CDs are in every way better than vinyl records. They are smaller, much higher quality audio, lower noise floor and don’t wear out by being played. The fact that CD sales are behind vinyl is a sign that the world has gone mad. The fact you can rip and stream your own CD media is fantastic because generally remasters are not good and streaming services typically only have remastered versions, not originals. You have no control on streaming services about what version of an album you’re served or whether it’ll still be there tomorrow. Not an issue with physical media.
The vast majority of people listen to music using equipment that produces audio of poor quality, especially those that stream using ear buds. It makes me very sad when people don’t care that what they’re listening to could sound so much better, especially if played through a hifi from a CD player, or using half decent (not beats) headphones.
There’s plenty of good sounding and well produced music out there, but it’s typically played back through the equivalent of two cans and some string. I’m not sure people remember how good good music can sound when played back through good kit.
Can I ask how they were stored? I’ve got 30+ year old CDs that run great. Only ones that I have issues with are those that are scratched.
Same here, I have many that are 30+ years old and haven’t found any that don’t work yet.
Of course you can… normally kept on shelves in houses. Occasionally bagged in garages. I did a quick web search for “rotting cd” after I posted. Scanned the “discogs” and Wikipedia boxes. It is a thing. They also mention that the manufacture of the disc might play a part - regardless of how they are looked after. I always believed that (some?) discs were made by sandwiching a vegetable component between the two plastic discs and it is this layer where the zeros and ones get written.