CD: Perfect Sound Forever?

I received a brand-new Philips CD-200 CD player for my 21st birthday in 1983, and from the moment I switched it on, I was hooked.  Over the following years I gradually sold off my vinyl collection and moved entirely to CDs. It was not an overnight change, at the time my player arrived, there were only five albums available to buy on CD. Out of that small selection, I chose my very first purchase: Steve Miller Band’s Greatest Hits.

The technology was a marvel for its time. Using Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) to represent audio, CDs stored over 74 minutes of music on a 120mm disc, enough for an entire Beethoven symphony or a double LP’s worth of rock. Error correction ensured playback even when the disc had minor scratches or dust. This leap over analogue meant no wow and flutter, no need to flip sides, and no gradual loss of fidelity.

But from the start, the promise sparked debate. Audiophiles and engineers argued over whether the CD’s upper frequency limit of 22.05 kHz (set by the Nyquist theorem) and 16-bit resolution were truly “perfect”. Early digital-to-analogue converters (DACs) were primitive by modern standards, and some found the sound cold or sterile compared to vinyl.

For me it was a revelation. There was no surface noise, and the backgrounds were silent on some discs, although not all, as tape hiss was now more noticeable than on vinyl. The real breakthrough was knowing I could play a CD thousands of times without wearing it out, unlike my well-worn copy of the first Pretenders album on vinyl.

Despite scepticism, CDs quickly took over. By the late 1980s, they outsold vinyl in many markets. Record labels reissued vast back catalogues, and artists embraced the format’s convenience. For listeners, the appeal was obvious: instant track access, portability, and no surface noise or groove wear.

The “forever” part of the slogan, however, has been tested. While CDs don’t wear out in normal playback, some suffered from “disc rot” due to manufacturing defects. Poor storage and handling could still render them unplayable. Modern archival research suggests that well-made CDs, stored correctly, can last decades, but not necessarily forever.

By the 2000s, the format’s dominance began to fade under the rise of MP3 downloads and, later, streaming. Yet CDs remain a mainstay for collectors and audiophiles who value owning physical media and the uncompressed sound of Red Book audio.

So, did the CD deliver “Perfect Sound Forever”? In one sense, it achieved much of what was promised: clean, distortion-free playback and remarkable convenience. But perfection is subjective, and forever is longer than any format has yet survived. The CD stands as a landmark in music history, both for what it accomplished and for how it reshaped the conversation about sound quality.

Many people have since sold their CD collections and embraced streaming services, which means they own nothing. I chose to keep mine, all 1,500+ discs. (although I did RIP them all to FLAC and playback using Roon) Storing them was and still is a challenge because they take up so much space, so many years ago I made a decision I now regret. I threw away all the plastic cases and placed the discs into several CD sleeve cases, while the covers went into a box.

CDs stored in this manner have little value, and I disliked not being able to easily pick up a disc and read the cover information. Recently I decided to find a proper storage solution and return every disc to a plastic case. Madness, yes, and expensive too. During this process I began checking the condition of each CD before placing it back into a case where it will stay permanently. This turned out to be an enlightening experience and it truly put the claim of perfect sound forever to the test.