Do you collect the music or the original CD? And Why?

[George]

I ask this question because it recently came into my awareness by a friend who pointed out that he collects the music, so it makes no difference to him if it's a CD-R or download or original CD.

I previously only collected original CDs, but as I have begun to buy more and more downloads and CD-Rs, I have begun to wonder if the original CD is really important. 

I don't mean to start a moral argument here. The discussion I would like to have is how important is it to have the original CD? The music is still there, and that's why we collect, right? For the music. So if you have a WAV copy of a CD-R, do you need to go out and buy the original as well?

I ask because often I feel a compulsion to own the original (again, NOT for moral reasons). I then go and buy the original, only out of compulsion, and when I get it home, I have the same exact music available to me. Yes, I have liner notes and a nifty case, but really how important are these things?   

[Don]

I voted for the music.  To me, acquiring the original cd when you already have a download of it is extemely wasteful of one's financial resources.

[Gurn Blanston]

I voted for the music.  To me, acquiring the original cd when you already have a download of it is extemely wasteful of one's financial resources.

Ditto.

Resources aren't infinite. Certainly I would like to have the original CD, but as long as I have the music, I'm essentially happy.

[Szykneij]

The music is the important thing, but I prefer to have it on CD or vinyl. I like having something physical to go along with the music to look at and refer to. I think a lot depends on how you like to listen to your recordings, though. If your player of choice is an mp3 player or computer, then you're less likely to want or need the packaging. I have a feeling this will break down according to the age of the listeners. My son was brought up on downloaded music, so he couldn't care less about having it on CD. I still like having something I can hold in my hand.

EDIT: I guess Don's and Gurn's posts made while I was writing this doesn't support my last thought. 

[George]

Thanks guys. 

What if you have a CD-R of an OOP CD that is currently available for less than original price?

I suppose CD-Rs can have problems down the road and if somethings OOP you may not be able to replace it. 

[George]

The music is the important thing, but I prefer to have it on CD or vinyl. I like having something physical to go along with the music to look at and refer to. I think a lot depends on how you like to listen to your recordings, though. If your player of choice is an mp3 player or computer, than you're less likely to want or need the packaging.

Yes, I agree. I never listen on an MP3 player or computer myself.

[Todd]

I collect the music; CD is the medium. 

[sound67]

I ask this question because it recently came into my awareness by a friend who pointed out that he collects the music, so it makes no difference to him if it's a CD-R or download or original CD.

It should make a very obvious difference in his wallet.

I much prefer to buy original CDs, mainly because of the artwork and the liner notes. Also, CD-Rs won't last as long.

Thomas

[beclemund]

It depends on what else comes with the premium cost of the CD... Usually downloads are fine, but for opera, if I do not already have another performance with libretto, then I prefer buying the physical CD. And the quality of the download makes a difference too... all MP3s are not created equally.... but since I do most of my listening on my iPod, FLAC is not necessary, though it is preferred.

I do not tend to buy very much aside from occasional music binges. So, expense is not usually an issue for me, and if it ever was, I am perfectly willing to wait to own something. As it is now, I have enough music to listen straight through for many days that I never feel a need to add more right away (though I often do anyhow ).

[Don]

The music is the important thing, but I prefer to have it on CD or vinyl. I like having something physical to go along with the music to look at and refer to. I think a lot depends on how you like to listen to your recordings, though. If your player of choice is an mp3 player or computer, then you're less likely to want or need the packaging. I have a feeling this will break down according to the age of the listeners. My son was brought up on downloaded music, so he couldn't care less about having it on CD. I still like having something I can hold in my hand.

EDIT: I guess Don's and Gurn's posts made while I was writing this doesn't support my last thought. 

Guess again.  Although I can't see having two recordings of the same performance, my preference is also to have something to hold in my hanld.

[Harry]

I voted for the real thing, liner notes, pristine sound quality, and as Thomas said the burned copies don't last that long.

[mahlertitan]

the music of course! currently i have 10000 tracks of classical music, if i were to have them all on CDs, it would take ages for me to find the composer and the work i want. With a program like Mediamonkey, i can organize my music in an orderly fashion, and search for it and instantly getting the desired track. At 320 kbps, i doubt i am loosing that much of the so called "Pristine quality" of CDs.

Btw, i have little desire to burn my music onto CDs, it seems to me that, CDs are a thing of the past, i am planning to store my enormous music collection on several different external hard drives, to ensure that i will not loose my music collection, ever.

[Don]

I voted for the real thing, liner notes, pristine sound quality, and as Thomas said the burned copies don't last that long.

I keep hearing that burned copies don't last so long.  Just how long do they last, and who decided it.

[Kullervo]

I keep hearing that burned copies don't last so long.  Just how long do they last, and who decided it.

Tyrell Corp. All CD-Rs (R is for Replicant) have a life-span of two years.

[Don]

Tyrell Corp. All CD-Rs (R is for Replicant) have a life-span of two years.

But I have plenty of CD-Rs over two years old, and they play just fine.  Something is off center here.

[Szykneij]

But I have plenty of CD-Rs over two years old, and they play just fine.  Something is off center here.

The old board had a long thread on this subject:

http://www.good-music-guide.com/forum/index.php/topic,11984.0.html

[Kullervo]

But I have plenty of CD-Rs over two years old, and they play just fine.  Something is off center here.

Sorry, lame joke

[Szykneij]

Sorry, lame joke

You should have posted it here:

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,2444.msg63616.html#msg63616

   

[orbital]

the music of course! currently i have 10000 tracks of classical music, if i were to have them all on CDs, it would take ages for me to find the composer and the work i want. With a program like Mediamonkey, i can organize my music in an orderly fashion, and search for it and instantly getting the desired track. At 320 kbps, i doubt i am loosing that much of the so called "Pristine quality" of CDs.

BTW, i have little desire to burn my music onto CDs, it seems to me that, CDs are a thing of the past, i am planning to store my enormous music collection on several different external hard drives, to ensure that i will not loose my music collection, ever.

My sentiments exactly, though vast majority of the music I have is 192kbps. That's the bitrate at which I started ripping my CDs. In retrospect, I could have done better, and I am trying to use higher quality now. However, as I've stated earlier, my ears are really not that sensitive and 192kbps I find fulfilling enough. The fact that I listen to solo piano music more than anything else also helps.

The act of finding the CD and changing it every 60-70 minutes is tedious to begin with. Organizing the CD's is another time and resource demanding job. Plus after a while, I really begin to forget what was where   particularly in those mixed cds (one performer/multi composer CDs). The storage problem is another detriment.  

After all that the only use of CDs for me are really the auxiliary ones. Sure the liner notes are fine, but now that we can find more information than we ever want to on basically everything in just a few seconds renders it pretty useless after a while too. I could not care less for the artwork either.

Also, I don't want to spend too much financial resources on CDs anymore, knowing that they are paving the way for the next logical step in listening to music. For example amazon.com is about to open their classical digital store with the EMI and (I think) Universal catalogues to kick things off. Eventually, I can't imagine all the CDs printed not finding their way into the pure digital medium soon.

(A similar case might be made about books. I am still a little traditional there, but the new Sony Reader which I tried is starting to look like a nice alternative   )

[sound67]

The act of finding the CD and changing it every 60-70 minutes is tedious to begin with.

Couch potato.