Is it time to stop buying CD's?

Last time a particular disc I was after surfaced, a Levittown woman wouldn't even let me see the original cd let alone purchase it, but was very willing to provide me with a cd-r copy for $300

 

Gold plated I hope.

 

Probably staples brand disc, didn't get that far in the negotiations. Not even a properly burned copy from an eac accurate rip or something, I'd have actually paid for that in all likelihood, but it was just an iTunes burn of an iTunes produced rip…


It turned into a minor event that was picked up on the web by a lot of fans who followed the drama closely. The original artist caught wind of the situation, got upset with the greedy seller who was trying to get so much money from a fan for a terrible CD-R copy and so after a small Twitter rant, he uploaded the recordings to soundcloud for everyone to hear.

Only 128kbps mp3, but also $0.00, so I guess that's a win.

 

Awesome outcome. Except for the greedy SOB with the CDR copy of course.

 

I just saw more discs my sister owned, and I will be ripping and Goodwill-ing them afterwards. I only have so called collectible discs and imports and some box sets. I still buy cheapos to rip and discard. Some of the discs I threw away recently are Ice Cube "Bootlegs and B Sides," Elvis Inspirational, Roy Orbison 16 Greatest Hits, Earth Wind & Fire "Millennium," and Al B Sure! "In Effect Mode." So yea I definitely buy but not to keep.

 

I'll likely "explore and discover" using the library, free streaming, and internet radio. It will likely just be new releases.

 

I really need to "stop the hunt" and feast on what I have acquired.

 

I understand space being a problem, especially in the City. Remember the idea of raising your bed to allow more music storage. It isn't just stuff; it is soul.

 

As many others have pointed out, it's prime buying time. I have definitely been partaking, and been enjoying the music more than the medium. It's opened a door for me to focus on different kinds of music I would not have been able to find on vinyl (certainly not for between .50 - $1.00).

Otherwise, do what feels right for you.

 

Well the big thing now of course is streaming. So when the big emp hits, it will all be lost! Plus streaming has its issues, drop outs, jitter, usually low resolution etc.
Music downloaded is by far better than streamed music when it comes to play back, but again unless burned to an optical disc, can be lost due to hard drive crashes, emp, etc.
And a big one to me is the loss of album art, it got bad with cd's, lost with down loads.

 

I just bought 20 reggae CDs for $70. This is the time to buy.

 

To all of those who "digitize" their CDs to hard drives and then unload their CDs: I work at an engineering school, and every single week I hear of several failed hard drives where all was lost. It will happen, the only question is when.

 

Correct. Which is why backups are an absolute requirement.

I never keep anything that's at all important to me in just one place. I keep multiple copies of everything.

 

Look for the Barry Diament mastered Bob Marley CDs from 1990.

 

This is why a good backup plan is a necessity. I have now more than 2 drives with all my media, and one more which I don't consider a backup but technically could be used as one if necessary.

M-Disc CD-R media would be an excellent form of backup for all sorts of extant CD media, audio or data, but the public at large obviously has no demands for such media and even within our small little corner of the world here, I haven't seen any demand for such a media. In fact, it seemed like more people are against it when I've brought it up. So the powers that be definitely do not feel an incentive to bring this media to market, and as such at the moment it is simply DVD-R and BD-R media only.

 

I was sure that this was a very old thread someone bumped, but I was wrong.

 

Keep the CDs themselves. They are the best back-up. And buy CDs of things that you enjoy.

 

I listen to mostly vinyl now, but I'm not getting rid of my CD collection. It still has value to me, and I have room for it. Also, it is good for parties or casual listening when I don't have time to "tend" my turntable. I have a nice CD player that has been upgraded and utilizes a vacuum tube circuit that is very sweet IMHO.

For 25 or 50 cents used in a thrift shop, I can buy CD's that looks interesting or that I haven't heard before and give it a whirl. It's a cheap way to experiment with new music. If I really like it I'll buy a copy of it on vinyl. If not I am only out a few cents.

 

That's the "Legend" I picked up last weekend.

 

One year ago... bought at a garage sale 300 each early '70s rock CDs for $150. This is the time to buy!

Oh yeah, 3 MFSL 24Ks, a lot of boots, and many Japan CDs were in the mix too.

 

As time passes, some things - though they seem to have changed - don't change at all. Back in the early heyday of CDs (the late 1980's), the mass audience decided to completely ignore vinyl LPs and focus on CDs, even though the huge majority of all music (including many popular favorites) had never yet been on CD. Today, the true mass audience for music is gone, as most people are indulging in various other media. But there are many of us still deeply into music. It seems like the largest proportion of music lovers today are completely ignoring the CD (in favor of other data/analog formats), even though after 35 years of the CD, a huge proportion of recorded music has never been on anything BUT CD.

And CDs are still the exclusive source (in most cases) of improved transfers of vintage 78's/45s that were never on LP, unissued sessions, live sessions, etc

 

Somebody needs to tell SACD that he's dead . . . he's not lying down on his own.

 

Sailfree, I do the same with regards to not selling my CD collection, I love vinyl but we both know it is not the most practical source, although in my humble opinion it does offer the highest level of musical enjoyment. Provided your setup is up to snuff, your record has been cleaned (even if it's new), the stylus is clean and if you happen to have found a good pressing. Although this seems a little exaggerated even some CD's from the same series sound different than others. Once you have returned to vinyl it is almost impossible to appreciate the sound of CD's. Most older CD's in my collection (I started buying them in 1983) I have tried to buy back as a vinyl version and I am practically always rewarded with a more natural sound and more micro details.
My CD player is a very natural sounding Pioneer PDS 501 with modified Zhaolu DAC. Since 1983 I have owned a lot of CD players and although some may look more High End, this humble set-up is very hard to beat. But still when you have time to listen and relax, it is beaten hands down by vinyl.

 

Legend on Tuff Gong mastered by Barry Diament sounds great. I just picked up a couple of other Markey CDs from that CD mastering period and they sound very nice as well.

 

Not while my local charity shops are selling CD's for 50p to £1.
Recent buys include.....
Grace: Jeff Buckley
The Extremist: Joe Satriani
You Just Can't Beat It: The Best Of The Beat. Double CD