Quote:
Originally Posted by 325xi
On the other hand, from last 20 CD I lately bought, only one or two I bought actually in store. The rest came from online retailers - better prices, better availability.
Another thing is - we can't rely solely on downloads - we're into uncompressed music, aren't we, and it's heavy. Sooner or later there will be some higher rez format replacing CD's PCM, and here we go again - it may be too inconvenient to download it, when you can get a "data" CD or whatever it be, and upload it to the music server. ...
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Well, I've been relying solely on downloads for quite some time now, 100% lossless Flac files, and I don't see why this can't be the way it will remain for me.
I have literally thousands of CD's, and I have cherished some of their jackets, artwork, but truth-be-told, after a couple months, I don't need to keep touching the artwork. In fact, it's been such a relief, boxing up all my CD's and putting them away from my listening room after copying them on my PC.
The other HUGE factor is the retail price of CD's these days. They're going for around $16.99-17.99 plus tax at a local store, and frankly, the vast majority of albums these days have perhaps a couple of songs of merit, if at all. The greed of recording companies knows no bounds; it costs them less to produce a CD than a tape!, yet the price keeps being hiked up.
As far as "high-res" downloads, I wouldn't hold my breath. SACD, DVD-A downloads simply will not happen due to record companies' DRM paranoia. Just look at how many websites actually offer simple "redbook" quality lossless downloads TODAY. I can only count one (and a half..).
If you really 'need' to listen to SACD/DVD-A, the only way for the forseeable future (say 20-30 yrs), is to buy an universal SACD/DVD-A/CD player with digital input. Play the handful of SACD/DVD-A's you own on the tray and play your redbook music via the digital input from the PC.