Posted on 03/09/2009 10:08:13 AM PDT by ShadowAce
Compact discs weren't always impromptu drink coasters. Once, in the not-so-distant past, they played music, contained pictures, and let people play video games with tacked-on FMV sequences. And today, the venerable CD turned 30.
Happy birthday! 1979-2009.Thirty years. Pretty amazing that it's been that long since those crazy Dutchmen at Philips spun the technology off of laser discs as part of an optical digital audio disc demo in Eindhoven.
Of course, the CD didn't immediately take off right then and there. It needed a little help from Sony, which worked with Philips to get the format standardized. The standard they named Red Book, which included everything from playing time (initially 60 minutes), to the disc diameter to sampling frequency. Put simply, the collaboration worked out, and Red Book was a success. In the book The Compact Disc Story, Philips reps lauded the task force they established with Sony. The CD that team created was "invented collectively by a large group of people working as a team," Philips said. If only Apple and Microsoft could say the same, no? Oh, the things they could build.
Gushing and my bloviating aside, it wouldn't be until October 1, 1982 that Billy Joel's 52nd Street became the first CD album released. It was conveniently released in Japan alongside Sony's brand new CDP-101 Compact Disc player. The album (and more importantly the medium it was pressed upon) changed history, as more compact disc players were introduced into the market beginning in 1983. The music CD would reach its zenith with The Beatles "1" (30 million in sales), before beginning its eventual and inevitable fall to the Mp3 in the mid-2000's (in 2008, for example, CD sales dropped 20%).
Related to that point on Mp3s is copy protection. Or, to be more accurate, the CD's complete and utter lack of copy protection of any kind.
When the Red Book was finalized, the standard made nary a mention of copy protection. Other than an anti-copy clause in the subcode, there was nothing. In fact, if a company tried to market a copy-protected CD (no ripping, copying, etc), as many did in 2002, Philips said the discs would not bear the official Compact Disc Digital Audio logo. It's great that Philips did this, because as is the case with many "protected" forms of media today, these non-standardized CDs were anti-consumer; they often did not work in a variety of CD-ROM drives or standalone players. And yet Lars Ulrich was silent. Baffling, but true, and definitely an interesting parallel to today's debate about digital rights management and piracy.
As was noted by Blam today in an email to me about this anniversary, Red Book's active attempts to keep copy protection from the spec was incredibly forward thinking at the time. You definitely didn't see it in the infamous anti-consumer Extended Copy Protection (XCP) debacle at Sony Music BMG. Remember that ol' chestnut? Ironic that the creator of the original standard would be somehow involved in one of the most egregious CD-related abuses of consumer trust, no?
But back on point. The CD is 30. It changed tech and gadgetry pretty substantially. Even as it enters the twilight of its existence, we geeks have a lot to be thankful for, and there's still plenty to learn from that copy of What's the Story Morning Glory you have under your coffee mug right now. [Wikipedia]
Thanks for the info. I aree that a motor problem is more than likely. But, a new turntable is not in the cards. Perhaps it's time for some delicate mechanical surgery.
p.s. I hate it when “agree” comes out as “aree”. :-)
Thanks for the (auction / estate sales) tips, guys.
Yeah... I saw that a while back. It just didn’t seem to meet my needs. ;-)
“Perhaps it’s time for some delicate mechanical surgery.”
Slow down. Your problem is more than likely not mechanical, but rather electrical (i.e., servo, bad capacitor, etc..).....C
*I should have expected there to be an avid CD-hater out there.
Please share your wisdom. Expound on all the “lies about CDs”. I’d love to read about how horrible they are, especially in comparison to what they replaced: Reel-to-reel, Vinyl, Cassette and 8-Track tape. *
Don’t forget the wax cylinder...or the 78s which broke if you dropped them.
CDs never were able to live up to the hype but each format that preceded them was just worse. It’s nice that there are some who are content to listen to vinyl still in this day and age, but let’s be serious, just like audiotape, you are slowly eroding the media every time you listen to it—no matter how well you take care of it. Does that make any sense?
And yes, in the future everything will be digital, lossless and totally portable. [by the way, I’d like someone to compare the actual weight of 4TB of Flac audio versus the equivalent of vinyl] Some people will still complain about the loss of their precious album cover art, how the sound isn’t as warm, etc, but people probably complained when the buggy whip was replaced, too.
That is entirely possible. I'll check out what I can with the equipment available. It's been many years since taking courses in how electrical stuff works... and the old oscilloscope and other devices are long gone.
In my experience, they absolutely lived up to it.
The only possible exception is in regard to scratches, skips, etc. Early Sony players were able to deal with scratches just fabulously, but later, cheaper models not so much. I suspect that the error-correction circuitry is relatively expensive, and so was dropped or scaled down for consumer-priced models.
Still, they handle scratches far better than vinyl, and the hot interior of a car far better than cassettes. Also, a CD can be resurfaced for a couple of bucks and returned to like-new condition. How about the scratched LP's?
I think CD's are and were everything I'd ever heard of or hoped they would be. But maybe that's just me. ;-)
They were hyped as being the end-all of recorded sound. While modern music production methods might be mostly to blame, certainly, they are not and have been surpassed by SACD & DVD-A.
I still hear the same argument about CDs vs vinyl.
All you have to do to make a CD sound like vinyl is add some scratch and pop to the mix, then reduce the dynamic range by about 20 dB.
I’m not a “CD-hater”. I just am not all enamored of them as everyone was just because “it’s the latest”, as they are now obsessed with every gadget available on what was supposed to be just a phone. It adds no real value.
So maybe “lies” was strong, but as in the case of “unbreakable” and unshakable, it’s hogwash.
CDs:
-DO scratch, and scratch readily. Especially since it’s not convenient to put them back in those horrid cases (see comment).
-have to be handled gingerly. Thumb in hole, fingers on sides - and don’t just plop it down. And watch those fingers - they will be sliced sometime.
-are NOT easily used in cars - you can’t take them out of any cases easily, without scratching it or slicing your finger. You cannot simply toss them aside while driving and expect them to stay intact, as it were, after years of usage (probably not months, either). You have to fit them in a tiny slot while driving.
-”jewel” cases - ggrrrr. Too narrow to read the end. From a brand-new wrapper to the CD inside the case, things are about impossible to get off and out. What is with those stupid box-width sticker-clamps impossible to remove when purchased? Most of the time sticker pieces are still there when you finally rip open the case. And it’s not fun trying to pop out the CD while grabbing it “properly”. Sometimes it’s damned pain, others don’t work well at all and fall out. Again - try this while driving.
-electronics necessary to “keep it from” skipping (really, just memory playback) on the road and when walking; not a “problem” but it adds to cost of machine - and doesn’t work in really rocky rides.
The bit of sound quality you get out of it (mostly in the treble range, ending up somewhat tinny as it ignores the bass) isn’t really worth the trouble, not to mention price.
If I remember more I’ll let you know. These are off the top of my head.
“you are slowly eroding the media every time you listen to it—no matter how well you take care of it.”
And you are INSTANTLY destroying it when you -oops- scratch that delicate surface. Just like the phonograph. Everything old is new again.
At least cassettes can take a tossing to the side easily and don’t have to be carefully placed back in their precious holders.
Yes, they do scratch. Better players can correct for a degree of scratching without audible errors. They can also be resurfaced for a couple of bucks to make them like new again.
-are NOT easily used in cars - you can’t take them out of any cases easily, without scratching it or slicing your finger. You cannot simply toss them aside while driving and expect them to stay intact, as it were, after years of usage (probably not months, either). You have to fit them in a tiny slot while driving.
This depends on the driver/operator. I don't have any problem getting CDs out of their jewel boxes while driving, and I can hit the loading slot every time. :-)
-”jewel” cases - ggrrrr. Too narrow to read the end. From a brand-new wrapper to the CD inside the case, things are about impossible to get off and out. What is with those stupid box-width sticker-clamps impossible to remove when purchased? Most of the time sticker pieces are still there when you finally rip open the case. And it’s not fun trying to pop out the CD while grabbing it “properly”. Sometimes it’s damned pain, others don’t work well at all and fall out. Again - try this while driving.
The stickers can be a pain, but it's nothing to do with CD technology. It's theft-deterrent packaging, courtesy of our noble media giants. Videos and many other products are just as annoying to work with.
I prefer keeping the CDs in my car in some other kind of organizer rather than the jewel boxes, most of the time.
-electronics necessary to “keep it from” skipping (really, just memory playback) on the road and when walking; not a “problem” but it adds to cost of machine - and doesn’t work in really rocky rides.
I don't see this as a problem, personally. I've been quite impressed with the rough ride some CD players can take without skipping. Again, it depends.
The bit of sound quality you get out of it (mostly in the treble range, ending up somewhat tinny as it ignores the bass) isn’t really worth the trouble, not to mention price.
I have to disagree with you here. The sound quality is as good as it gets. There are newer, surround-sound DVD-A goodies and so forth, but a CD can still reproduce everything the human ear can hear, bass and treble. The improvement over previous recording technologies was revolutionary, not just a "bit".
No, they aren't bullet-proof, but I don't feel like CDs were over-sold either.
For most people and for general use, CDs are pretty good. They will never, and can never, exceed what a high-end turntable would offer in terms of sheer sound quality, but that is a narrow interest segment. It is like comparing McDonalds to Ruth's Chris, or a Chevy Cobalt to a Mercedes 500SL.
From a practical use standpoint, my biggest "nit" is not their audio use, but their use as a file medium for computer systems. Here, there is no forgiveness, and an "approximation" over a scratch does you no good. That's where your own nit about the jewel cases, the delicate handling, and the associated space comes into play.
*And you are INSTANTLY destroying it when you -oops- scratch that delicate surface. Just like the phonograph. Everything old is new again.*
Yes, this is why you might as well rip all your media to a lossless format on a 4TB server with automatic backup options.
Followed closely by Dark Side of the Moon
Dark Side of the Moon reminds me of one way the vinyl was better, the album covers. The impact of that famous cover is really lost on a CD sized box.
The original cover had no writing whatsoever, no album name, no group name, nothing. The CD I purchased (many years ago) had what looked like a sticky label telling you it was "Pink Floyd ~ Dark Side of The Moon." Sadly it was not a label but printed on the artwork, further spoiling the effect.
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