[Meloncoly]

Lately I've been buying MP3 albums through Amazon's MP3 store. They're coded pretty nicely at 256VBR according to them. Here's the issue. I find these great CDs on Amazon from recommendations made on the music forum, and the samples get me to jump in glee and anticipation...but the horrid link rears it's ugly head, "Buy the MP3 album for...". I can't tell the difference from a FLAC and a high bitrate encoded Lame V0 or V2 mp3 file...but I can't help but to think that I would get a higher quality version by ripping it myself off the CD instead of Amazon doing it for me, and the fact that I have it on a CD in case I want a higher quality file for no apparent reason. What would you do, if you were in my shoes? I also have to think in a financial aspect as well, since every dollar matters in my poor college lifestyle. 33 cent burritos and nutrient supplements is my daily food source...so every dollar counts.

 

[synaesthetic]

I just like owning the media. I miss the days of vinyl's heyday, when you bought an album, you got this awesome album art, liner notes, all these cool extras and bundle-ins...

I've never purchased a digital track and I doubt I ever will, unless they start offering them in FLAC for 20% of the physical media's price.

 

[Meloncoly]

See, the thing is, I have no problem purchasing digital tracks, just because if I can't hear the difference, even if I tried, I'm not going to go the more space consuming route just for the placebo effect of music fidelity. I wish I could invest in vinyl, as I have never heard a good vinyl setup, but I listen to music on the go, so it wouldn't make sense for me to invest in it at the moment. Right now some digital mediums are cheaper than their CD counterpart, but it's not in a lossless format. I wish they did have it, so I wouldn't have to worry about this issue, since I can just convert the FLAC to MP3s, and still have the FLACs backed up if and when I need it.

 

[Punnisher]

I'd buy the CD. Get it used, and as cheap as you possibly can. Check to see if there are multiple listings for the same item, they might be cheaper.

Don't buy too many at once, but listen to them and enjoy each of them. Sometimes I buy too many albums at once and it's hard to get around to listening to them.

 

[Meloncoly]

There was one time where I did that. It was a bit too busy. I couldn't properly analyze the music, and I couldn't enjoy it either, and I never did that again. I usually just buy one or two albums every other month. It gives me time to enjoy the album enough to a point where I can sit down and analyze the album without me getting into the music and getting distracted. I'm trying to train my ear to listen to key things like music separation, soundstage, and the other things people talk about when reviewing headphones and gear. I think my HD25-1's are doing me justice...but I do crave for more soundstage...at least it has some.

Edit: I also don't really like buying used CDs. My experience from Amazon via used CDs is that I'm really paranoid about scratches. I think they degrade the quality of the music when I rip it, so I buy new or save to buy new.

 

[krmathis]

I have one simple rule.
Never pay for lossy encoded music. Regardless if its MP3, AAC, whatever encoded to 320kbps. Lossless encoded on the other hand...

So I usually end up buying the CD.

 

[progo]

The lossless studio masters above CD's ratings are worth a consider, but they're way too expensive. CDs not only give you the physical medium and nice, solid sound quality, but they are also the main source of mp3s. Like flacs as lossless files can be.

 

[Drag0n]

If nobody buys CDs, soon they will stop selling them.
Alot of CD stores have closed and are closing.
Soon all youll have is itunes @ 128 if everyone jumps on the puppet band wagon. Ibuds for everyone!!!

 

[Kilane]

If they offer flac I'll reconsider my stance, as it stands with some minor bargain hunting you can find whatever albums are out there for less than what they're even offering. I still get off on holding the physical object, for whatever reason.

 

[intoflatlines]

I download (subscription) the majority of my music currently, but I buy on CD the albums that I really care about (Pink Floyd, Smashing Pumpkins, etc). The difference between the two is noticeable, but not to the point that I don't enjoy the music.

 

[nickdawg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drag0n /img/forum/go_quote.gif If nobody buys CDs, soon they will stop selling them. Alot of CD stores have closed and are closing. Soon all youll have is itunes @ 128 if everyone jumps on the puppet band wagon. Ibuds for everyone!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

The Apple Effect. People listening to crapp over-compressed music through crappy ibuds.

It's a shame that such a great invention has such a negative side effect.

 

[shigzeo]

people are okay with ibuds because they have been used to rubbish from sony, panasonic, philips etc for years. ibuds are not the result of apple, neither are mp3. ipod orginally only supported lossless and aac.

i don't see how apple made the market to downgrade quality. other companies are deciding to not support lossless, even wav for instance. apple are not bad here.

the market has changed to portable and that market has never been about quality unless you buy a truly high end device.

 

[aaron313]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have one simple rule. Never pay for lossy encoded music. Regardless if its MP3, AAC, whatever encoded to 320kbps. Lossless encoded on the other hand... So I usually end up buying the CD.

This is wise advice, and something I adhere to. I once used iTunes to download an album that I could not find anywhere. And this was before my induction into audiophilia. It was 128kbps, and I was IRATE! I just paid for 128kbps?! **** that.

 

[nickdawg]

Sure they're not responsible alone, but they haven't helped with things like itunes selling 128kbps musi for $0.99. It's cheaper and easier than CDs(for MP3 players) and people just take the hit in quality.

As far as headphones, I've hear some really good(unbelieveable, but true) stock phones over the years. Especially these that came with Sony CD players:

I've used those phones up until recently when one side died. Better than any stock earbud. But earbuds generally suck.

 

[aaron313]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickdawg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sure they're not responsible alone, but they haven't helped with things like itunes selling 128kbps musi for $0.99. It's cheaper and easier than CDs(for MP3 players) and people just take the hit in quality. As far as headphones, I've hear some really good(unbelieveable, but true) stock phones over the years. Especially these that came with Sony CD players: I've used those phones up until recently when one side died. Better than any stock earbud. But earbuds generally suck.

I used to have those headphones!