We look back at the first CD players tested by What Hi-Fi? and the establishment of this digital structure
On March 8, 1979, Philips unveiled the first Compact Disc (CD) and CD player prototype to the media in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The prototype CD player had an LED display and four buttons, as well as a top loading mechanism. It was called “Pinkeltje” and it started the biggest revolution in the history of the recorded music industry.
Philips and Sony both developed digital disc technology separately in the 1970s, and these two technological innovators from Europe and Japan came together to create the CD standard. Philips had a physical format for the discs, while Sony offered their digital error correction technology.
It was a rapid musical revolution and made good on the founders’ promise of being “the greatest step forward in sound reproduction since the invention of the phonograph” (What is Hi-Fi?, June 1983).
The advantages of the format over the established vinyl – compact size, long life, resistance to scratches and dust, low noise levels – certainly helped to quickly win over music fans.
Sort through our pages What is Hi-Fi? archive of a 1983 magazine and you’ll find dozens (probably hundreds) of reviews of turntables, cartridges, tones, cassettes and tape players. You’ll also see news clippings here and there about the arrival of the CD and how record labels plan to make albums available in this new digital format.
Magazine coverage is analog until, like the proverbial London buses, What is Hi-Fi? published a complete (free) supplement dedicated to CD players in the October 1983 issue.
In this special supplement we examine 11 new CD players, as well as technical information on the new format, CD album reviews, and opinions for and against the new format from respected hi-fi writers of the time, Dave Prakel and Alvin Gold.
The 11 “best” players included CD players from Akai, Fisher, Hitachi, Marantz (then owned by Philips), Philips, Pioneer, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba, all priced between £480 to £649 (equivalent to £2100 to £2800).
We rated each disc player’s build, features and sound quality, with an overall rating (out of four!) based on our main criteria: value for money.
There were two camps of CD players: one that followed the 14-bit code used by Philips which used “oversampling” to achieve very low levels of noise and distortion (and was cheap to make); while others followed Sony’s 16-bit process, which pushed component technology to its limits and was often more expensive to produce.
If you read the reviews, it’s the Philips CD100 that comes out as the clear winner for sound quality.
We called it a “first-class player” that delivered “smooth sound”, “wide dynamic range”, natural vocals and “good driving punch”. Philips was also praised for offering a smaller, smaller line size suitable for the new vinyl format, which was one of the benefits promised by the heavy vinyl-based system.
On the other hand, the Sony CDP-101 is widely heralded for its “excellent internal engineering” that allows for servicing and maintenance, while also providing a headphone socket and one thing that none of the players include: a remote control.
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Last year, I was lucky enough to visit the Philips museum in the company’s hometown of Eindhoven where I saw in person the original Philips CD100 from 1983. You can see the photos in the gallery above.
Also on display, under a glass case, was the first protoype of “Pinkeltje”, which looks very bad for wear and, on top of it, a very worn CD disc which could be the first 11.5cm disc shown in that 1979 demo.
Some parts of the prototype were also on display, and it was amazing to see a piece of recent history – my youth was full of CDs – and I was amazed at how futuristic and fully developed the CD player was when it was introduced. Not surprisingly, adoption of the format spread like wildfire.
We all know how the CD story went. At the turn of the millennium, the CD was at its peak, accounting for 90% of the music industry’s revenue. But at the same time, another digital revolution was happening, the iPod, downloads and, ultimately, the rise of music streaming.
We are celebrating 50 years What is Hi-Fi? this year, and the Compact Disc, since its introduction and release in 1983, is the leading format in our history.
It is hard to imagine how ingenious the Compact Disc and the CD player were when they were first introduced, especially when today, there are many formats (vinyl, CDs, digital radio, hi-res broadcasts, even cassettes) that live next to each other and can be consumed simultaneously.
It’s even more amazing to think that vinyl has come back with a vengeance and outsold CDs by huge amounts.
In 1983, the jury was still out on the quality of CDs and CD players, and if this new digital format could (or could) truly replace the analogue medium in terms of technical and musical merit, not to mention visual value and emotional enjoyment. I’ll leave you with the words of Dave Prakel and Alvin Gold, who take either side of the argument and weigh in on the possibilities and pitfalls of the Compact Disc…
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