The compact disc’s last stand

True / Slant ^ | 22 March 2010 | Michele Catalano

[shorty_harris]

Mine was “Happy Birthday, Charlie Brown!”, bought around 1990. I still have it.

[Pontiac]

My point is simply that the more that music becomes just “magnetic ones and zeros” the less stable it is.

Stability can be produced in a number of ways.

One way that lends itself to a digital medium is multiple backup copies.

With digital storage mediums it is relatively cheap and easy to back up your information (music) in a multiple of different devices and mediums.

With vinyl it is not cheap or easy. But there is hope. Last year I read about some engineers that had invented a machine that used a laser to read vinyl records and converted the recording to digital files.

I would think that the device might be commercially available in a few years.

[Still Thinking]

I like the convenience of MP3s but understand that compressing the files means some loss of sound quality, which may be only theoretical or what dogs can hear.

If you're ripping the songs yourself from a lossless format to MP3, the program will usually let you trade off between compression and quality. I suggest you make copies of the same song at numerous decreasing levels of quality and listen to them till you find the point at which you can just begin to hear the loss of quality, then just rip a level or two better than that. Everyone's ears are different.

[6ppc]

The more I look at this I think I want to use a format that I can use on a smart phone as well as at home. Looks like the best alternative to the iPhone is Droid. Do you know if it supports OGG and/or FLAC?

[Mama Shawna]

You got that right. Some friends of ours own Quimper Sound, one of the last privately owned record stores in Wa. State (in Port Townsend) and they are doing a booming business in vinyl. Just recently bought a 50k+ record collection from a guy who had over 100k albums (owned a bunch of record stores back in the day). They are slowly growing through them, and have found some real gems, such as Hearts Dreamboat Annie signed by all 5 members of the band! They have them all stored in their garage, and take them to the store as they go through them. I suspect they’re keeping their favorites!

[shorty_harris]

I don’t have first hand experience with Droid, but a quick search on the Motorola web site shows that it does support OGG. I don’t see FLAC listed anywhere, but I personally wouldn’t use FLAC on my smartphone because of the large file size.

[6ppc]

One more question...if I store my master copies in FLAC so it’s lossless, I assume there is software available to convert FLAC to OGG, MP3, etc?

[ßuddaßudd]

heh lol ,,, he said Butthole Surfers

[TChris]

CDs will be around until another permanent, physical medium comes along to replace them. If flash memory gets to be cheap enough and permanent enough, it might get there.

CDs are still necessary because none of the e-formats are permanent.

[shorty_harris]

One more question...if I store my master copies in FLAC so it’s lossless, I assume there is software available to convert FLAC to OGG, MP3,

I believe so (I haven't actually tried it). When I rip a cd, I make both FLAC and OGG files at the same time.

[Perdogg]

I knew a young lady in the office who took all of her CDs and downloaded them onto her computer then to her ipod, then trashed her Cds. I guess the RIAA lawyers will track her down and sue her.

[dmz]

So, when the next solar super-storm hits (google 1859 Carrington event) or we get hit by an EMP. Music (along with many other things) effectively dies. Except those of us with vinyl.

<><><><><

Hope your stereo has no solid state components, or your vinyl will be pretty worthless as well. Of course, a megaphone attached to a sewing needle would suffice, once you figure a means to get your vinyl spinning at 33 and a third.

I, however, will still have my 6 string acoustic geetar to make music with.

[NonValueAdded]

Here's my understanding of the CD dilemma. First, a CD is a sandwich with an aluminum layer that receives the encoding. If the edge seal is poor as could be expected with a cheap product, there can be oxidation and with that data is destroyed.

Next, while everyone worries about the clear underside getting scratched, little concern is given to the top of the CD and the substrate is just underneath. Write on it with a sharp instrument and you are adding "data" to the CD. Ditto for the type of ink, say from a permanent marker, that could penetrate. That is why the use of clearly designated CD marking pens is essential.

Physical labeling is the final concern I have for you. The adhesive can warp the underlying substrate and heaven forbid you aren't happy with the alignment and peel up the label to reposition same.

Didn't want to add to your woes and if you are using CD's as a cheap backup with next week's CD replacing last week's, little problem ... as long as you heed the labeling advice. But if you are counting on Sam's Club cheaper by the spindle CD's for permanent archival storage, remember the old adage, "you get what you pay [or vote] for." Over time, they WILL degrade. The trick is to re-master them before that happens.

[6ppc]

Makes sense. Disk space is cheap so no big deal.

[dmz]

...if I store my master copies in FLAC so it’s lossless, I assume there is software available to convert FLAC to OGG, MP3, etc?

<><><><><

Trader’s Little Helper. Don’t think it does OGG, but it does both flacs and shns in both directions (encoding and decoding).

And it’s free.

[Major Matt Mason]

OK everyone, what was the first couple of disks you bought?

1. Richard Thompson, "Across a Crowded Room", 2. The Jam - Snap! (Greatest Hits). I bought them in '85, at New World Record in Williamsville, NY before I even had a CD player. New World Record saw the handwriting on the wall and closed their store a year or so ago. Too bad, I bought a lot of good music there.

[discostu]

I bought The Wall with my CD player and Dark Side the next day.

[discostu]

Mini discs cost too much, and at their size were just way too shopliftable. Products that give both buyers and sellers a reason to not like them tend to fail.

[norge]

They were not compatible with CD players, and you had to buy MD equipment to record and play back.

They hold the same amount as a CD, but the disc is much smaller, and it is in a plastic case.

If MD’s had gone commercial, I’m sure they would have been protected from editing. However, for a compilation of your own music, they are fabulous. I’ve transferred hundreds of cuts to a CD, my favorite single cuts. But once encoded, that’s it. With an MD, you get tired of a song, you can delete it, and put it back in later, if you want. And you can move cuts whenever and whenever you wish.

But again, the drawback is lack of a universal player.

[Yardstick]

machine that used a laser to read vinyl records and converted the recording to digital files.

Now that's pretty cool.

BTW, does anyone know what the half-life of a vinyl record is? I think they're made of PVC vinyl which is pretty stable stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if PVC is basically 'forever'. Which raises the question of what CDs are made of. The material had to be clear for the laser, which meant they couldn't be PVC. I wonder what kind of plastic it is and what its lifespan is.