Physical media and FLAC

[Doug_Dangger]

Anybody started on listening to music thru physical media?  Vinyl or CD?

I would like to start listening and collecting again.  Many years ago I had a ton of CD from BMG and Columbia House.  Tells you about my age LOL!  Sadly I got rid of them after ripping them.  I know a bone headed move.  Not for a 22 year old then.  Hehehe.

 

From the looks of it, CDs are a cheaper way to go than vinyl.  Average CD from Amazon is $8 while LP is about $17.  Then there's the player.  A good stand alone CD player is about $200 at least for a new one.  I know DVD players can play them too but so few of them have onboard controls or a display for the track.  I don't want to have to connect a monitor to navigate.  On the other hand record players are somewhat cheaper.  There are the crappy $30 ones all the way up to thousands of dollars.

 

As for FLAC, I love it.  But where can I legally acquire or listen to the without resorting to the captain Hook way of life?

[Zelvan]

bandcamp.com is a good place to buy music.

[PineyCreek]

21 minutes ago, Doug_Dangger said:

Anybody started on listening to music thru physical media?  Vinyl or CD?

I would like to start listening and collecting again.  Many years ago I had a ton of CD from BMG and Columbia House.  Tells you about my age LOL!  Sadly I got rid of them after ripping them.  I know a bone headed move.  Not for a 22 year old then.  Hehehe.

 

From the looks of it, CDs are a cheaper way to go than vinyl.  Average CD from Amazon is $8 while LP is about $17.  Then there's the player.  A good stand alone CD player is about $200 at least for a new one.  I know DVD players can play them too but so few of them have onboard controls or a display for the track.  I don't want to have to connect a monitor to navigate.  On the other hand record players are somewhat cheaper.  There are the crappy $30 ones all the way up to thousands of dollars.

 

As for FLAC, I love it.  But where can I legally acquire or listen to the without resorting to the captain Hook way of life?

Lol...started? My sweet summer childe, let me tell you of the days before the Internet.

 

But seriously, all music on Bandcamp.com (as far as I'm aware) includes the option to download FLAC, so there's that.  If I buy music on Amazon, I try to always buy the CD (with AutoRip) so I have both physical media and whatever MP3 version is available via Amazon (usually 240 or 360 CBR I think, but occasionally VBR).

[Derkoli]

10 minutes ago, Doug_Dangger said:

Anybody started on listening to music thru physical media?  Vinyl or CD?

I would like to start listening and collecting again.  Many years ago I had a ton of CD from BMG and Columbia House.  Tells you about my age LOL!  Sadly I got rid of them after ripping them.  I know a bone headed move.  Not for a 22 year old then.  Hehehe.

 

From the looks of it, CDs are a cheaper way to go than vinyl.  Average CD from Amazon is $8 while LP is about $17.  Then there's the player.  A good stand alone CD player is about $200 at least for a new one.  I know DVD players can play them too but so few of them have onboard controls or a display for the track.  I don't want to have to connect a monitor to navigate.  On the other hand record players are somewhat cheaper.  There are the crappy $30 ones all the way up to thousands of dollars.

 

As for FLAC, I love it.  But where can I legally acquire or listen to the without resorting to the captain Hook way of life?

CD's are defo cheaper than Vinyl. My Turntable is roughly 35k, while my CD/Blu-Ray player is about 7k. And neither of them are even close in terms of price to the very highest high-end stuff.

 

Then you have the savings from buying the actual music itself. I've got way more CD's than I do Vinyl LP/EP's, but I've probably spent a similar amount on both collections.

 

For buying FLAC, I personally like buying stuff from the Qobuz download store. It's all decently priced, up to 192kHz/24Bit, and they have pretty good selection. HDtracks is also a very good bet, especially if you want to get into the whole DSD gig.

 

For listening to FLAC quality, Qobuz and Tidal are probably your best bets. But do be aware of the upcoming Spotify HiFi tier, which will be CD quality (44.1kHz/16Bit) and should be priced pretty well.

 

For a decent Turntable that won't absolutely destroy your Vinyl, you're looking at atleast 150-180 dollars anyway. So the initial investment in a CD player is very palatable.

[Psittac]

1 hour ago, Derkoli said:

For buying FLAC, I personally like buying stuff from the Qobuz download store. It's all decently priced, up to 192kHz/24Bit, and they have pretty good selection. HDtracks is also a very good bet, especially if you want to get into the whole DSD gig.

I was unaware that Qobuz had a store, I'll have to check it out.

 

@Doug_Dangger  There are many ways to listen to music, each with it's own pro and con.  I tend to not listen to the tracks I own for some reason, probably due to the fact that when I've got my headphones on it's in front of my computer and I'm not in it for the full experience.  For that I tend to rely on streaming sources as a sort of "radio" and I tier it depending on how important listening is to me at the time.  If I just need to link something or listen to someones link it's usually youtube though I've started linking spotify instead.  If I'm just gaming and want background music I throw on free pandora, then when I'm either sitting to mostly listen over anything else I'll put on tidal.

 

There is something to be said about having a physical item and sitting down with the explicit intent of just listening to it, and even if there is no audible difference between a digital file and a physical medium, that process is what's important.  At some point I will be finishing my basement and the room I'm in now will become a music only room so I hope without a flashy flash in my face and a clicky click at my fingers I will learn to appreciate the music I enjoy and the hardware I own even more.  Also, at that point I won't be surrounded by noisy desktops servers and fish tanks so I will be able to control my environment far better.  Now the only problem left is I find it hard to sit still so we'll see if this room is a massive waste of money or not.

[The Flying Sloth]

Like Derkoli I have a reasonable number of vinyl records but unlike him my table is a little cheaper, personally I'd recommend checking out what vintage turntables are available in your area just because they're often stupid good value for money, you can stick a nice Ortofon cart in them and you're set.

 

I don't collect CDs just because I don't see the point, if I wanted to listen to high-quality audio without the crackles and pops I'd listen digitally but if I just want to chill out  I'll play a random vinyl from the collection. I buy all my records for a dollar each and other than avoiding duplicates I don't pay attention to what I get. Gives me an array of interesting sounds to sample from when recording/producing and also means I don't hear the same thing too often. The only records I bought above that price are either coloured vinyl for the looks or the quintessential 'hipster dude' records from Daft Punk and Pink Floyd.

I suppose it comes down to personal preference though, but that's my take.

[Doug_Dangger]

Great point guys.

 

I do miss the pops and crackles from records when I was a kid.

Sometimes the tracking lines from video cassettes or snow from broadcast tv and you turn the fine tuning knob puts a smile on my face.

 

When I was young if the picture had snow and not 100% clear we'd still watch it so long as the sound is still in tact.  Today if the video is in SD and is playing on my 4K tv, I just turn it off.  LOL!

[H713]

Before you waste too much money on a high-end turntable or a fancy CD player, make sure that the speakers / room / setup you're using it with are worked out first. That's where you're going to notice the biggest difference.

 

There are pros and cons to every format, and everyone has their favorites. In comparison with other analog formats like reel-to-reel, vinyl has a pretty low barrier to entry, lots of available content and pretty good performance. As Sloth pointed out, there are a lot of excellent older turntables on the market. Some of them need a little bit of work, but most of the time it's pretty easy to get them up and running. Sometimes people have no idea what they're selling and you can get amazing equipment for almost nothing.