Not exactly sure where to post this article, but I found it to be a good read:
http://grantland.com/features/the-case-for-cds/
It's still often the cheapest way to get music in a lossless format. I refuse to buy lossy music files. Except for spinning the occasional record, I listen to everything via squeezebox.
I wonder whether I will live long enough for my CDs to come back in fashion the way my LPs did.
I like cds because they are usually cheaper than downloads, and you can resell them, give them, donate them or lend them because they are your property.
The article is ineffective because it is the gushing of a nostalgic collector. What I say are benefits that anyone should consider.
The only case against cds is having to store them.
I'm one of those characters who still buys CDs and has no interest in downloads. I like to have my music in some tangible form. Well-produced CDs, like the LP equivalents, are nice objects to have.
CDs are no more tangible than a flash drive. It's just digital audio encoded onto a disk. They're certainly better than LPs, but are only slightly less impractical. Every CD I have than I'm still interested in has been ripped and put onto an ipod or smartphone. It may still be better to buy them instead of downloading, but actually using them is cumbersome (something I realized even back when CDs were the best option; lugging a portable CD player around and keeping it perfectly still was not fun).
Quote from: The Six on July 09, 2014, 07:54:20 PM
CDs are no more tangible than a flash drive. It's just digital audio encoded onto a disk. They're certainly better than LPs, but are only slightly less impractical. Every CD I have than I'm still interested in has been ripped and put onto an ipod or smartphone. It may still be better to buy them instead of downloading, but actually using them is cumbersome (something I realized even back when CDs were the best option; lugging a portable CD player around and keeping it perfectly still was not fun).
I know that most people are like you listening on the go, but I personally mostly listen to music at home on the stereo. It is more convenient to grab a cd off of the shelf than to go hunt down my laptop and plug it in.
Quote from: Velimir on July 09, 2014, 02:30:07 PM
I'm one of those characters who still buys CDs and has no interest in downloads. I like to have my music in some tangible form. Well-produced CDs, like the LP equivalents, are nice objects to have.
+1--I take that up a notch and buy primarily SACDs.
Quote from: DavidW on July 09, 2014, 08:35:07 PM
I know that most people are like you listening on the go, but I personally mostly listen to music at home on the stereo. It is more convenient to grab a cd off of the shelf than to go hunt down my laptop and plug it in.
+1Same here! Sometimes the browsing/finding is a fun enterprise on its own. One walks down different alleys in one's piles/shelves. I never feel that way with MP3s.
I will say like always; if I am looking for a super-rare CD, I will download it if I can in order to be able to hear it. Meanwhile I will keep looking and eventually close a deal on one. So I can't say that I would never download anything. If I can get a flac it is even more likely I will download. :)
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I have not listened to a CD yet this year, everything I have (>10,000 tracks) is on the Amazon cloud. After a couple of listening tests where I could not tell the difference between CD and the Amazon MP3 rip I moved my whole collection there.
Quote from: bwv 1080 on July 10, 2014, 11:15:04 AM
I have not listened to a CD yet this year, everything I have (>10,000 tracks) is on the Amazon cloud. After a couple of listening tests where I could not tell the difference between CD and the Amazon MP3 rip I moved my whole collection there.
I think that misses the point, which is not sound quality any more but possession of the actual source of the sound. I only listen to MP3 or FLAC too, but I still have all the CD's. It is the feeling of possessing something which differentiates the CD'er from the streamer. :)
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Quote from: Gurn Blanston on July 10, 2014, 11:27:47 AM
I think that misses the point, which is not sound quality any more but possession of the actual source of the sound. I only listen to MP3 or FLAC too, but I still have all the CD's. It is the feeling of possessing something which differentiates the CD'er from the streamer. :)
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Why does having your 1s and 0s burned on a piece of plastic give someone that feeling?
Some people say I'm a streamer, but I'm not the only one...
Quote from: Mn Dave on July 10, 2014, 11:42:55 AM
Some people say I'm a streamer, but I'm not the only one...
:D
Yeah, I'm with you guys. I don't listen on the run, preferring to settle in and listen for extended periods. CDs are primo for that.
Yes, the article is pretty useless (pop nostalgia), but I do prefer CDs myself. I do not own a portable device for music listening and while I have lots of downloads (mostly privately transferred old LPs or Shellacs) on my notebook, I do not listen frequently to them, because I cannot easily hook it up to my stereo system.
I might be a fetishist, but I like having a physical collection (about 4-5000) and I still keep some LPs, although I haven't even a working record player set up right now. It is a pain when moving, I have to concede that.
Yes, that's what you all are: fetishists. $:)
Quote from: bwv 1080 on July 10, 2014, 11:30:38 AM
Why does having your 1s and 0s burned on a piece of plastic give someone that feeling?
Hell if I know. It doesn't differ all that much from people who prefer analog books to eBooks. For me, 'owning' downloads is like having a great big piece of nothing, while owning CD's is a tactile and visual sensation in addition to the audio thing. The why of it is beyond me. :-\
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Quote from: Gurn Blanston on July 10, 2014, 12:17:15 PM
Hell if I know. It doesn't differ all that much from people who prefer analog books to eBooks. For me, 'owning' downloads is like having a great big piece of nothing, while owning CD's is a tactile and visual sensation in addition to the audio thing. The why of it is beyond me. :-\
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And there's a booklet, which you don't always get with downloads.
[And this is my 1,000th post in this incarnation. Where's my prize?]
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on July 10, 2014, 12:17:15 PM
Hell if I know. It doesn't differ all that much from people who prefer analog books to eBooks. For me, 'owning' downloads is like having a great big piece of nothing, while owning CD's is a tactile and visual sensation in addition to the audio thing. The why of it is beyond me. :-\
Yes, I find it kind of hard to articulate too. I like having all those shiny discs and their little booklets and pictures around me; there's something comforting about it.
Also, having your music in those discrete units means you can't
lose it all in some computer crash or other technological disaster.
Quote from: Velimir on July 10, 2014, 12:25:54 PM
Also, having your music in those discrete units means you can't lose it all in some computer crash or other technological disaster.
But then you'd have an excuse to collect it ALL OVER AGAIN!
Quote from: Velimir on July 10, 2014, 12:25:54 PMAlso, having your music in those discrete units means you can't lose it all in some computer crash or other technological disaster.
Plus, you only need electricity and a working CD player to listen to CDs. With web based services, in particular, you need an internet connection just to listen to music. One more complication in life. I like things simple. Also, I have yet to see a UI as simple to use as alphabetically sorted rows of CDs.
Quote from: Todd on July 10, 2014, 12:36:02 PM
Plus, you only need electricity and a working CD player to listen to CDs. With web based services, in particular, you need an internet connection just to listen to music. One more complication in life. I like things simple. Also, I have yet to see a UI as simple to use as alphabetically sorted rows of CDs.
You needed an internet connection to say that.
Quote from: Mn Dave on July 10, 2014, 12:39:22 PMYou needed an internet connection to say that.
True, but in the last year I have had more internet downtime than electricity downtime, so if I had to rely on the web for music during those downtimes, I would have been sad, or perhaps angry.
I have enough CDs to handle a short emergency. :o
I only came to this thread because I thought someone was sharing a new storage solution... :-\
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I came for the pie.
(http://www.eatfoo.com/files/images/20070728_-_blueberry_pie/blueberry_pie.jpg)
Quote from: Todd on July 10, 2014, 12:36:02 PM
Plus, you only need electricity and a working CD player to listen to CDs. With web based services, in particular, you need an internet connection just to listen to music. One more complication in life. I like things simple.
Yes, and you do not need just some internet connection, but a pretty fast broadband one. This is not available everywhere and I do not want to take it for granted in the next decades. I could listen to my CDs with a solar-powered discman even after an extended crash of services.
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on July 10, 2014, 11:27:47 AM
I think that misses the point, which is not sound quality any more but possession of the actual source of the sound. I only listen to MP3 or FLAC too, but I still have all the CD's. It is the feeling of possessing something which differentiates the CD'er from the streamer. :)
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A CD is not the source of the sound any more than a computer is. It's a simple medium like any other.
Interesting to see so many seeing music as a "possession" and something to be owned. I think people are getting less and less attached to material objects in this digital age. Less plastic production and less clutter can only be a good thing.
Quote from: The Six on July 10, 2014, 03:12:20 PM
A CD is not the source of the sound any more than a computer is. It's a simple medium like any other.
Interesting to see so many seeing music as a "possession" and something to be owned. I think people are getting less and less attached to material objects in this digital age. Less plastic production and less clutter can only be a good thing.
Some do, some don't. By that logic, an LP is the same as an MP3. Of
course it's the medium! It's the feeling of ownership of something. I traded my money for something and have a physical token to hold in return. You traded your money for something and have only an intangible asset, fragile at best. I'm happy, you're happy. Once my generation of old guys dies off, you youngsters can save all the plastic you want and undoubtedly make the planet a better place. Meanwhile, I'm fixin' to spin some Staier playing Haydn... :)
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Quote from: Gurn Blanston on July 10, 2014, 04:05:38 PM
Some do, some don't. By that logic, an LP is the same as an MP3. Of course it's the medium! It's the feeling of ownership of something. I traded my money for something and have a physical token to hold in return.
An ipod is very physical. And it can hold hundreds of albums. A computer is also physical and can hold millions. This physical medium you seek is very much present. It's just more efficient. My 12-year old self would have been a lot happier if he had one device with all his music to take on vacations, instead of worrying about how to cram 20 different CDs into a duffle bag. Don't have to worry about scratches or skipping, either!
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on July 10, 2014, 04:05:38 PM
Of course it's the medium! It's the feeling of ownership of something. I traded my money for something and have a physical token to hold in return. You traded your money for something and have only an intangible asset, fragile at best...
This discussion reminds me of an interview I heard several years ago on the radio with Bob Dylan. A reporter asked him whether he was concerned in this digital age about being ripped-off. "No," he declared [enigmatically!] those aren't albums!"
Quote from: Mn Dave on July 10, 2014, 12:51:49 PM
I came for the pie.
(http://www.eatfoo.com/files/images/20070728_-_blueberry_pie/blueberry_pie.jpg)
Lol... :P
Quote from: The Six on July 10, 2014, 05:20:18 PM
My 12-year old self would have been a lot happier if he had one device with all his music to take on vacations, instead of worrying about how to cram 20 different CDs into a duffle bag.
This (as someone said above) is part of the issue: portability. The folks who want to listen to music on the go like all-digital. The folks who like to sit down and have a listening session in their living room go for CDs and LPs. I'm a sit-down-and-listen type of guy.
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on July 10, 2014, 12:17:15 PM
Hell if I know. It doesn't differ all that much from people who prefer analog books to eBooks. For me, 'owning' downloads is like having a great big piece of nothing, while owning CD's is a tactile and visual sensation in addition to the audio thing. The why of it is beyond me. :-\
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I share paper books that I enjoyed with family and friends. I can't share ebooks with family and friends since that is illegal. Nothing romantic about the physical object, just common sense.
Quote from: DavidW on July 09, 2014, 02:24:23 PM
The only case against cds is having to store them.
[/b]
That's a big one. Having just moved books and CDs, big big. I like Kindle for books over paper now ...
Actually right now organizing and searching on Kindles is weak. I have only started clouding downloading but see more in my future.
Why is this an either/or discussion? Why not have your cake and eat it too?
more pls..
(http://rainydayproject.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/funny-cat-meme-cake.jpg)
Totally agree with article - thanks for posting. Also CDs are much easier to smuggle past my wife than LPs were to smuggle past my parents (I had to devise an elaborate method to do this).
>:D