play Compact Discs?

[rando]

Thanks - what is the program you are using?

Try this full and active discussion.

 

[the sound of Tao]

What's a compact disc?

It’s what you get when you fall really badly and hurt your back

Signed
ageing audiophile

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Thanks - what is the program you are using?

SACDExtractGUI

 

[rando]

I play quite a few discs. I buy quite a few discs for extended family members who treat CD's as the modern equivalent of changing sides. Passé as it might be the music industry still sends out discs and passes them out at shows. Often enough in the latter case with otherwise impossible to hear mastering or takes. Not quite a dead format even if the large corporate money has moved onto other pastures.

Not just everything that comes in the door is worth performing the rigid order of operation anything going into the library on disk is worth doing up front for. Then again, some of those discs only stand a chance through being ripped at the most painstakingly slow and deliberately secure levels.

 

[SuperDave]

I still spin cds and sacds but I doubt I'll upgrade the spinner. It's an Esoteric K01x that I've had for 7-8 years but I think a better DAC and server will outperform the Esoteric gear easily these days. Streaming is in its infancy compared to the compact disc and it keeps improving. It would be difficult getting rid of the collection but I could use the space.

Dave

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Not just everything that comes in the door is worth performing the rigid order of operation anything going into the library on disk is worth doing up front for. Then again, some of those discs only stand a chance through being ripped at the most painstakingly slow and deliberately secure levels.

I do not understand what you are saying here. Can you clarify it for me?

 

[LenWhite]

I still play mostly SACDs with My EMM Labs XDS used as a transport connected to a EMM Labs DV2. I have ripped my CDs and play many of them using my Toshiba laptop connected to the DV2. While the recording and mastering are the most important factor to SQ, I still believe everything being equal my SACDs sound best.

 

[BruceD]

Just as there is a group of old geezers playing records, someday it will not be surprising to see the same with CDs. Perhaps they are amongst us now.

Aye Aye !-I resemble that Rue de Remarque ! You talking about Moi?

I'll have you know I look forward to my evening sessions with the "maligned" silver disc.

In my 8th decade now certainly a tad easier to manage than the Liquorice Pizza--which Oh I still do enjoy!

Good listening to all

BruceD

 

[LL21]

Funny one...so back in 2008, I was actively looking for a DAC/Transport when everyone thought I was crazy...everyone else I knew was looking at brand new SOTA single-piece CD players. And it was expressly because I was looking to use the DAC to have a server attached to it as well as movies and traditional transport.

And along came the Zanden DAC in 2008, and I got it (just the DAC, no transport even though 12 other Zanden DAC owners I knew all said 'you have to get the transport...you wont regret it'.) I spent years looking at servers and not finding much I could really say was 'it'. And then eventually I had an opportunity to swap the DAC for a 2nd hand latest spec 4-box Zanden (2 box transport and 2 box DAC...basically 2 separate PSUs) plus some cash...and I did that swap...and have never looked back.

Servers have only just come back on the radar for me...but really only in 'thinking about it someday' at this stage.

 

[rando]

I do not understand what you are saying here. Can you clarify it for me?

Two examples come to mind.

First being a very limited run of event attendee only CD-R from an American Guild of Organists National Convention final concert. Both discs are free of physical flaws, second disc has major timing errors in a few locations you cannot play through. Repeated cleanings and ripping attempts eventually broke through those few hundred frames (400ish if I remember correctly) to produce an uninterrupted copy with neglible errors that fade into the noise of this live performance. This went down in the win category and got full metadata, high quality album art, and assorted informational files. Which meant it did not get binned or relegated to secure storage as the disc below was.

Second relates to the constant cycle of improvements on the digital front. Today I started looking at doing something with my copy of this disc after seeing Elvis pop up in Philip O'Hanlon's yearly playlist. It is unlistenable as it is potentially collectible. Normally there would be no reason to rip this disc. As fodder to test some out some under development software with it might produce unique results that are highly interesting. To find out a high quality error free WAV needed to be created for any tracks to be used.

 

[tima]

I apologize if I triggered some sensitivity of yours. I actually intended the question to be completely neutral, as I personally have a compact disc collection totaling around 200 CDs.

Other than trying to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, perhaps, I was not intending to be pejorative or disparaging toward compact discs.

You see the title of the thread is a simple, neutral question. I asked a positive question; I did not intend to make a normative declaration. In fact, I did not make a normative declaration.

And neither vinyl nor analog was mentioned or implied.

Again, I am sorry that I offended you.

You have nothing to apologize for, Ron.

 

[tima]

What's a compac

What's a compact disc?

It's in your back, Howie.

 

[rbbert]

Nope. What I meant by that is that not all releases can be obtained by download yet, so I am still forced to rip some SACDs. Of course, there are others that are available only as download but we are just "getting there."

Hmm. When I rip a multi-channel SACD with my 105 (connected via Ethernet) it usually takes ~20 min (and not uncommonly more to then tag correctly), compared to the 4-5 min more typical for an 80 minute CD (with correct tagging in almost all instances). To me that is time-consuming, but YMMV

 

[microstrip]

SACDExtractGUI

Thanks again - just found it a https://hifihaven.org/index.php?threads/rip-sacd-with-a-blu-ray-player.3652/ . It looks much more straightforward than the old sacd_extract. I already have the Pioneer BD160, I will give it a try soon.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Hmm. When I rip a multi-channel SACD with my 105 (connected via Ethernet) it usually takes ~20 min (and not uncommonly more to then tag correctly), compared to the 4-5 min more typical for an 80 minute CD (with correct tagging in almost all instances). To me that is time-consuming, but YMMV

Could be but I am doing other things while that happens in the background. My actual attention to the task is a minute to get it going and, perhaps, some time for tagging. I do not obsess about tagging but do it in batches when the spirit moves me.

Thanks again - just found it a https://hifihaven.org/index.php?threads/rip-sacd-with-a-blu-ray-player.3652/ . It looks much more straightforward than the old sacd_extract. I already have the Pioneer BD160, I will give it a try soon.

Good luck. From what I have seen the Oppos are the easiest and the Sonys are the most variable but the Pioneer is in the middle. The first 2-3 rips will seem tedious because you have to read and think about each step but it quickly becomes automatic.

As an example, I ripped this today.
- Since the 105 is dedicated to ripping, the USB drive lives plugged into it. I turned it on and inserted the disc (30seconds).
- I then walked over to my PC, clicked on the "SACD Extract GUI" desktop icon, selected "from Network" and hit Execute (20seconds).
- Did other things until I thought about the ripping (0seconds on task).
- Selected ("from file), DSF MCH output and hit Execute (20 seconds).
- Did other things until I thought about the ripping (0seconds on task).
The tagging on this was adequate so it went into the library.
- Later, while playing it, I downloaded the cover art and booklet. (Does that count?)

 

[tima]

I may be one of those old geezers! I ONLY play CDs - my preamp only has one input, and I gave all my vinyl away to a friend.

Aye Aye !-I resemble that Rue de Remarque ! You talking about Moi?

I'll have you know I look forward to my evening sessions with the "maligned" silver disc.

In my 8th decade now certainly a tad easier to manage than the Liquorice Pizza--which Oh I still do enjoy!

Good listening to all

BruceD

So no death and rebirth for you guys. Enjoy your media antigua!

 

[jeromelang]

While playing with the newly arrived NS1 streamer, I noticed that it has a less stringent sound compared to the TX2 transport. I decided to remove the TX2 power cord from the duplex receptacle that is also feeding the DA2 dac and have it plugged into the same receptacle that is feeding the streamer.

Holy cow. Very nice pleasant improvement.

I now realise that transports and dacs mustn't be fed from 1 single duplex outlet.

This is one instance how streaming has made me more appreciate of spinning optical disc, lol.

I'll have to look into providing the same infrastructure for the TSDX/DAC2Xv2 in the living room next....

 

[rsorren1]

I still play CD/SACDs. The transport used is a CH Precision D1 feeding a C1 DAC through our CH-LINK HD interface. Both the D1 and C1 are clocked by our T1 external clock and powered by our X1-Dual power supply. I also stream from a Roon Nucleus+ over ethernet to the C1. Sources there are QoBuz and files I have purchased or ripped to SSD memory of the Nucleus+. While I've made steady improvements to the sound quality of streaming, the physical disc played from the D1 still provides best sound quality in my system. It's really close but I still have not gotten streaming to match the sound quality of the D1.

 

[thedudeabides]

So no death and rebirth for you guys. Enjoy your media antigua!

For those who don't understand the word antigua, it believe it means "ancient". Without any bias towards any media, if CD's are ancient, what are LP's (33, 45, and 78 rpm) and R2R tapes?

 

[Al M.]

For those who don't understand the word antigua, it believe it means "ancient". Without any bias towards any media, if CD's are ancient, what are LP's (33, 45, and 78 rpm) and R2R tapes?

Ah, don't listen to the file fundamentalists.