I still remember the first time I held a CD in my hands. It was 1983, and the promise was huge—no more surface noise, no stylus to wear out grooves, and most of all, “perfect sound forever.” That last part was certainly more hope than reality, but the shift was real. We were moving from analog to digital, from carved grooves in vinyl to microscopic pits etched in polycarbonate.
For nearly a century, we’d listened to music the same way: mechanically. From wax cylinders to shellac, then to vinyl—each generation refining how a stylus could ride a groove and translate vibrations into music. But with the CD, there was no groove. No needle. Just a laser and a disc of clear plastic. It was a clean break from the physical limitations of analog. A new chapter had begun.
It wasn’t the first digital format, but it was the first to go mainstream. And it wasn’t long before audiophiles started asking more from it. The CD’s 16-bit, 44.1kHz resolution was a compromise of the time—designed to fit a Beethoven symphony on a disc and still be affordable—and it sounded more like fingernails scraping a blackboard than music. But that was soon to change.
By the late ’90s, we saw great strides in DACs as well as the launch of SACD and DVD-Audio, both promising higher resolution and better sound. DSD for SACD, 24-bit PCM for DVD-A, and surround sound to boot. It was a golden age for physical media—if you could find the discs and the players.
At the same time, something similar was happening with video. VHS gave way to LaserDisc, which gave way to DVD, then Blu-ray. Resolution went from fuzzy tape to crisp 1080p, and now 4K with HDR. Along the way, our expectations kept rising—clearer picture, deeper sound, more realism.
And then, quietly at first, the physical media started to fade.
Today, most people don’t watch Blu-rays or play CDs. They stream. From Spotify and Qobuz, from Apple and Tidal, from Netflix and Disney+. And just like that, the world shifted again. No discs. No shelves full of jewel cases. Just bits pulled from a server somewhere and piped into your living room.
It’s easy to feel nostalgic for the old days—I do sometimes—but this is also progress. We’re no longer bound by physical limits. Want to listen to a brand new DSD release? It’s probably already waiting for you, available in seconds.
The medium changed, but the mission didn’t: bring the experience of live music—or film—into the home. The question is no longer where the bits come from.
It’s how we treat them once they arrive.
