Going Back to Buying CDs

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Time Is On My Side, Oct 28, 2017.

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  1. Time Is On My Side

    Time Is On My Side Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Madison, WI
    Let me preface this by saying that I was born in '87 when CDs and cassettes were primarily the only way to listen to music at home (other than the radio). CD-Rs came out along with downloads and it changed everything.

    I bought music off of iTunes over the years probably beginning in senior year of high school (2005) and ever since then have been upgrading my playback gear and speakers and, yes, 256k MP3 or 256k AAC does sound acceptable, but I want something future proof and "reference." Over the past few years I have gotten away from iTunes and have been buying off of 7Digital.

    Long story short, I ran into some kind of error message on 7Digital and opened a trouble ticket. One week later I have gotten ZERO response from 7Digital. So I went on eBay to buy a CD of what I was trying to get on 7Digital. I got the CD for ~$6 with cheap shipping whereas the entire FLAC 16/44.1 album on 7Digital is $15 or something.

    I just can't believe how cheap a CD costs on eBay barely used. You can get these for almost half the price of the FLAC albums, and a few dollars cheaper than on iTunes. And your CDs are always accessible and don't throw error messages when you try to listen to them.

    I like vinyl and have a whole bunch of vinyl albums too, but I can't bring myself to spend that much on something I'll only listen to at home once in awhile.

    Anyone else feel the same way?
     
    tmtomh, bluesbro, CrazyCatz and 21 others like this.
  2. LEONPROFF

    LEONPROFF Forum Resident

    I never stopped, but yeah.
     
  3. Siegmund

    Siegmund Vinyl Sceptic

    Location:
    Britain, Europe
    Yes.

    I'm 50 and vinyl has absolutely no romance for me. It's a high maintenance format and because I listen to a lot of symphonic/operatic music, the side-breaks are an annoyance. The CD format has been an indiluted blessing as far as I'm concerned!
     
    Sajomo, Bungo, augustwest and 31 others like this.
  4. Time Is On My Side

    Time Is On My Side Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Madison, WI
    I don't want this to become a vinyl vs CD debate. What I'm saying is I can't believe how cheap almost NIB CDs can be gotten secondhand and are far more reliable than downloads. And I'm kind of ticked that I paid money for a download and can't even use it now.
     
  5. Slick Willie

    Slick Willie Decisively Indecisive

    Location:
    sweet VA.
    I'm a physical media only guy. So yeah, I get it.
    All of my gear is set up for it, no mp's/streaming here.
    CD's in the auto.
    Vinyl, and occasionally, SACD/DVD-A at the house.
     
    Manimal, c-eling, YpsiGypsy and 9 others like this.
  6. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    never stopped collecting CDs...so versatile those things are...
     
  7. Siegmund

    Siegmund Vinyl Sceptic

    Location:
    Britain, Europe
    Downloads are rip-offs. No physical product=you don't own it.
     
    lance b, Manimal, Johnny Reb and 12 others like this.
  8. anorak2

    anorak2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Yes absolutely. Digital downloads should be considerably cheaper than the equivalent CD, because manufacturing and distribution costs are much lower. On top of that you get the lower quality version (assuming MP3). And I prefer a physical object instead of a virtual file, even though logically that might not make sense because the information is the same. One reason is that you can resell CDs, but not files, the rest is nostalgia. So if the CD is cheaper it suits me fine, I prefer it anyway. But it boggles the mind why downloads should be priced the same and why anyone is willing to pay that much for them if they can have the same thing for less.
     
    lance b, mds and ls35a like this.
  9. nosliw

    nosliw Delivering parcels throughout Teyvat! Meow~!

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON, Canada
    Nothing wrong with buying CD's. It's unfortunate that there so many albums that are only on digital downloads that will never be on any physical medium.
     
    Eleanora's Alchemy and PhilBiker like this.
  10. Ntotrar

    Ntotrar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tri-Cities TN
    I buy CDs (mostly used) and I will continue to buy them. I also buy LPs but usually only the albums that specifically appeal to me and are available from sources like MOFI; 45 rpm especially. I just bought a new CD player, CD is far from dead.
     
    PhilBiker and smokey545 like this.
  11. PhxJohn

    PhxJohn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Even brand new CD's are dirt cheap. Amazon is a great source for all formats new and used. No, I don't work for them. I just seem to do all of my shopping these days on Ebay for used audio equipment and Amazon for music.
     
  12. Time Is On My Side

    Time Is On My Side Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Madison, WI
    Amazon's prices are too high for me. Every other CD I try to buy charges me $5 in shipping and then once in a great while you can't even buy it because it's an "Add-on Item." eBay or Half-Price Books for me.
     
    PhilBiker likes this.
  13. Ntotrar

    Ntotrar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tri-Cities TN
    Thrift stores!!!
     
  14. Carl Swanson

    Carl Swanson Senior Member

    The sound on a CD is "mint" unless there is serious damage. Doesn't matter how used it is. There is no wear from normal use.
     
    lance b, Manimal, Johnny Reb and 9 others like this.
  15. Carl Swanson

    Carl Swanson Senior Member

    Yep, been buyin' up stacks of CDs for 69¢ to $1.39 for a few months now. Hundreds of 'em.

    Not all stuff I'd pay $5 or more for, but these bargains have enabled me to expand my musical horizons.
     
  16. e.s.

    e.s. Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Like what?
     
  17. Synthfreek

    Synthfreek I’m a ray of sunshine & bastion of positivity

    Like 3/4 of Bandcamp for starters.
     
  18. Boomy

    Boomy Senior Member

    Location:
    Indiana
    Sometimes I do. I'm 35, digital files don't interest me like they used to when I thought it was awesome to have a jukebox in your pocket. I only use an iPod while I do yardwork or workout.

    Also, I really like CDs. If you have a really good player, it sounds so good. You can also plug some good headphones into it and it's a great experience, too.

    I like vinyl, but I typically only buy it for bands I consider to be my favorites. Even some of my favorite I won't go for, the CD is enough, mainly because it's cheaper and I know i will listen to it more. In 2013 I weeded out some of the CDs I wasn't listening to anymore. The return wasn't very much, but it cleared some out.
     
    Karnak likes this.
  19. Davey

    Davey NP: Rosali ~ Bite Down (2024)

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    Yea, I've downloaded lots of great stuff from bandcamp that would cost a small fortune on CD or vinyl, sometimes it's the only way that makes sense. And the money goes almost straight to the artists too.
     
    PhilBiker and Synthfreek like this.
  20. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    There's room for every format, but $15 is too much for an 16/44.1 FLAC album ($15 even puts me off hi-res FLAC files, although it's more like £18 here in the UK).
     
  21. KevinM

    KevinM Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Kingston, Ontario
    Been combing the used CD market over the past couple of years. Got frustrated with good looking used vinyl only to get it home to serious clicks and pops when played. Used vinyl is going for premium prices for less than stellar quality.
     
    Mike from NYC and JimmyCool like this.
  22. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    Tried to get into "Hi Res" DSD downloads but the selection is very limited. MP3 downloads do not sound very good. Purchasing the CD of a title and ripping it to an uncompressed FLAC file has awesome sound quality especially with an upscaling DAC. Quite reasonable too, especially used CDs of which the market is well stocked!
     
  23. e.s.

    e.s. Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Fair enough, although a good amount of what's on there probably wouldn't get picked by a label anyway. Which is a good thing -- it's great that there's an alternative to labels (of all sizes), regardless of a band's appeal. At the same time, and for better or worse, a decent percentage of that stuff isn't widely known, so the average music fan doesn't know they're missing if it isn't available on CD or vinyl.
     
    PhilBiker likes this.
  24. Bob_in_OKC

    Bob_in_OKC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas
    My primary music buying is still CDs. I buy some of them used, but new CDs are cheap enough. I have yet to buy any downloads.
     
    Mike from NYC, Michael, mds and 4 others like this.
  25. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    The pricing for many 16/44.1 lossless downloads are more than the cost of the same album and mastering on a used, or even new, CD. I've been buying the CD when the CD costs less. I also sometimes buy the CD instead of the download even if the CD costs a little more, especially for indies and smaller labels.
     
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