does it still make sense to buy cds?

[alocispepraluger102]

does it sill make sense to buy cds? Edited February 19, 2012 by alocispepraluger102

[jazzbo]

For me, yes. YMMV.

[JSngry]

Sometimes, yes, for differing reasons. But overall, not as much as it used to.

[paul secor]

I don't know if it makes sense, but it makes me happy sometimes. A lot to be said for that.

[GA Russell]

I've never felt that computer files had (in the real world) the permanence of physical objects. For me, it's more likely that my mp3 files will be wiped out than my CD collection.

[Quincy]

"Because I'm in my '40s, I, of course, have a CD collection--around 150 discs..."

[Neal Pomea]

When some kind of magnetic storm the likes of which we have never seen before wipes out all information on our cds, and our Internet grid is wiped out or damaged in a future terrorist (or Anonymous) attack against our cloud hubs instead of the financial center of NY, vinyl and shellac records may be all we have.

Edited February 20, 2012 by Neal Pomea

[.:.impossible]

Wow. Best argument I have seen for vinyl yet! I'm going with it.

[Big Al]

Making sense has never been a consideration when buying music previously, so.... yes?

[BeBop]

No, not when you can have analog (LP, tape or whatever). Analog gives you the "whole show", not a sample (CD) or a sampled sample (MP3). And compatible/retrievable as far into the future as we can see.

When we send those recordings into space for aliens to retrieve, what do we send?

Still, I'd rather have Red Book CD than MP3, et cetera.

[mjzee]

My main objection to CDs and LPs is the concept of "out of print"...that the music is unavailable for purchase because the discs are not currently being manufactured. With the music migrating to digital files, we may soon reach the point that the music is always available for purchase or streaming. That's incredible. For contrast, I remember a time prior to 1978 when most of Charlie Parker's studio recordings could not be obtained in stores.

[Leeway]

A friend of mine who is a serious collector was just telling me that he is going to move all his digital music onto a local server with hard drive backups, and run it through a DAC at 24 bit/96K, using an iPhone as a controller. Better sound, less space. At the same time, he is continuing to build his vinyl collection. Makes sense.

[Big Beat Steve]

Amazing discussion ...

I find I agree with virtually ALL of what has been said above because there are so many angles from which this subject can be seen, and each one has a grain of truth (especially the "eternality" aspect of the vinyl as opposed to erasable digital bits and bytes ).

To me, to fill gaps that cannot be filed with vinyl (or are unaffordable), CDs play a major role.

I'd love to go for downloads where the music is not available elsewhere (i.e. the Amazon mp3 vs CD alternative is not one for me; CDs will remain the way to go there for some time to come) but I've become exceedingly wary of downloads ever since I recently ended up with major malware on my PC during one such download attempt. Incidentally, in that particular case the site itself was OK and reputable and their download offers (from collectors to colectors) appeared to have been made in good faith but apparently the externalised server where this collectors's site apparently had hosted their digital files for download was not so OK, according to the PC whiz-kid who'd luckily happened to be at my home at that time to streamline my PC setup (and who then spent quite some time on eradicating that bug, which made for a noticeable increase of the overall servicing bill Bad luck I guess and a bit of brave new world ...)

And since I do not fancy limiting my listening to the PC or other computer-based media, I'd still have to convert the files to some format suitable for any CD player so where would the overall gain be for me in the case of the music where a MP3/CD choice exists?

And if no such choice exists (downloads of never-reissued music) but the above threat lurked ... ?

[mjzee]

And since I do not fancy limiting my listening to the PC or other computer-based media, I'd still have to convert the files to some format suitable for any CD player so where would the overall gain be for me in the case of the music where a MP3/CD choice exists?

From within your house, a good way to do this is with an Airport Express:

Apple

Music streams from your computer to the AE; it has audio outs which can connect to your stereo.

Going out? If your car stereo plays mp3 files, just burn a couple hundred of them to a CD. Or, as I do, plug in your iPod to the car stereo. I bought a car unit that has a USB port and can control the iPod.

Leeway's response is also interesting. There are so many technological innovations going on in this space that half the time I don't even understand the responses posted on this board.

I don't at all download from any "unofficial" sites. I only frequent eMusic, Amazon, and when they have sales, 7digital.

Edited February 20, 2012 by mjzee

[Big Beat Steve]

And since I do not fancy limiting my listening to the PC or other computer-based media, I'd still have to convert the files to some format suitable for any CD player so where would the overall gain be for me in the case of the music where a MP3/CD choice exists?

From within your house, a good way to do this is with an Airport Express:

Apple

Music streams from your computer to the AE; it has audio outs which can connect to your stereo.

Going out? If your car stereo plays mp3 files, just burn a couple hundred of them to a CD.

Leeway's response is also interesting. There are so many technological innovations going on in this space that half the time I don't even understand the responses posted on this board.

I don't at all download from any "unofficial" sites. I only frequent eMusic, Amazon, and when they have sales, 7digital.

Thanks for the info!

Only ... I am all PC, not Apple ...

I agree about your comment re- unofficial sites (especially with the now-acquired benefit of hindsight , but what can you do if the others blissfully ignore those areas where downloads could REALLY come into their own in the reissue field, i.e. NEVER before reissued music?

Though that particular site has been into this for so long with their monthly instalments of new additions to the download files that I guess it cannot be a systematic problem with their downloads being bug-infested or else they would long since have shut down. But I cannot afford to let this turn into a hit and miss affair. Once bitten twice shy. There's enough music to listen to anyhow.

[mjzee]

I think the Airport Express will also work with PCs. I think all you need is an existing wireless network in your house, and iTunes on your computer.

[jeffcrom]

This article brings out the crotchety old man in me - "You kids get those low-res mp3s off my lawn!"

Only in the last few posts has anyone touched on the issue that bothers me about the new generation of music listeners. There's a big difference between hearing recorded music through computer speakers or generic iPod earbuds and hearing it through a good sound system and decent speakers. It doesn't matter how lossless your audio files are if the only way you hear them are through the speakers that came with your computer. I know you can play your iPod or computer through your sound system, but most people don't. From what I can tell, most younger folks don't even have what we old fogies would call a stereo. It bothers me that an entire generation doesn't really know how music is supposed to sound.

Now let me get to the restaurant before 5:00 PM so I can get the early bird special.

[mjzee]

Ever since my son was born, listening to music on my good stereo simply isn't possible - it'll wake someone up, or interfere with some activity in some other room. My home office has become my de facto man cave.

I really like my computer speakers (Altec Lansing FX3022). They have excellent bass (the bottom of each speaker has a subwoofer) and good clarity; they really draw you into the music. They don't have that much power - if I were across the room, they wouldn't make much of an impression. But at my desk, centered between the two speakers, they're wonderful, almost like external headphones.

[jeffcrom]

Yeah, but you and I and the other folks here are the exceptions. We're going to do what we need to do to make our music sound good. Most folks have lost any sense of what good sound is. Maybe that's always been the case, but I think it's worse now. When I was a kid, my parents certainly weren't audiophiles. But the cheap-ish stereo we had still sounded pretty good.

[jazzbo]

When some kind of magnetic storm the likes of which we have never seen before wipes out all information on our cds, and our Internet grid is wiped out or damaged in a future terrorist (or Anonymous) attack against our cloud hubs instead of the financial center of NY, vinyl and shellac records may be all we have.

I can definitely see digital files being damaged by a magnetic storm, but if such a storm wiped clean cds, why wouldn't they wipe clean lps? Both have the information stored mechanically so to speak, not "electrically" or magnetically.

[.:.impossible]

Wait. You guys are serious. So Anon attacks with a magnetic storm (how does this work?) and we are checking to see if our albums are ok? So I'm assuming magnetic damage is short-term and our electrical supply and infrastructures are largely unharmed in such a scenario?

[jazzbo]

I'm just noting cd's value as a storage media is similar to vinyl's in this respect. (As to how this works, nuclear attack can cripple electronic equipment even far out of the pulverizing range, as can other weapons I believe). If we face such a situation, there are many many problems we'll face, and only to music-loving maniacs is this going to be a paramount one. . . . . (If the shoe fits, wear it. Make mine a negative heel.)

Edited February 20, 2012 by jazzbo

[Dan Gould]

Hey I'll be shootin' to kill at the old Batteries 'R Us.

And I'll be plenty happy with the sound out of the old boombox while you young 'uns with the I-pods will be crying about the crippled grid and how the heck are you going to recharge a dead lithium battery?

[.:.impossible]

Should I be more prepared for disaster? All kidding aside, something about Dan's last post makes me realize that we really don't have much more than hurricane preparedness here.

Obviously, I am not a paranoid person. Perhaps to

a fault.

Sorry to derail. At any rate. Yes, it makes sense to buy CDs. Sometimes I feel like we are having 80different versions of the same conversation, all at once.

[David Ayers]

Sometimes I feel like we are having 80different versions of the same conversation, all at once.

It seems most folks here use a mixture of media, just the balance that varies according to preference or purpose. I find storage such an issue, though, personally. I just hate to see the physical media cluttering up the place...