CD Got Absolutely Crushed By Vinyl

@sleepwalker65,

I know you have not caught up to digital streaming so I will spare you the tech talk. Your shortsightedness and ignorance is clearly evident when you say, 

“digital has a long way to go before it can fully integrate into traditional systems with both a recording (archiving) and playback (streaming) function in one product that can stand alone or optionally interface to a PC”. 

BTW, you no longer need to rely on run of the mill consumer laptop or PC to enjoy state of the art digital streaming. You can look into Aurender, Innunos, Lumin, and Antipodes brands to start your journey into the world of digital streaming....until you do you would never know or understand how far digital streaming has come.

@sleepwalker65,

Just like your vinyl which requires a external phono stage.....Digital streaming needs a streamer device and a DAC. You can go with one box solutions from NADAC or Bricasti that can stream and provide internal DA Conversion. And yes, you can create your own ‘playlist’ with each track. No need to run up a USB cable here....all you need is Ethernet cable from you router and analog RCA or XLR to your pre or integrated. One box typically don’t have internal storage so you would need a external NAS to store your ripped files.

Or you can buy Aurender N100C which comes with internal 2-4TB storage and an outboard DAC.

Plenty of choices for a great digital setup that can be just as satisfying as your vinyl setup as long as you’re willing to explore and keep an open mind.

“A CD player can be had for as little as $100 if your standards aren’t too high. A $500 CD player really doesn’t have much better sound quality, and neither does a $1500 or $3000 CD Player. All you get for that exorbitant price is a little better build quality. As others said, digital is only an imitation, analog is the real and lasting thing“

The OP has preconceived notions about digital playback....nothing we say or suggest otherwise would change his opinion. 
 

@ckakster,

Digital files (low resolution) that are available for free are indeed crap. As you pointed out that people who buys vinyl are more selective in their choices because records are not cheap. To exploit full potential of digital streaming, one must invest in decent streamer/DAC components along with Hi-Fi subscription from Tidal.

I bet you anything, most folks who are quick to diss digital over Vinyl have not heard a good digital setup nor have any inclination to explore the potential. For them, the clicks and pops are the only way to enjoy the music 😉

“It would be great if we could get past the "my format rules, yours sucks" dynamic on these forums one day.”

+1, @tomcy6. 

“CD is a dead media format”. 

CD is far from dead....if we are talking about mainstream then CD, Vinyl, Tape all are pretty much dead formats. As @fleschler pointed out there are many releases of great recordings are being put out on CD’s. One reliable source of remastered great sounding CD’s is Elusive Disc, they got very nice collection of rare jazz and classical recordings. 

Anyone who thinks CD is CD, check out Dexter Gordon’s - A Singin’ Affair XRCD.