# Are CD's dead, yet? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 9, 2017, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860 "2017-07-09T18:43:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/41 "2017-07-10T13:13:45Z")
I’ve bought a few CDs in the last year or two but mainly because it was “value-added”. Amazon was selling the CD with MP3 download for the same price as just the digital version so why not. My 2015 model car has a USB port that I keep a flash drive in and Bluetooth for streaming from my phone. It also has a CD player. I’d assume CDs will kick around for a while if only for the older population who doesn’t understand or trust the idea of non-physical media and “the cloud”. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/42 "2017-07-10T13:49:05Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Car also plays USB or some kinda cards which I had never heard of before. I’ll learn about using those when I have to. I suspect that will occur when I get a new computer. My old iMac is getting creakier and creakier, and I imagine when I go to replace it, I’ll find my choices limited should I require a CD drive. I just bought a new laptop. Most of them don’t have CD drives anymore. I bought a new version of Quickbooks earlier this year and it I had to buy an external DVD player to install it. Luckily they’re pretty cheap. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/43 "2017-07-10T13:54:42Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > In some ways I envy people who can hear a difference between MP3 and anything else, but on the other hand I rather like the fact I can’t, since it’s one less thing for me to worry about when sourcing music. the easiest way to tell (if you can still hear that high) is MP3 by default low-pass filters the audio it’s compressing at 16 kHz. so depending on the type of music, you can identify lossy vs. uncompressed/lossless by a tiny bit more high end. apart from that, in the past there have been some corner cases which caused problems for mp3 encoders; there was a test file years ago of castanets which could reliably cause a “pre-echo” when the existing mp3 codecs tried to compress it. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/44 "2017-07-10T14:03:59Z")
Not dead yet, but close it and it kinda pisses me off. Call me a Luddite, but my brand-new car only has bluetooth and AUX ports for music and I hate it. This means that if I want to listen to something specific, I need to have it loaded on to my phone (most of my music I don’t) and, and this is the most important part, my phone is charged enough for me to play the music. Call me lazy, but If I’m in the mood for something, I don’t want to bring up my phone, open the music app, find the song/artist, and bluetooth it to the car. I just want to pop the cd in and call it a day. I listen to the radio (Granted it’s XM, but still…) 99% of the time because it’s just too much damn work for me to call up specific music. Even using my “OK Google” prompts is too much. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/45 "2017-07-10T14:14:04Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Not dead yet, but close it and it kinda pisses me off. > > Call me a Luddite, but my brand-new car only has bluetooth and AUX ports for music and I hate it. This means that if I want to listen to something specific, I need to have it loaded on to my phone (most of my music I don’t) and, and this is the most important part, my phone is charged enough for me to play the music. Call me lazy, but If I’m in the mood for something, I don’t want to bring up my phone, open the music app, find the song/artist, and bluetooth it to the car. I just want to pop the cd in and call it a day. > > I listen to the radio (Granted it’s XM, but still…) 99% of the time because it’s just too much damn work for me to call up specific music. Even using my “OK Google” prompts is too much. but shuffling through CDs (assuming you have the one you want to listen to with you) isn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/46 "2017-07-10T14:19:24Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Yeah but that is a fad. There was a time 40 years ago when vinyl was the best technology available, but now it isn’t. > > Supposedly 3.2 million vinyl records were sold last year, an increase of 53% vs 2015. > > [Record sales: vinyl hits 25-year high | Vinyl | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jan/03/record-sales-vinyl-hits-25-year-high-and-outstrips-streaming) > > By comparison, 251 billion songs were streamed in 2016. This is a big difference even when you lower the 251 billion by at least an order of magnitude because once you purchase a song you can play it as much as you want, and then a little more to take into account the fact that vinyl is more lucrative per song purchased than other media. But I was responding to the question of “when will they stop producing physical media?” In that context, 3.2 million and growing is hardly “dead”. In fact, I don’t think it can be called a “fad” any longer since it’s been going on for at least 5 years. Lots of folks said that 3-D was a “fad” 10 years ago but I can’t think of a major motion picture I’ve seen in the last 5 years that didn’t have a 3-D option. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/47 "2017-07-10T14:45:16Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > But I was responding to the question of “when will they stop producing physical media?” In that context, 3.2 million and growing is hardly “dead”. In fact, I don’t think it can be called a “fad” any longer since it’s been going on for at least 5 years. a small niche growing slightly can misleadingly look big. Just ask Disco Stu. > [@](#): > > Lots of folks said that 3-D was a “fad” 10 years ago but I can’t think of a major motion picture I’ve seen in the last 5 years that didn’t have a 3-D option. Which is why 3D TVs have been such a runaway success. oh, wait… ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/48 "2017-07-10T15:00:11Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > But I was responding to the question of “when will they stop producing physical media?” In that context, 3.2 million and growing is hardly “dead”. In fact, I don’t think it can be called a “fad” any longer since it’s been going on for at least 5 years. Lots of folks said that 3-D was a “fad” 10 years ago but I can’t think of a major motion picture I’ve seen in the last 5 years that didn’t have a 3-D option. I believe you but I am very surprised to hear this. You mean in the theater or Blu-Ray. I don’t think that anything that I have watched has a 3D option but then I tend to watch dramas. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/49 "2017-07-10T15:03:55Z")
I’m surprised new cars aren’t coming with USB ports. Not only for flash drives but for phone charging. I know that some are, maybe even most, but a couple people are saying they don’t have one. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/50 "2017-07-10T15:10:18Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I’m surprised new cars aren’t coming with USB ports. Not only for flash drives but for phone charging. > > I know that some are, maybe even most, but a couple people are saying they don’t have one. on a brand-new car you usually have to get the bottom-rung, no options base model to get one without at least one USB port. but they do exist. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/51 "2017-07-10T15:16:30Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > but shuffling through CDs (assuming you have the one you want to listen to with you) isn’t? I guess there just aren’t that many times I need to have a specific song play when I’m driving, such that 10 or so CDs in the center armrest, or 30 or so in a vinyl case don’t provide sufficient options. When the CD player in my old car broke, I started using my dtr’s archaic iPod mini, which seemed a decent option, tho I even tired of having to recharge it. I (and at least a few others) simply do not relish learning and maintaining a new technology, when an old tech is entirely sufficient for my needs/wants. I like my cellphone for phone calls, texts, and a quite rare internet search. I have a whopping 1 app, for taking notes. Other than that, I get by fine driving with paper maps, reading on paper, listening to CDs, and waiting to do my on-line work until I’m near a “computer” at home or work. I have no need or desire to load my music on my cellphone, or use it differently than I am. At some point it will become intolerably cumbersome to keep on as I’m doing. At that point, I’ll decide whether I wish to continue doing what I have been doing. If so, I’ll have to do enough to become minimally competent in whatever new tech. Right now, my phone is probably 6 yrs old, and my desktop computer about the same. I regularly encounter instances where my OS does not work well - for example, this site really drags. When that happens, my realization is that I don’t really miss going to a particular site, or using a particular function. It certainly isn’t worth expense and effort trying to figure out how to accommodate it. And, for example, my phone does not reliably sync up with my new car. Which is fine. Anyone who wants to call me while I’m driving can leave a message. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/52 "2017-07-10T15:38:24Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > There is still a market for CDs, particularly for classical music and compilations. They might not the best medium for buying the latest hit, but I think the format will continue. I challenge the notion that classical music CD’s have a market. I was just given a huge classical music library (over 1000 CD’s) and i couldn’t give the damn things away. Even my local Goodwill did not want them. My BIL now has a large target supply for his weekend shooting trips. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/53 "2017-07-10T15:44:22Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > but shuffling through CDs (assuming you have the one you want to listen to with you) isn’t? No, and that’s only because I don’t have more than, maybe, 20 CDs. Despite replying to this thread, I’m not much of a music person. I have my handful of CDs and that’s about it. It was always easy for me to call up some music I was in the mood for because I only had to go through my single over-the-car-visor CD sleeve. And I had so few CDs I had their locations memorized, so I could find my CD in less time it took for me to go through a stoplight. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/54 "2017-07-10T16:03:43Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Despite replying to this thread, I’m not much of a music person. Curiously, you and I feel similarly, even tho I am (and have long been) somewhat of a music person. Had thousands of LPs and hundreds of watts in my college dorm room. Hooking up the stereo was the FIRST thing done upon moving. Played in college bands. Currently play live music several hours a week. But I came of age before the era of the constant personal playlist. With YouTube, I can seemingly access just about all music ever made - with countless variations/interpretations. I’m happy to do that at my computer. Never feel the lack of being able to play a particular song at a particular moment. As you say, 10 or so CDs certainly give me sufficient variety for all but the longest road trip. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/55 "2017-07-10T16:13:47Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Cute…but MP3 files really don’t sound the same as CDs. Like JPG vs BMP for images, most of the time the MP3 format is “good enough” - but I recognize certain passages in certain songs where the lossy compression of the MP3 format results in degradation as compared to the original. And as already noted, FLAC and ALAC are as high-fi as audio streamed off a CD. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/56 "2017-07-10T16:19:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > When you go to a concert by some small-time band, and want to support them and incidentally listen to them more later, what do you buy at the merch table? Yeah, you could always look them up on iTunes after you get home, but human nature being what it is, the band’s going to make a lot more sales at the venue than they will in the cold light of morning. Yes, merch tables are the only place I get CDs these days. You get to chit-chat a little with the band, and CD sales I assume are a good way to support them without a middle man taking a cut. ETA: Of course I just rip the CD to MP3 files rather than listening to the CD itself. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/57 "2017-07-10T16:21:12Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > This is a good way to play audio-books, too, where “hi fi” music quality isn’t so vital. You can jam a whole lot of “Old Time Radio” shows onto a CD in mp3 format. About 100 half-hour shows! > > As noted above, many car stereo systems have USB ports too, so you can use a memory stick. That’s another blow against CDs. But it isn’t a fatal blow, by any means. slight hijack … is there a place to get the old time radio shows? I lost tons of mine when I lost my pc… I had the whole series of bogie and bacall doing there show ::sobs:: ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/58 "2017-07-10T16:25:19Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > slight hijack … > is there a place to get the old time radio shows? I lost tons of mine when I lost my pc… I had the whole series of bogie and bacall doing there show ::sobs:: [https://archive.org/details/oldtimeradio](https://archive.org/details/oldtimeradio) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/59 "2017-07-10T17:24:17Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Yeah but that is a fad. There was a time 40 years ago when vinyl was the best technology available, but now it isn’t. > > Supposedly 3.2 million vinyl records were sold last year, an increase of 53% vs 2015. > > [Record sales: vinyl hits 25-year high | Vinyl | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jan/03/record-sales-vinyl-hits-25-year-high-and-outstrips-streaming) > > By comparison, 251 billion songs were streamed in 2016. > > [Streaming Now Officially the Number One Way We Listen to Music in America | Pitchfork](http://pitchfork.com/news/70724-streaming-now-officially-the-number-one-way-we-listen-to-music-in-america/) > > So streaming and playing digital media you own (legally and illegally) are the most common forms of music. > > For me, I haven’t bought a CD in at least 10 years. It’s such a fad that Sony, a major player in the recording business, will begin producing LPS again for the first time since 1989. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860/60 "2017-07-10T20:29:34Z")
I still buy CDs, usually from Amazon since they come with the AutoRip of the MP3s. I like having physical backups of my music and games in case I lose my account or my hard drive fails. Apparently the AutoRip is a loophole in the MPAA rules. The MPAA can set the price of MP3 downloads but they can’t charge amazon to rip your CD for you before it ships. That is why it is often cheaper to buy the CD with MP3 than just the digital download. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cds-dead-yet/790860.md?page=4)