6 reasons why audiophiles listen to CDs

CDs are an incredible way to listen to music that people really put by the wayside in the era of streaming. But they’re making a comeback in the wake of the comeback of vinyl and with an increased interest in retro tech. But this entire time, many audiophiles have sworn by CDs over streaming, and many even prefer CDs over vinyl.

So anyone that is beginning to wander outside of the world of streaming and into physical formats might wonder why CDs are so great, and why audiophiles love listening to them and collecting them. Reasons range from audio quality reasons to the actual experience of putting a CD in a CD player, and different people will prioritize some things over others when it comes to attesting to their enjoyment of CDs. So here are a few reasons why audiophiles love listening to CDs.

1 CDs give you lossless audio with great dynamic range

They sound so much better than an MP3 file on your laptop

Possibly the best part about listening to a CD is that the audio quality is wonderful. CDs have lossless audio with a transfer rate of 16-bit/44.1kHz, meaning you get tracks with a low noise floor and great dynamic range, so you can hear individual instruments and overall more frequencies than you would hear with a compressed format like MP3.

While you can get lossless audio digitally, like by buying tracks in CD quality or on streaming services that have lossless as an option, having the tracks in CD form also means you can listen to lossless audio in more ways. You can listen to them in the car, in a larger stereo system, and you own the CD, rather than the tracks existing on your phone or computer at the whim of a company.

2 You can’t own the music on a streaming service, but you can own a CD

Being able to keep the songs on a disk and on your computer is extremely convenient

Going off of the last point, getting to own a CD is an underrated aspect of CDs in the streaming age. People prefer streaming because it’s convenient and seems cheaper than buying individual CDs, but it also means that whether or not you can access a track is not in your control, but rather the control of the streaming service or whoever owns the track.

Additionally, CDs allow you to enjoy the CD both in its physical form, but also as digital files on your computer. It’s extremely easy to rip a CD and enjoy the files without having to put a CD in a drive, so you always have access to your favorite lossless albums.

3 The format incentivizes listening to an album from start to finish

Artists lay out albums with intention, and CDs make it easier to listen with intention

If you pop a CD into a CD player, chances are, you’re probably going to listen to the whole album all the way through. Sure, you can skip tracks, or you can change the CD, but the best way to enjoy it is by listening to the whole album as the artist intended.

Of course you can listen to an album all the way through on a streaming service just as easily, but people tend to gravitate toward playlists rather than whole albums. Listening to a CD from beginning to end as the artist laid it out feels much more authentic to the listening experience, and listening to music on a CD incentivizes that artistic experience.

4 CDs are cheaper than vinyl and still sound wonderful

Personal taste will vary, but CDs technically feature better sound quality

Audiophiles often love vinyl too, much of the time more than they love CDs, but CDs tend to be a lot more affordable than vinyl, and still have a lot of the same benefits. The fact that it’s a physical format of music, listening to it requires some more steps than streaming, and that it can double as visual art as well as sonically, those tie the two formats together in similarity. But CDs have technically better sound quality if you’re going for dynamic range and a low noise floor, so you’re getting fantastic sound for much cheaper.

Additionally, CDs are a lot easier to store and transport than vinyl records, so you don’t need as much space to store the same amount of CDs as vinyl. So while audiophiles may love vinyl records a lot, CDs are just more convenient and have added auditory benefits to boot.

5 CDs give you a physical connection to the album

You can hold a CD, not an album on Spotify

Having a physical album in your hands can make you feel a lot more connected to the art as a whole. On a streaming service, tracks and albums are just there in your computer. But holding a CD is tangible, it’s something you can see, feel, and hear.

Additionally, putting a CD in a CD player or drive can feel better than just clicking on a song to stream it. It takes more steps, and it’s not as convenient, but the extra steps can make it feel even better to listen to a CD. In the same way that putting a vinyl record on a turntable can be part of a ritual, a CD can be part of a listening ritual as well.

6 CDs are fun to collect and display

Being an audiophile is about more than just what goes into your ears

Being able to accumulate CDs, display them, and have a visible library of music is a wonderful benefit of listening to CDs. Audiophiles not only like to enjoy the music itself, but their love of sound can tie in with a love of collecting things. Collecting albums and having a catalog to both enjoy for yourself and show off to people can be really compelling.

Because of the relatively small form factor of CDs, they’re also pretty easy to store, so you can accumulate a fair number of CDs without taking up too much space. They’re easy to display, easy to move around, and look great on a dedicated shelf in one’s home.