Would you give up digital and go back to vinyl music?

Riff Raff said:

I think the only real way to wear our cds is repetitively playing the same songs for hours on end, thats why I dont use my physical copies of the albums often. I do tend to listen to some songs religiously. ( no shame in doing so )

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I can't say I've ever heard of a CD being worn out from play. I'm not sure how it would be possible. I know mis-handling can cause damage to the plastic surface, making it hard or impossible for the laser to read, but "wear" as we knew it in the LP era, from simply the tracking of the laser? I don't know how it can happen. How much repeated play are doing in order for this to take place? I'd like to try some experiments of my own.

^^You are spot on Craig, that is exactly why Reel to Reels were the standard for decades, and still are in use today.

I have to say Cassettes before they were exterminated by CD's/Downloads had come a long way since the beginning. An old friend in grade 10 tried to convince me they were as good as vinyl LP's, but I could tell right away that was rubbish. Until they improved the tape itself and the mechanical aspects especially the heads they were only good for mobile music for your car and then blasters later.

It's sad to think we have lost almost all the neat stuff we grew up with now, old analog equipment took a little more effort to use but was a heck of a lot more fun than point and click which seems to be the future of everything now.

Craig in Indy said:

I can't say I've ever heard of a CD being worn out from play. I'm not sure how it would be possible. I know mis-handling can cause damage to the plastic surface, making it hard or impossible for the laser to read, but "wear" as we knew it in the LP era, from simply the tracking of the laser? I don't know how it can happen. How much repeated play are doing in order for this to take place? I'd like to try some experiments of my own.

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It can happen, happened when I have overused a cd, when I repeatedly played particular songs it eventually stopped working. I cant say specifically how many but I know for a fact it did cause some of my cds to stop working. I dont have a clue how it occurs lol but I do know it has happened to me.

Lord Grendel said:

I have to say Cassettes before they were exterminated by CD's/Downloads had come a long way since the beginning. An old friend in grade 10 tried to convince me they were as good as vinyl LP's, but I could tell right away that was rubbish. Until they improved the tape itself and the mechanical aspects especially the heads they were only good for mobile music for your car and then blasters later.

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They really did come a long way from their early days, when they were originally intended as simple voice recorders for dictation purposes. You're right about mechanical improvements (both in the machine and the cassette) and better tape formulations being driving forces in their development. But just as big, if not bigger, was noise reduction technology, specifically, but not exclusively, from Dolby Labs.

Hope Dolby's lawyers don't come after me for using the name without the requisite "trademark" stamp.

I have never "worn out" a CD, but after they were invented we were told they would last forever...which is not the case. According to studies compact discs in regular use have a shelf life of approximately 50 years before oxidation does it's usual work. Gold compact discs last longer, over 100 years theoretically. A vinyl album if you never play it and store it properly will last longer, which amazes me.

Guess it probably comes down to the quality of the cd player itself then. I dunno, alls I know is over time Ive had cds after a lot of use eventually stopped working. For whatever reason the older cds I had never had as much lastability as my recent set.

No it's not the laser Riff, it's more likely the wear and tear of handling and regular use, eventually if you scratch the protective surface especially the little code at the beginning of a CD that lists the TOC then your CD is a officially a coaster.

I handle my cds with good care though. Always leave them in covers when not used. I generally dont scratch them.
As I said I dunno.
Thats why I hate having cds ( original copies) in cd folders too.
If you also mean the taking of cds out of the player then yeah that could well be why.
Learned the hard lesson too about not lending cds out to people, they never take good care of them.

if I'm a band puttin out records, hellyeah!

taha said:

LG better get a FRKN big ars Tera Hard Drive !

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Got this one almost full now Taha.



And I have a 1 TB Seagate ready to go as well, although I might just get another WD green drive, they run cooler last longer and are good for storing data.