"I've developed a analog->digital path for my kids. Before they can get a music player, they get a CD player."
If anyone wants to start with analogue, perhaps start with vinyl, then cassette tape, and then CD. I had a cassette player before a record player, but vinyl seems easier to grok because you can use a steel needle to hear the sound, instead of the cartridge and amplifier.
By 18 they will be introduced to the piano forte.
Maybe it's due to my age, but CDs don't seem that analog to me.
A few things CDs don't have that tapes and/or vinyl do:
- gradual degradation from repeated use
- need for maintenance (e.g. cleaning vinyl with a brush, or occasionally splicing a broken tape[0])
- time and effort needed to move to the next song or replay the current one (and my first tape deck didn't have a rewind button, so I had to eject the tape, flip the cassette, forward, then flip back and hope I had gotten to roughly the right point)
- the ability to directly manipulate the medium, e.g. using a hand to move the record slightly faster, or using a pencil to wind a tape
this isn't quite a gotcha, really, 1 bit DAC are innately simple!
The good news is my father's old slightly warped prog rock records are finally getting a lot of use.
Tapes are more foolproof. If you put them in the wrong way, the player won't close. And even though you can damage the actual tape part by mishandling it, you're not all that likely to do so.