From: CCEB001@UTXVM.CC.UTEXAS.EDU
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: A Golden-Eared Perspective on CD Players
Date: 10 Apr 92 17:20:29 GMT
Organization: THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

anrosen%idss.nwa.com@uci.com (Adam N. Rosenberg) is reported by a
friend to have written:
>The amazing thing, to me at least, is that new technology was
>able to replace completely the older, cheaper, more reliable,
>established, and superior technology.  I attribute this to the power
>of marketing and wonder how many other excellent products we would
>have if people made their own decisions about the products they buy.

A cd costs less to manufacture than an LP even if it does not cost
less to buy.  Classical music is, in fact, cheaper to buy on a CD
(at around US $13 per disc) because most contain about twice as much
program as an $8 LP.  Golden oldies with 20 cuts are also generally
less than 2 lps would be.  Your mileage may vary depending on the
addtional program.  Current pop music does cost more on CD.

For any sound quality level less than golden ear the CD electronics
will be cheaper.  The very cheapest device to spin an LP costs about
$100 and sounds much worse than a competitive discman.  An lpman
would also be larger, less transportable, and consume more power.
The assertion that CDs are more expensive is simply false.  These
economics hold well into the region where quality is only casually
related to price.

I also doubt that a nation unable to program VCRs was attracted to
the high tech nature of CDs.  Most converts, like me, listened to a
friend's CD player and found the low noise uncanny.  I was also
attracted to the ability to play particular cuts repeatedly without
damaging the disc and the lack of fiddling with styli, brushes etc.

I find that some performers "come across" better on lp (or the reverse).
I eventually realized that this was because one format or the other in
my collection had my preferred tunes for that performer.  In a few cases
the mix differed on the "same" tune.  Also, it is not unheard of to
mix to emphasize the "digitalness" of CD.  For example, Telearc's
infamous 1812 digital cannon, or the flute on "Me and Julio Down By The
Schoolyard" by Paul Simon (we got them high notes fer sher).  There are
many DDD clasical cuts  with more dynamic range than most listening
rooms support.  We lived through the days when "stereo" meant "vocals
in one channel, instruments in the other," and phasing switch behind
one speaker.  Stereo highlighted many technical shortcomings in studios
and homes but we eventually lived through it.  Digital is merely a
replay of early stereo and we will live through it too.

>    My current system contains the following components:
>   Linn Sondek LP-12 (Valhalla) Turntable
>   LOCI Phonograph Tonearm (*) (+)
>   EK-1 Cartridge and Phono Stage (*)
             (stuff irrelevant to this deleted)
>      (+) The tonearm I patented, manufacture, and marketed

The business students in the hall outside our computer site have
been disscussing an assignment to "devise a new strategy for a
turntable manufacturer being left behind by CD technology."  Possible
strategies mentioned by the instructor included go for the high end,
go for the third world, get tariff protection, and make something else.
What are the net.thoughts on this case?

Mike.Coyne@utxvm.cc.utexas.edu
Coyne@utxvm.bitnet
Xref: sparky rec.audio:7144 sci.electronics:8235