KVR Audio

Compyfox · Post by **Compyfox** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 1:43 pm

I'm actually surprised that people still insist on MP3 as being the defacto "end of the line".

I thought Fraunhofer is pushing AAC, especially since iTunes. And with the introduction of HD AAC a couple of years back (lossless AAC, backwards compatible) - I thought this kind of revolutionized the market. Apparently not.

Then again - CDs will probably never die. Why? Old people! They want stuff on home players. Not some portable device.

I actually see only two ways for the future:
HD AAC (as MP3 successor) for portable devices
BluRay Audio (as DVD-A and SACD successor) for home devices

Why?
Pretty much everyone has an i-Device or Android device these days, so HD AAC is a logical step. Most of these players are capable of WAV/MP3/AAC. Though sadly not FLAC/MonkeyAudio or OGG.

Same with BluRay as audio player. It has CD, sometimes SACD, and since it can play back BluRay - why not use this as HD audio format?

Not touching Loudness Wars here. Totally different topic and actually with BD-Audio releases not really possible, else the CODECs would barf.

osiris · Post by **osiris** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 1:45 pm

Haha. I put all my LP's on CD, then after they were 10 years old, cleaned them up and put them on new CD's. Cause CD's can deteriorate (I'm looking at you Memorex)
I also have a $40 DJ only Direct Hit CD that no longer plays and has a really good remix of Ray Of Light on it. That makes me angry.

osiris · Post by **osiris** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 1:46 pm

beltrom · Post by **beltrom** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 2:00 pm

osiris wrote:

Haven't seen one of those since I studied electronics. We had one that we made some testing on for learning purposes. We had a Philips Video 2000 as well (and a Philips VCR (yes - the system) that was old even then) so they really had the wrong stuff at that place. Well, at least I got to build mixers and other music gadgets...

robogone · Post by **robogone** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 2:02 pm

osiris wrote:I also have a $40 DJ only Direct Hit CD that no longer plays and has a really good remix of Ray Of Light on it. That makes me angry.

Have you considered seeing if you can find someone with a commercial CD/DVD polisher? Those things buff out all kinds of imperfections in CDs that get them working again.

Might be worth a shot if you can find someone.

Zombie Queen · Post by **Zombie Queen** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 2:07 pm

I didn't even quit buying LPs...

Compyfox · Post by **Compyfox** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 2:23 pm

I think CD will only get in trouble, if the media format changes.

LD's were too large and the storage (about the same than VCD) wasn't that great. VCD quickly took over, and DVD ultimately won for that particular format (12cm CDs, fairly sturdy compared to the LP sized LaserDisks which were rigit and could break easily).

Since CD (redbook) and DVD had the same size, it was only logical to create hybrid drives. BD uses the same disk format as well (12cm diameter), so... there you go.

I think the joke in "Men in Black" (1997) about "Guess I'll have to buy the ''White Album'' again." clearly applies here. And unless there is a new format in terms of disk size (from 12cm maybe down to 8cm, but with the same storage capabilities), there is no need of fear that the CD might die out.

It can only evolve from this point onward.

DJ Warmonger · Post by **DJ Warmonger** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 2:52 pm

CDs are relic of XX century and obsolete analog medium contrained by physical form of plastic disk. Free yourself from bounds of circular trap and digitize your archives so they could live forever in a cloud with thousands of other of their kind!

Robmobius · Post by **Robmobius** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 3:08 pm

I went all digital... I don't miss them one bit.

Compyfox · Post by **Compyfox** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 3:28 pm

DJ Warmonger wrote:CDs are relic of XX century and obsolete analog medium contrained by physical form of plastic disk. Free yourself from bounds of circular trap and digitize your archives so they could live forever in a cloud with thousands of other of their kind!

Er...

CDs store data digitally. Clouds store data digitally.
Play both of them back, and they are converted from digital to analog with a DAC (audio card) and speakers.

So... wouldn't say it's a relic. And we're digital since the 90ies now...

macmurphy · Post by **macmurphy** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 3:34 pm

Zombie Queen wrote:I didn't even quit buying LPs...

same here. if i can get something on vinyl i will, if not i'll settle for the cd.

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 3:44 pm

Robmobius wrote:I went all digital... I don't miss them one bit.

I don't miss them 16 bits.

macmurphy · Post by **macmurphy** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 3:48 pm

cryophonik wrote:
Robmobius wrote:I went all digital... I don't miss them one bit.
I don't miss them 16 bits.

Robmobius · Post by **Robmobius** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 3:52 pm

cryophonik wrote:
Robmobius wrote:I went all digital... I don't miss them one bit.
I don't miss them 16 bits.

Tee hee!

elxsound · Post by **elxsound** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 4:05 pm

George wrote:CD will be dead as soon as major online stores (iTunes and Amazon) start selling lossless formats like ALAC or FLAC.

In the meanwhile it still looks like a good, high-quality media, so it may be too soon to quit buying them, specially when they can come cheaper than MP3 albums when purchased second hand.

Was about to add the same...

I think that's the only thing driving the CD market now and that's that many people still don't want to settle for lossy formats. I would stop buying CD's if lossless formats were available to purchase as downloads (DRM free of course).

Should I quit buying cd's?