# Landmark day for the Compact Disc



## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Don’t know if anyone noticed, but the CD turns 25 today. IMO, it remains the best thing that ever happened to recorded music.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070817/ts_afp/entertainmentnetherlandsmusiccompanyphilips_070817054427

Anyone remember what their first player and disc was? Mine was a Pioneer I picked up discounted from $600 down to $200 when a local hi-fi store went out of business. That sucker was built like a tank - metal chassis, heavy molded plastic drawer, etc. I forget the year, maybe '87 or '88. 

The first thing I did after I bought it was go next door to Sound Warehouse and plunk down something like $16-17 for my first disc, Hiroshima's _Go_.










Regards,
Wayne


----------



## Mitch G (Sep 8, 2006)

I got my first CD player probably in 84 or 85. It was a Pioneer as well and I still have it. Although, it's in the basement and not really ever used.


Mitch


----------



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Wow.... 25 years... you sure know how to make a guy feel old. :sarcastic:

That wasn't too long after I got out of high school and only a couple of years before I got married. In 84 I purchased my first home stereo system and it did not include a CD player.


----------



## Otto (May 18, 2006)

My first CD player was an Alpine head unit in my car, probably around 1989 or 1990. I used to have a rockin' car audio system. Not this big boom and rattle stuff most kids have these days -- a real, powerful and articulate system! All gone now.

I went out and bought a handful of CDs.

AC/DC - Back in Black
Sting - Nothing Like the Sun
Perhaps Dr. Dre something...
and three or four others.

They all got stolen somewhere along the line...


----------



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Come to think of it... I believe my first CD player was an Alpine deck in my car.


----------



## Fincave (Apr 20, 2006)

The first cd player that I came into contact with was a Goldstar player that my brother bought around 1989 or so. The first cd I ever owned was by The Doors and was called Light My Fire, it was the first Doors album but with the track order mixed up. Neither the player nor the cd are around anymore.


----------



## Hakka (Sep 10, 2006)

I bought a Teac player when I was in grade 6 at school ('86). My first disc was Poison: Open Up And Say Ahh.

:shh:

Hakka.


----------



## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Wow,...ya stumped me with that one..... I remember buying some cd's way back then but I have no idea what I played them on. I do remember my first CD deck for my car,... 'cause I've had the car for about 24 years and the CD player for almost as long,.... A Clarion 6540, both the car and the CD player are still running fine :bigsmile:


----------



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Kudos for Clarion... :clap: I would say it is unusual for car headunit to last 24 years, especially being one of the first few generation units.


----------



## bob1029 (Feb 26, 2007)

I had a tapedeck in a dodge ramcharger last 21 years... replaced it with a sony mp3/cd head unit, and its broken 3 times in the last year. :sneeky:

About the landmark... Yes the cd is an awesome format. It allowed for the easy mass production and duplication of music with relatively superb quality. Most likely the most significant development to hit the field of mass music reproduction. The only qualm I have with it is that the ease of digital mastering also brought along more unscrupulous buisiness types in the record industry who pushed the limits of the new digital scale, resulting in the massive quantity of overcompressed and muddy sounding albums we have today. The analog formats were much more technically prohibitive in this area, as the scale was flexible, and vynil can only be cut so hot before you start skipping and lose playback time.

All in all, the best format so far, but I only wish that something could be done to do away with these albums that are averaging -10dbFS... I wonder how the Chili Peppers or Nickelback would sound with the full 90dB of dynamic range this amazing format has to offer... :foottap:


----------



## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Yeah, it has been abused. A shame.

We should also give the CD credit for something else: Introducing high fidelity to the masses. If I recall, by the time the CD was introduced, the cassette tape was the dominant format, mainly for its convenience compared to the LP. I can’t tell you how many times I heard people with low-fi department stereos tell me how they were impressed with how “clear” CDs sounded. 



> I do remember my first CD deck for my car,... 'cause I've had the car for about 24 years and the CD player for almost as long,.... A Clarion 6540, both the car and the CD player are still running fine


 Lemme guess, the car is a Nova!

Regards,
Wayne


----------



## John S (May 31, 2006)

The first hint I had of CD's low noise capabilities was when I played my one dbx encoded LP through the dbx 'compander' that I used with my reel-to-reel at the time. Imagine the stylus settling into the edge groove with absolutely no groove noise or rumble. Then you're almost startled when the music pops. That's what we take for granted with CDs today. Audiophiles can wax poetic about how wonderful analog is, but I gladly trade analog for all the groove garbage records have. LPs work best when you make yourself listen through the noise.

My first player--also a Pioneer--was a birthday gift in 1986. My first CD was :daydream:


----------



## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Yup,.. pretty impressive, but I don't think the head unit is 24 years old. The more I think about it, I believe I bought it in '90 or '91.

:heehee: Wow,...good guess Wayne,.... it is a '68 Chevy II Super Sport.


----------



## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

nova said:


> :heehee: Wow,...good guess Wayne,.... it is a '68 Chevy II Super Sport.


Hee hee - given your user name, it was a no-brainer! :laugh:

Regards,
Wayne


----------



## tc-60guy (May 26, 2007)

I bought my first CD player in 87. It was made by NEC. Anyone out there remember when they still had a line of half way decent stereo equipment? I think the first CD I bought was Sir George Solti's Beethoven's 9th. The sound was horrid 80's vintage digital(Think of having rabid mole rats stuffed into your ear canal!) but the performance was sublime. CD's and Cd players have come a long way since then.


----------



## Richard W. Haines (Jul 9, 2007)

How many have experienced 'laser rot' on old CDs? Thus far two of mine have issues, a Natalie Cole album and "North by Northwest" soundtrack. They played fine upon purchase but now they lock on certain tracks. It's not scratches or wear since I'm very careful with them, it's deterioration on a microscopic level similar to old laserdiscs ("Kismet", "Babes in Toyland"). I take out books on CD from my
local library and many of them have problems too, often on the last track
of the discs. 


Foolishly, I sold off my entire vinyl soundtrack albums and replaced them with CDs
in the early nineties. Now I'm trying to purchase them back on ebay as a backup in case the CDs eventually deteriorate. Also, I like the album art of the sixties and seventies which is one of the things you miss on CD releases since they're so
small. The Australians have done tests on DVD longevity and they claim they're
only good for about 10 years too.


----------



## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

What’s the symptom of CD rot? Is it a noise that sounds like FM picket fencing that increases every time you play the disc? If so, I’ve only had one factory CD give problems (although home-made ones don’t seem to be nearly as robust). The oldest discs in my collection, even the first one I bought, still play fine. I’m more inclined to believe it’s a manufacturing problem.

Regards,
Wayne


----------



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

The symptom would be failure to perform as when originally purchased. They skip, lock up, or just won't function any longer. We've had a couple to go bad on us as well... some we purchased in the beginning.


----------



## Fred33 (Sep 4, 2007)

I have never had cd rot. The cd has had a long ride though and I believe a definite upgrade from the cassette.


----------



## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

The CD was defiantly a leap forward although I still listen to an LP once in a while.
My first CD player was a Sanyo (LXI) that I bought at Sears in 1986. Its still working today but a friend has it now. My first CD was Level 42 running in the family and a Dire straights demo CD that was at the time not for resale in stores (my cousin worked for Philips in Holland and got them for me for $10 each) at the time that was a steal


----------

