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Vinyl vs. CDs

Now we have looked at vinyl, the widening focus on CDs and the use of CDJs is becoming evermore apparent.

Compact Discs (CD's)

Compact discs don't rely on analogue methods of holding data. All CDs store their data digitally, which in nerdy speak is called Binary. It is a computer language that is simply a series of 1s and 0s. There are infinite combinations available and this is how music on a CD is stored. Every track has its own series of 0's and 1's which the computer then translates into sound (or whatever it is) for playback.

Cost

Compared to vinyl, CDs are ridiculously cheap. If you clicked on a site on the Internet in the next 5 minutes you could buy 100 CDs for as little as 8 pounds at eh time of writing. That's 8p per disk. Bearing in mind as well that manufacturers of CDs for the music industry will buy hundreds of thousands at a time the cost is very low indeed which will be fractions of a penny.

Availability

You don't need a specialist retailer in this market and CDs whether pre-produced or blank ones are readily available from most high street music stores, computer shops or if you wish from specialist businesses who buy in such huge bulk, they pass the cost reduction to you, the consumer. CDs are available in two formats, either one use only or for a slightly higher unit cost ones that can be recorded on, wiped clean, over and over again. Some CD manufacturers claim that one CD can be reused up to 1000 times.

Many tracks can be now legally downloaded from various internet sites so you can pretty much get whatever tune you want (including those you've never been able to get hold of on vinyl), pay your 80 pence, download it in a matter of seconds and its yours to keep. You don't even need to move from your chair and its all at your fingertips. It'll be a perfect copy and in most cases you can preview it on-line to ensure it is actually the one you want. No queuing up in a shop or waiting to be served. This unfortunately has meant that piracy is now a widespread affair with the growth of Peer to Peer programs and illegal internet downloads and most people trying to get everything for nothing. However more on that in the PC section of the site.

Quality

Modern music is all produced or at least mastered on a computer. Wonderful wizardry can be completed with software to create the absolutely perfect sounding mix, instrument, soundtrack or whatever it may be. Improvements can be made, filters applied with the end result being a crystal clear recording that sounds perfect.

During dance music production all sounds are digitally generated in the more modern approach to the techniques. The instruments (keyboards, sequencers and effects units) are all digital, the PC works digitally and because all are the same format there doesn't need to be any conversion between the formats. With analogue there are so many factors that can affect the final sound. most bits of equipment need replacing i.e. the cartridge, the needles etc. which are not needed when playing a CD. Running cost tend to be lower.

If I can cast you mind back to days gone by (if you're old enough that is!) when everything was on tapes and before CDs were invented or were too expensive for mainstream usage. A DJ would tape a demo from the decks and distribute or sell a few copies to his/her friends to fund some new records. The friends would then copy them in a tape-to-tape hifi which would literally record the sound from one to the other, nothing more complicated than that. There would be certain sound loss during this but would be relatively un-noticeable. They would pass the tapes on and the process continues with it being copied at each stage as the distribution network got wider. At each stage there will be a certain sound quality loss due to different people using different quality of stereo to copy it. If you compared a 10th generation copy to the original the difference would be very noticeable indeed. The variety of vinyl quality production can also mean that the sound suffers. If all music was mastered to the exactly the same level by all producers you could mix everything into everything at one volume and gains would be a thing of the past. It'll never happen but that potential is there.

You simply don't get this with digital. Because of the way the information is stored using the binary system you can make a perfect copy of the original, and make perfect copies from a copy. Sound degradation and loss is never an issue so copies will sound as good and clear as the original master. Its only a series of 1's and 0's after all.

Storage

CDs are small light and convenient to store. Quite simply you need a shelf of any description, a box, it really doesn't matter. The Plastic cases are easily replaceable should they get damaged and the rigidity of the box (unlike a cardboard sleeve) will keep the CD flat and prevent it being damaged during transit for example.

There are no special storage requirements apart from not leaving in direct sunlight or submerging them in Jam. they are hard wearing and even with scratches are more resilient than vinyl. Originals can be backed up and stored away form all others and copies used for everyday playing. If the copies get damaged or stolen, broken or whatever there is minimal disruption and cost. Get the masters out again and back them up again.

CDs can be stored horizontally or vertically it really doesn't matter. they are packaged normally in their own plastic casing which is designed to stand up or lie flat. Weight and stacking on top of one another isn't a problem as the disc itself is particularly light.

CDs can even come in two sizes. There is the conventional 700mb capacity disk but smaller ones (only readable in certain drives) could be used. As CDs are so cheap and all modern CDs players will read the standard size means even if you only use a fraction of the CD it is still cost effective to you asa manufacturer.

Home production

To set up an independent record label is now far cheaper and more affordable to the masses thanks to the mp3 format. this is simply a compressed file format of an original CD quality tune that recreates the original at a greatly reduced file size. Producers situated at home can set up a studio for as little as a few thousand pounds and produce professional sounding music. There needs to be no complicated manufacturing production and CDs can be "burned" or more simply made using a standard home PC. All you need is a CD writer which can be purchased for as little as £20 to produce the CDs and some software to allow you to get them from your PC to the disk itself. For less than £40 your manufacturing process can be fully operational.

Labels can be made and added with relative ease with a printer being used to produce them. Some printers available on the high street (such as the current Epson R range) now have a tray which will print directly onto a CD, negating the need for labels etc. Again this is also controlled by your home PC. No specific or expensive equipment or specification is needed and the PC itself doesn't need to be state of the art. Burning CDs is limited pretty much by the speed of the burner. Use middle of the road CDs (not he cheapest ones as you may end up with a load of coasters) and that's the reliability part taken care of.

Set up a website selling your tunes (again a process that you can learn and do yourself), some envelopes and packaging and a post office nearby is all you need. Oh yes, and the talent to produce your own tunes in the first place.

You are restricted too for whtever happens to be on the vinyl you have purchased. You can easily make your own samples to be scratched or intros to your set which can be easily burned to CD for use playing out or just during your sets. CDs give you a greater freedom on what you can use and how you acquire the result you want. Mixing on CDs has exactly the same principal as vinyl but a lot of it will be automated, for example finding the beginning of a tune. There are autocue features so it becomes quicker rather than plonking the needle on the record and manually winding it to find the same point.

Summary

Although this seems to be a big list of pro's and not many cons there are those DJs and styles of DJing that CDs simply don't suit. As previously mentioned turntablism is and will most likely stay as vinyl based because it relies on a hands-on approach to mixing.
A second point is that most clubs will have decks and potentially there are some that now have CDJs too. This is however not the general rule. There is no point putting in a demo to a club if you can only mix on CDs and they only have turntables. That could be quite embarrassing should you get a set. My advice is if you can afford it either have two turntables and a CD deck or vice versa. You then have the option and advantages of both formats so you can become comfortable on either, with the creative scope to make, manufacture and use your own samples.

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