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Here is a ton of anti-CD quotes, have fun.

Posted by Teresa on September 7, 2012 at 06:50:32

In Reply to: RE: You still have not explained what my... posted by Ozzy on September 7, 2012 at 05:54:41:

Here are a ton of anti-CD quotes I've collected, the first one is from Harry Pearson of the Absolute Sound, the second from Tom Jung of DMP Records, Mark Levinson comments are at the end, plus there are many, many more inbetween. I would say most professionals hate CD, but many don't say so in public to be politically correct. I wish everyone told the truth about how poor CD really sounds. Neil Young is very vocal about how bad CD is. I believe most audiophiles also hate CDs. CDs and MP3s are for the masses not for audiophiles.

"LPs are decisively more musical. CDs drain the soul from music. The emotional involvement disappears" Harry Pearson, The Absolute Sound

"To me DSD sounds, what I call, "ear friendly", you know the slight pain you get in the ear when listening to the harsh or glaring sound from some digital. With DSD you get none of this and can hear around the individual instruments, not just the front."
Tom Jung, DMP (Digital Music Products)

"I've now been over a year with SACD, and have experienced the following: After many years absent, I now sit again in my living room just to listen to music (!) as opposed to listening only in the car or ipod in the plane. I refuse CD's - I don't buy them - I don't play them anymore, I find the sound irritating..."
Michelten

"...I would rather listen to any HQ music than sandpaper quality CDs."
dax44

"I just tried playing a Classical CD again on my "serious" system, after quite a few years of playing only SACDs. As I had recently upgraded my system quite substantially in the meantime, I wondered (yet again) if these improvements would finally render classical music on CD to sound appropriate on a high-rez playback system...
After only a minute of listening, it showed again that, the higher the resolution of the system, the more clearly CD's weaknesses as a medium for classical music were exposed. The familiar drab colourless-ness of the tonal palette, the stiffness of expression, the choking and subjugation of dynamics, the flatness of image, the two-dimensionality of soundstage and the congested feel that all the instruments were being kneaded into a single undifferentiated Ball of Sound; it all came back: dreadful memories of my pre-SACD days...
This just is my humble personal opinion, of course. I do respect the views of those who enjoy CD's through very expensive amps and speakers."
DkB

"...after a few listening sessions with great sounding SACDs my collection of standard Redbook software sounds really horrible."
djcowboy

"RBCDs suck!"
Paul Clark

"The mystery for me is that there still exist a few companies selling really expensive CD players that can't even play SACD ... not many of them left - but they still exist. Expensive low-rez. Who would buy such a thing?"
hiredfox

"We cannot dis-invent DSD and go backwards. I have not bought a RBCD in 3 years, have no intention of ever doing so again and do not even read RBCD reviews or note their coming or passing."
Canonical

"At a very basic level I cannot understand how anyone who professes to love music and the technology which makes it possible would want to not improve on that system to make it more palatable. This is what a well produced SACD does, any one who denies that SACD is not an improvement over RBCD is either biased,has vested interests against SACD, or is unwilling to have their cosy little world altered."
wolf359

"Life is analog...digital is just samples thereof "
EdAInWestOC

"I fixed this old turntable and played some records and wow, Vinyl destroys CD in terms of sound, especially those newer over compressed CDs in the last decade. Thanks Sony for forcing CD down our throats even though it's inferior. I'm glad SACD failed and MP3 wins in the portability category because Vinyl is making a small come back."
littledeadmonkey

"I don't think which sounds better as much as which one sounds like music. CDs even played back on a really good hi-end CD player sounds like a really good computer generated algorithm. LPs while less impeccible sounding, sounds organic; human. Same with SACD. Not as "real" sounding as LPs but far superior to CDs. If you want good, prestine sound, look no further than CDs. Its quite "perfect." But if you want music, there is no subsitute for the LP follow by SACDs."
CAP

"Totally committed to DSD/SACD. In despair of PCM recordings at any sample & bit rate so don't even play them any more... Horrid!"
hiredfox

"My definition of a pro-CD troll is anyone who reports that the CD format is as good as hi-res formats according to his own hearing while simultaneously questioning or denying reports from others to the contrary. (In the extreme case, such people require a DBT to prove that SACD is superior to RBCD and use the Boston Audio Society paper as evidence that it is not.) These people use a variety of arguments to discredit reports and statements that hi-res is superior to RBCD, including personal attacks such as, "Since you don't have the latest state-of-the-art CD playback your reports that hi-res sounds better are not credible."
Tony Lauck

"Compact Disc's have hurt high-end audio the most. I do not know anyone that can listen to a few CDs one after the other. Digital music tends to fatigue most people. Whereas vinyl is relaxing, more often than not. Now with the advent of the SACD & DVD-A formats, digital music is much less fatiguing. So I am hoping that two-channel audio and the manufacturers start to make some money and invest in research more. Surround sound is fine for movies and dialog, but nothing is better than music out of a good two-channel system, IMHO."
Steven Bell

"Redbook really doesn't cut it for something as complex as classical orchestral music."
AstroD

"There is a lot of music I like that is not, ever, going be on vinyl. Do I buy the CD? Nope. Is it because I am an digiphobe, probably, but it is also because I did buy CD's at one time and found it unsatisfying to listen to them (with a pretty first class digital drive/DAC). I would rather read a book, something I literally can't do when I play vinyl, I become too engrossed in the music. I hate analogue as a format, it is a pain in the ass, but it gets me moving, unlike digital which anesthetizes me."
mspc

"The mystery for me is that there still exist a few companies selling really expensive CD players that can't even play SACD ... not many of them left - but they still exist. Expensive low-rez. Who would buy such a thing?"
canonical

"SACD as a musical communications medium has never been subjected to the constant criticism that surrounded RBCD from Day One. From the inadequacies of RBCD grew a whole industry of knowledgeable experts and Tweak Geeks who professed divine insight of the shortcomings of the medium and milked music lovers gullibility to extremes - such as 50,000+$ CD players - by claiming that 'their' tweaks could extract 'secret' hidden information from RBCD discs...
... AND it is still going on. This confidence trick has been one of the most successful ever and most of us have fallen for it over the years.

If we have nothing else to thank Sony, DSD and SACD for it is the discovery that The Emperor indeed was wearing No Clothes, the ultimate transparency that those Tweak Geeks alleged was theirs and our Holy Grail.

Have we not noticed that we who are committed to SACD do not discuss SACD players or how to improve them very often, we talk about the Music and the Performance.

We cannot dis-invent DSD and go backwards as said earlier. I have not bought a RBCD in 3 years, have no intention of ever doing so again and do not even read RBCD reviews or note their coming or passing."
hiredfox

"I have hated Redbook since the day it came out in the early 1980's. At best there is something missing. At worst, there are horrible somethings added. There is new equipment available that avoids adding the horrible somethings if they haven't already been put on the recording. If they have been put on the recording then one is sunk, as they can't be removed without stripping out all the air in the music.
RBCD sounded bad when I was in my 30's and it still sounds bad now that I am in my 60's."
Tony Lauck

"After a few listening sessions with great sounding SACDs my collection of standard Redbook software sounds really horrible"
dax44

"Let's see, tape, radio, and vinyl have largely limited dynamic range, CD is a totally outdated digital format offering only low-resolution sound, DVD-Audio was cool, but the format was never treated seriously by the manufacturers and was really just Red Book on steroids. I think I'll go with hybrid SACD."
hirez_rulez

"Reading would be difficult with the LP going because you want to LISTEN, the CD is good to HEAR when you're not quite listening. the satisfaction level is up after listening to LP, as is the relaxation level. There's an unidentifiable SOMETHING that's also there with SACD. there are MANY more samples on SACD than redbook 44.1k. it coincides with what Bruce Brisson once said in an interview in TAS stating that when digital reaches the 300k samples per second, that it would resemble analog. that's where SACD has gone.
This shouldn't be digital vs analog, but 44.1 vs analog and DSD. I suppose we ought to include DVD-A but I'm not so sure."
hifitommy

"Yup - even cassette - I have a couple of prerecorded cassettes that blow away the same titles on CD."
kavakidd

"Music is for listening and I consider the CD to be a flawed media and it is highly unlikely that I will ever change my mind."
Bill

"I wish the death of harsh ear crushing CD."
xmen269

"If you don't hear the difference between 2 channel SACD and CD, you must have studied with DUI Lawyer! SACD is SO much better, it's ridiculous! I've never understood your point of view. MCH probably is better in many ways, but 2 channel SACD Kills redbook, on my modded 5400, and with my XA7, compared to my 555 and 5400. "
oldmkvi

"I just got the new Analogue Productions LP of Bill Evans' "Portrait in Jazz" and it's about what you might expect: excellent! Warm and detailed and all the things that RBCDs are not, i.e. harsh, fatiguing, etc. Sigh."
Carl Edwards

"CD's suck, Vinyl is better." is on Facebook
Vinyl Records Kick Ass.
Anyway, If you listen to vinyl records (33's, 45's,78's, singles, EP's, whatever) or just like them, join the fun.
Editors note: "CD's suck, Vinyl is better." has 5,212 members proving once again we are NOT alone in hating CDs!

"CD's are Bullsh*t. They Cost too much, they get easily damaged, they can be a hassle if you have a lot of them and they're inferior."
schweinkenstein

"Vinyl anybody? so much nicer to own than a CD. You get the massive album work, big lyric sheets. There's something a bit ugly about the digital formats, there's no magic to them."
forallthecows6

"CDs suck heres why !

CDs will never sound as good as records. First of all, the bit rate is bits of pieces of sounds put together. So when you playback its harsh and compressed sound, and lacks fidelity.

Records on the other hand last forever when taken care of, and playback produces high fidelity sound- one continuous stream of sound waves, which is much more natural sounding and the way our ears process sounds.
CDs may be cheaper and easier to take care of, and you can play them in your car. But they lack good sound quality. Simply put: They suck."
AntiCD

"MP3s and CDs be damned! Tapes rule!!!"
Manskito

"true music is only on vinyl, CDs suck"
Eric Earley, Blitzen Trapper’s singer

"...the whole concept of CD replacing vinyl was a misguided myth. CD's suck!"
York Rust UK

"Impossible to beat tape masters. CD's suck."
kats

"CDs suck and you don't get the extras you normally get with a vinyl."
Joe Vatah

"In my opinion, the only palliative one can bestow on brittle CD sound is pumping it through the smoothing of tube-amplification (that doesn't make the sound better but it removes the worst aspects...)."
Beagle

The best CD player is no CD player
"After spending 25 years looking for a listenable CD player, I have come to the conclusion that the best CD player is no CD player. I seem unable to relax and enjoy music through RBCD no matter which player I use if I am listening through a high resolution system. Needless to say I enjoy analogue. I suspect that some people are more sensitive to the problems in RBCD than others but for me it just does not work."
ruxtonvet

"...Many audiophiles and engineers state that they have noticed that they can discern something vaguely "wrong" with the digital recording process but cannot quite pinpoint the problem. Using the test, it can easily be shown that, using the same playback system, the difference between analog and digital recording does exist. While we certainly enjoy the benefits of this major technological breakthrough, there are subtle physiological effects still to be considered...With the advent of Direct Stream Digital (DSD) recording, it is now possible to conclude that the negative effects I have stated above are due not to the digital process per se but to the mode of achieving it, Pulse Code Modulation (PCM). For DSD recordings do not have these negative effects...Increasingly over the years, music lovers are turning against PCM – they are feeling what I first demonstrated nearly a quarter-century ago. And they are resisting – proclaiming that it doesn’t sound like, feel like, analog. Cold, no heart. That is to say, untherapeutic..."
Dr. Diamond in Human Stress Provoked by Digitized Recordings

"Redbook CD playback often causes me to have symptoms: headache, agitation, and fatigue. I can listen to LP's and DSD as much as I like without a problem."
Reuben

"IMO, a good performance on a bad analog recording sounds just like that........ But a good performance on a bad digital recording is often mistaken for a mediocre performance on a mediocre recording. Or in other words, I think one can listen through a bad analog recording and still hear a great performance. But a bad digital recording takes the performance down with it."
Todd Krieger

"A CD is like trying to make a circle with pixels, you can get really close but it really isn't a circle, while vinyl is like making the circle with a pen."
Blkkrow

"Digital preserves music the way formaldehyde preserves frogs: it kills it and makes it last forever..."
Quote from Vinyl is still superior to digital music

There are thousands of various DIY DACs outthere, and I have minimal to zero interest in any of them. Mostly because I listen to vinyl and SACD for musical enjoyment, and CD doesn't get close to these two mediums IMO. For me, CD is for background music at dinner...
Allen Wright

"Where is the magic we used to feel listening to music? In the early days of audio, people would listen for hours to their favorite recordings, sometimes wearing out an LP and buying a new one to listen some more. Today, equipment has become more expensive, but people often turn off the CD long before it's over. Most music lovers agree that something about today's audio equipment and the CD just isn't right.

The problem with CDs is the operating system know as PCM. It has inherent limitations that simply haven't been overcome. The solution is a new operating system invented by Sony. It's called DSD - Direct Stream Digital.

DSD not only sounds better it feels better. People say it's more relaxing. The listener's breathing becomes easier, and one feels the emotion in the music again. DSD immerses us in the listening experience, just as we were with analog sources such as 78's, LP's and open reel tapes.

DSD is the operating system for SACD (Super Audio Compact Disc). SACD recordings are made on a hard drive and the bitstream is later transferred to a manufacturing format that produces SACD discs. An SACD is the same size as a CD or DVD, but it won't play in a regular CD player. All SACD players, however, play both CD's and SACD's, and some of them play DVDs as well. SACD players start at around $300, which means most people can afford them. SACD recordings are around the same price as CDs, so this means that music lovers can now get better sound quality for the same money.

Like LP's and CD's, some SACD's simply sound better than others. Many factors contribute to overall sound quality such as microphones and recording equipment, the engineering and mastering and of course the musicians themselves. Red Rose Music takes great care in every aspect of SACD production, and to preserve the full benefits of SACD, we use single layer disc with no PCM processing at any stage.

Hybrid discs are universal, as they play on all CD players as well as SACD players. We use single layer discs because they make a closer match to the master recording and are more enjoyable to listen to.

Musicians depend on the industry to capture their art and make it available to the world in a way that brings out meaning, emotion and substance. Just as great musicians do not compromise their music, we choose not to compromise the recording and playback."
Mark Levinson

Edits: 09/07/12

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