Are you a physical media or digital downloads person? (When it comes to music)

[Kawaii Koneko]

I always buy my music on CD whenever possible, except in some cases where this is only a digital version. That is more the case with indie stuff or the kind of music you find on Sound Cloud.

 

I buy it on CD for the collection aspect and for the lossless sound quality. I know you can buy some music in FLAC format digitally but I still prefer CD. Once I buy a CD, I rip the music in FLAC so I have a convenient copy.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I'm another in the only buy CD camp but not because I want the physical media. Music on CDs has better fidelity the vast majority of the time than the vast majority of downloads. Downloads are notorious for having bad or inadequate tagging (even meta data that can be download while ripping is usually off) but the metadata on CD case jackets and insert booklets are usually dead on.

 

I rip each my CDs to both .mp3 (320kbps) and .wav (I almost never can hear a difference between .mp3 at 320kbps and .wav). Fortuately, my ripper (EAC - Exact Audio copy) has the option to save both the WAV and MP3 files, eliminating the need to rip twice per CD. I use .mp3 because players I've had in the past only played mp3s and, rather than have varying file types, have stuck with .mp3 for more recent purchases. I keep a .wav version of each CD so I can later convert to another format if the need (or desire) should arise.

 

After ripping, I scan the jackets, any booklet inserts, any boxes they might come in (suchas when in a box set) and the CD itself (to help prove I owned the CD if the unlikely question should ever arise) to a PDF and keep a copy of it in the album folders the music files are stashed. I then toss the jewel box (fora while, gave them to a neighbor who would sell them but he has sinced passed away, a pity since I liked the guy even though his wife was a bitter pill). The CDs themselves get a reference number written on them (the ripped albums get the same number), then filed into a storage box with hanging sleeves designed for the purpose. That saves me an enormous amount of room when storing the CDs themselves.

 

Many of my CDs are from independent artists whose CDs are from smaller runs that are burned insted of stamped. Ripping them ensures the music will last long past when the CDs themselves have deteriorated (which many have already done). Even stamped CDs can go bad over time. Music files can last as long as the media they are on lasts plus they can be backed up, preventing their loss even due to media loss.

 

For now, I'm hanging onto the physical CDs but, eventually, I will probably destroy them.

 

I do pretty much do the same with my DVDs and BDs except I rip them to .iso and play them using a virtual ODD (Virtual Clonedrive). Besides being easier than trying to figure out which chapters to rip to get the movie itself, etc., I can access special features as though I'm playing the movie directly from the disc. ISO files take up far more drive space but are far more convenient for me to use. I don't even need to keep them in separate folders like I do music albums.

 

Ripped music and videos are far easier for me to access than digging though a huge disc library. I don't even need an internet connection (other than for verifying metadata during ripping but that can always be done later, if necessary). I can just peruse a file list or do a file search. I can easily extract a file list for printing to paper to use when diggng through bargain file bins to make sur ai don't buy duplicates (my memory isn't excatly stellar). I can carry all my music on my notebook for when I travel (or my desktop is down). I don't have room on my notebook for more than a dozen orr so videos but I usually won't have time to watch them when on the road so I don't bother (although I could carry one of the backup drives for each of the video drives, if push came to shove). With music files, I can easily have play lists.

[Monkey Dust]

On 3/12/2019 at 2:04 PM, Radioactive Snowman said:

The hipsters final form is fueled by cassette tapes

Cassettes are so mainstream, Minidisc is the choice of the true hipster.

13 hours ago, floofer said:

I just use Apple Lossless and it sounds better than 320kbps. No need for Vinyl garbage. Leave the past as it is, I like the convenience of Apple Music. 

 

Better sound quality is in better speakers now. No more $200 Walmart garbage.

Playing vinyl has such an wonderful ritual to it. I wouldn't want to go back to the days when Vinyl was all that was available, for day to day use it is pretty inconvenient. But when you're in a winding down mood, it is still my favourite format. Plus album artwork on 12" is the best it will ever look.

 

Speakers are very important for sound quality, but so is the amp and the DAC (assuming a digital source). The room and it's furnishings are also important, but that whole other rabbit hole to go down. 

 

   

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Monkey Dust said:

 

Playing vinyl has such an wonderful ritual to it. I wouldn't want to go back to the days when Vinyl was all that was available, for day to day use it is pretty inconvenient. But when you're in a winding down mood, it is still my favourite format. Plus album artwork on 12" is the best it will ever look.

 

Speakers are very important for sound quality, but so is the amp and the DAC (assuming a digital source). The room and it's furnishings are also important, but that whole other rabbit hole to go down. 

 

   

What’s so wonderful about it. It’s expensive and doesn’t sound that better anymore. The truth is nobody wants to mess around with Vinyl anymore when you can just download it. That’s why Spotify etc is so popular, you want music, it’s there and it’s not bad quality. It’s also unlimited.

[LinusOnLine]

When it comes to music I pretty much only use youtube but I do not listen to much music anymore. In all cases but books I prefer the digital formats. Books is different though and a book will always be better than reading it on a screen that gives me migraines. 

[Monkey Dust]

9 minutes ago, floofer said:

What’s so wonderful about it. It’s expensive and doesn’t sound that better anymore. The truth is nobody wants to mess around with Vinyl anymore when you can just download it. That’s why Spotify etc is so popular, you want music, it’s there and it’s not bad quality. It’s also unlimited.

It's the ritual of putting the record on, the noise of the needle on the 'blank' bits, it helps set a mood, create an ambiance. As I said it's for occasional use, not everyday.

 

True most people don't want to bother with it, but that applies to a lot of hobbies & interests. No one is being forced to buy music on vinyl, at least not since the 80's.

[Andreas Lilja]

CD for compilations / collection items only.

 

Digital for albums per se. 

[Volbet]

7 hours ago, floofer said:

What’s so wonderful about it. It’s expensive and doesn’t sound that better anymore. The truth is nobody wants to mess around with Vinyl anymore when you can just download it. That’s why Spotify etc is so popular, you want music, it’s there and it’s not bad quality. It’s also unlimited.

Record sales are have been on a steady incline for the last decade, so there are at least some people that care: https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewleimkuehler/2019/01/07/vinyl-sales-grow-2018-buzzangle-beatles-kendrick-lamar-queen-album-sales/

[Virus__]

Physical. 400+ CD's & counting.

 

I'm known to just buy different merch packs from bands too. It's how I ended up with 5 or 6 copies of .5 The Gray Chapter by Slipknot.. Also means I can just give copies to mates.

[Virus__]

8 hours ago, floofer said:

What’s so wonderful about it. It’s expensive and doesn’t sound that better anymore. The truth is nobody wants to mess around with Vinyl anymore when you can just download it. That’s why Spotify etc is so popular, you want music, it’s there and it’s not bad quality. It’s also unlimited.

Vinyl is expensive to produce esp if you're going for a 180GSM pressing, or worse coloured/patterned vinyl. But vinyl sales have been on the rise. My local record store has a huge fucking vinyl section, easily competes well with their CD section..

[Arika]

I've got a good collection of vinyls but the majority of things i have are digitial

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Virus__ said:

Vinyl is expensive to produce esp if you're going for a 180GSM pressing, or worse coloured/patterned vinyl. But vinyl sales have been on the rise. My local record store has a huge fucking vinyl section, easily competes well with their CD section..

Competing with CDs aren’t exactly hard. Both obselete.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

15 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

The CDs themselves get a reference number written on them (the ripped albums get the same number), then filed into a storage box with hanging sleeves designed for the purpose. That saves me an enormous amount of room when storing the CDs themselves.

Yeah, I'm considering doing the storage box thing too.  I still store mine in the jewel boxes, but once your collection goes into the triple digits it starts to take up an enormous amount of space.  I lost track of how many albums I have, gonna sort that out today.

 

EDIT 3 hours later: welp, close to 700 CDs. 

Hi, my name is Chaos and I have a CD hoarding problem.

[zassou]

altho ive never owned a cd player, and i threw my optical drive away years ago. when it comes to the band i love (muse if you dont know yet) i would love to have flac download around. if not, i would buy the cd and rip the flac myself.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

5 hours ago, floofer said:

Competing with CDs aren’t exactly hard. Both obselete.

CDs are not obsolete yet and won't be for a long time. Yes, CD sales are down and some brick and mortar retailers no longer carry them but people who love high quality music will still be buying them years from now, even if they have to buy them online (online is where I get the vast majority of mine). Small, independent artists will still have CDs since they depend heavily on music sales to make their money and CDs are the most practical way to sell their music when on tour.

[TetraSky]

Digital all the way. I ain't got place for physical media here. It's all taken up by computer hardware and empty boxes of computer hardware.