The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Introducing the Amazing Compact Disc: 1982

Dale Patterson · July 12, 2022 9:50 pm

The first CD I ever bought was Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection in 1987.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Tx6TYnPat8

Last edited by Dale Patterson (July 12, 2022 9:56 pm)

Jody Thornton · July 12, 2022 10:16 pm

The first one I ever heard was Titles by Vangelis, at Eaton's in Lime Ridge Mall, Hamilton. It was a Technics third-generation player (ooooooh a loading drawer, instead of a vertical loader). But honestly, it really just sounded to me like a run of the mill LP. Sure it was quiet, but not very impactful. At that point, I had heard better LPs, and this incentivized me to stick with LPs, even through the 90s and 2000s, when they were nearly impossible to find.

I will say though that as a format, CDs are likely superior to LP, especially in terms of dynamic range and clarity. The poor CD experiences I had early on were just poor mastering I'm sure. I've since heard some compelling digital audio.

turkeytop · July 12, 2022 10:41 pm

I got my first CD player as a Christmas gift from my wife, in the late 1980s. It was from Radio Shack. It was a complete surprise for me. We were dirt poor back then. She must have worked hard and saved up her money. She also gave me a couple of CDs. I don't recall exactly which ones they were, but I still have them.

mace · July 13, 2022 10:38 am

I never did get into CD's. I still have all my LP's, probably 100-150. Now that I can hear almost any music I desire via Spotify, I rarely listen to them.

Chrisphen · July 13, 2022 6:43 pm

The first disc I bought was Fleetwood Mac (1975). That was back in 1988. It cost $30 at the time, which was plenty pricey.

Prices did go down, but were still unreasonably high until the Napster era (due in large part to price-fixing by the major labels).

Jody Thornton · July 13, 2022 7:17 pm

Chrisphen wrote:
The first disc I bought was Fleetwood Mac (1975). That was back in 1988. It cost $30 at the time, which was plenty pricey.

Prices did go down, but were still unreasonably high until the Napster era (due in large part to price-fixing by the major labels).

I was buying import LPs and 12" singles during the era of "vinyl extinction" (1991-2006). Records were plenty expensive during that period, but usually very good quality.

I'm sure that CDs were equally expensive.

RadioActive · July 13, 2022 9:33 pm

turkeytop · July 13, 2022 9:42 pm

Chrisphen wrote:
The first disc I bought was Fleetwood Mac (1975). That was back in 1988. It cost $30 at the time, which was plenty pricey.

Prices did go down, but were still unreasonably high until the Napster era (due in large part to price-fixing by the major labels).

In 1988, $30 represented about two hours wages for me.

Jody Thornton · July 13, 2022 10:09 pm

RadioActive wrote:

I guess Great Grampa 8-track, and Great Aunt Open-reel couldn't make it?
EDIT: I can't believe I forgot the family dog - "Spot"ify

Last edited by Jody Thornton (July 13, 2022 10:12 pm)

mace · July 14, 2022 6:47 am

Jody Thornton wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
I guess Great Grampa 8-track, and Great Aunt Open-reel couldn't make it?
EDIT: I can't believe I forgot the family dog - "Spot"ify

What about eldest cousin 45 and Great Grandma 78?

Marsden · July 14, 2022 7:52 am

Pre Pandemic - I was on College Street. Dropped in to Canada Computes to pick up couple hundred CDs in those prepackaged things. There was nothing. Not a CD in site. I went to the counter to ask when they would have them.

Guy at the counter seemed to look down his nose at this old man. And said -

"CDs are OBSOLETE!!!!"

RadioActive · July 14, 2022 8:45 am

mace wrote:
Jody Thornton wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
I guess Great Grampa 8-track, and Great Aunt Open-reel couldn't make it?
EDIT: I can't believe I forgot the family dog - "Spot"ify

What about eldest cousin 45 and Great Grandma 78?

We call her "Grammy!"

Jody Thornton · July 14, 2022 8:54 am

Marsden wrote:
Pre Pandemic - I was on College Street. Dropped in to Canada Computes to pick up couple hundred CDs in those prepackaged things. There was nothing. Not a CD in site. I went to the counter to ask when they would have them.

Guy at the counter seemed to look down his nose at this old man. And said -

"CDs are OBSOLETE!!!!"

Yes, blank CD-Rs are hard to come by. Canada Computers haven't sold them for eons. I still use them to burn mixed music for my 1999 Camry. I admit, once I switch to a Nissan Micra, or something newer, I'll use USB sticks instead.

It's funny, but as a vinyl collector, there was a time (say in 1991 or 1992) when I would have salivated over CD sales slumping so much, that there would only be a handful of them in the back of the record store; but I was just sore because CDs pushed me out of the market. However, now is a great time for buying second hand CDs if that's your thing. Discs are cheap and hi-fi shops still sell good players. NAD and Yamaha still have a fair selection of disc players.

RadioActive · July 14, 2022 8:59 am

Marsden wrote:
Pre Pandemic - I was on College Street. Dropped in to Canada Computes to pick up couple hundred CDs in those prepackaged things. There was nothing. Not a CD in site. I went to the counter to ask when they would have them.

Guy at the counter seemed to look down his nose at this old man. And said -

"CDs are OBSOLETE!!!!"

Not sure how you feel about using Amazon, but they still have a wide selection of recordable CDs, if that's what you're looking for. Check it out here.

Jody Thornton · July 14, 2022 9:02 am

Tech Source on Sheppard west of the Allen, and Wintronic still carry them.

Jody Thornton · July 14, 2022 9:04 am

RadioActive wrote:
mace wrote:
Jody Thornton wrote:

I guess Great Grampa 8-track, and Great Aunt Open-reel couldn't make it?
EDIT: I can't believe I forgot the family dog - "Spot"ify

What about eldest cousin 45 and Great Grandma 78?
We call her "Grammy!"

Haaaaaa! I hate to admit this but that took me a second to click in
(just for the record )

Chrisphen · July 14, 2022 9:42 am

turkeytop wrote:
Chrisphen wrote:
The first disc I bought was Fleetwood Mac (1975). That was back in 1988. It cost $30 at the time, which was plenty pricey.

Prices did go down, but were still unreasonably high until the Napster era (due in large part to price-fixing by the major labels).
In 1988, $30 represented about two hours wages for me.

Well hello Scrooge McDuck . $30 for a disc was significant, though - double the price of records. That would be well over $60 today.

Jody Thornton · July 14, 2022 9:45 am

mace wrote:
Jody Thornton wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
I guess Great Grampa 8-track, and Great Aunt Open-reel couldn't make it?
EDIT: I can't believe I forgot the family dog - "Spot"ify

What about eldest cousin 45 and Great Grandma 78?

As for Great Grandma 78, I hear she gets her nails done with ...... wait for it ....... shellac

Marsden · July 14, 2022 7:32 pm

Thank you RadioActive & Jody Thornton for the suggestions. Yes I have found other shops in the College Street area that have CDs, and also on line.

However - as I continue to think I'm 30, I have begun to switch my on-air music library to USB keys. I am now using the USB keys during about 50% of my show. Free Form. And yes - it is thousands of songs.

Thanks again. d

Last edited by Marsden (July 14, 2022 7:32 pm)

darcyh · July 16, 2022 11:06 am

Probably unforeseen at the time; the CD facilitated the opening of Pandora's Box in terms of being able to 'rip' a perfect copy of the content and disseminate it.

Chrisphen · July 16, 2022 5:02 pm

darcyh wrote:
Probably unforeseen at the time; the CD facilitated the opening of Pandora's Box in terms of being able to 'rip' a perfect copy of the content and disseminate it.

And civilisation has yet to recover.

Peter the K · July 16, 2022 9:41 pm

darcyh wrote:
Probably unforeseen at the time; the CD facilitated the opening of Pandora's Box in terms of being able to 'rip' a perfect copy of the content and disseminate it.

Unforseen because the technology of the day didn't have the ability to rip discs let alone the ability to write to them. It wasn't until 1994 that we got our first disk writer in the office. If you wanted to rip the data, you needed a SCSI CD drive which cost a pretty penny. The writable disks themselves were $12.95 each at Staples (I think it was still Office Depot then)

By the way, last I noticed, Dollarama had Verbatim recordable CD in indidual jewelcases for $1 each.

The other problem of the day is the sheer volume of storage you needed to store your rip. A rip of a full disc could be upwards of 700MB. The average hard disk at the time was 20-40MB. It would still take a few years for hard disk capacities to catch up and become affordable.

Of course, I've got piles of cassettes that I recorded from "borrowed" CDs over the years. I played one of those tapes recently and it was in amazingly good shape. Funny thing is, I wound up buying most of the original disks as prices eventually lowered. A couple of discs suffered from bit rot and became unplayable. The cassettes just keep on going.

Last edited by Peter the K (July 18, 2022 5:57 pm)

RadioActive · July 18, 2022 5:35 pm

Well, well, well. Want to make a quick $20? Apply here.

"Individuals who bought electronics between 2004 and 2010 can claim $20 with no proof of purchase."

Sony, Pioneer, Toshiba among optical disc drive makers settling $29.7M Canadian class action

Ian · July 24, 2022 6:36 pm

There were a few albums in the UK that drove the adoption of the CD player as opposed to LP reissues on CD. The one that convinced me to invest was Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits. I also remember a BBC program called Pot Black that used Snooker to show off (and drive the adoption of) the newly introduced colour TV.

Jody Thornton · July 24, 2022 7:59 pm

Ian wrote:
There were a few albums in the UK that drove the adoption of the CD player as opposed to LP reissues on CD. The one that convinced me to invest was Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits. I also remember a BBC program called Pot Black that used Snooker to show off (and drive the adoption of) the newly introduced colour TV.

I'm glad that you cited that example, and I say that as an avid LP fan, but a fair judge of fidelity on different audio formats.

On many audio forums, posters go on and on about how great the LP of Brothers In Arms was, versus the CD release, citing better dynamics and clarity. I have the LP and to me, it was very ho-hum. Certainly it was clear and punchy, but just OK. Sure, perhaps vinyl revival reissues on 180g double LP sound better, but the standard run LP release in 1985 was just a standard sounding LP to me. To me, Brothers In Arms shined on CD. I may go as far to say that the 12" single of Money For Nothing was superior to the CD track, but overall the CD was tops.

I think many vinyl fans get lost in sentimentality; I certainly know that I did. Analog enthusiasts want to view LPs as sounding natural and warm, and what not. When I was lamenting the disappearance of LPs in 1990, it wasn't because I thought vinyl was warm sounding, or I was going to miss pops and clicks; it's that I thought the best LPs and turntables could give CD players a run for their money. A Revolver or Oracle table with Steely Dan's Gaucho tops almost any release on CD, but in the end, that's because the Gaucho LP on a good turntable gives me what I would want the CD to sound like. Does that make sense? It's not that it sounds more like a record; it that it actually sounds more "digital", dynamic and clear.

Anyway, I'm glad you brought some honesty to the topic

Last edited by Jody Thornton (July 24, 2022 10:22 pm)

RadioActive · July 24, 2022 8:15 pm

This ad from 1982, the first year the CD was marketed, is off of Flickr. It's interesting that the CD pictured is classical - not rock.

Paul Jeffries · July 24, 2022 9:41 pm

Jody Thornton wrote:
I think many vinyl fans get lost in sentimentality; I certainly know that I did. Analog enthusiasts want to view LPs as sounding natural and warm, and what not. When I was lamenting the disappearance of LPs in 1990, it wasn't because I thought vinyl was warm sounding, or I was going to miss pops and clicks; it's that I thought the best LPs and turntables could give CD players a run for their money. A Revolver or Oracle table with Steely Dan's Gaucho tops almost any release on CD, but in the end, that's because the Gaucho LP on a good turntable gives me what I would want the CD to sound like. Does that make sense? It's not that it sounds more like a record; it that it actually sounds more "digital", dynamic and clear.

Many audiophiles complain about the harsh and cold sound of CDs and then spend thousands of dollars on turntables and other stereo equipment in their never ending quest to achieve CD-quality sound.

PJ

Jody Thornton · July 24, 2022 10:21 pm

RadioActive wrote:
This ad from 1982, the first year the CD was marketed, is off of Flickr. It's interesting that the CD pictured is classical - not rock.

Classical music traditionally has the widest dynamic range, and this was the best music to demonstrate a digital format.

I have a few classical LPs from the London Digital line from the late 70s, all tracked and mastered digitally. The LPs are astonishing, being really quiet one moment, and startlingly loud the next. This was supposed to be what CDs and digital REALLY expanded on. Elimination of surface noise and wow and flutter were just bonuses, and weren't really as big a thing for those used to good turntable performance, compared to those stacking on record changers.

Like I said, when I first heard a CD in 1983, I wasn't blown away, but I had a decent table. Someone approaching CD coming from a BSR changer might have a different perspective. I don't mean that to sound smart-ass, but it's a considerable point.

betaylored · July 24, 2022 11:09 pm

for some, it's the physical rituals of records as well as the sound. Having the comforting presence of an album collection, sliding the vinyl out of the sleeve, fingertips and thumb only!, placing it on the turntable etc.

It's the same with reading, there's no way an ebook is anywhere near as satisfying as a paper book.

I'm okay with CD's for convenience if traveling etc. but part of the music experience is missing.

Last edited by betaylored (July 24, 2022 11:13 pm)

Ian · July 25, 2022 9:44 am

And one (or two) more down-in-the-weeds details surrounding the introduction of CDs. Album producers made much of the digital production details. My copy of On Every Street (Dire Straits) is labeled DDD, meaning digital recording, mixing and manufacturing. Some CDs were AAD or ADD, suggesting a "different" level of fidelity. Although I still feel that the initial sound acquisition, be it from a microphone or a guitar pickup, is still from an inherently analogue device. And of course at the time with the rise of synth groups such as Tangerine Dream producers were keen to emphasize "no synthesized sounds". Does anyone still use analogue mixers? If not, then how can a "DDA" have a better sound than a "DDD" ? Perhaps the rare "direct to vinyl" meets that criteria.