Digital Downloads vs Physical Media

[DavidW]

What do you purchase the most of these days (if you do purchase) downloads or physical media (cds, vinyl etc.)?

I've been buying cds but I've literally run out of room on my shelf.  I'll have to buy another one.  Recently I purchased the Petersson edition and I paid way, way more to have it on cd than other posters did on digital.  And on top of that they immediately have it while I'm still waiting on a delivery via air mail.

I like being able to see the cd on the shelf and remember that I have it, but it is the same quality as listening to a flac, and about the same amount of effort to play either one.

Unlike other threads, this is not about streaming but strictly about purchases.

[Karl Henning]

My purchasing has now migrated from physical media to downloads. For me as well, space is the issue.

[Gurn Blanston]

FLAC album downloads. I'm still pondering ways to reasonably unass 5k+ CDs... 😕🤠

[Spotted Horses]

Mostly download. The only time I have a preference for CD is when the booklet is not included in the download purchase. Other than that it is dictated by cost, download vs new or used CD. I never play CDs (I don't have a player anymore) so CDs get ripped to the hard disk anyway. I also have a mild preference for my ripped format (one Flac file per disc, with a cue sheet) rather than the typical download format (individual Flac file for each track). And of course there are CD releases that are not available as download (big Universal sets, especially Eloquence).

Executive summary: mostly Flac.

[DavidW]

FLAC album downloads. I'm still pondering ways to reasonably unass 5k+ CDs... 😕🤠

Oh your internet is now good enough for flac downloads?  Great!

[San Antone]

I hardly purchase any media. I subscribe to two streaming services, Amazon and Spotify - and I have access to Naxos Music Library through a subscription to Early Music America. My old iTunes library is still intact and has about 175k tracks on three hard drives.

[Todd]

Downloads.  In terms of physical discs, I occasionally buy box sets, closeouts at Amazon (though those seem to have stopped), and $1 used discs from a charity thrift shop I stop in at while visiting my daughter at college.  It is conceivable that I will buy new releases in physical form if they are cheaper than downloads, but that hasn't been the case in a while.

[DaveF]

Nearly all downloads - physical discs only if non-downloadable/streamable, plus the odd charity shop bargain.

[Florestan]

Downloads. I can't even remember when was the last time I bought a CD or what was the last CD I bought.

[foxandpeng]

Downloads over physical media.









(coughs... streaming over downloads... coughs)

[Holden]

My purchasing has now migrated from physical media to downloads. For me as well, space is the issue.

Ditto for me when I do make a purchase though there are some exceptions where I want to have the information from the CD insert.

[Daverz]

I only occaisonally purchase CDs when I can't find something online in digital format, and those get ripped immediately.  I haven't had a disc player hooked into my stereo system in years.  My last CD purchase was a Testament 2-CD set with Cantelli's studio NBC recordings because I wanted to hear his studio Mathis der Maler.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with the thousands of CDs that I have.  I imagine they'll just end up in the dump after I'm gone.

[Spotted Horses]

I have no idea what I'm going to do with the thousands of CDs that I have.  I imagine they'll just end up in the dump after I'm gone.

Most of mine ended up in the dump and I'm still here.

[Henk]

Concerning purchasing music, downloads mainly, but sometimes I buy a cd to complete and enrich my collection, so it matches my standard and level of decency. Last time was Beethoven's Triple Concerto.

I still mainly play cds when it comes to classical music. I tried to rip them and give up the idea of playing cds. But I started to miss my cds. Cds is part of the fun. I get too much a digital being, too much automated when only play downloads or streaming and it affects my wellbeing negatively. Cds on the other hand is a form of wellbeing. I just need to avoid piling them up chaotically and my new habit to do that works fine for me.

[classicalgeek]

It looks like I'm in the minority, but I still primarily purchase physical products! I actually tried to go the download route, and I sold off my CD collection bit by bit on eBay about 10 years ago. Yes, I did enjoy having hundred of works available at the touch of a button, but something was missing.

Then I discovered Dave Hurwitz's YouTube channel about three years ago, and I discovered just what was missing - the ritual of putting the disc on, of leafing through the booklet, the thrill of getting an order of CDs in the mail... and so, in late 2021, I started rebuilding my physical collection, and I'm glad I did! I'm particularly grateful for the various artist 'megaboxes' where I can acquire a bunch of recordings for 2 to 3 USD per disc (sometimes less.)

So I don't buy downloads at all, but I do use streaming as a means to explore the unfamiliar, as well as to 'audition' prior to purchasing. And I do want to digitize my collection - which has now grown to about 2500 discs, so that's become quite an intimidating project. But overall I'm happy I switched back to physical media.

And note to those who are looking to offload their CD collections: there is still a market for physical product! Including me - does anyone have a Gary Bertini Mahler cycle they'd be willing to part with? (that's but one example of a set of CDs that I sold off and wish I hadn't... and now it's become next to impossible to find!)

[Mapman]

I also like physical media. Even though I mostly play ripped CDs from my computer, it is still nice to hold the CD case and read the booklet. The CDs are also another reminder of what I own.

[71 dB]

CDs forever for me. I love digital physical media (CDs, SACDs*, Blu-rays** and in same cases even DVDs***).

* For multichannel support since CD quality is already perceptually transparent.
** Blu-ray is good enough for me. I don't need 4K quality for movies.
*** For example classic DOCTOR WHO, but generally DVD is not good enough at all.

Question for those who have gotten rid of their CDs for space issues: How do you fill your homes with stuff if it is not with physical media? Do you live in almost empty homes? Some people have barely anything else than furnitures, but for me such a home would be so boring and "empty."

[71 dB]

It looks like I'm in the minority, but I still primarily purchase physical products! I actually tried to go the download route, and I sold off my CD collection bit by bit on eBay about 10 years ago. Yes, I did enjoy having hundred of works available at the touch of a button, but something was missing.

I have bought some (non-classical) music as digital downloads because it wasn't available on CD, but buying music that way doesn't make me feel anything. I don't even feel excited to listen to these digital downloads.

Then I discovered Dave Hurwitz's YouTube channel about three years ago, and I discovered just what was missing - the ritual of putting the disc on, of leafing through the booklet, the thrill of getting an order of CDs in the mail... and so, in late 2021, I started rebuilding my physical collection, and I'm glad I did! I'm particularly grateful for the various artist 'megaboxes' where I can acquire a bunch of recordings for 2 to 3 USD per disc (sometimes less.)

I like how DH advocates CDs and encourages people to buy these cheapo boxsets.

So I don't buy downloads at all, but I do use streaming as a means to explore the unfamiliar, as well as to 'audition' prior to purchasing. And I do want to digitize my collection - which has now grown to about 2500 discs, so that's become quite an intimidating project. But overall I'm happy I switched back to physical media.

Same here. Streaming is good for exploring music, but physical media is happiness for me.

And note to those who are looking to offload their CD collections: there is still a market for physical product! Including me - does anyone have a Gary Bertini Mahler cycle they'd be willing to part with? (that's but one example of a set of CDs that I sold off and wish I hadn't... and now it's become next to impossible to find!)

We who love physical media are perhaps a minority, but we exist and we are not going anywhere. If anything, people are returning to physical media like you did.

[DavidW]

One neat thing with big box sets is that I can move the cd I listen to from the front to the back and it effortlessly tracks where I am.  The equivalent for downloads I'm guessing would be to take notes??

[Florestan]

I do want to digitize my collection

Let me see if I understand you correctly. You buy physical CDs which you want to digitize. This way you'll end up with both the physical CDs and the corresponding digital files. Why, then, go through all the time-consuming trouble of ripping the physical CDs when you can buy downloads in the first place?