CD no more produced?

No. You can still get CDs on line at places like Amazon. Even brand new bands are releasing CDs.

Used CDs are the best deals in music (that you own) and are available in vast selections on eBay etc. I’ve probably purchased 50 CDs in the last 6 months and average price is around $4-5. This is for specific recording whose sound quality I have researched.

New CDs from Amazon run around $12. HD Track downloads are about $17-25 dollars and don’t sound any better to me.

I pay for low-res streaming through Amazon to research music and when I find something I like I buy a used CD off eBay and rip it into my music server (an old iMac). This way I get the best of both worlds very cheaply. I can run it all from my chair via Apple Remote and I have the hard copies for back up.

@lowrider57 , appreciate the reference to Discogs. For some reason I assumed they were vinyl only.

Also, when I said Amazon (for used) that was a misprint and I corrected it to say eBay. Not every seller on eBay includes the various codes and numbers for a Cd but most do and most show images of the case and CD itself so you can tell what you're getting.

I think the eBay advantage is that most of these sellers do not know if what they have is a good recording or not so there is no price inflation.

Now, if you're looking for rare stuff, Japanese releases etc then the prices are high.

When buying a CD from a new artist or release you don't have a lot of options.

And I know this is a dead horse that has been beaten repeatedly but most new CD releases are DR compressed/loud. But, there is no way around it if you want the CD and even if you want a hi-res download, stream or vinyl of the same album they are as likely as not to be just as compressed as the CD. The point being, it is problem across the board, not just with CDs.

@astewart8944 , my server is an old iMac. My DAC is a low end piece of Schiit (Modi 2 Uber).

When I compare the iMac with an Arcam CD 92 as transport and both run through the same DAC I can hear little or no difference.

But, when using the Arcam's DAC (before it died) or even a mid level Toshiba DVD/CD player the CD's sound a little brighter and between the Schiit and a CD played through a CD player's DAC I prefer the CD player but the difference is tiny and usually the convenience of using the iMac/DAC/ Apple Remote wins out.

I could certainly spend more on a DAC and a better server and one of these days I probably will but right now I don't feel like I'm missing anything critical and between digging the old iMac out of the basement and buying the Schiit used plus a decent USB cable I'm only out about $150.

@gawdbless  stereotypes can be dangerous. I can often be found smoking a pipe (quality tobacco blend, Holy City) and wearing slippers while listening to the Butthole Surfers or Jane's Addiction. ;-)

Someone mentioned HD Tracks as an alternative to CDs. I've purchased one album from them. I did this for two reasons: 1) There was a discount offer and 2) The album I wanted was Gary Clark Jr's first album the CD of which is overly compressed. The HD Tracks version was little less compressed and higher resolution than the CD. I don't think the resolution makes that much difference to be honest but the lower degree of compression did.

Having said that, even with the discount the album was around $17 whereas a used CD would be about $5 or $6.

As far as I am concerned HD Tracks simply isn't worth the money even for a marginally better recording.If it is a far superior recording then maybe. Plus, if you lose the file or it is damaged you're out of luck. They do not 'keep' your purchases for you the way Apple does. Backup is critical.

@tparr said:

"I was in the habit at one time of going into the streaming services such as iTunes or Spotify not to stream the music but only to discover new music, and when I came across something I liked, I'd then check the used CDs on Amazon to get the physical CD.  "

That's the only thing I use streaming for. And its a good resource. I use eBay rather than Amazon though. 

Will look into some of the other CD sources mentioned here as well.