[holyharry]

Ok, so I've been ripping music from my CDs in Apple Lossless format and getting fab SQ when I listen to it later on my Ipod, especially compared to an mp3 version of the same.

I've also been listening to some music downloaded in Apples Itunes Plus format (256 kbps AAC), and I have to say it also sounds very good indeed - so much so, that I would seriously consider buying my "audiophile" music in Itunes plus format, rather than buying a CD. Especially when the CD retails at double the cost of the download.

Anyone disagree with me? Should I stick to buying CDs at twice the price, are they worth the difference?

 

[iriverdude]

Buy the CD's that way you can make a lossess copy for your home audio system, and encode a lossy copy for your ipod. Also if your HD goes down and you lose all your music, you can go back to your original CD's and rip then again. Or play with on a full size CD player.

 

[Acix]

You can buy used CD's, better quality and cover artwork. And the sensation visit the record store.

 

[krmathis]

Definitely worth it to me.
For the simple reason that they provide PCM audio files, and not some lossy compressed variants of it. That said, I would love to have a lossless online alternative. Just like iTunes.

 

[Jaska]

I would definitely suggest seeking out some other sources for new CDs, as you can stretch your money tremendously taking advantage of varying international exchange rates, etc. I've been buying most of mine from the UK this year, as the € has been doing so well against the £, and mailing charges within the EU are very affordable. In virtually every case, I end up spending less on a brand new audio CD (including shipping charges) than I would on downloads.

 

[gadgetman]

iTunes high point is just the instant gratification.. you just do a couple of clicks, and the songs are delivered to you within seconds, decent rip, with proper tags, cover art ready to be synced up to your iphone\ipod.

 

[iriverdude]

Seems lazy.

 

[holyharry]

Unanimous decision then! Thanks for the feedback folks.

Jaska, where did you get your cds from in the Uk?

 

[iriverdude]

cd wow is pretty cheap, occasionally send £1 vouchers out.

 

[Jaska]

Quote:

Originally Posted by holyharry /img/forum/go_quote.gif Jaska, where did you get your cds from in the Uk?

I've bought most of them (more than I can count, actually) from Amazon.co.uk, but lots of others from hmv.co.uk and label-specific sites like mutebank.co.uk and 4ad.com (I'm kind of a Nick Cave collector).

 

[holyharry]

Great, thanks guys.

(Nick Cave rocks btw!!)

 

[Jaska]

Now that I think of it, Play.com looks good too sometimes, but I've resisted buying anything from them because their catalogue system is basically non-existent, so you really have no clue what you're buying other than the basic artist - title information. The free shipping on everything (or rather built into the CD prices) can be advantageous, though. HMV, on the other hand, has a very good and reliable catalogue system, and for some extremely out-of-the-way things I've bought from them, they've been great about taking the time to answer my inquiries.

 

[SoulSyde]

I think there is an inherent difference between an audiophile and a music aficionado. I consider myself the later. I ALWAYS buy the CD (or better, vinyl) if I can find it. To me there is something about having a physical object to add to my constantly-growing collection. Even after ripping the audio to iTunes if I never use the CD again I never regret the purchase.

But that's just me. ; )

 

[Ham Sandwich]

I've been buying many of my CDs used from Amazon and other sources. The price of a used CD with shipping is comparable to an Amazon MP3 version of the album.

A big downer for digital downloads is that the quality of the cover art images varies greatly. Some are good quality images. Others are horrible scans done by people who don't know how to color calibrate a scanner or their monitor and don't know how to do any proper post processing to clean up the image. I can end up getting a better cover art image by scanning it in myself even from a used CD. But scanning it myself and doing the necessary editing takes time.

 

[dazzer1975]

cd's all day long. Despite the fact that even normal itunes bitrate albums are just as expensive as cd's.

It still amazes me how itunes shop does as well as it seemingly does.