The Launch of the Sony CDP-101
Sony launched the world’s first CD player on this day in 1982, kickstarting the compact disc digital audio era. The Sony CDP-101 was released to consumers in Japan, priced at JPY 168,000. That converts to $1,060 at today’s exchange rate, and is about $3,700 adjusted for inflation. CD players were meant to be a worldwide launch on October 1, 1982, but tech partner Philips didn’t have its CD100 ready, so Sony agreed to limit this initial event launch to Japan. Six months later, U.S. and European consumers would get their chance to buy a CD player, starting March 1983.
As for this first CD player hardware release for consumers from Sony, it wasn’t perfect, of course. The CDP-101 had just one DAC for both left and right audio channels due to the high cost of these converters. Without sample-and-hold circuitry, this meant the stereo channels were approximately 11 μs out of sync.
Audio Before the Compact Disc
Before CDs, home hi-fi setups of the era were typically built around vinyl records and compact audio cassette tapes. For a full set of separates, an enthusiast would also add a radio tuner, an amplifier, and speakers. Users of these older established pre-recorded audio media had to cope with music affected by various imperfections over time. Vinyl sound quality required constant maintenance against the challenges of dust, scratches, warping, and wear, while pre-recorded cassettes suffered from the variable quality of the tapes used by distributors.
CDs came with many attractive promises, most importantly providing digital music data that was read by a laser and wouldn’t wear down. CDs also offered near-instant track selection, skipping, and replay. However, most consumers had to wait a few years for the price of player hardware to approach an acceptable level and for CD albums to become the norm for new releases and classic remasters.
Early CD Catalogs and the Multimedia Era
Sony worked with CBS to have 50 CD albums on the shelves when the CDP-101 debuted in Japan. Six months later, when Philips joined in for the worldwide launch, the western launch was backed by just 16 titles.
It wouldn’t be until the mid-1980s when landmark releases arrived and player prices dipped to much more acceptable levels that CDs became established as a hi-fi staple. At around the same time, computers started to get built-in CD-ROM drives, becoming common from the early to mid-1990s during the dawn of the multimedia PC era.
Retro tech fans interested in acquiring a vintage Sony CDP-101 can still find units on secondary marketplaces like eBay, where units from 1982 frequently trade between $600 and $800.
