CD Player?

2-22-08 CD Player?

I remember in 2006, I had a panic attack because I could no longer find a cassette deck for sale at my local ‘electronics’ store. I prodded around a little bit, and found a new-in-the-box one, so I am all set for cassette in the new millennium. I didn’t expect to have to go through this again in 2008. I considered replacing my single-disc Sony CD player from 1995…only to find that it seems to be more difficult than it looks to actually find a single-disc home CD player / deck.

I suppose I could go to the Sony Outlet store in Camarillo and pay under $100 for a new or refurbished 5CD changer – and it would likely be a SACD changer, at that! I think I have a few SACD’s in my collection already – all of the Can re-masters are SACD discs – and the ABKCO Rolling Stones titles (i.e. the good titles) are SACD’s.

Or should I plump for a DVD-Audio player? I have 4 or 5 DVD-Audio discs. And I think those are still in stores, aren’t they? I have Motorhead, The Firesign Theatre, Simple Minds, Frank Zappa – all as DVD-A’s. I don’t have to turn on my TV to play a DVD-A, do I?

Yeah, I still mostly listen to LP’s. My Sony MiniDisc machine essentially replaced my cassette deck – though I still have hundreds of cassettes! Gee, I sure hope my car MD deck doesn’t fry on me anytime soon. And I’ve got several portable MD players. I have often thought about getting a new turntable, too; perhaps something like a Pro-Ject beginner model, in some wild color and a Sumiko needle / cartridge package. No iPod for me.

But at almost 7,000 compact discs – I am guessing that I am going to want an operable CD player for the foreseeable future, friends.

So, do I flip a coin – DVD-Audio or SACD changer?

I have never been totally comfortable with a CD changer. I have one in my den that I sometimes load up with discs – but more often than not – I rely on my single-disc CD player in my bedroom, for listening. As far as I am concerned, only a masochist would have one of those 300 or 400 disc CD jukeboxes. Ugh, imagine the scratches on discs – it would takes weeks (or months) to discover them!

So, please no ‘iPod hate mail’. I’m just not gonna go there. No downloads, no uploads, no MP3’s for me. Walkman, Discman…sure. But I’ve got those. I’ve been told all hard drives fail – put everything on a CD-R. Will a DVD-R become obsolete as quickly as a CD-R?

Elcaset, PlayTape, Compact Cassette, 8-Track, 4-Track, DCC, MD, Hi-MD, LP, CD, Beta, VHS, Laser Disc, 8mm, DVD, ¾” U-Matic – dust to dust…ashes to ashes…