Am I hanging on for no good reason?

[ForeverAutumn]

I ordered a couple of CDs from Amazon that arrived yesterday. I immediately opened the disks put them into iTunes and synced my iPod. I've been listening to them at work...from my iPod.

I did listen to one on the CD player in the car this morning, but I could have just as easily have plugged the iPod into the car.

I've been resistent to order digital copies of CDs, preferring instead to have the real deal to hold and hug. But storage is becoming an issue and I'm wondering why I'm holding on so tightly to CDs. Granted I rip to iTunes in Apple Lossless format, but let's face it, the sound quality on most CDs isn't all that great to begin with, so would I really notice a difference if I downloaded MP3s instead? The majority of my listening is from my iPod these days. Even on the good speakers, most days it's just easier to drop my iPod into the dock then start fussing with CDs. Plus I have the option of shuffling tunes and setting my own playlists.

Am I holding on for no good reason? Has anyone else faced this dilemma?

[Hyfi]

Granted I rip to iTunes in Apple Lossless format, but let's face it, the sound quality on most CDs isn't all that great to begin with, so would I really notice a difference if I downloaded MP3s instead?

That may be true for whatever it is your listening to these days but......

I look at it this way because I absolutely refuse to go paperless with bill paying, insurance, my paycheck, 401k or anything else the system has tried to cram down my throat. I want a physical paper record of everything I do so I can refer to it and prove things in a pinch when the servers go down.

What happens when your iPod breaks?
What happens to your iPod when your PC that holds all your files crashes?
What happens when the Apple Servers crash with all the records of what you already paid for and you can't get new copies because of it?

If the above becomes reality, you would still have the physical disk to play at home and in your car.

Computers are great and our world has surely changed because of them but they are not infallible. They are subject to viruses, hackers, and F'ed up people who have nothing better to do but ruin things for others.

[GMichael]

Am I holding on for no good reason?

Not if it makes you happy. If it puts a smile on your face, then you're doing it right.

[3LB]

If I'm expected to pay near-to-CD prices for a download, I may as well own a physical medium outright, even if most new music is mastered to sound like a 128kbps MP3 anyway...

[Robert-The-Rambler]

If a CD is available from a reputable seller on Amazon I always go for the CD since a bad CD is bound to be an even worse MP3 anyway. I only go MP3 for stuff that I simply can't get for a reasonable price. Some obscure 80s music is so hard to find and if I can just download the MP3 for $10 instead of getting an out of print CD for $50 or more it makes good financial sense. As you have said you can just make your own MP3 out of your CD anyway so why settle for a chance for lousy audio.

Hell I try to even find DVD-Audio or SACD versions if possible. SACD can be really great because some have the CD version on the same disc as the high resolution version.

Why not do what I did and store all your CDs in full quality on a hard drive and use a laptop or desktop PC? External USB 2.0 hard drives are getting so cheap. You never have to worry about having the discs if fumbling with your discs is a concern.

[Mr MidFi]

If I'm expected to pay near-to-CD prices for a download, I may as well own a physical medium outright, even if most new music is mastered to sound like a 128kbps MP3 anyway...

Yeah, that's pretty much my attitude these days. There are times when I feel like hearing something right freakin' now and I'll go ahead and pop for the $9.99 / 246kps / DRM-free download. But 9 times out of 10, I'm still buying physical media.

[GMichael]

Anyone try the BR music yet?

[Mr MidFi]

Some obscure 80s music is so hard to find and if I can just download the MP3 for $10 instead of getting an out of print CD for $50 or more it makes good financial sense.

Case in point, just last week I just downloaded the first album from a west-coast jazz outfit called Kittyhawk, from around 1981 or so. Try finding that one in a store. It was a nice trip down memory lane for me, and it was only $7.92.

[bobsticks]

Vinyl aficionados would say that there is a tactile response to the handling of the specific round discs. I find that there is something to that with the little, silver discs as well but the idea of terabyte storage has merit as conditions become unmanageable.

[Stone]

That may be true for whatever it is your listening to these days but......

I look at it this way because I absolutely refuse to go paperless with bill paying, insurance, my paycheck, 401k or anything else the system has tried to cram down my throat. I want a physical paper record of everything I do so I can refer to it and prove things in a pinch when the servers go down.

What happens when your iPod breaks?
What happens to your iPod when your PC that holds all your files crashes?
What happens when the Apple Servers crash with all the records of what you already paid for and you can't get new copies because of it?

If the above becomes reality, you would still have the physical disk to play at home and in your car.

Computers are great and our world has surely changed because of them but they are not infallible. They are subject to viruses, hackers, and F'ed up people who have nothing better to do but ruin things for others.

Just playing devil's advocate here (as I still buy CDs and vinyl, and just had an external HD crash), but what happens when the CDs rot away and the vinyl gets worn out?

[Robert-The-Rambler]

Just playing devil's advocate here (as I still buy CDs and vinyl, and just had an external HD crash), but what happens when the CDs rot away and the vinyl gets worn out?

The acronym SOL applies.

[Slosh]

The only downloads I pay for are lossless (the last Les Savy Fav album, for example - $9.99 for FLAC + 320 mp3). I have a back up of my back up. Too much work to re-rip 10,000+ songs again. I'm running out of space to store physical media too. Might have to buy a bigger house

[Hyfi]

Just playing devil's advocate here (as I still buy CDs and vinyl, and just had an external HD crash), but what happens when the CDs rot away and the vinyl gets worn out?

LOL, I guess ya better have a crappy little ipod and dirty earbuds to stick in your head as a backup plan.

I have heard about CD rot but have yet to see it. All my old cassettes still play too.

You should have a CD copy of all your vinyl and to be safe, copies and full wav file rips of everything.

You then need to send it all to an off site storage facility with a $100,000,000 insurance policy so you can then go out and buy it all back up.

Good question though. I still think a hard copy along with a digital copy is better and safer than just a digital copy. And a lesser quality copy at that.

[thekid]

I am with Hyfi on this. I have experienced too many "crashes" on computers over the years to trust all of my music to a hard drive. Sure you can/should have back-ups etc. but to me that is a PITA. My middle of the road solution to the space issue is to keep certain CD's that are played often on hand and I use a mega-storage CD player for another 300 CD's. The mega-unit is hooked up to my external DAC so no loss in SQ.

[Hyfi]

Just playing devil's advocate here (as I still buy CDs and vinyl, and just had an external HD crash), but what happens when the CDs rot away and the vinyl gets worn out?

Stone,

If the drive didn't seize completely but just can't be accessed, get a program called Nucleus Kernel. Slave the drive into a box with a USB adapter or as an internal drive. The program scans and finds info so you can offload it. It will even find items from before previous reformatting.

[Stone]

I have heard about CD rot but have yet to see it. All my old cassettes still play too.

All my CDs still play, but if I hold some of the older CDs up to a light, I can see light through pin-sized holes in them.

[Stone]

Stone,

If the drive didn't seize completely but just can't be accessed, get a program called Nucleus Kernel. Slave the drive into a box with a USB adapter or as an internal drive. The program scans and finds info so you can offload it. It will even find items from before previous reformatting.

Thanks for the info, but I'm not sure that'll work. When I say "crashed" I mean literally. The box dropped on the floor. It'll turn on but doesn't want to work past that stage. I am going to take the cover off when I get time and see if it's a mechanical issue.

[Finch Platte]

This is crazy, but I'm looking for a 1T (or more) external HD to dump all my smaller ext. HDs onto, just in case any of them fail.

And I still have a sh!tload of CDs, and plan on keeping them, although I've winnowed them down a bit & put some in storage.

[Finch Platte]

All my CDs still play, but if I hold some of the older CDs up to a light, I can see light through pin-sized holes in them.

Hopefully, it's just your Nickleback discs.

[Hyfi]

This is crazy, but I'm looking for a 1T (or more) external HD to dump all my smaller ext. HDs onto, just in case any of them fail.

And I still have a sh!tload of CDs, and plan on keeping them, although I've winnowed them down a bit & put some in storage.

I am using a 2TB My Bookworld Network drive that is mirrored. It allows me to stream all my movie and music files over the network through my OPPO and keep all machines backed up.