Replacement for CD nowhere to be found

Tin (Senior Forumologist):

"without being forced to rip the CD."

Yeah, you just have the fun of figuring out if you have the right version of the right codec. Why do I have my suspicions that they'll be using WMA?

Edit: CDs might be 20 year old technology, but there's still no reason to move away from them. The ONLY possible reason would be a move to using 32 bit 48kHz instead of 16 bit 44.1kHz (or perhaps surround sound, but most recording artists won't want to do that anyway).

JGrant (User):

I saw that the new Ministry of Sound Annual record was going to be released on USB flash drive too. Trust that franchise to resort to another gimmick.
If this becomes normal there'll be piles of flash sticks lying around at home like 3.5" floppy discs a while ago.

I love it how they call it 'a new technology'. More like a new method with lower quality using technology over a decade old.

Halcon (Advanced member):

Its totally ridiculous to say this new technology will replace the humble CD, moreover the format of the music tracks would be in WMA or MP3 with some kind of copy protection.
So this is clearly another brainwashing commercial campaign, only the stupids can go ahead and buy, because is a new offering without knowing more what is the advantages and the disadvantages of it.
Its time to stop these lunatics with their parrot talk.

franko12345 (User):

Quoting Halcon:
moreover the format of the music tracks would be in WMA or MP3


The quality would be just as good as CD if they used a lossless format like wav or flac

Aubrey (Advanced member):

Press Releases dressed up as news reporting are the main fodder of Australian media and the Tech sector is right up there with Politics in this game.

I mean, just look at this one: http://apcmag.com/breaking_first_australian_android_phone_revealed.htm for another prime example. The article even reads like a media release - and there isn't even one of these things in existence to justify any of the claims made in the article.

AnthonyBrisbane (User):

The public completely ignored the 2 successors to CD that had far superior sound quality (SACD and DVD-Audio) so it seems unfortunately that most people don't care about quality.

My MP3 player cannot play any file with DRM (well it can, but to put the files on the player you need to use the software which doesn't work with Vista 64-bit, so I just need to transfer all the music by drag-and-drop like a USB drive - which will only then play non-DRM files), so buying legit music files can be quite difficult. So if these devices don't come with any DRM then it could be beneficial to many people.

AderraUK (New user):

I was interested to read all of the comments re USB’s not being the replacement for Cds and was surprised by the coverage that this press release about DDA generated as for the past eighteen months we at Aderra have been specialising in the recording of live events and pre recorded visual and audio media through the use of usb flash drives that are immediately available for sale or as promotional giveaways after an event takes place. Which are proving to be very successful both across Europe and in the USA with both the artists and the fans.
Our Aderra patented audio system allows a single technician to record an event and duplicate thousands of usb flash drives within minutes after the event, for the fans to take away. In so far as sound quality the live recordings are normally recorded at between 160kb and 190kb and whilst I agree that the sound quality in some cases may not be as high as a Cd, that has been remixed and edited, what you are getting is a product that gives the feeling of being in the audience and reliving that concert experience. My point is that the fan is purchasing the live concert and not a sterile cd that has been over mastered in some flash editing suite until it has loss all of the energy from the artists live performance and that could have been from any concert on the tour and not the one that you actually attended. In fact we can and sometime do record at 320kb which certainly gives you comparable quality to that of a cd along with additional content such as video, images, links, etc.
When we work with artists it is always the artist, management and the sound engineer that has the last word as the last thing they or we want to do is put out material that does not present the band in the best light and is not expectable to the fan. In the past we have worked with Ringo Starr, Avril Lavigne,UB40, The Whip, Stereo Mc, Madness, OAR, DJ Deadmua5 and labels such as Sony BMG, EMI and Atlantic to name just a few. USBs allow us create something that is personal to the fan either as a memory of a fantastic night via the live recording and or by bringing together the music and merchandise all into one unique product such as a wristband, Lanyard or a custom shape that reflects both the artist and the fans individual style.
Compact Disc sales have declined by over 20% in the past 5 years and in fact have been in decline since 2001. I also have to admit to being one of those sad old gits that still trot down to HMV or where ever to purchase a couple of Cds once a month only to find that I only like two tracks on the album, but then again I am in my forties and still like the smell of vinyl. Music fans now don’t need to buy cd albums they can pick and choose the individual tracks they want and let’s face it, whether we like it or not most people will burn a copy of their cd in order to play it on their PC, IPod, or mobile phone. The way we access and carry our music has and is changing you only have to sit on a train or a bus and see just how many people are happy to listen to music plugged into their mobile phones- they are not interested in achieving the same pure sound quality that you can get from your home sound system they just want music on the move. USB’s do offer a number of benefits over a conventional CD... and one of the main ones is that they are reusable and can be reincarnated into the owners own media carrier they are also more environmentally friendly- a typical CD jewel case is made up of 85 grams of Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) where as in most cases and unlike conventional music CDs USB flash drive do not use packaging of any kind as the product is its own package.
Whilst USB's might not be the total replacement for CD's they do offer yet another way that fans can access their favourite music and one that offers them a huge amount of choice and content.

The Big Baboo (User):

Quoting AderraUK:
In so far as sound quality the live recordings are normally recorded at between 160kb and 190kb and whilst I agree that the sound quality in some cases may not be as high as a Cd, that has been remixed and edited, what you are getting is a product that gives the feeling of being in the audience and reliving that concert experience.

In your dreams youngster :) There's no way an LP,CD,Mp3,USB or any other fangled device will ever replace the fact of actually being there.

The Big Baboo (User):

PS: I forgot to mention that as I almost have my music collection up to date replacing some of the stuff that I had back in the late 60's-early 70's whatever comes onto the market now wouldn't really interest me :)

Halcon (Advanced member):

The music industry is totally greedy, these people just want money, money and only money.
These pathetic bastards don't care about anything else, the decline in sales of the music CD is not due to the "illegal" downloads of music content in digital format, is because is overpriced, so not everyone is willing to buy at ransom prices.
USB sticks may have its advantages in portability over CD, however, the main purpose will be overinflated prices to justify the cost.
Music CDs should cost at least $5 each.
SACD is a proprietary format that include copy protection too.
The world is not enough for the mongrels of the Music and Movies industry not content to ripping off the consumers with such practices.

Ausman (Regular user):

The format (mp3, wma, lossless, etc) is separate from the media it may be shipped on so this shouldn't be confused. Music companies could ship the highest quality audio formats electronically if they wanted.

Separately surely CDs/DVDs will always be a cheaper media than a USB stick/drive? No one wants a bunch of small drives so they are unlikely to be reused (Getting musis over the internet will always be better environmentally than any shipped media). Even if you did want a physical form, most people will play it after copying it to a ipod/mp3 player or PC anyway these days so you may as well make it cheap/disposable.

Chris (User):

A report on this was on the 7.30 report last night (Perhaps Australia's best real journalist program, but to be honest last night's wasn't up to par). From the look of it it does have several advantages over the CD. However it also looks like a cheap man's internet. Pretty much it has an interface so you can see album art, and has abilities to update with new content and have community features. The problems with that are so obvious. People already have access to that through the artist's websites and fan web sites. It require you to use there software - do you really trust the music industry's software. Even if they're not spying on you I'm sure it'll make you're computer slow down like crazy. But it seems like a technology that the music industry is excited about and I'm sure they'll be pushing it quite a bit in 2009. But I think consumers just won't like it.

Clarke (New user):

Sneaky Sound System sent out an email to their subscribers regarding which stores stocked their latest album on DDA stick.

Admittedly, there are probably about 500 stores in Sydney that sell CD's, but right now there are about 10 that sell DDA's.

I recall hearing of one in Parramatta and a few in private places in the city.

But you can get them from Waterfront Records if you're willing to order online and wait for postage, etc.

Tin (Senior Forumologist):

Quoting Clarke:
But you can get them from Waterfront Records if you're willing to order online and wait for postage, etc.


I think if you're happy with ordering music online at an unknown quality, you'd probably go for iTunes or some other "get it now" method. Ordering a USB stick with it is a bit 1995 (only with USB sticks instead of floppies).