The return of the CD?
Do not throw out your CDs. I repeat, do not…
I did. A couple of years ago. About 500 of them (most replicated in my LP collection or available to stream). The conventional thinking was streaming and the LP’s resurgence was going to consign the Perfect Sound Forever silver discs to the rubbish heap. I did try to give them away. Nobody wanted them, and, for sure, nobody wanted to buy them.
A few years later and a huge investment in research, time, energy and money in both my vinyl and streaming digital front ends, I’m seeing signs the old CD has some legs. Even with the arrival of my reference MBL N31 CD/DAC a couple of years ago, a mind bogglingly brilliant powerhouse of a digital platform with a high quality CD player onboard, my focus was on the best in streaming. As were most component manufacturers. CD players were almost a thing of the past, supplanted by SACD (yet another dead or dying format) players and transports, and those dwindling to only a few high end audio examples. Luckily, in my case, MBL’s genius designer, Jürgen Reis, combined a brilliant, standard Red Book CD player (please read my review to understand his thinking re his choices over SACD) and a sophisticated Roon module (Roon Ready, not a Roon CORE). This has been the bedrock of my digital.
Lately, I’ve added the superb and very musical Nordost Valhalla 2 Ethernet Cable (x2) to the mix (review January 2022–quality Ethernet cables are very important) and this combination has made streaming an absolute high end, tour-de-force delight. Even more important because I’ve been waiting on my much delayed, new Phasemation EA-350 Phono Amp. So, no vinyl for a while now. I’ve even had dreams of the damn thing being delivered to my front door. Obsess, much?
As such, I began to play my fairly meagre collection of CDs (many are SACD, but play on MBL’s standard CD player perfectly) to supplant my lost vinyl time. Slowly, I began to feel a stronger connection emotionally to the CD playback. Considering ‘bits is bits’, right, and heard on top gear, a bit of an impossibility. But, there it was. And continued when I compared my CD playing back at Red Book and the same file Qobuz/Roon stream (from my Roon Labs Nucleus Plus—it houses the all important CORE) on a much higher resolution, up to 24/192. Many times, the CD drew me in to the performance more.
It was then, I began looking for CDs online of repertoire not found on streaming services. Many of the works were included in what has become a treasure trove of massive CD box sets for prices around $2 a disc. Score?
Wrong!
Many companies only do one run, and when these boxes with unimaginable treasure within are OOP, they go onto EBay or Amazon for many hundreds, and, in some cases, thousands of dollars. A random search on Amazon suggests average prices of $20 for standard definition, new releases. Remember the 25 cent LP? In a few years, gone the way of the Dodo. Same for the CD. So, back to my opening sentence.
Our Jesús González-Monreal sent me this photo of his boxes. The man is always ahead of the game.
I think most carefully curated home collections going forward will be a mixture of formats. For many, this has always been the case, but beware the hype. Streaming ain’t going anywhere and LPs have nothing to prove. I think the CD resurgence will be smaller, but when you have, for instance, all the Mehta/LA/Decca recordings on 38 discs (see photo above), one of the most consistent catalogues in classical music for less than $200, grab it and the like while you can. I am, for sure.
If you wait, you may have to pay over $400 for the Montreal/Decca box, another incredibly consistent catalogue, or $1600 for the legendary Reiner/Chicago/RCA box. These are used prices.
OOP and over $400 on Amazon.
The same, but $1600!
No matter the genre, many of these boxes feature original cover art, curated information in detailed notes, and, in many cases, remastered sonics. The $2 average per disc is what we were paying for LPs five years ago.
So, box sets of your favourites are the way to go if you want back in on the cheap. Get them while you can. And, no more garage sales or dump runs.
