What about the CD after ripping?

Just wondering what most people do with their CD collection. Are you playing them strictly as CDs or ripping them into a music library such as JRiver? After ripping (and making a back-up), do you keep them around to, say, play once in a while? Or, do they simply become redundant to you after you rip them? Maybe you keep them around for liner notes, visual appeal, tactile appeal or something? Maybe they become your back-up system (but they won't last forever). I get my music by buying CDs, rather than downloading. and then all those jewel cases etc. just sit there. So now I am wondering...maybe I should re-sell or donate them. I can play them anytime, of course, but not with the sound quality that I get from my computer/DAC set-up. And there is no point really for me to buy a high-end CD player. Yes, I can play them in the car, but I never do.

So what's the fate of the (sometimes maligned) CD?

 

I keep mine and still play them once in a while. There's also the legal matter. Not that I'd have the slightest worry, it just feels right to me. I firmly believe the artist should get the royalties they're entitled to.

 

I've kept a very small handful simply due to collectible/sentimental value. Sold off a few due to collectible value. Thrown most away. It's redundant and none of them are likely to ever get played again - I've got enough optical media that does require actual playback!

 

It's my understanding, at least in Canada, that you have copyright permission to rip CDs that you have bought, or, strangely enough, borrowed from a friend. See below (especially the bolding):

The Private Copying Act

In 1997 our Copyright Act was amended with the Private Copying Act to legalize "Private Copying" and to introduce a levy, the blank audio media levy, to compensate copyright owners for this copying.

Resulting in sections 79 to 88 of our Copyright Act, the Private Copying Act was introduced to obtain an international compatibility, many countries having adopted similar amendments and the blank audio levy, whose rate is determined by the Copyright Board, is now being collected from the manufacturers and importers of blank audio media by a collective body assigned by the Copyright Board, the Canadian Private Copying Collective. But what is "Private Copying" ?

"Private Copying" allows Canadians to make copies of pre-recorded material for personal use, either from music recordings they've purchased or music recordings they've borrowed from a friend. But there are still rules that must be followed to make this copying legal.

Copying Music Legally

As previously mentioned, Canadians are allowed to make copies of the recordings they've purchased and strangely enough, even recordings they borrowed from friends. But several rules as to how copies are to be made and what can be done with the resulting copies are specified in section 80 of the Copyright Act :

• A Canadian must perform his or her own copying. You can't ask a friend to do it. It's your "Private Copy".
• You can't give, trade, rent or sell the resulting copy. So basically your copy must remain in your possession.
• You can't broadcast or play the copy in public or allow anyone to do so. This means your copy can't be aired on radio, even on the net and that its public performance is limited to private gatherings, not including any paid event or large gatherings. Additional information for DJs can be found by clicking here.

UPDATE - On July 28th, 2005, the Supreme Court Of Canada refused to hear an appear by the industry to levy iPods and similar devices. The industry now unfortunately believes that copying music to these devices does not conform to the "Private Copying" guidelines established in our copyright act and is therefore illegal, unless it is copied from a legally purchased download or from a copy protected disc. (CRIA's Official Press Release)

UPDATE - In response to the Copyright Board's recent certification of levies on iPods and MP3 players, the Federal Court of Appeals upheld it's previous rulings on January 9th, 2008, overturning the Copyright Board's decision. (The Retail Council Of Canada Official Press Release Via Newswire / The Federal Court Of Appeals Ruling)

Source: Copying Music ; Legal VS Illegal »

 

From a thread like this one, commenting from three years ago:

 

I kept about 100 for collectable/sentimental value but brought most of them to Amoeba for trade-in or cash. That was a few years ago. Don't know what I'd do now since Amoeba gives you $1.00 at most for any title pretty much.

 

Replace the jewel box with a simple paper and plastic sleeve.

That will cut the volume down by at least 50%. Put them in boxes in the garage.

Never sell your cd's unless you have some you don't like.

 

I keep the CDs in binders and the jewel cases in boxes. Most of it is in a storage unit, but I plan to bring some home because my CD player sounds better to my ears than my DAC.

 

Placed in sleeves with the book, alphabetized and stored in archival storage boxes. I also keep the digipaks and unique cases.

 

I definetly keep my CDs!

I use the liner notes (don't have time to scan everything). I use the actual discs to check on pressing information (it is surprising how often random tidbits popup that is always sending me to confirm pressings/matrix info on the actual disc). I also want to have another method of backup other than a series of hard drives (I also burn all my non-media personal data to bluray as a backup).

 

Nothing will last forever, but matrix CDs are more reliable as a storage unit than any hard drive, IMO. I have plenty of CDs from the 80's, and they are in perfect visual and sonic condition. Just for the last 5 years I lost 2 hard drives (unrecoverable loss of many GB of files)

 

The minute I bring a CD home, I rip, tag, and archive it. Only after i've done that, I listen to the ripped CD through Foobar 2000 on my computer that is hooked up to my stereo system.

The CD goes into a tall pile, and then into a box for storage. It never gets played, as I no longer own a proper CD player. My two DVD/BD players are only connected to a TV in another room, so I don't use those.

If I play the music in the car, it gets copied to a USB stick first. I don't mess with CD-R.

 

That is worth repeating.

 

You can copy your own CDs for your own use here in the states as well. I just wish you hadn't broadened the discussion with this aspect of the issue because you will now have the law and order types wagging their finger.

 

Why would you have to recover data if you had taken the proper precautions of back ups? Are two backup hard drives in separate locations better than a single CD?
You betcha!

 

Stored intact in a storage unit all these years. Thankfully.

When I started ripping my CD collection years ago I ripped to MP3 at a very low bitrate, and I'm glad I kept the physical discs. The past few years I've been going through and pulling out physical CDs of stuff that I haven't (or can't) get on vinyl or HD lossless and ripping them to ALAC.

I've got two iTunes collections now - the original "legacy" library from my audio "wilderness years" where I got into MP3s in a big way, which still has a heartbreaking number of tracks ripped at 160kbps and even 128kbps among the ~50K total tracks - and my "hi res" library, which I started building 6 years ago when I got back into vinyl and had my ears revived (which is pretty much the only thing I listen to now, using Audirvana Plus v2). Plus a bunch of SACD ISOs and DSD files that live outside of iTunes.

 

I store them in a binder. Jewel cases go in a box in my storage unit. I rip them all to FLAC files through dBpoweramp onto redundant backup HDDs. The 'unrippable' ones I repair with CUETools.

 

I advise not ripping with iTunes. Use dBpoweramp and do a 'secure' rip the first time through. The error correction in iTunes is not as good as the error correction in programs like dBpoweramp. There is also a Mac version now too.

 

I still keep most of my CD collection, but I've got rid of (give them to family, friends...) the ones I haven't listened to for years.

 

Several years ago I ripped my entire collection and then sold all my cds. A few years later I regretted that decision and began buying them back. Not all of them. Just the ones I missed most. I like having the discs. I feel like I own a tiny piece of the band by having them. I keep them stored away. Sometimes I go back through them just for my own amusement.

 

Don't sell them if you are the type who might rebuy them later. And don't just throw them away, that would be a real waste. My advice: keep them if you have enough space. I'm still buying lots of CDs because they are so cheap now. And i refuse to believe that they are obsolete.

So I buy, rip and shelf. Occasionally I put one into my CD-player. I would never play them in a car CD player! Thank god new cars don't have CD players any more. CDs cross my threshold only in one direction, that's the rule.

 

This. I keep them in the basement under the stairs I've storage tubs.

 

You have to keep them, otherwise you are infringing copyright, unless you destroy your rips when you dispose of the CD.

 

I've taken garbage bags - contractor's size - full of CDs and donated them to charity stores. You have no idea how heavy they can get!

I still have some box sets, deluxe editions etc. If the sound is good and I'm extra sentimental about the group or album, I'll hang on to it.

I don't think I've ever missed CD liner notes. They were never much to begin with, and a lot of the older CDs I often seek out were blank on the inside..? Occasionally I'll see a box set with a well written essay in a booklet or something similar but I won't keep reading and re-reading it.

 

I sold off a ton of my CDs when they were still Giving $4.00 for the good titles before the market really crashed. I kept just maybe 15% is all. MFSL and DCC golds were sold off on eBay.

Anyway, my vinyl collection is what I own to give me that connection to the artist with physical product - piece of the band or artist.

The CDRs and other discs that I am keeping are being broken down out of the jewel cases, and are being boxed up and into storage. I know some of these should not even be stored but junked. The bootleg collection on CDRs is massive, has been ripped go flac and is not needed at all now. But I will keep them (for now) because the material is rare.