In defence of Compact Discs

Nascent CD (re)collection

I have three big regrets in life, and all three of them are music-related. When I was about 10, I sold my 7” record collection to a friend so I could afford more Panini football stickers (although I did at least complete the set!). About 10 years ago, I sold my 500+ CD collection because I wasn’t using them after ripping everything to mp3. Then when we emigrated in 2011, I sold my 300+ album record collection so we wouldn’t have to ship them. By this point, I hadn’t owned a record player for a good five years.

Now I’m entering “the nostalgia years”, I can see the error of my ways. Music played from iTunes or Spotify just isn’t the same, and there are hundreds of articles already out there espousing the benefits of physical media. And for the most part, they’re right. You just can’t beat the ritual of choosing and then playing an album, holding the artwork in your hands, enjoying the sleeve notes, and acknowledging the crackle and hiss of vinyl as it takes you back to your youth…

Wait a second. I remember the crackle and hiss of vinyl, and at the time we tolerated it. But more than that, I remember the REVELATION of playing a CD for the first time…time seemed to stand still as the music poured into my ears, crisper, smoother and clearer than anything I’d had before. I had a half-decent Pioneer hi-fi, and so records sounded fine, but this was something entirely different. I instantly knew where all disposable income would go for the next decade.

There’s a reason why the sale of vinyl went through the floor! Sound quality sucks compared to CD. I am willing to admit that, if you spend $5,000 on a sound system AND you’re playing a record for the first time, then it might sound pretty damn good. But most people don’t have that kind of money to spend, and as soon as you’ve played the record a few times it’s starting to degrade. Compare the silence at the start of a CD to the crackle and hiss of a record and you’ll see what I mean.

So I’ve found the vinyl renaissance interesting, partly because it reminded me of the awesome collections I’ve had and sold (still a regret — and a big one!). But also because I’ve watched with envy and regret as friends have Instagrammed their way into the world of vinyl. About six months ago, I even took some tentative steps towards re-kindling my love of vinyl, rifling through a few charity shops and garage sales to find a few albums I love. But then the revelation hit.

CDs are much better and, nowadays, much cheaper. A brand new version of Rumours by Fleetwood Mac costs about $45 in Sydney’s record stores. So you can either buy this brand new re-press, diminishing the nostalgia value, or take your chances with an original at 1/2 to 2/3rd the price which may or may not be ok. I can tell pretty quickly that this potential new hobby would cost an arm and a leg. In contrast, most CDs at charity shops and on gumtree cost $1–2. I picked up Rumours for $4. In the space of one month, and for about $200, I’ve been able to rebuild a fair chunk of my original collection, and I’m now experiencing the unbridled bliss of listening to albums from start to finish! I haven’t done that in years.

CDs are better than vinyl. Let’s count the ways.

  • They sound better on the 1st and 1,000th listen
  • You don’t have to turn them over halfway through
  • You still get sleeve notes, albeit smaller — and the trade-off is worth it
  • They’re cheaper. Maybe 1/20th the price if you’re lucky
  • They’re easier to pick from because you can more easily see the spines when they’re on shelves. Get the right rack, and you don’t even have to tilt your head (see above photo)
  • That means you can invite friends to pick one they’d like to play, and they don’t take an hour to find the one they like. So CDs are more social!
  • They use freakin’ LASERS!

CDs are better than iTunes / Spotify as well. Let’s count the ways:

  • If you want to find and pick an album on iTunes / Spotify, it’s actually pretty tedious. Voice commands aren’t there yet, and even when they are where’s the inspiration of seeing an album title and thinking “YES! That’s perfect”?
  • It forces the discipline of listening to an album from start to finish. The kids won’t get this (sorry kids) but until about 1997 artists actually cared about the order in which tracks were pressed onto an album so they could present it as a singular piece of art. “As the artist intended” is a thing.
  • They use freakin’ LASERS!

So my guess is that a CD renaissance will follow the vinyl renaissance, just as CDs followed vinyl in the first place.

The other fun thing about rooting through charity shops is you get to see what people don’t want. Some titles or artists pop up time and time again. For instance, every charity shop has the following albums without fail:

  • Play by Moby
  • Fever by Kylie
  • Get Born by Jet
  • Every Robbie Williams album
  • Reveal by REM
  • Moon Safari by Air
  • Definitely Maybe by Oasis

Make of that what you will!

PS I wrote this while listening to Hatful of Hollow which cost me $2 🙂