10 Reasons Why CDs Still Rock - Part Two with Phil Aston 

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I have thousands of CD's.I love this Format.I buy my Music on CD's as long as they are available.The CD is a amazing Invention and still relevant today.

CD IS THE BEST FORMAT EVER!!!

I love my records and CDs. Streaming has its advantages in a car or out camping or on the go. Buy when I’m home I reach for my records or CDs everytime

Not trying to be weird but I really enjoy just listening to you talk about music. You have a very soothing voice and accent.

CD’s are the life and true heart ❤️ of my audio world. I bought a beautiful hi-end CD player from Cyrus Audio and I’ve never looked back. The CD boxsets lately I have to say have been incredible. Over the last 5 years I’ve bought a ton of boxsets. Really love Blu ray audio as well. :) Great video, Phil! :)

Excellent video again Phil. As you know, I am very confident about the CD's future. It's not even as if it has been replaced, as one cannot call high resolution downloads physical media. The growing success of box sets tells us all we need to know about the transition of CD from a mainstream format to the ultimate collector format.

Had to sell my records back in 86 as I emigrated,started all over on CDs and very happy I did.Still buying locally oftentimes.😊

So good Phil. Spot on reasoning. I have spent the last 12 years building up my vinyl collection. Only to now , over the last 12/18 months started to sell off that very vinyl . This decision has been painful as it was a joy to behold looking at my wall of vinyl but alas, space, increases in the cost of vinyl and diminishing patience ( and time) with the ceremony of vinyl start up , lead me down my current path. Mind you cd prices are on the rise too. Quite alarmingly so, but there’s still joy to behold in the dig and find of cds in the welfare bins. Not so vinyl. At least here in Australia. ( I am starting to find this with cds as well tho as people are becoming more ‘a tuned’ to my way of thinking perhaps? Instead of paying ( I like to have physical copies and have ownership of albums too) $100 for one vinyl album, I’ll possibly , still spend that $100- but get 3 or 4 new release CDs or possibly 20 budget or 2 nd hand ones . This has allowed me to be open to music that I may have once not bothered to listen too or missed the first time around . Alas, the space I had been working towards with the sale of my vinyl albums, is now full of cds and cd units!!! Guess things don’t change too much after all ?!! But I enjoyed and agreed with everything you highlighted in this video. Nice to know I’m not alone in these thoughts. Haha. Cheers, Terry. Ps- totally agree on the Jethro Tull/ Steven Wilson box sets. Can this be the new Standard please. 😎😉🤘🏻

Hi Phil. As a dedicated CD lover, I stumbled upon this video. I instantly became aware of your passion for music and as we share much in taste, you how have a new subscriber. Looking forward to your upcoming videos. Best regards from Düsseldorf!

Hi Phil, You had me at CD's. Haha. Yes, I agree with all your points. I will live and die with the CD. My first memories of discovery was with the vinyl but once the CD launched in the 80's I was off and running and never looked back. Convenience, space, all the extras... the reissue box sets alone keep me hooked line and sinker every time. The reissues are done with care and yes, please record companies.... never forget the CD buying market. PLEASE !! LONG LIFE TO THE CD and the CD BOX SET ! God bless you and your channel, Thank you, Tino

Absolutely agree with everything Phil...I don't know if you mentioned it in the other video,but price is a factor to me too, vinyl is just too expensive for what you get..CDs for me all day.🤟

Thanks Phil for the insights. I go for both formats and I agree that the CDs have the edge over vinyl in terms of sleeve/liner notes and booklets together with the bonus tracks which are usually not available on vinyl. I don't mind getting both formats if the prices are not outrageous like I have been buying both formats for all of Dylan's bootleg series and it is just fantastic to be able to compare and listen. True indeed, CDs lately have improved a lot compared with those that came out when cds were first born! I am not an audiophile but when I played my 1st generation Traffic CD years and years ago, I was so disappointed. The sound was just atrocious. Let's hope both formats can survive so that music lovers like us can still have a choice. Thanks once again for your great views.

100% agree with u Phil ....i have said the same as you in a video a few years ago on my channel... Vinyl is great for the nostalgic, and large artwork reasons but cds are the best format to live with Long live the CD 🤘🙂🤘

You made me smile when you made the comparison between "celebrating tea" and listening to vinyl. As I too did not like any extra sound, I play my old records wet. So there are two different worlds when I consume my music on both formats. A shame that the industry does not always use all benefits of the CD format - I own so many albums where the vinyl version is better.

I can see Relayer and Close To The Edge from here :) Agree on all your points, i own 250 CDs and started collecting Vinyl but with time realized the storage, maintenance and hype about them wasn't cool. The only vinyls i buy is official Zeppelin releases (i own 26 copies of the same album lol), CDs are my go to for collecting, sound wise it sounds consistently great without depending on the GEAR itself. Cds also have the advantage you can read the titles within a collection...that triggers my OCD. Love the Music Collection is the Diary of you Life. That was beautifully put! Released both my prog rock solo albums on Cd last year, the physical product can't be beat.

I have bought my last new record that came with a skip. It's all CD for me from now on. Except for novelty purposes only. Also while a.record can sound good, the sound can never blow you away like a CD can.

Excellent post! I enjoy cds as well as vinyl and those two formats dominate my music collection, also have cassettes and some reel to reel tapes. All the points on your cd appreciation list I can agree with. Currently upgrading some cd playback equipment to help my ears discover new worlds in those shiny little discs.

The reasons why CDs still rock don't have to be "vs" vinyl. I love both, and I agree with Phil. It's what the individual likes that is most important. I don't like when someone tells me which I should like (not that Phil is doing that...he is way too cool and classy to do that). Good video, and what a collection!

Looking through someone's records is like looking into there soul and thank you for the advice I totally agree with you

Totally agree.I still buy cds and i like my collection.I don't stream now and for the future. My last cd that i bought is ritchie blackmore rainbow.

My hero. This dude is a genius.

I've forwarded the links to both CDs-versus-Vinyl videos to Ian Gillan. Both formats have their advantages. I agree about the practical utility and transportability advantage of compact discs.

Fantastic video, I have also collection CD and I love this format.

Cds, Vinyl, and cassettes rock!!! LOL. I feel like every format has something special the other two do not. That is why I buy/collect all of them. For me I think cost is one of the big ones for cds. The used cd market is still amazing. Access to music. Cds getting big in the 90s means there are tons of 90s-00s music on cd that can be VERY expensive and hard to find on vinyl since such limited quantities were pressed on vinyl in the 90s. Ease of digital transfer certainly goes to cds too. I must say though, overall my favorite format certainly defaults to vinyl.

A Top Notch Video Phil...i have thousands CD's (and Vinyls of course), i agree 100%👍

What a wonderful channel….

Great video. I collect CDs, cassettes and vinyl. You didnt mention arguably the biggest pro for CDs...portability. Obviously no record players in cars and suitcase players are a joke. I haven't seen a car with a cassette deck in probably 30 years. The Pioneer deck in my car thats about 7 years old has a CD player and it sounds fantastic with the system in my car. I just got back into listening to CDs in the car again, sounds much better than Sirius or streaming. Thanks

You are dead right, Phil! Cheers!

Excellent video , I totally agree with you and Charlie, I have a lot of CD’s that don’t have a vinyl counterpart. Vinyl seems to be going up and I just hope it doesn’t price it self out of favour!! LONG LIVE THE CD I SAY I for one won’t stop collecting them until I can’t actually buy any new ones or Amazon or HMV stop selling them, Rock on Phil glad I have found your channel.. Keep up the excellent work .

well said! i think the CD will come around again, just a matter of time... The slow one now Will later be fast As the present now Will later be past The order is rapidly fadin' And the first one now Will later be last For the times they are a-changin'

Phil - I just found your channel and will subscribe. I really enjoyed this video and believe you made many salient points about CDs. I agree with them all! Though I have a fairly large vinyl collection, I have more CDs - and I certainly enjoy the bonus editions and box sets. I really like (most) surround sound mixes in my collections, and I often seek them out. I'll be checking out your other videos.

CBS/Columbia have done some lovely box sets. The Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock boxes were great, and I got them both used at a pretty good price.

I am new to this channel (I subbed because of this video), I have around 6,000 cd's, absolutely love them. I was brought up on vinyl but it seems it has become a gimmicky fad for students these days who want to appear to be a bit retro/edgy. I must say, I agree on your points on the love of cd's, I have never downloaded or streamed as I like to physically own what I am spending my hard earned on. I suppose streaming does have the one advantage of being an instant repository for discovering new stuff. Great video, loved it.

My partner loves looking through her cd books and reading the content

Agree completely.I love cd’s.Must have well over a 1000 now. Fed up of buying expensive vinyl and the quality is rubbish.The last Iron Maiden triple album had a few skips on it and I had to send it bk three times.From now in I’m just buying cd’s unless the release is vinyl only.Just got the fan club edition of the new Maiden album.Now that is a special cd box set. Agree with all your 5 points.

Really great points.

Cds will be around for a while longer, although I'm wondering if all the other UK supermarkets will stop stocking them. I got a 5 disc of 80s dance music for £3 in my local Asda a few weeks ago.

Paul Kelly A-Z Recordings is a box set like that Jethro Tull collection

I got cd's box sets! I want to see cds make a come back!!

I agree with everything you stated I buy albums, use technology such as Pandora, Spotify, Sirius radio but I am a strong believer in CDs. I have a very large collection of music and I am able to buy used CDs and grow my collection quickly. I hope the music business keeps making CDs, Albums and even cassettes even though the later are a small market. There is room for all formats and technology and I hope it effects the auto industry. All new cars should come with a stereo that supports Bluetooth , Satellite, Mp3s and the stereo can be decent but still easily upgradable. It could come with connections to connect an amp and can be made by aftermarket companies. Also the options could include a CD and Cassette player and a backup camera. I could see Bose, Pioneer, Memphis audio making double din stereos that will serve people like us. My car has a Deluxe stereo made by Bose and it is loud, has good bass but it has no RCA Jacks so I have to buy a converter to add more power etc. My steering wheel has buttons to answer the phone and to operate the stereo so if I decided to change out my stereo I got to buy something to keep the steering wheel working with everything. Then right now the companies are not making many car stereos with CD players. I am keeping my stereo and I am adding four 3 1/2" tweeters, two 8" speakers , two 6 1/2" speakers and two 12" subwoofers in a box. I will have to connect a line out converter to my stereo and 4 amps to power each speakers, plus a graphic equalizer. Keeping the Bose speakers but moving the front door speakers down with a kit that allows me to add the tweeters and the 6 1/2" speakers. In the back I will get a kit to mount the 8" speakers and the tweeters. I listen to music a lot especially in my car so long road trips become nice when I can put my chosen cds in sleeves to carry with me. The quality of the sound is very important to me I almost got my home stereo completed just need a couple of things and it is done. If I was in a market for a car I would like upgradable options because music is important to me especially because of the convenient CD. People with cassettes should have options of a deck that plays their music. I hope someone in the auto industry starts a trend to building a car for every type of person. Bluetooth and backup cameras for safety and a aftermarket company building stereos for all car models. I really believe there is a specialty market for this and I could see the younger generation to learn to appreciate the sound of a CD. They have improved the sound quality of streaming music but people now use their phone and a Bluetooth speaker for their music. I believe they will buy CDs if their car had a player and sales will keep going up. CDs sales are up 47% over last year and album sales are up but overall albums cost more. With that being said album sales will slow down an level out. The good thing is the music business has come back it was not to long ago people were stealing music. I love all my music in all formats but I can't play my albums in my car.

This is all quite wonderful to see and hear. I love CD's and Box Sets put them on another level. I have more than a few of the latter and some have epic content. Check out John Martyn's 'The Island Years' or 'Forever Changing' The Golden Age of Elektra Records. Both are things of beauty.

A highly persuasive argument over the two videos. Extras - yep, usually only get a couple of listens but some (Colwater High and One Fine Day by Ian Hunter) become firm favourites. Streaming - I use this the same way that you do. Strikes me that it's the same way I used to use my mates record collections. Borrow, tape 'em if they're okay, buy 'em if you like them enough.

I love CDs and have been buying and listening to them since 1986. 2 things I hate are box sets that do not fit on the shelf with the rest of the CDs and digipaks. Digipacks start falling apart as soon as you open them.

Your videos are great

Excellent video. I think there is an additional dimension to also think about. With the trend towards the rental/streaming economy, people are starting to smell the coffee and are starting to kick back against only renting music and not giving the artists a fair cut of the pie. You can easily rip cd files to store on a hard drive but it is a real pain to do that with vinyl. The best thing about vinyl is hanging up the art work on your wall in my opinion. Unless you have a 10,000 pound system, vinyl regularly sounds so average. I also think 24 bit files to download are pretty cool - the ultimate in clarity - loads better than vinyl.

Love the 5.1 surround. In Dolby Atmos and DTSX today. It's not gimmicky. You actually hear more tracks from the original recording sessions. Stereo is limited, because you can only mix a limited amount of information in in two channels. One example Pink Floyd. You've never heard Dark side of the moon until you hear it 5.1. Animals was just recently released. By the way, I loved quad albums. Quad failed because the high end audio propagandists; twits lobbied against it.

As an old audio person who worked in the trade I amassed a large collection of vinyl and a huge collection of CDs both standard and SACDs Vinyl is too much bother now that I am old so I play CDs only now. My vinyl sits in cases and my decks have been put away. I have a range of CD players around the house, and a couple of portable that I listen to on good quality headphones. The only problem now is playing them on my iMac now that I have installed Big Sur operating system. I backed up about 500+ onto a hard drives but Apple no longer uses iTunes. I have just subscribed to your channel as music is my main hobby again. Any ideas about playing them on my iMac ? Many thank for your perspective, and I am looking at your website now.

We are from the same generation judging by your musical taste... Used cds are dirt cheap. I stored my 6000 cds in dj wallets. Very compact indeed. Try that with lps. lps have become very expensive. cds often have a very different mix compared to the old vinyl. Just bought the first Alan Parsons album on cd. Shocking new mix! My cd sound improved drastically after buying a more recent dac. cds sound much better than spotify.

Tactal music response...he'll yeah.

Great video and I agree with everything you say here. I have to say I dislike Spotify other than to sample new music. I dislike very strongly the idea of music being essentially owned by a handful of streaming services that we pay a subscription to rent from. I also don't trust that a lot of the music I currently own will always be available on these services in the future even if they are there now, and they aren't always. I believe you can now, for a fee of course, stream CD quality music from some sources, but for me streaming doesn't generally match the sound quality of CDs. I agree that CDs will survive as a substantial market, even if the mainstream of casual music listeners eschew physical formats.

i have had a rare few cases over the years of cd rot or cd crumble after 20 or 30 years - vinyl albums will last 500 years unless they get a lot of plays, saying that i have LP' s 50 years old i played dozens of times with no sign of wear, so i think the cd's i get now will see me out!

The Handsome Beasts!

Would love to have that Herbie Hancock box set! If you don’t mind sharing, where did you purchase the box set? Thanks for sharing!

Couldn't live within my 3 cd set of disintegration by the cure!

This is going to sound contradictory (ramble alert 🤣) - l love CD’s for the reasons you describe, Phil and I’m glad it’s not just me who sometimes looks at a CD without playing it! I too have more CDs than vinyl and much prefer to listen to music without unintended ‘snap, crackle and pop’. I think bonus tracks can be a mixed bag though - often they add little to the experience and can even detract from it. More and more l find l prefer to listen to the original album (l know there’s a ‘stop’ button but that’s not the point 😂). For me, a bonus disc is ideal. But here’s a thing when it comes to the listening experience, back in the day as an LP had two sides sometimes the pause between the end of side 1 and the beginning of side 2 really matters. CD programming usually doesn’t pick up on this and then the vinyl wins for me - Eric Clapton’s Another Ticket being a case in point. But with an album like Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, it’s so much better to hear it all without the interruption. When push comes to shove, I’d choose a quality vinyl album with great artwork, gatefold sleeve and a printed inner sleeve over the equivalent CD but tbh the advantages of CD are such that I don’t even have a turntable at the moment! I think there’s a lot of myth over vinyl sound quality too - the bottom line is that the best vinyl was often kept for classical music and in the ‘70s we rock fans were sometimes sold recycled plastic. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been into recycling but you get my point. I said this was going to sound contradictory! 😂

Black Sabbath and Judas Priest box sets for me.

Tomorrow’s world, when I was a teenager, was the first place I saw a CD, l thought it was such a clever invention and still do.

My only concern about box sets are the "Super Super Super Deluxe Wallet Busting Sell a Kidney If You Have To All Singing All Dancing Edition" box sets. Are they just too big and do you really get value for money? Ok they are aimed at the super fan but It would be nice if some of the choicer bits could be released independent of the mega box. I have bought the Nazareth set and last years Mansun sets but thats as far as it goes. I would love the new Caravan set but it's a cost I cant justify unless I win the lottery. The Cherry Red releases have been excellent, especially the metal releases from the like of Ratt, White Lion etc. Short and to the point and affordable.

I haven't finished watching this But I'd have to say Japanese versions with those extra tracks.

May the cd live long and prosper but my god the prices are begining to go up. Has the vinyl bubble been burst by the high prices that new releases cost? Streaming is a godsend as checking new bands via the old fashioned way, either by actually going to a record shop or listening to a radio show. Gone are the days when listening to the radio provided the only way to hear what was new. Radio is truly awful these days and I'm being kind. I use spotify. If a bands good I'll buy the cd.

CDs are cheaper than vinyls nowadays. Reproductions are normally on CDs only.

Cd still rock!!!!

cds are the best in sound .will never go back to LPs

I love CD SS 😬

I hate what has happened to CD's nowadays you can't buy a cd in a jewel case with the usual booklet etc, instead they all come in cardboard slip cases and you'll be lucky to get a single sheet with info on it. It seems the only way to get a proper release is to buy a box set which I absolutely hate.

Some titles are not streaming so physical media it is. Streaming... internet down = no music.

i dont have Vinyl Record in my collection, i only have CDs

I love CDs and I think they sound great. But here is what I noticed. New cars do not have a CD player in them. New laptops do not have the CD tray. Department stores have less retail space for CDs. Electronic shops are selling less CD players. What does that tell you? That tells me that one day the production CDs will stop. As long as music companies are making money on CDs, they will keep making them. Once they start losing money on CDs, they will stop making them.

It's Grouse, I fuckin love me Discs.

I've been a CD guy since 1984's amazing first DDD release "The Visitors" by ABBA, heard at a Sony CD demonstration. My issues are CD artwork is harder to read than a 12x12 album. OK. Bought a magnifying glass. Later CD issues I call "rebastards" often sound awful compared to the original CD. So in some instances, the vinyl release sounds better because you cannot brick-wall a vinyl master like they do for CDs. Also several releases (i.e. Foo FIghters' "DeeGees" was only released on vinyl. Otherwise, CDs rock. I just won't toss the jewel cases, which I agree were a bad hinge design, because it devalues the disc if you want to sell it, and the spine can be seen on a shelf. CDs take less space than vinyl. I just need a bigger house...

How ironic that a couple of days after this went up Sainsbury's are going to stop selling cd's and dvd's. Does any serious music buyer head straight there to pick up the latest album? I was in there yesterday and it was almost exclusively compilations filled with the same songs that have been repackaged for years and years. The same compilations that end up in charity shops in a few months time anyway. If they were making money then they wouldn't be ditching them but curious that they are keeping vinyl releases "in some stores" so the profit margin (rip-off) margins are bigger.

Too bad the young ins, didn't appreciate CDs when young. They think LPs are the rage and love the convenience of music on therir phones or thru external small speakers. We've been thru LP, cassettes, and auto reverse in cars, and love CDs for the clarity of sound and almost bullet proof durability. Sure we own it too. New CD production is way way down and it will be too late when the kids to late 20 somethings come around.

My CD collection isn't going anywhere. Vinyl is overpriced and overhyped. Streaming services lol.I don't rent music

CDs are as close as you will get to the original master recordings intended by the artists. There are so many advantages of CDs over vinyl and digital, that it's laughable that they even get compared at all. A few advantages that are never mentioned are that they are easy to make copies (naughty!) You can easily burn a CD and the quality will still be great. Another is CD Text and remote control. With a CD you can use the CD Text to see what track is playing and open and close the drawer and stop start the CD remotely. Can't do that with vinyl, unless you look at the sleeve and get up and lift the needle. Can't do shit with vinyl, except show off to friends to try and impress them with old skool codology. Vinyl 'snobs' are not true music lovers, they are insecure idiots who use vinyl to try and impress people. Real music lovers adore CDs. Also, a thing that is never mentioned about vinyl is the dust on the needle. No matter how much you clean them, needles will still jump, records will collect dust. I remember putting a needle on a vinyl as a kid and it flew straight across from the edge to the centre. Also, another thing is record players can get knocked and that makes the needle jump. CD players would need a severe shaking for them to be affected. Vinyl snobs make my blood boil, with their vinyl sounds 'warmer' bollocks. No vinyl sounds terrible and it only has the illusion of depth due to poor dynamics and resonance.

been buying tons from charity shops, i know its a good investment with smug look on my face

No doubt there’s much more flexibility.

Only 10 reasons why CD's rock? I think your somehow forgot the rest of the 99 reasons why -

CD's are so uncool. Your walls look like data ready to be fed into a computer. I have vinyl records, ready to be placed on my turntable so I can enjoy music.

Don't forget the crashing of the economy. People are paying higher prices for everything. That includes digital downloads. Where I live, I can get four cd's for a pound, in my local charity shop. Often the discs are in fantastic condition. You can't beat value, like that.

Jazz ,Apple oh dear lol 😂