I think the only regret that the labels have (to our benefit) was the failure to include DRM because… it was 1982. Other than a single optional “pls don’t copy me thanks” bit.
Since then, we’ve had multiple attempts to replace CDs with higher-fidelity, DRM-damaged replacements like the SACD, DVD Audio, SDMI/DataPlay, and even Blu-ray Pure Audio formats - and later with all iTunes purchases before 2009 despite the CD existing. All failures. Digital music is DRM-free and not going back, thanks to the CD.
What HASN'T failed as a post-CD development, though, is the advent of all-you-can-eat streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify.
The music you get under these deals is never yours, but the price is so low that it's a reasonable trade for many people, myself included -- even though I was for decades (I'm 52) a serious collector of CD and eventually vinyl.
I still buy CDs but Apple Music's spatial audio is the first new gimmick that I'm impressed by. If the rest of my family didn't prefer Spotify, I'd switch to it.
As far as I know, Apple’s Spatial Audio is actually rebranded Dolby Atmos tracks with Atmos playback enabled. I don’t really blame Apple because what the heck is an “Atmos?” “Spatial audio” is more self explanatory than that even if still a bit obtuse.
You can also get it on PC, for example, by paying $15 for the “Dolby Access” app and playing an Atmos track.
None of your links support the claim that these discs could damage your loudspeakers. That's the mythical part.
The final stage in digital-to-analog conversion is a reconstruction filter that removes the non-sonic contents of the output. There's nothing you can put on a CD that will destroy your loudspeakers.
> I remember there being a CD that when ripped would intentionally damage/destroy the speakers with some type of frequency sweep or noise.
I don’t remember this one. I tried to find it but Google is littered with CD recommendations to “break in” speakers because “break” is a synonym for “destroy”.
There were quite a few actually, most of this was sony's doing.
The most destructive was XCP around the time of MediaMax, which used randomness in what tones they produced, which would damage speakers unpredictably.
"MediaMax introduces a large amount of random jitter, making the
disc sound like it has been badly scratched or damaged;
XCP replaces the audio with random noise."
Key2Audio was the first tech that comes to mind that did this, originally employed on Celinne Dione's "A New Day Has Come" album. It would cause all types of issues, but one being random audio blips that sounded like when you turn on a bitcrusher and press the overdrive, it's easy to see how this can damage a speaker.
That’s insane. I remember the Sony Rootkit scandal from 2005 and Sony’s reputation started to tank around then but I didn’t know it was the successor to another piss poor attempt to copy protect CDs.
They tried very hard after the PC became capable of making clones… but Phillips prohibited them from using the CD trademark proper because they were never as compatible as they needed to be. And there were embarrassing lawsuits. The law speaks louder than complaining users or a stubborn executive.
Since then, we’ve had multiple attempts to replace CDs with higher-fidelity, DRM-damaged replacements like the SACD, DVD Audio, SDMI/DataPlay, and even Blu-ray Pure Audio formats - and later with all iTunes purchases before 2009 despite the CD existing. All failures. Digital music is DRM-free and not going back, thanks to the CD.