I intentionally omitted Betamax because it was eclipsed by VHS. I did the same for the various super-CD formats like the SACD for audio.

I read an article in a trade mag on the 20th anniversary of the CD. It was written by one of the inventors. A couple of things of interest:
  1. He stated there are severe quantization errors distorting the sound, the record companies lied and touted CD Quality in their ads.
  2. If I remember and understood properly, during the square wave state, the square wave added every odd harmonic to the signal (3rd, 5th, 7th, etc.) that were not present in the original signal
  3. The CD cost pennies to produce but the record companies lied again and raised the price
  4. The record companies were excited that they could re-sell their entire catalog to the same people again, resulting in double-profits per item. (Actually, triple profit since they did the same with 8-track and Cassettes)

The public went for it even though the sound quality of the first CDs were terrible. The public believed CD Quality because without trained ears they didn't know the difference.

But for me, the CD was and still is trading one kind of distortion for another. The CD changes the tone of the instruments by introducing high harmonics that are not present in the original signal. The LP introduces surface noise along with pops and clicks. The CD sound has improved with new technology through the years so it's distortion is less of an issue.

Most people just want to hear the music. The finer points of tone don't matter. It's easy to hear pops and clicks, and not easy to determine that on CD Stan Getz's tone sounds more like Zoot Sims. Plus the CD is definitely more convenient.

While I prefer the sound of good vinyl (before the needle wears the groove and the pops and clicks arrive), I listen to CDs. I find the pops and clicks more distracting than the change in tone.

Nothing accurately reproduces the music 100%. Every current recording technology introduces some kind of distortion. The distortion may be relatively minor, and it might take trained ears to hear, but it's there and measurable with the proper test equipment. Technology gets better and better all the time, and even a good mp3 of today sounds better to my ears than the old 45rpm records of my youth did.

Insights and incites by Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
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