I'm just one man... but Vinyl absolutely was a gateway to CDs for me. But I stick to the used marketplace for both.
The missus insists on having Apple Music for streaming, and I've been using it the way I used to use the listening kiosks at Sam Goody: "Oh I've heard good things about this band, lemme check out some of their music". Thus far it's allowed me to dig deeper into some artist catalogs that I otherwise wouldn't have bothered to spend the money on. Found a lot of good stuff that way, and wound up seeking out CDs after the fact. I think for a lot of people, this is the end-game for their music consumption. For those of us with a compulsion to collect physical media though, it's just an inexpensive way to sample artists without having to shell out the money for individual releases only to find out you don't care for it.
I can think of a lot of music that I listen to that is no longer in print on LP or CD but is available on streaming -- like I've been listening to a lot of '50s and '60s and '70s music by Franco and OK Jazz from Sonodisc collections. You can find some of the OOP CDs on Amazon used -- for $25, sometimes $100 -- or you can stream them as part of your $15 a month subscription which will also get you access to lots of other music as well. There's lots of stuff from the Freedom/Black Lion label available now through 12o1 music, if you want it on physical media, they'll sell you a super stripped down production-on-demand CD-R, or you can stream it. You want a copy of Chloe X Halle's debut Sugar Symphony EP, one of my favorite recordings of the last decade -- there's no physical media that was ever released on that. Of course there's plenty of music that I love that isn't streaming too -- you can't get Julius Hemphill's Dogon A.D. on any streaming platform. You won't find the Art Ensemble of Chicago's People in Sorrow on a streaming platform. Hell, you won't even find that on CD, unless its a bootleg vinyl rip. If you want Henry Threadgill's Pi Recordings, you're going to have to buy the physical media or downloads. Pi doesn't stream. That's why I'm personally format agnostic, but my first choice is streaming.
If you listen to rock music -- which I mostly don't anymore -- I think you're more likely to find physical media still being supplied, because the market for that music comprises people still interested in physical media. Last year rock had something like 20% of the overall market for music in the US, but 42% of the market for physical album sales was rock.
Well, it certainly hasn't show up as a trend for new music sales. New vinyl sales continue to increase, new CD sales continue to fall at an even faster rate. We don't really have much insight into the used market since the recorded music industry doesn't care about the used market -- neither record companies, nor artists, nor publishers, nor songwriters make any money from the used market, so they don't pay to track it.
You could always check qobuz out with a free trial period and see for yourself. Of course mastering offerings are mixed like most other services but Qobuz also offers a download store for a higher subscription price which gives you a discount on the purchase price if you find something you’d like to own.
I agree. I don't mean CD is going to make some sort of comeback. Just that, for those of us who still buy records and CDs, collecting vinyl may help to keep our interest in CD above zero. It's the collector mentality maybe. If vinyl were to disappear though, I think it would be easier to just jump head first into streaming. I think no vinyl would just resign some people to accept that physical media has had its day. And CD is a lot closer to streaming than vinyl is, plus it has some clear advantages, so may as well just make the jump.
I really don't understand at all how CD is closer to streaming than vinyl is. On the one hand you have physical media which has to be purchased piecemeal and held and played back on some sort of equipment dedicated to the playback of material on that media, and on the other hand you have a service that's paid for monthly on an all-you-can-eat basis which can be accessed from many different network-connected platforma and devices. CD and vinyl are way more like one another than either is like a streaming service.
Yes, but I didn't say that CD was more like streaming than not. I'm saying it's a step (or more) closer to streaming than vinyl is. Vinyl records have much more appeal to collectors. The vinyl cleaning/table set up/playing is like a ritual that many people enjoy. CD doesn't offer this. And vinyl has a certain sound that appeals to many. CD is basically just a storage medium for digital files, which you can either read off a CD or stream off a hard drive (or the Internet). Vinyl is on one end of the spectrum (the left), streaming on the other (the right), and CD is somewhere in the middle. It's most definitely not to to the left of vinyl. I don't know...maybe something like this: Vinyl -------------------- CD ------------------Downloads --------------------- Streaming If one gives up on vinyl, for whatever reason, there are less hurdles to overcome to move all the way to streaming. Anyways, I'm not trying to make a serious argument here. It's just something that popped into my head that I threw out there, that I imagine is true for many people who still buy both forms of physical media. And I'm sure it's not true for many others.
I am moving in that direction (adopting streaming source & DAC as primary source). It makes a lot of sense. It doesn't mean you need to give up on a CD player or turntable. It just means you put some time into connecting up a new component and configuring the software a bit (this actually can be a bit of a PITA if you are striving for bit-perfect playback of hi-res stuff; if not, it's a breeze) and then you have an absolutely enormous library available to you -- and all your old stuff too, if you still want to hold on to it. OP, best wishes to you for health and wellness and enjoyable listening.
Agreed. I don't know how much space I'd put in between those points on the spectrum. But that's the spectrum.
I think it’s true for me. After years of clinging to buying physical CDs, I gave in to the instant availability of downloading (iTunes was open late at night when the record store was not), and the increased reliability of streaming along with the decreased association of music with a physical disc eventually had me buying less music. I would still buy a download when an artist I followed closely put something out, but mostly I became content to stream stuff I hadn’t already collected. Putting music on in our house became mostly streaming or playing ripped/downloaded files. Getting back into vinyl a few years ago instantly reversed that course, and I have even bought some CDs in that time precisely because of a renewed enthusiasm for physical media and attention to sound quality. Without getting back into vinyl, I would most likely have just downloaded rather than buy the CDs.
An issue with streaming is that the various streaming services may not have the mastering or release that you prefer. Especially if you're into audiophile mastering releases like AF, DCC, MOFI, etc. And especially SACD releases. If you move to streaming as your primary listening you may want to rip a selection of your CDs that aren't on the streaming services. And also your SACDs. Your Cambridge CXU happens to be one of the players that can rip SACD. So you can rip your SACDs to ISO then convert to DSD/DSF files to play them. With the potential of SACD ripping in mind, I'd make sure that any of the more sophisticated DAC/streamer solutions you look at should also have the ability to play DSD/DSF files. Some can, but many won't support that feature to play DSD/DSF files.
Personally I'm not interested in streaming, because Cost The fact that you're at the mercy someone else's decisions what to include and what to delete It might be a good source of suggestions for new music I might like, but at this time youtube does that for me for free. For the time being I'm fine with vinyl, CDs, MP3s and (gasp) my old cassettes. Regarding your mobility issues, a collection of files on a large hard drive and a dedicated hardware or software player with the features you like would do the same trick. Building up that collection could be a fascinationg pastime for a while. Also from me best wishes for your health issues.
Not really. If you managed to connect your PC to your router, you can manage to do the same with a NAS.
Depends on the stations available terrestrially where you are. In the UK you're better off in that regard than some of us.
I'm not going to predict where vinyl will go in the future, or any other format really. Except one thing: Vinyl will remain niche, it will not take over the entire music market.
I agree. The BBC always made efforts to mix things up a bit. I'm a forces brat, and in my early teens lived in West Germany, JHQ Rheindahlen to be precise, and Saturday mornings I remember listening to Ed Stewart's Junior Choice radio show, with home made high gain aerial, attached to a transistor radio with crocodile clips. We found it possible to pick up Radio 2 on AM, and we also managed to get the UK Top 40 on Sunday evenings. I have just looked at 1 week in February 1973, and it's reinforced my view that current artists generally fail to get to reach the heights artists back then reached Official Singles Chart Top 50 | Official Charts Company Back then the artists were standing on the shoulders of giants. Today's crop pale in comparison. To be truthful, I turn the radio off quite a bit when I'm in the car, because of some of the awful din that gets played.
I have been looking at the Auralic Altair G1. It is a streamer, DAC, preamp and it has the option to add a hard drive to the system that I could save my music from the CDs I own.
First, I gave away the Cambridge in ‘cause I needed a 4K player for my new bedroom system. I have a Pioneer Elite UDP LX-500 on order so I’ll still have access to my disc library. I’m having a new DAC/Streamer installed next week. I’m getting a Gold Note DS-10 on very trusted advice. I have asked about that unit here but being the unit being rather new nobody here knew much about it. When it arrives and is up and running I’ll post a thread about it. BTW I’m a 24/192 guy. That resolution fits my preferences satisfies me completely and I eventually want to stream as much as possible at that resolution.
I don't agree with this and I don't see the logic in the line of thinking. Downloads yes, maybe because you're using the same platforms and devices to playback the downloads as you are the streams (even though for me, I never adopted downloads, it always seems like way more work and way more of a hassle to me than physical media). Also, if you're one of these CD buyers who rips all your CDs and stick's 'em on a server somewhere for playback, well, you're already streaming, just not from a subscription service. But I don't think the move from buying records and playing them on a record player to streaming or buying CDs and playing them on a CD player to streaming is any different. I think the big adjustments are a move from physical media to non physical media, and the move from a product goods model where pay one time and hold the media, to a service model. Those moves -- those hurdles -- are the same whether you're coming from LP or CD. BTW do people really only listen to music via one format? I listen to streaming, vinyl, CD, terrestrial radio, satellite radio and, although I really would prefer not to, I'll listen to downloads too if that's the only practical way I have to hear something I want to hear. I use my stereo, my "smart speaker" system, my phone, my laptop, my car audio system, to listen to music. Are there really people out there only listening to vinyl and only listening to music on their hifis?
I am streaming with Pandora, in my bedroom system. I am REALLY enjoying it, and hope that it IS the future. In Shuffle mode, all my favorite styles of music are keeping me well entertained when I cannot sleep. Next think I know, I got so relaxed, I DID sleep.
I'm surprised you're using Apple Music then. Sign up for a Qobuz trial. When the company first launched in the US, its library was pretty slim. Its improved dramatically now. Not as deep as Spotify's or Apple's but everything is at least 16/44.1 lossless and they have plenty of 24-bit titles ranging from sample rates of 44.1 to 192. Like, you could go on Qobuz and stream Cecil Taylor's Conquistador now in 24/192 lossless.
I read the post you are referring to and agree with it. CDs are basically the same as downloads to me. I buy a used one, rip the files to FLAC, and toss the CD in a stack on a bookcase at work never to be looked at again. If anything I would put CDs closer to downloads on the spectrum. The only place I have to play CDs is my work office computer. And to your final point, you are right. Lots of different formats and I like to mix them up. I'm probably 70% vinyl, 10% downloads, 10% CDs, and 10% streaming. I like having the options.
