High-end audio brands are ditching CD players because nobody makes disc drives anymore

[lostinlodos]

When you say 'nobody makes drives anymore', DVD drives and blu-ray are still being maufactured; those can be used. I know most game consoles won't play CDs, but DVD players typically will. I can see those coming to an end someday, but that day is not here yet.

We’re not even close to that day. They are killing them off because companies selling $500000 AV don’t have buyers that will pay the CD prices. Top of the AP line disc players kind of cap out at a few thousand. Even multi-million-dollar theatre system owners have a limit on what they will pay vs what they get.

 

[lostinlodos]

Here's the thing, PC ownership has shifted dramatically toward gamin. (AFAIK). Consequently, PC case designs have shifted favoring cooling solutions, and away from having 5 1/4" drive slots.

The absurd, (IMHO) vinyl revival, has drawn money away from prerecorded CD sales. Many people who are still invested in music, are turning spare PCs into media servers.

All of this obviously creates pressure on optical drive manufacturers, and those in already weakened positions will exit the market. The question this story raises, (but doesn't answer), is exactly what percentage of that market these two makers control?

Then there's Sony and other gaming studios no longer offering their games on disk. Of course everybody's railing against it, but unfortunately they are, in large part, too addicted to do anything about it. Like maybe boycotting new AAA releases?

Over the years, I've bought many, many, internal optical drives. Most of them have been crap. Weeks after you put them in, the drawers fail to open. Seriously, what's up with that? The manufacturers don't know how to make, or use substandard materials for the rubber bands that drive the drawers?

My CD ripping is all done in lossless WAV format. At the same time, I have "spare" PCs laying all over the house, along with a DAC sitting around doing nothing. So, I am seriously looking at creating a music source that doesn't require any moving parts, and which deliver hours and hours of uninterrupted playback.

Anyway, my position is, I have no intention to move away from purchasing CDs as my primary source of music.

Amazon is still showing quite a selection of external optical drives. In fact, I just bought one, that was supposedly on "sale", for $19.00. I guess we'll see how that turns out. These external drives are obviously plentiful, showing price pressure on their marketing. Is that because they're being sold off, or they're the only solution available for the massive laptop market? While internal drives are showing none, along with raising prices.

For optical drives Plextor has always been the pinnacle (yes I’m an admitted plexhead). The loyalty and fan base is earned though.

But your comment about vinyl? I always preferred analogue. While I prefer Betamax over VHS, I prefer VHS over DVD if a film is on both formats.

I always enjoy pointing out that, yes they are independent studios, yes they are genre type (horror, scifi); but brand new films still come out on NOS VHS every year.
I just purchased a 2026 film on VHS that came with a DVD also, that I’ll never use.

I don’t get the UHD movement.

 

[captaincranky]

I always enjoy pointing out that, yes they are independent studios, yes they are genre type (horror, scifi); but brand new films still come out on NOS VHS every year.
I just purchased a 2026 film on VHS that came with a DVD also, that I’ll never use.

IMHO, you're unfortunately confusing studio analog with home audio analog.
Studios using tape, are pulling at up to 30 inches per second. Magnetic tape grain being what it is, every time you double tape speed, it raises the background noise one octave. By the time you reach 15 ips, in most cases, depending on the particular formulation, The noise floor is already above the range of human hearing..

It's pretty much a given, that at 30 ips, tape hiss is, for all intents and purposes, gone completely. Also, keep in mind that the distance between notes expands proportionately with tape speed, yielding more accuracy as well.

So, in the studio, given the conditions I've outlined, there probably is parity between analog and digital recording, However, there's an enormous downside to the cost:

From Google: "The exact cost depends primarily on the formula and brand you choose for a standard 10.5" precision metal reel holding 2,500 feet of tape (which gives you about 32 minutes of recording time at 15 ips)".

The reels average about $375.00 each. Don't forget to cut that recording time in half, should you decide to pull it at 30 ips..!

Now, anyone buying vinyl these day is (IMHO), delusional.

(PLEASE BE AWARE, I'M ONLY REFERRING TO THAT SINGLE ASPECT OF THEIR BEHAVIOR, NOTHING MORE.)

Most often you'll hear the use of it is based on ceremony, and sentimentality, and a longing for the days of yesteryear.

From my POV, I have two CD changers, one 50 CDs, the other 300 CDs. Which means I pretty much can push a single button to hear hours, if not days of music, without lifting a finger.

If and when those two fail, I'll run WAV rips out USB to a DAC and into my system that way.`

I really don't have the super human hearing that most audiophiles credit themselves with. So, in the case of my apparently hearing impaired self, CD will have to do.

None of that matters when you consider that most of what you hear, is what the band and particularly the sound engineer want you to hear, along with what your loudspeakers allow you to hear. The media being used, has a lot less to do with it.,

Now, I still light candles, run flame mimicking LED lamps, along with Lava lamps to "set the mood". But. I'll be damned if I'm going to start screwing around with vinyl records again. I gave that up, going on 40 years ago. Much less being ready or willing, to re-buy the few hundred LPs I already have ,to replace the CDs I've bought to replace said LPs.

I bear no ill will towards those who take comfort in returning to vinyl for ant reason whatsoever.

However, should I feel a sincere longing for the past, I'll search the plethora of "erotic art" websites, for young ladies that look like someone I may have nailed in the past, and leave it at that.

Cheers..!