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CDs may be ‘retro’ but they’re not irrelevant.
With in-car CD players vanishing and digital platforms thriving, you might think CDs are on their way out.
Yet, against all odds, CD sales tell a different story. They’re still far from being the dominant music format and perhaps they never will be. But, CDs are growing to meet new demands driven by collectors, younger listeners, and exclusive releases.
In other words, CDs aren’t dying off; they’re changing with the times.
YoY comparison of album consumption units by format. (From: Billboard)
You see, Luminate, the company that gives Billboard its data, completely changed how they count CD sales (or any music format sales for that matter). They used to make weighted estimates about indie store sales, but now they’re only counting actual reported sales.
Some indie stores didn’t like this change and stopped reporting their sales in protest. This made comparisons with previous years less reliable, which made it look like CD sales dropped more than they really did.
It’s kind of like if half your friends stopped posting their music recommendations. You’d think nobody was listening to new music anymore!
But, when you look past these reports, CDs are actually doing pretty well.
In fact, in the first half of 2024, CD unit sales grew by 3.3%, reaching 16.8 million units.
The differences between Digital Downloads vs Physical sales in the first half of 2024. (From: RIAA)
Even better, CDs made $236.7 million compared to digital albums’ $87.8 million. Meaning, they’re making nearly three times more money than digital albums.
The Loss of In-Car CD Players Doesn’t Mean the End
With this, all major car manufacturers have now shifted to digital systems like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. This makes it easy to think that streaming has officially taken CDs to its grave.
However, this announcement really irked a lot of people. Contrary to what the manufacturers thought, not everyone’s thrilled about being forced to stream their road trip playlist.
In exchange to CD players, car manufacturers are now relying on streaming for automotive entertainment. (From: Subaru)
Many respondents also expressed dissatisfaction with the absence of CD players in new models in recent surveys.
It’s clear that while car manufacturers might be ready to move on, millions of music lovers aren’t quite ready to let go of their CD collections just yet.
That’s reassuring for CDs as the pushback means the format is still appreciated in this time and age. And, there are still millions of people actually supporting and using the format.
In fact, Gen Z, the digital natives born in the late 1990s and early 2000s, are some of the biggest CD fans.
For this group, CDs bring a totally different experience from just tapping a screen. It’s like discovering a cool new technology that happens to be retro (A.K.A. trendy). They’re falling in love with the ritual of opening that plastic case, flipping through the booklet, and actually holding their favorite album in their hands.
The ownership factor is huge too.
Ever had a favorite song disappear from your playlist overnight because of licensing issues? With CDs, once you buy it, it’s yours forever. No internet required, no subscription needed, no surprise disappearing acts.
CDs are cheaper too.
While vinyl records might look cool on Instagram and cost $30-40, most CDs are $10-15 or less. That means you can build a serious music collection without emptying your wallet.
More artists are releasing variants of a single album to increase revenue. (From: Luminate)
Not to mention, major artists like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé are also helping to boost CD sales with special edition releases that appeal to collectors and superfans. Thanks to this, CDs have officially become collectibles with fans buying more than one variant of the same album at a time.
CDs and Streaming Can Coexist
It’s easy to see streaming as the end of CDs, but the two formats can and do coexist.
Streaming works great for exploring new music quickly and making playlists on the go. It’s perfect when you want to jump between different songs or try something new.
However, CDs serve a different purpose. They provide a physical and more permanent connection to your music.
Sometimes you want to sit down with an album, follow the lyrics, and really focus on the music. Or maybe you want to show friends your signed copy of a rare album. These are the moments when having a physical CD feels special.
There’s more to buying CDs than just nostalgia.
It’s not about one replacing the other. It’s about having options for how we experience music.
Plus, the numbers show there’s room for both. While streaming brings in millions of plays, CDs still earn serious income for musicians.
Think of it this way: streaming is like having access to every restaurant in town, while owning CDs is like having your grandmother’s recipe book. Both are valuable, both serve a purpose, and both make our experiences better.
It’s never about choosing one or the other, but more about enjoying the best of both worlds.
Super Audio CD (SACD) was introduced in 1999 by Philips and Sony, its co-inventors, as the next generation of consumer audio, featuring six channels of Direct Stream Digital (DSD), the highest resolution then available to home listeners, and backward compatibility to existing CD players through its hybrid CD layer.
AR-logo_sacd copy.jpgMy Sony and Philips colleagues and I demonstrated DSD surround recordings of classical, jazz, and rock music to several hundred leading recording engineers, musicians, and reviewers, using top-quality playback equipment in acoustically treated environments. We received almost unanimous praise for their transparency. Reviewers exulted over its lack of digital harshness, and one well-known engineer told me that while 96/24 PCM sounded good, with DSD he heard the output of his console, not the output of the recorder.
Interestingly, one major artist A/B compared this engineer’s simultaneous 96/24 PCM and DSD recordings of her music in his control room and told him, “We can’t go back.”
Consumers could buy SACDs before they bought surround systems and their purchases wouldn’t be obsolete when they upgraded. The same discs would play in their cars, their portable players, their children’s boom boxes, and the surround systems in their listening rooms.
AR-DVD_audio_logo copy.jpgFurther, DVD-Video was making significant progress in homes, helped by low-cost but low-quality “home theater in a box” surround systems. One might assume that surround audio on a CD-sized disk would be an easy sell.
So why was SACD not a commercial success?
First, there was a format war. The DVD Forum, headed by Toshiba, refused to pay patent royalties to Sony and Philips, and they launched a competing format: DVD-Audio, which couldn’t be played in a CD player. Ironically, the royalty for an SACD was the same as for a CD: $.10 per disc, while the royalty on a DVD-Audio disc was around four times higher.
Record labels chose sides. The Warner group, part of the DVD Forum, went with DVD-Audio, and Universal and Sony chose SACD. Consumers are understandably reluctant to choose one new format over another — they remembered the Beta vs. VHS format war — so neither SACD nor DVD-Audio gained significant traction.
Then came the bombshell. Like Monty Python’s Spanish Inquisition, nobody expected the iPod. While there were MP3 players that preceded the iPod, they were clunky, difficult to use, and thus had limited success. Steve Jobs and his crew put a simple, straightforward user interface in an elegant package that was a huge hit. Never mind that it used MP3 files (although it could also play PCM files).
The mass market fell in love with the iPod. Consumers didn’t care that its supplied earbuds were poor quality and that its MP3 files didn’t sound as good as CDs, let alone high-resolution. Then Apple released its iTunes software, first for the Mac and then for Windows, and they started selling music at $.99/track through the iTunes Music Store. Apple made it easy for the average consumer to buy music and carry it in a convenient package.
The money that consumers would have spent by on high-resolution surround sound instead went to portable music, and the demand needed to establish a viable high-resolution format never materialized.
When we look back, we see that acoustical recordings, which started around the turn of the century, were replaced by electrical recordings in the mid-1920s. The LP and the 45 replaced those in the late 1940s and evolved into stereo records in the late ’50s. The CD took hold in the early 1980s. SACD and DVD-Audio may have been too early, as they were introduced in 1999 and 2000, respectively, but the iPod’s introduction in 2001 sealed their fate.
Why have premium audio formats such as DVD-Audio and SACD failed?
It was a couple of things, all at once.
Average Consumers Don’t Care
To start with, the average consumer doesn’t have an audio system capable of demonstrating a discernable difference between a higher-spec format and a CD. So immediately, at least on paper, the higher-spec formats were audiophile-only.
Let’s revisit that for just a second, then I’ll go on. In practice, this wasn’t actually the case, but for all the wrong reasons. CDs were typically part of every record company’s mass market operations. It was a very common thing for these divisions to take an artists’ final release and do a pretty lousy job of final mastering for production. This includes engaging in “loudness wars” evils, compressing the pretty wonderful dynamic range of CD down to 12-bit, 10-bits, sometimes 8-bits of actual dynamic range.
The high-spec audio was always sent to the “specialty” division of the record companies, the same guys who dealt with all small production music: classical, jazz, audiophile, vinyl, etc. So they got the artists’ release master and didn’t screw it up. So in reality, if you bought an SACD and listened just to the CD-compatible layer, you probably heard a much better mix than you would with the mass-market CD. But no one really understood that, or even cared that much about it.
Average Consumers Don’t Hear It
As I jumped around from listening to music, playing music, recording and mixing music, I came to understand that there are fundamentally different ways of listening to music.
While it might be surprising, there’s truth to the old “musicians have the worst stereos” cliche, and it’s not just because musicians are chronically underpaid. But rather, when I “listen as a musician”, I have a pretty complete idea of any song I know already in my head. That’s actually pretty necessary when I’m up there at the open mic with just my voice, harmonica, and guitar. But it’s actually how most people who really like music listen. If you’re singing along, you’re probably one of us. Your brain fills in what you know about the music you’re listening to. So you’re pretty ok listening on an iPod, a smartphone, a car radio, etc.
And there are those who basically just put music as a background, They don’t pay much attention at all, so they don’t really care all that much about listening.
Then there’s the way I’ve learned, though both experience and coursework, to listen “critically”. That’s how you figure out how to tweak your 40 channel recording into something that sounds comparable to what you hear on that car radio. It’s listening with that memory part of your brain shut off and the listening part set to 11.
And I believe that audiophiles, whether they know it or not, pretty much listen the same way. This is not music at a gym, and no, they’re not trying to fix the music, though maybe looking to spend another $10,000 on some pointless tweak to their music system. But I’m not suggesting they’re all big fakes — just a little gullible. But they have discovered this same mode of listening. The audiophile goes into a room with an audio system that cost as much as your car, or at least my car. They put on the music, sit down in a nice comfortable chair, maybe wiht a glass of wine or a single malt scotch, and listen, with that memory part on low if not off completely. They experience the same kind of detail I’m listening for when mixing/mastering, only for different reasons.
Those are the folks buying high-spec music, and there just are not all that many around.
The Digital Revolution Continued…
So, while the various forces at Sony and Philips were concocting SACD, and other various folks as the DVD Forum were concocting DVD-Audio, everyone slowly started getting into MP3 downloads and digital audio players. This was a reduction in quality from CD, but of course, as mentioned, the average person was happy with their car’s factory audio system or the all-in-one they have at home. They were not put off by MP3 at 128kb/s, which had after all been designed to be “transparent” for use in radio (the 128kb/s was the speed of a dual-channel ISDN line, which was a common enough thing for radio station audio transfers).
That one player could take 20 albums, then 200, then maybe your whole collection. But here’s the second problem: you couldn’t “rip” a DVD-Audio disc, and you could only rip the CD layer of an SACD, if it had one. So that was just one more reason for folks to not buy these discs.
The Format Wars! And the Winner Is….
So, the other problem was that the tiny market for high-spec audio was split! It was DVD-Audio against SACD, of course. And not only that, but neither format could necessarily play on your existing gear. No CD player could handle a DVD-Audio disc. A standard DVD player could play only the compressed, AC-3 tracks on a DVD-Audio disc, and you probably had to turn on the televsion to enable that. The SACD’s CD layer would play on a conventional CD player or more DVD players, but you needed a special SACD player to play the high spec part. And the CD layer was not a requirement; some discs didn’t have it.
And of course, by then, everyone had already bought numerous CD players, DVD players, etc. So there was a strong pushback against “yet another format”. And so neither thrived. And even its friends didn’t stand behind SACD. I recall when Sony killed that compatibility in my PS3. I could have wrung their collective necks!
And it wasn’t all that long before there were two new high-spec audio formats. The first was the download. While you never got high-spec audio from Apple, Amazon, or other mass market vendors, lossless compressed formats like FLAC and ALAC allowed more specialized online music companies to offer the same content you’d get on SACD or DVD-Audio, but in a copy-protection-free format that would play on at least a more advanced audio player.
And Blu-ray came along. Not only did Blu-ray come along, but the Blu-ray people made their own version of an advanced audio disc with even higher specs than SACD or DVD-Audio. And they even had the uncommonly good sense to make that not a special new kind of disc, but in fact, a disc that could play on any old Blu-ray player. The details of the music-only Blu-ray, dubbed Profile 3.0, is really just the set of rules for discs to play on audio-only players — no screen. They still play just dandy on your bog-standard Blu-ray player.
So those two put the final nails in the SACD/DVD-Audio coffin.
Blu-ray Audio may not be knocking down walls with its mass-market popularity. But it really just amounts to an authoring decision for any company making an audio release. So it’s got its following. Similarly, online high-spec audio downloads have done better than the dedicated formats, because there’s really nothing extra to buy — though of course, your PC/Phone/etc. used as a player might need an app update, and might offer no better audio output than for playing CD-quality downloads.
CD sales are on the rise again, and for good reason. In fact, there are a lot of good reasons.
It’s 2024 and streaming makes up more than 84 percent of the music industry. But there’s still a lot of love for physical audio formats. Vinyl is in a huge resurgence, of course, with sales growing year after year since 2005. In 2023, more than 41 million LPs were sold in the U.S. alone.
As for CDs, well, you might be surprised that people are still listening to them. In fact, I’m one of them. After being in a steady decline since 2000, CD sales are actually rising. Last year, almost 37 million CDs were sold — up nearly three percent year over year.
Here are all the reasons I collect CDs and think you should, too.
1. CDs sound better than vinyl
One of the great myths in the audio world is that vinyl sounds better than CDs. It’s just not true.
Don’t get me wrong. I love vinyl’s warm analog sound, specifically its crackling and other imperfections. And there’s the visceral experience of actually dropping the needle on a spinning record.
But CDs are simply the best sounding physical audio format. Compared to vinyl, CDs are able to produce a wider dynamic range and more bass. Plus, they’re not going to skip (unless they’re scratched).
2. CDs sound better than streaming files, too
If you’re streaming music from the likes of Spotify, Apple Music or Tidal, you’re listening to a compressed music file. That means that the audio data is being stored in less space, which results in a loss of information and the music isn’t going to sound as vibrant or as complete. MP3, AAC, WMA are all types of compressed music files.
Most songs on streaming services are compressed files, meaning songs don’t sound as vibrant or complete.Photo by Henry Phillips
The best compressed digital music files are referred to as lossless because they don’t lose information, but only a few streaming services are able to play lossless or CD-quality audio — such as Tidal, Amazon Music HD and Apple Music — and those require a subscription and can be pretty expensive.
3. CDs are significantly cheaper than vinyl
If you’re looking for a superior audio format, CDs are the best deal you’re likely to get. To be frank, they’re cheap to buy. Audio shops and retailers are practically giving away used CDs, while new CDs are usually in the $12 to $15 price range.
If you’re looking for vinyl, on the other hand, a new record will likely cost twice as much as that. Also, there’s the resale value of CDs and vinyl. It might not be much, but you can sell your old records and CDs online or to record shops. If you buy a digital song, like an mp3 file, there’s no resale value.
4. CD booklets are underrated
In this streaming age, the album artwork seems to be more of an afterthought (to consumers, at least). Sure, you see a little picture of the album cover when you’re listening to a song, but you’re missing the story of the album.When you stream music, you lose one of the best parts about listening to a new album: diving into the booklet that comes with a CD.Cambridge Audio
The 12×12 album cover of a vinyl record is still the gold standard, but the little booklet that comes with each CD, highlighting some behind the scenes shots or interesting artwork, and showing the lyrics to each song, is a nice middle ground between having to rely on digital images and having to store giant vinyl records.
As a kid, I always enjoyed getting a CD and flipping through the booklet — something I still try to do. I think it makes you feel more connected to the music.
5. Artists still release CDs of their new albums
Yes, you can still buy the latest albums of modern artists as CDs. They are releasing their new albums in CD formats just like they are also releasing them vinyl.
You can buy these new CDs at pretty much any music shop. But if you’re struggling to find a CD of a specific artist, it’s worth going to their official website — a lot of artists and bands these days sell direct-to-consumers these days as well.
6. Audio companies are still releasing new CD players
The portable CD player is mostly a thing of the past, but, believe it or not, big-time audio companies are still releasing CD players for the home. Why? Because audiophiles are still craving them.
In the past few years, companies such as Cambridge Audio, Panasonic, McIntosh, Rotel and Sony have all released new CD players (or integrating them into digital streamers).
These players are a great option for people who have a large CD collection and don’t want to pay for a music server (or spend the time uploading all their entire CD library to it). Also, high-end CD players aren’t terribly expensive.
CDs can offer savings over music subscriptions by providing lifetime ownership at affordable prices.
CD quality surpasses compressed digital formats while avoiding storage issues with lossless formats.
Physical CD collections provide aesthetic appeal, reflect your personality, and are more practical than tape and vinyl.
Old-school music tech is back in a big way—we are witnessing a significant resurgence in vinyl, cassette, and CD sales. As much as I love the convenience of music streaming services, here is why I believe CDs are still worth buying in 2024:
CDs Save You Paying for a Music Subscription Service
I have a music streaming subscription but often find myself listening to the same playlists, which makes me wonder if it's worth the monthly fee. Much of the music I listen to on Spotify already exists in my home music collection, and I'm chiefly paying for the convenience and practicality of music streaming. It begs the question: would the hundreds of dollars I pay yearly for music subscriptions be better spent on physical recordings?
Music streaming has revolutionized the industry, but the impact is not all positive. Artists are paid less, while record companies and streaming services are getting the lion’s share. Algorithms shape our decisions and set trends, while new artists aren't necessarily getting the exposure they deserve. Additionally, streaming services frequently charge a premium for CD-quality sound.
CD Quality Beats Compressed Digital Formats
Music streaming services like Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, and Tidal already provide high-resolution audio. With the imminent release of Spotify HiFi, all major platforms will offer us the option to stream in 16-bit or higher quality that matches or exceeds that of CDs. However, much of this quality is lost on the average listener unless the music is played on high-end equipment or transmitted via premium Bluetooth codecs when connecting wirelessly.
Due to digital music's binary nature, CD quality is theoretically inferior to analog sound reproduction. Still, it beats the quality of compressed digital formats like MP3 by a large margin. The 16-bit 44.1 kHz standard CDs offer can reproduce all frequencies detectable by the human ear, but MP3 and other compressed formats are a significant compromise. If you choose to store your digital music library on a hard drive, storage device, phone, or digital music player (yes, these are also making a comeback), you have to use a lossless format like ALAC, AIFF, WAV, or FLAC to achieve CD-quality sound.
CDs Save You Using Storage Space on Your Devices
The problem with lossless formats is that they have much larger file sizes. Depending on the size of your music collection, this may lead to compromises when using a portable device to listen to your music, and it might dominate space on your computer's hard drive. I use a laptop with a decent amount of storage. However, I have had to relocate my digital music files to an external hard drive to ensure enough space for music creation and video editing.
A CD is a digital storage device in its own right, and if you have the available room, it makes sense to give your music collection a dedicated space distinct from your digital devices. As I prepare to dust off my old CD collection, I am seriously considering buying a modern CD player to get the best possible results and expanding my collection to include new purchases and music converted from my vinyl collection.
CD Players Can Be Compact and Stylish
The world has changed since the CD's heyday, and we tend to favor compact devices over large Hi-Fi separates and boxy floor-standing speakers. Modern entertainment centers seldom have enough room to house much more than a gaming console, a soundbar, and a TV streaming box, but thankfully, CD players have also moved with the times.
While it is still possible to buy 19-inch Hi-Fi separates, many manufacturers are producing scaled-down CD players that produce excellent results. Some exceed thousands of dollars in price, suggesting that the CD format is alive and well in audiophile circles. On the other end of the scale, some of the best new CD players are practical, affordable, and include modern features such as Bluetooth connectivity.
CDs Are Often Cheap to Buy
CDs can be affordable and come with lifetime ownership, unlike subscription services, where even your downloads ultimately expire. New releases on CD usually cost around $15, whereas classic albums and compilations can be found for between $5 and $10 on Amazon. Unsurprisingly, CD prices are lower in used markets, with popular releases selling for as little as $2 to $5 online.
CDs can still be found even cheaper in charity shops and thrift stores, although there's an element of chance involved regarding whether you will find something you like. That said, shopping for records is one of the greatest pleasures of owning physical music. I have spent entire afternoons looking for bargains and hidden gems among the racks of CDs—something that is becoming lost in the age of streaming media.
It Feels Good to Have a Physical Music Collection on CD
Like your taste in clothes or the artwork on your wall, your music collection says a lot about you. Physical music media comes with attractive images and informative liner notes, and a CD collection, like a well-stocked bookshelf, lends aesthetic appeal to a living space. There's much to be said for perusing a shelf full of CDs to consider what to play—something that often can't be said for scrolling through an app where you'll likely be bombarded with suggestions that don't reflect your mood.
As a vinyl collector for over twenty years, I am a fan of physical music media, but CDs are more robust, so I don't get nervous when a friend fumbles through my collection. A well-looked-after CD should last a lifetime, and building a sizable CD library shouldn't take long. You can also easily convert your analog media to CD format as a backup to save it from wear and tear and listen to it on the move.
It's easy to see why CDs declined in popularity. With the proliferation of digital music players, MP3 quickly became the gold standard, damaging the entire music industry as piracy and duplication were rife. To their credit, music streaming services have helped rectify some of these issues, but a new generation is happy to return to basics. As someone who loves their vinyl collection but likes to listen to music on the move, CDs provide the perfect compromise, especially if I decide to take my music entirely offline.
Blu Ray 4K UHD players are my new standard for playing audio. The below 3 models from LG, Samsung, and Sony offer UHD 4K video upscaling, 24-bit/192kHz resolution audio DAC, USB input, and Wi-Fi streaming from Netflix, Pandora, and YouTube. They also offer superior cable connections via HDMI ports. They are readily available on Amazon and eBay. Put your library of FLAC audio and HD video on a 256GB USB drive, and you can listen and watch your entertainment library for days.
You can also find older similar models that have the same features. Samsung had the K8500. LG had the UBK8 series and UBK9 series. In side by side listening tests, I found the LG blu ray players had better sound, being more open and dynamic, with fuller bass. The Samsung sounded bright, bass was well defined, but thinner sounding.
In terms of audio technology, the 4K UHD blu ray player will have an updated DAC, able to handle all of today's music formats. Some may look for older CD or blu ray players players, but these are certified for UHD PCM audio files up to 24-bit and 192 khz resolution. The Sony also supports SACD audio CDs.
Managing a music library is getting more challenging with physical CDs taking up more and more room. So storing & burning FLAC files on DVDs, Blu Ray discs, or a file server, is more efficient. Look at FLAC files for preserving your music collection and you have a lossless music collection! Although I am reluctant on parting with my precious physical CDs like a lot of folks. What to do?
Below are some 4K UHD Blu Ray players that I have and can recommend: Enjoy.
LG UBK90 Streaming 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray Player with Dolby Vision
Ultra
HD Premium, Multi-HDR, 4K Blu-Ray Disc Playback, 3D Blu-Ray/ DVD
Playback, 4K Streaming Content, Built-in dual band WiFi, USB media input
Get the best out of your 4K TV
Since
I upgraded to my LG OLED 4K TV, everything I watch looks better. But I
geek out the most over shows and movies in true 4K. They just seem to
pop off the screen. And the LG UBK90 4K Blu-ray player will play Ultra
HD Blu-ray discs with Dolby Vision — the absolute best-quality video
source available today.
Ready for the best HDR formats
Ultra
HD Blu-ray discs with HDR (High Dynamic Range) allow compatible TVs to
display extremely bright and dark black picture content together within
the same image. HDR content makes for serious eye candy on my new OLED
TV — it stands out even among other, stellar-looking 4K videos.
And
this player supports the required HDR 10 format, and the more
sophisticated Dolby Vision format. Dolby Vision is one of the reasons I
ended up going with the LG OLED. Dolby's dynamic system can adjust
brightness and color levels on a scene-by-scene basis.
Netflix
has a bunch of shows in Dolby Vision, and some of them look so realistic
and vibrant that it actually adds to the storytelling. Take the brutal
Western show Godless: the beautiful yet nightmarish landscape is
practically one of the characters. Watching sunlight peek over a
mountain and spill over the dusty terrain with true-to-life shading is
truly a sight to see.
Top movie sound formats and flexible connections
This
player has built-in support for the highest-quality surround sound
formats, like Dolby® TrueHD and DTS Master Audio™. It also plays Dolby
Atmos®-encoded discs. You simply set the HDMI audio output to
"bitstream" when connected to an Atmos-capable receiver.
There
are two HDMI outputs: one for sending audio to your home theater
receiver and one for video directly to your TV. That means you can still
play sound through receivers that don't have a free HDMI input that's
HDCP 2.2 compatible. You can also use an optical digital connection to
get surround sound from the player to your receiver. Dual-band Wi-Fi means smooth 4K video streaming
Along
with playing discs, you can use the UBK90 to stream Netflix® and
YouTube. These are the two video services that offer the most 4K
content available right now. And this player's dual-band Wi-Fi gives you
the strong connection needed for streaming 4K. (We recommend having an
internet speed of 20Mbps or faster for 4K streaming.)
Product highlights:
Plays Ultra HD Blu-ray discs, 3D and standard Blu-ray discs, DVDs, CDs and rewriteable discs full 4K resolution video for use with Ultra HD TVs 4K video upscaling for standard Blu-ray and DVDs HDR (High Dynamic Range) for extended picture contrast and brightness on compatible TVs supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision Dolby Vision adjusts brightness dynamically for premium shading and depth supports lower resolutions when used with non-4K TVs plays Region A Blu-ray discs and Region 1 DVDs
Wireless Features and Technical Specs:
Dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi for smooth wireless streaming from Netflix and other video streaming apps HEVC for watching streamed 4K content from Netflix (requires internet speed of at least 20Mbps) selectable video resolution up to 3840 x 2160 pixels built-in audio decoding for Dolby® Digital, Dolby TrueHD, DTS®, and DTS-HD Master Audio can pass Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks when HDMI output is set to "bitstream" for decoding by a compatible receiver Plays AAC, FLAC, MP3, and WMA audio file formats BD-Live and BonusView support for added bonus features with compatible discs (requires external USB storage device)
Connections and General Info:
Front-panel USB port to play music, movies, and images from external hard drives, thumb drives, or Android phones 2 HDMI outputs for separating audio and video signals
HDMI 1 output is HDMI 2.0a (connected 4K TV and/or receiver must have
an HDCP 2.2-compatible HDMI input, and must have HDMI 2.0a to support
HDR) HDMI 2 input does not output video signal (audio only) optical digital audio output dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Ethernet port for downloading firmware updates remote control 16-15/16"W x 1-13/16"H x 9-3/8"D warranty: 1 year
4K
Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc playback provides the ultimate in audio/video
quality with a stunning 4K picture and state-of-the-art audio. Pop in a
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc and prepare to be transported 4K streaming
content - this internet-ready LG device is capable of delivering an
uncompromising Ultra HD 4K streaming experience. (Additional
subscriptions services may be required) High pressure audio playback - this UHD Blu-ray DVD player Supports high Resolution audio HDR
playback - this LG Blu-ray Disc player is HDR compatible with Dolby
Vision and HDR10. (HDR/Dolby Vision TV sold separately and required for
Dolby Vision playback) Blu-ray & DVD backward compatible - this
LG UHD Blu-ray Disc player is backward compatible supporting both of
these popular legacy standards.
Samsung UBD-M8500 4K Blu Ray Player
If your new 4K TV just arrived, you're probably chomping at the bit to see its best picture. Place an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc into the Samsung UBD-M500 4K Blu-ray player's tray, and savor your movies in true 4K resolution — a staggering 3840 x 2160 pixels. This player delivers an incredibly sharp, realistic picture, even when you sit up close.
The Samsung UBD-M8500 features a sturdy disc drive to prevent vibration. Beautiful, lifelike picture contrast
I think High Dynamic Range (HDR) is the most exciting aspect of Ultra HD Blu-ray. It allows compatible TVs to display extremely bright and dark black picture content together within the same image. (Think tiny stars peeking through the pitch-black night sky.)
This also has Hollywood buzzing. It's given directors a brilliant visual palette to play with — subtle, delicate lighting, sparks of brightness, and true-to-life shading and shadows. Samsung gives you more 4K viewing options — yep, including Netflix®
Have you ever seen the vibrant Colombian landscapes of Narcos in 4K? It is really something else. And the deeper shading and detail make scenes in small cafés feel even more claustrophobic.
When you connect this player to your home network via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, you get several 4K streaming options including Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and M-Go. Plus, you can watch 4K video clips on YouTube. Don't throw out your old discs!
You can still enjoy all your old standard Blu-rays and DVDs on this player. Samsung made 4K upconversion a top priority for the UBD-M8500. Their UHD Upscaling automatically upconverts any signal to 4K resolution. All of your movies and shows will look better than ever. QLED TV
Find out how great the picture is on your new QLED TV (sold separately) with the Samsung UBD-M8500
Impressive sound and music options
Along with the state-of-the-art picture, your movies will sound amazing too. The Samsung UBD-M8500 has built-in support for the highest-quality surround sound formats, like Dolby® TrueHD and DTS Master Audio™. It also plays Dolby Atmos®-encoded discs (just set the HDMI audio output to "bitstream" when connected to an Atmos-capable receiver).
This Ultra HD player's no slouch when it comes to music, either. You can play music from a CD or stream tunes from services like Pandora® or Spotify®. You can even wirelessly connect to a compatible networked PC via DLNA technology and play songs from your computer. Samsung's smart hub is smarter than most
This player's brain is a super-speedy eight-core processor — the same found in Samsung's latest high-end TVs, Galaxy phones, and tablets. It lets you do serious multitasking. You can browse the web without having to interrupt your movie, or use one app while downloading another. Plus Samsung's on-board selection of apps is pretty stacked — streaming video, sports leagues, music, games, you name it. Project images to your screen
While newer phones are getting harder to cram into pockets, sometimes the screens still aren't large enough for certain tasks. Maybe you want to share a video or picture with a group of people. Wirelessly "push" the display to your TV's big screen through the Samsung UBD-M8500. Allshare™, Samsung's take on Miracast™ technology, mirrors the screen of your compatible mobile device, tablet, or computer screen for everyone to see. READ LESS
Product highlights:
Plays Ultra HD Blu-ray discs, standard Blu-ray discs, DVDs, CDs and rewriteable discs (no 3D playback) full 4K resolution video for use with Ultra HD TVs 4K video upscaling for standard Blu-ray and DVDs supports lower resolutions when used with non-4K TVs HDR (High Dynamic Range)-ready for extended picture contrast and brightness on compatible TVs supports HDR10 format plays high-resolution digital music files via USB storage device; PCM files up to 24-bit/192kHz resolution this player accepts Region A Blu-ray discs and Region 1 DVDs
Wireless Features:
Dual-band Wi-Fi for streaming video and music (subscriptions required for some services) streaming video services: Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Vudu, and more streaming music services: Spotify, Pandora, SiriusXM, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn HEVC for watching streamed 4K content from sources like Netflix, Amazon Instant, or YouTube (requires Internet speed of at least 20Mbps) Samsung's Smart Hub lets you scroll through apps and menu while you watch a disc AllShare lets you stream content and mirror screens from compatible Samsung smartphones and tablets Multiroom Link for syncing wirelessly with Samsung Shape wireless speakers on-board web browser
Technical Specs and General Info:
Selectable video resolution up to 3840 x 2160 pixels built-in audio decoding for Dolby® Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS®, and DTS-HD Master Audio can pass Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks when HDMI output is set to "bitstream" plays AAC, AIFF, ALAC, , FLAC, MP3, WMA, and WAV audio file formats front-panel USB port for use with external storage devices 1 HDMI output HDMI 2.0a (connected 4K TV and/or receiver must have an HDCP 2.2-compatible HDMI input, and must have HDMI 2.0a to support HDR) Anynet+ simplifies control of compatible Samsung components via "MAIN" HDMI connection (HDMI-CEC) optical digital audio output remote control Ethernet port for wired network connection 16"W x 1-7/8"H x 8-15/16"D warranty: 1 year
Sony UBP-X700 review: More 4K HDR Blu-ray goodness for less money-CNET
4K Blu-ray is growing up. Current players offer better performance
and cheaper prices than their predecessors. The latest batch of UHD players are available for between $100 and $200 and offer things the early adopters couldn't, including compatibility with Dolby Vision discs.
The Good
The Sony UBP-X700 is a compact powerhouse that offers similar
performance and better features than the X800 for a $50 discount. The
player includes a host of streaming options, and Dolby Vision support is
forthcoming.The time it takes for the player to load Netflix is
insanely fast.
The Bad
Only supports streaming 4K HDR from YouTube. Both cheaper
competitors and Sony's own X800 offer better DVD performance.
The Bottom Line
The Sony UBP-X700 is at the cutting edge of 4K Blu-ray
technology and rewards with a solid performance at a reasonable price.
With a software update available later this year,
the Sony X700 will work with Dolby Vision-encoded discs, lending owners
of DV-equipped TVs a sense of future-proofing.
Unlike the cheaper
LG
UP870 and the
Oppo
UBP-203, which are strictly disc players, the
Sony
UBP-X700 offers the best of both disc media and streaming. It's
relatively fast, offers all of the apps you need, and its picture
quality is top notch.
"But what about the Sony X800?",
you might say, especially as that one's not going away.
Performance-wise it's a wash between the two Sony players -- the main
benefit to the more expensive model is a nicer-looking box and
marginally better DVD performance. At a $50 saving and with the promise
of Dolby Vision in the future, there's no real reason not to buy the
X700. Don't need streaming, though? Save some money and get the equally
impressive LG UP870.
The Sony UBP-X700 is available for $199, £269 or AU$349.
Design and features
In terms of design, the X700 sits somewhere between the up-market, book-like X800 and compact HD models like the BDP-S3700 The
X700 measures a foot across and boasts a two-tone finish, but it lacks a
display on the front panel -- all you'll find there are play and eject
buttons. To the left of the front panel is a drop-down drawer that hides
the disc mechanism.
Apart from the design, what is the difference between the X700 and the $250 X800? Two words: Dolby Vision.
No one likes a format war, but Dolby's baby is one of a handful of HDR
technologies vying for your attention. While support isn't coming till
mid-2018, the X700 also includes the more widespread HDR 10, so you'll have most of the bases covered.
Connectivity is identical to the X800's with two
HDMI
ports -- one for audio and video and a second for decoding audio
from an older, non-4K-sporting AV receiver. The player also comes with a
coaxial digital port, which is a bit unusual, as most
TVs
and
sound bars
support optical, plus it offers a USB connection.
The
menu is sensibly laid out and pretty much identical to the X800's, plus
the X700 has most of the apps you can ask for, including
Netflix
, Amazon Prime Video, Panora, Spotify and Hulu. The player also supports 4K streaming from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube, but only the latter in HDR. Lastly, If you somehow still need it the player includes Miracast for streaming your mobile device's screen to your player as well as DLNA.
The remote control is compact and fun with easy access to most of the functions you'll need.
Performance
There's
a reason Sony players are so popular -- in our testing they have proven
to be consistently good performers -- and the X700 again acquits itself
quite well. We found it was equally comfortable with HD discs, 4K
Blu-ray and YouTube HDR streams. Compared to the X800 though, the
more-expensive player was a little bit better at playing DVDs, with less
moire on the edges of the buildings in our Star Trek test disc. The
X700 gives you a choice of two different settings for upscaling -- Auto1
(2K) and Auto2 (4K). As Auto1 (2) was better than Auto2 with this test,
which indicates that the scaler in our LG OLED TV was taking over the
heavy lifting to bring it to 4K. By contrast, we found both the LG UP
X870 and Sony X800 to do a better job of reproducing DVDs with less
jaggies.
So
the X700 put in a good show picture quality-wise and in terms of speed
it was equally adept. Most surprising was how quickly the player loaded
Netflix -- at only 1.89 seconds it's the fastest a player has ever
performed this test. It felt instantaneous. While we would always
recommend a dedicated
Roku
box instead of a Blu-ray as your main streamer the X700 is a very
good alternative. That said, the X800 is no slouch either -- since we
first looked at the X800, its loading times have also improved, and on
the disc side it is now the second-quickest at loading the Batman versus
Superman 4K BD.
Loading times
Load times (s)
LG UP870
Oppo UDP-203 (discontinued)
Microsoft Xbox One S
Samsung UBD-K8500
Sony UBP-X700
Sony UBP-X800
Netflix (until menu)
N/A
N/A
10.01
7.64
1.89
4.26
MI:III | player on | disk tray open
9.36
14.81
22.87
10.00
12.56
12.41
Batman vs. Superman UHD | player on
21.2
39.3
37.69
28.78
30.72
24.05
Finally,
we watched a number of HDR discs, both in HDR 10 and Dolby Vision. Why
Dolby Vision when it's not supported yet? We had some troubles last year
with the
Xbox One
overblowing HDR highlights on the Dolby-sporting Despicable Me 2
test disc and wanted to see if the X700 did the same. The answer is, no;
it simply read the HDR 10 layer and relayed it without issue.
Likewise, Mad Max Fury Road looked lovely, with a much more natural palette when played through the LG OLED55C8P TV
than we'd seen previously. When you first see the procession of
vehicles as they chase the war-truck (Chapter 2 17.00), the ultra-red
details of the flaming exhausts and the blind guitarist's velour outfit
"pop" but don't look completely unrealistic.
Should you buy it?
For
your extra 50 bucks, what does the X800 give you? The most obvious
answer is a premium build -- while the X700 looks like something you
keep in a motorhome, the X800 more befits a home AV system. The other is
that the X800 is a little faster with 4K load times. But things can
change drastically in 12 months, for while the X800 was the best player
at this time last year, that is no longer the case. In its place we
present two alternatives: for the shttps://www.cnet.com/reviews/sony-ubp-x700-review/treamers, this X700 is the best
option, while for people who strictly want a disc player, the LG UP870
is shaping up to be a budget superstar. Look out for a full review of
the LG player soon.
With the multitude of online radio stations that are available, picking
your favorite should be easy. Below is my hand-picked list of the
absolute best online radio stations for a variety of genres.
I reviewed dozens of these types of websites to uncover the best choices
in a variety of categories, so you'll find country music, instrumental
music, a station perfect for party music, and several others.
Each of these picks has music selected by one or more DJs, much like a
traditional radio station. In fact, some are just online streams of the
same radio program played over the air in that station's local area.
These websites are true radio programs, not on-demand music streaming services.
While a streaming music service gives you the freedom to play specific
tracks and eliminates commercials, you have to manually pick and choose
which songs to stream. An internet radio station plays DJ-chosen music
as part of a category or genre, like rock, indie, jazz, Christian, etc.,
making music discovery fun and easy.
Must make a free account after 30 minutes of listening.
Ads and lower quality audio for free users.
Now known as DI.FM, Digitally Imported launched in 1999 as an internet
radio service that lets you stream electronic music 24/7. They have a
team of curators that choose the best music from each genre or style.
In addition to browsing the most popular channels, here are several
subcategories you can pick from: trance, EDM, dance, house, lounge,
chillout, techno, bass, ambient, deep, classic, vocal, hard, and synth.
The last time I streamed from here, I listened to the LoFi Lounge &
Chill station; it was perfect as background noise.
You can follow any channel to add it to your list of favorites for easy access later.
If you're a paying user, you can change the audio quality, listen in
external players through a playlist file, skip more tracks, and access
premium-only stations. Free users can make an account to like and
dislike tracks.
One of the best ways to find new indie music
is with this internet radio station from SomaFM. The DJs hand-pick all
the best indie songs they can find and let you listen directly from your
browser or with your favorite media player.
Some of the artists and bands I've heard here include Amanda Cadore,
Alvvays, Aloha, Polica, Carroll, Paranoids, Violents and Monica Martin,
Beck, and Neko Case.
I love that the Indie Pop Rocks station shows all the artists they’ve played in the last two weeks
so that I can not only see which artists were played more than others
but also get a link to their tracks on Amazon. There's also a handy recently played songs list for an idea of the content.
Something else you can do is add songs to a list of your favorites, from where you can easily purchase them.
I prefer indie music, but several other channels are available
if you're not into it. This includes holiday music, ambient electronic
and experimental space music, early 2000s classics, and others.
This internet radio station can be streamed from the web as well as
through a mobile or desktop app. If you prefer the TuneIn app, you can
use it, too; just search for SomaFM Indie Pop Rocks! on TuneIn.
Owned by iHeartMedia and often New York’s top-rated radio station, WLTW
106.7 Lite FM plays all types of music, from modern day back to the
‘80s. This is my go-to when I'm not really sure what I'm in the mood
for.
This station delivers dance, pop, rock, disco, R&B, punk, new wave,
and more, from artists and groups like Wham!, George Michael, Jennifer
Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Camila Cabello, Tears for Fears, Prince,
Duran Duran, Cutting Crew, No Doubt, and many others.
If you like a recently played song from the WLTW 106.7 Lite FM radio
station, you can start your own station based on that type of music, and
even skip through the songs, unlike you can on the radio.
An iHeartRadio subscription lets you replay songs from the radio, save
songs from the radio to your own playlist, and more. I use the free
version often, and I honestly never feel like I'm missing out on those
features.
This is a neat one! If you’re in the habit of buying soundtrack CDs from
your favorite films, then you’ll love this radio station. It features
music found only in movies and TV shows, and since it’s ad-supported,
it’s totally free.
Just a few examples of movies and shows that Cinemix features music from include Supernatural, Bicentennial Man, Lost, Guardians of the Galaxy, Call the Midwife, Last Chance Harvey, War for the Planet of the Apes, and many others.
The current song, plus the three upcoming and several recently played songs, are listed out for you.
If you become a VIP member, you can see the 20 most recently played
songs instead of just a few, as well as dedicate and request songs, and
more.
Lists dozens of the recently played songs with links to buy tracks on Apple Music.
What We Don't Like
Must use the pop-up player to avoid stopping the music when you browse other areas of the site.
Pop-up ads display elsewhere on the page.
Based out of Texas, KEAN 105.1 FM is the best internet radio station to stream country music. They have a handful of DJs that choose the best country music for you, and all the upcoming shows for the week are listed on their website.
KEAN 105.1 FM plays songs from Kenny Chesney, Kane Brown, Maren Morris,
Rodney Atkins, Jake Owen, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, and
many others. See what's played recently to get an idea.
Some internet radio stations play in a separate part of the site so that
when you click elsewhere, like to view upcoming shows or recently
played songs, the music won’t stop playing. To do that with this one,
you need to open the pop-out player.
Launched in the early '80s, K-LOVE, a solely Christian music station, is
today one of the world's top-streamed online radio stations. It's also
delivered over FM radio in numerous U.S. cities.
Every week, millions of online listeners can hear music from MercyMe,
Rend Collective, Zach Williams, Francesca Battistelli, Skillet, for KING
& COUNTRY, Chris Tomlin, TobyMac, Micah Tyler, Lauren Daigle, and
more.
The website has a few other channels beyond the live stream, that targets Christmas, '90s, and 2000s music, specifically.
The K-LOVE mobile app only shows four recently played songs, but it also
has a Verse of the Day page and information on all the artists played
on the radio station.
24/7 streaming without website ads or commercial breaks.
Provides a 7-day schedule.
What We Don't Like
Some parts of the website don't work.
No official mobile app.
Doesn't show individual track names.
My House Radio has a simple mission: to promote artists and DJs who
produce dance music in genres like house, deep house, soulful, and
classics. They have more than 40 DJs from around the world.
It's a phenomenal radio station for dance music because you're never
distracted by commercial interruptions. Plus, you can listen all day,
every day.
I like to use the stripped-down player (here) when I'm listening on my phone, to avoid all the unnecessary graphics and other web pages. You can also listen to My House Radio on Airtime for a decent UI. The same radio station is available through TuneIn and other streaming services.
A playlist file can be downloaded to listen in your own music player.
Request your favorite songs.
What We Don't Like
Lots of ads in the mobile app.
Instrumental Hits Radio has been delivering a "blend of instrumental
genres" in the form of a radio station since 2013. Some of the music you
can hear here include classical, big band, new-age, lounge, orchestral,
and jazz.
Something I find unique about this website is the 'request your favorite song' feature. You can do so every 30 minutes.
Fun Kids is a UK-based online radio station that features music more
appropriate for a younger crowd. It's part of a larger children's media
brand that includes kid radio stations like Fun Kids Junior, Fun Kids Soundtracks, and Fun Kids Classical.
Although this is clearly meant for children, I have to say that the
soundtracks station is entertaining even for me (particularly when The
Lion King music comes across my screen).
In addition to a live radio service are several on-demand shows you can re-listen to at any time. Elsewhere on the website are podcasts for kids, quizzes, videos, book recommendations, and more educational and informative kid-friendly content.
There's a mobile app for Android, iOS, and Amazon Fire.
Jazz24 is a KNKX Public Radio station that streams jazz music online and locally in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, on 88.5 FM.
This online radio station plays jazz from artists like Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Diana Krall, and Pat Metheny, among others.
The mobile app has an alert feature you can enable to start playing jazz
automatically when the timer goes off. You can also access this radio
station through various streaming links.
Part of a network of internet radio stations called Powerhitz,
Hot 108 JAMZ streams hip hop music. Although this network includes
other stations unrelated to rap, a different program director curates
music for this station every day.
Some of the artists I heard the last time I listened included Rihanna,
Drake, 2 Pac, Lil Donald, Meek Mill, Alicia Keys, Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled,
Mariah Carey, Usher, 50 Cent, The Carters, and Rich Gang.
Hot 108 JAMZ also accepts shout-outs and song requests.
This internet radio station is available at TuneIn, radio.net, Streema, and Radioline.
If you pick one of those apps or websites to listen from, you'll get
other features such as a sleep timer and "favorite" option.
Relax FM is a radio station out of Moscow, Russia, that features instrumental, English, and foreign music.
There are multiple channels to pick from, including Relax Life, Relax Nature, Relax Latino, and Relax lo-fi, among others. True to its name, I find it super relaxing, especially while doing repetitive things like cleaning.
While you can listen online from anywhere, including the official Relax
FM website, it's also available locally to Moscow listeners at 90.8 FM and some other stations.
Puts you in the Christmas mood with a live video feed from Santa Claus Village in Finland.
You can leave images and comments for other listeners to see.
What We Don't Like
Lots of website ads.
Based out of Santa Claus Village
in Finland, where Santa is around all year long, is the Radio Santa
Claus station where thousands gather every day to listen to Christmas
music any time of the year.
The music here comes from singers like Frank Sinatra, Colbie Caillat,
Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Blake Shelton, Dean Martin, Sara Bareilles,
Andrea Bocelli, and children's choirs, among others.
The Android app is even simpler than the website. You can start and stop
the live stream, see what's currently playing, and leave a comment for
other listeners to see.
Most songs on streaming services are compressed files, meaning songs don’t sound as vibrant or complete.Photo by Henry Phillips
When you stream music, you lose one of the best parts about listening to a new album: diving into the booklet that comes with a CD.Cambridge Audio
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