do you still buy CD's?

that a reason not to buy into mp3's; they alter the sound and are not as good a quality in terms of sound as a vinyl or CD.

I don't buy that **** for a second.

Cycloptichorn

you don't buy what ****, my words or mp3's?

The 'mp3s are worse than CD's' argument. While I understand that the MP3 is a compressed format, and there is bound to be a little data lost in the process, I've never been able to discern a difference while listening. Your stereo would have to be a pretty good one to even be able to tell the difference anyway.

Then again, I never bought the record/CD controversy either. I think it's just nostalgia and wonkism.

Encode your MP3's at a high bit rate if you want to avoid that...

Cycloptichorn

Well, that might be. Nostalgia, I mean.

However, good recordings sound better different on vinyl.

I like the cd's (most of my music isn't produced on vinyl) because of all the infos on the booklets, too.

I am both. When i buy a CD i then download it on to my ipod. So then i have got memorabilia of the artisit and i can listen to it on my ipod.

The artifacts that lossy compression can introduce can be quite noticeable. I am not an audiophile, but certain sounds can get completely garbled when using a lossy compression. You probably do notice it but just write it off as an error in the compression or recording.



With a variable rate you can get the best of both worlds but if you really want to avoid quality loss you need to use a lossless codec (e.g. FLAC).

Ever use Ogg Vorbis? I have several friends who swear by it, but haven't taken the time to get acquainted myself.

Cycloptichorn

I've been buying quite a few cd's lately. Since so many people are dumping them to go to MP3, I've been able to pick up stuff I'd been looking for at quite good prices (usually less than $3 Cdn). For some uses, the c.d. works well; for others I copy to MP3 and am planning to re-sell the c.d.'s.

A friend's husband has recently given up on all formats other than vinyl. She's now busy replacing old vinyl he'd gotten rid of, as well as music he had in other formats.

that makes no sense to me, because your spending more money than you need to. buying music off itunes is cheaper overall than buying CD's to then put them on your ipod.

that's why I haven't bought an ipod, becuase they make buying CD's pointless, because itunes is cheaper, but I prefer to have CD's.

I've used almost all codecs at some point, but my own music is exclusively an mp3 collection. A lot of the other codecs are superior, but none are as widely supported as mp3 and that's the main factor for me in choosing a file format.

Not always, especially if you've got a good used record store nearby, which I am lucky enough to have. And even in those cases where the cost of a CD is about the same or slightly higher than the digital equivalent, I'm still willing to put in the extra dollar or so for all the liner notes and info.

I think I'd warm to MP3s more if I'd warmed to iPods, but I haven't yet. I'm just not a fan of listening to music in transit. If I'm walking around, I'd rather listen to my surroundings than to music, the details of which get lost in the outside din anyway. On trains, buses, etc., I'd rather be reading. I can see how an iPod would be nice on a plane, I suppose. In general, listening to music is something I like to do when I'm not doing anything else, sitting in the comfort of my room, in which case my stereo still serves me fine.

for me, the conflict arises when a person listens to music at home, and on the move. lugging a portable CD player around, espceically when travelling long distance, can be a real inconvenience. buying an ipod would solve this problem, but in my case, it would make CD's redundant, and CD's is all I listen to when at home. the only comprimise is to buy a decent MP3 player, which I have, its just the ipod which I refuse to buy, because I love my CD collection too much.

There is all kind of factors coming into play when listening to music on high end equipment however mp3 128 on middle level equipment is fine for my old ears and better sound handling format and equipment would be a waste of resources in my case and likely in the majority of cases. Males upper hearing go down sharply after their twenties and females follow around 10 years behind.

One thing I find interesting and amusing is that some prefer equipments using tubes instead of transistors because tubes add a difference harmonic structure then more modern AMPs and some claim it is a 'warmer" sound.

It's certainly true in a guitar amp. My '64 Fender Twin Reverb fetches a lot of money because of its warm tube sound.

I am totally going to miss CDs and music stores. I already do. R.I.P. Atomic, Vinyl Solution, etc.

See, in the old days, instead of listening to thirty seconds of a song's bridge and deciding whether or not to purchase an album, you would get up from your computer and walk or ride your bike to the fuckin' place. You would then talk to the owner/clerk. In the old old days, he might have a bootleg tape, like a live recording, something obscure (a Mr. Bungle demo?!), and his handing the bootleg recording to you did not cause your computer to crash. He typically knew fucktons about music--in fact his passion for music most likely inspired him to open a music store. You'd be all, "I ******* love Jane's Addiction." And he'd be all, "Well, they owe a pretty big debt to the Stooges." And you'd be all, "What Stooges album should I get?" And he'd be like, "Fun House." Often, ok always, music would be playing. If you stayed long enough, you could listen to an entire album.

Occasionally, hot artistic girls who actually talked to you would be there.

God forbid you didn't like an album the first time you listened to it. Because you'd have to listen to it again. Because it was 10 PM and the store was ******* closed. Fortunately after sitting there and listening to the album into the wee hours, you'd start to like a couple songs you weren't fond of at first. In the morning when you woke up they were all in your head. You'd listen to the album all day long. For weeks. And then it would be time to go back to the store.

That's why I still visit Laurie's Planet of Sound or Shake Rattle and Read from time to time, or a lot. To buy a record or a CD. I like that I can still ride my bike to either place, as my time machine needs perfecting.

I would buy Cds if I had more money. I would create a few for playing in my car. I have no idea what . .. well, not entirely true . . . an MP3 is and how it works. I should say that absolutely hate having anything to convey sound stick in my ear.

I was put in a position where I left my vinyl behind when I moved which was too bad. I owned records but never a turn table and it seemed that I never would. Still regret that action.

Funny story . . . in the early days of 2008 a friend called to say she had been on a planned shopping expedition and thought how she hadn't bought any new music for a long time. As she had always liked Alison Krauss, my friend decided to buy an Allison CD only to be surprised at how many there were. She said she simply decided to buy the latest one.

At that point, I knew where the story was going. I had seen Robert and Alison along with T-Bone Burnet on the CHarlie Rose Show.

My friend continued, "At first, I hated the CD. Who is that old man? His voice is getting in the way of Alison's. Have you ever heard of him?"

"Robert Plant."

"You know him?!"

"He's a big star."

"That's what my kids said. Do you know the band he was in?"

"Led Zeppelin."

"I never heard of them. Would I like them?"

"Probably not."

Well, she borrowed all the Led Zeppelin CDs from the library because by the third time she heard the recording, Alison's voice was preventing her from hearing Robert. So, I asked, when did he become Robert and stop being that "old man?"

She listened to the complete Led Zeppelin catalog and decided Jimmy PAge is a genius.

The only time I buy CDs anymore is when they aren't yet available for download, which is rare. However, I do burn my own CDs from my mp3s and play them in my car, or occasionally give them to friends.

truer words were never spoken, i too miss the old days of the record store, there's one left in the city near me, a real cool place, with cool folks working there

i remember being able to spend hours in Peter Dunn's Vinyl Museum, a used record store on Yonge Street in Toronto, i'd go to a section i was interested in and start at A and just flip through every record in the place until Z, even if i didn't find anything it was sort of like going to an art gallery and looking at a bunch of 12 x 12 inch paintings

My CD to MP3 ratio these days is about/less then 1 out of 5 albums will be a CD. I have to be browsing the CD aisle of the Barnes and Noble or previously be planning a road trip and I wasn't certain the car I was renting may not have a MP3 player jack if I was going to buy a CD.