For CD and LP lovers, when do you choose which format?

I've no idea , and I'm happy with that.
But vinyl is the one that sends me in to deep state cinematic day dreams.

 

Depends on whether I want to get up every 20 minutes, or am more in the mood for "Computer: play me some cool music form my collection so I can settle on something." (Tidal/squeezebox/ripped music controlled remotely). Or with Tidal it's "I'm in the mood to discover new music."

Typically I only buy stuff on vinyl I *really* like. But I can't buy it all, so digital it is for much of the time.

 

Well, I started with LP 'cause that's all that existed*, then I got CD in 1987 and now I have both.

*Well, I had cassette too, but you didn't ask about that.

 

Mostly vinyl. CDs in the car (rarely if ever do I listen to radio in the car. They play the same boring commercial songs over and over again ad nauseum).
It also depends on mastering, format availability in my collection and how loud I need to play the music. I have a ton of duplicates (same albums) on vinyl and CD formats.
For 5.1 media, I play these in my home theaters as my main system is stereo only.

 

Time location and convenience. I dont buy CDs anymore unless it's a new release that isn't available as a digital download.

I dont own a CD player anymore so if I'm not listening to vinyl, I'm listening to my Pono or the radio in the car or streaming when working on the house.

 

50/50

 

Even though I have about 300 CDs. I don't play them a lot. I'll actually play an SACD more often. Otherwise it's vinyl.

 

It depends. There is no hard fast rule. I try to play whatever version sounds better. I also take into consideration how much time I have to get up and flip things. I think Dead shows are more enjoyable on CD or streamed.

 

Think I misread the question. The above is how I decide what format to purchase.

For listening it just depends on what I want to listen to. I try not to have the same album on both formats. When I do the CD will probably win, assuming it's sound quality is comparable. If not then I will choose the vinyl - but odds are good if the record is that much better that I would have traded in the CD and the record is all I have left.

 

It's all about the mastering for me. If I own both formats with the same mastering, I usually choose vinyl.

 

For me, it begins when I want to listen to a particular record. Then it depends on what format I have it on.

I really suck at listening to formats.

 

I buy both formats about equally.

CDs when they contain good bonus tracks or are well packaged with good booklets and cheap. I also buy CDs when I've started buying an artists music and they've released many albums. It's so much cheaper. I've recently picked up all six of Carla Thomas Stax era albums as well as two Ace compilations of her unreleased material. Total cost was £35. Less than the price of two new vinyl albums and the two Ace CDs have never been released on vinyl. I also only buy compilations on CD. Particularly well compiled releases from Ace, RPM & Trojan etc.

Vinyl for everything that's affordable on vinyl, my favourite albums, albums with great sleeves and artists I collect like The Beatles, Stones, Queen, Zep, Byrds etc. I also have a lot of this stuff on CD as it's very cheap and useful. I like to have punk, post punk, 80s indie, reggae etc on vinyl. Anything from the pre CD vinyl era.

I prefer vinyl overall, it just looks great and I love finding a vintage LP I like in great condition. That's unbeatable for music to me.

I buy both formats whenever I find anything interesting cheap. I also love collecting 45s.

 

interesting question. i buy both vinyl and cd's and i also stream and buy d/l from artists on occasion.
clearly if there is an older record i want i will buy that on vinyl. some new vinyl is limited and done very well art wise( i have not been crazy about the quality of new vinyl. some bands shellac , for instance , vinyl is a must and they toss a cd into the jacket.recently i have bought the tim rutili stuff on vinyl (must be a chicago thing) as he spends so much attention to detail it is worth it. i also buy cd's once in a while as well. i would say per year i but at least 12-14 lp's and 6-8 cd's. i also stream a lot of stuff on spotify. one upcoming release i am having a tough time figuring out what format to buy is the new tojiko noriko. i have a feeling i will end up with the cd as i can burn in to iTunes .

 

...but you don't own both formats with the same mastering.

“Before CDs became available,” John Golden explains, “when a vinyl record was cut, the only source to compare it to was the master tape, in a studio that had a machine that could play it. After the CD was introduced, people started saying, ‘The vinyl record doesn't sound like my CD.’ And to some degree, that still happens today. The fact is, it will never sound like the CD — it's the ‘vinyl version’ of your music.”

 

I own both LP's and CD's. I prefer listening to the original vinyl versions if the music is an analog recording (i.e. older rock music from roughly 1963 - 1984). For newer music, particularly if it was recorded digitally, I almost always listen on CD. I do sometimes buy both the CD and LP version of modern music, but it's mostly to support newer bands that I really like.

I grew up with LP's but almost completely abandoned the format for CD's in the late 1980's. I stopped buying vinyl when I got my first CD player in 1986 and from that time until about 2005, I worked to replace all my LP's with CD versions. In 2005, I caught the vinyl bug and began repurchasing all the LP's I sold or gave away. Now I have a large collection of both formats.

 

for me CD/Digital...

 

At home it's mostly records, CD's travel. I tend to enjoy the records more. CD's get occasional at home play, if I'm doing housework, cooking, or something else that I don't want to have to stop to flip the album.

 

Approximations:

Digital rips-60%
Streaming service-30%
Turntable-5%
Disc player-5%

Streaming is for music I mostly don’t own. My owned/ripped library is my usual “go to.” Disc player usually when I’m ripping stacks of music into my library. Turntable when I’m wanting to listen to something I only have on vinyl.

 

When a vinyl copy doesnt exist, if I have both it’s almost always the lp.....

 

For me, it's completely driven by what I have to hand. If that is only a CD, there is no hesitation. My preference is vinyl (or tape) then CD. However, I have many CD's that have yet to see a vinyl release. In some cases, though I have been known to spend stupid money every now and then on vinyl, the seller just wants too much quid!!! At that point, I say screw it and get the CD. Fortunately, with my "new to me" preamp, CD's are far more listenable, now. Also fortunately, the amount of good to great reissues already out and still coming out is kind of mind blowing. (I remember the 90's achingly well). The ante was doubly upped for LP. So, all that to say, I'm going to reach for the vinyl (or tape) first every time EXCEPT on the, thankfully, rare moments when I'm sick and down for the count. For that, I have a CD walkman (remember those things ) on my night table. I only stream free internet radio or oobtoob if I want to discover something new; most likely something I saw in an LTOV thread.

 

For now, almost 100% cd because of a recent foot surgery. At best, 70%CD/30% LP. Thanks to a new Schiit d:a, vinyl takes the back seat to my cd collection.

 

For me it's way simpler; what I own on vinyl, I don't own on CD, so it just boils down to what music I'm in the mood for rather than what format it's on.

 

Same here, but I also choose a CD in the rare cases in which the CD sounds better than my LP counterpart.

 

A few of you seem to get it, but

It's right in the thread title: For CD And LP lovers.

 

To some extent, it's about what I want to hear. Lately, with new vinyl equipment, I've been fascinated by how much better much of my vinyls sounds. Yet, I've really come to appreciate the various ways I can listen to digital: my AVR actually plays my CD's really well which goes against a lot of common 'wisdom' you read on the forum. So, I get into both because I want to hear all of my music played well. In the end, it's more about what I want to hear and what format that's available on. I do like to capture my vinyl and play it back to find that the new equipment captures it better than ever. But digital is digital and vinyl is vinyl. They have their own satisfactions. I'm not religious about either one. I'm simply spiritual about all of it. I love MUSIC.