[Obizzz]

Yep very well said. Sometimes you find an album on a streaming service and then the next time you look it's gone.

The video streaming services are even worse at this. I’ve been midway through multi season TV series when they suddenly disappear without warning

 

[Andrew_WOT]

It's a digital age. CDs, DVDs, printed books, paper bills, even cash, are all going away.
You can still acquire digital asset if renting (streaming) is not your thing and you prefer to own stuff.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Well, vinyl is coming back with a vengeance. So, never say never

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Well, vinyl is coming back with a vengeance. So, never say never

Well, there was always niche group of nuts not accepting digital, but is it really "coming back with vengeance"?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Well, there was always niche group of nuts not accepting digital, but is it really "coming back with vengeance"?

https://www.statista.com/chart/7699/lp-sales-in-the-united-states/
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/13/tech/vinyl-records-cd-sales-riaa/index.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/13/mus...inyl-albums-higher-in-first-half-of-2021.html
https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/vinyl-sales-2021-highest-level-30-years/

 

[Andrew_WOT]

https://www.statista.com/chart/7699/lp-sales-in-the-united-states/
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/13/tech/vinyl-records-cd-sales-riaa/index.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/13/mus...inyl-albums-higher-in-first-half-of-2021.html
https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/vinyl-sales-2021-highest-level-30-years/

So we have more nuts, perhaps due to lockdowns and isolation.

 

[originalsnuffy]

I think we are better off staying off the "why vinyl" discussion here.

 

[bakechad]

I've been going the opposite direction and buying up mostly CDs and a few LPs when the price is right. CDs get ripped to FLAC, but there is still a nice feeling of putting the CD in the player and knowing what I am listening to is not being tracked and sold.

I also use streaming, but classical is messy on both Apple Music and Spotify. Another area that is a complete disaster are soundtracks, individual tracks come and go all the time.

So my current habits are:

Classical & Soundtracks - CDs ripped to FLAC and streamed with Moode Audio to the main system, Jellyfin via Airplay everywhere else
Jazz/Blues - LPs
Everything else - Apple Music

 

[vcoheda]

even though i am selling most of my cd collection, i still buy cds. these are usually classical/opera box sets, which are great value on a per disc basis. the big labels have been releasing a lot of these box sets (based on composer, conductor, orchestra, soloist, era), so there is plenty to choose from. i rip all of these cds to my computer. my other music purchases are downloads, which are usually newer releases. i do not stream. i do not listen to physical media except for the 50 or so sacds i own. not sure it is worth keeping my cd/sacd player just for that and i have definitely been considering selling this unit to simplify my set up. the problem is finding a one-box solution (dac+amp) that is high level (or at least very good) and does not cost a fortune.

 

[piglet]

even though i am selling most of my cd collection, i still buy cds. these are usually classical/opera box sets, which are great value on a per disc basis. the big labels have been releasing a lot of these box sets (based on composer, conductor, orchestra, soloist, era), so there is plenty to choose from. i rip all of these cds to my computer. my other music purchases are downloads, which are usually newer releases. i do not stream. i do not listen to physical media except for the 50 or so sacds i own. not sure it is worth keeping my cd/sacd player just for that and i have definitely been considering selling this unit to simplify my set up. the problem is finding a one-box solution (dac+amp) that is high level (or at least very good) and does not cost a fortune.

I've only actually sold one CD. I sold it because I was selling the now rare poster that came with it when I bought it and it seemed sensible to include the CD.

I am selling my vinyl collection. In fact I've been selling my vinyl collection gradually for a few years now.

Although I have been going through a process of decluttering and selling stuff I've had for years, including a lot of old audio stuff, I haven't been tempted to sell my CDs.

I don't actually have a CD player anymore because I sold my last one. When I want to listen to a CD I just rip it to my Mac Mini using dBpoweramp and then I listen to it using Audirvana Studio. Sounds great!

Some months ago I started buying second-hand CDs which I never thought I'd be doing. I've already given what I think are the reasons for this above.

I would urge caution about selling CDs because they don't take up much space, especially if you can just put them in a box in the attic or something like that. They look quite good on shelves I think.

Personally I trust having CDs more than having things backed up on multiple hard drives. I do have the files from the ripped CDs backed up of course, but it is still nice to have the CDs.

I first started using computers in the mid 80s (I also started buying CDs in the 80s). The only times I've lost data is when I have accidentally erased it. I have never lost data due to, say, hard drive failure because I've always been aware that the drive is becoming a problem before it fails so I've been able to get the data off it. I've never lost data due to theft or fire I'm glad to say. For me the problem has been just accidentally erasing the data. This is why I am not fully happy about just having digital files on a hard drive. They can be erased, or they can be made inaccessible by some other way. Okay you can still retrieve the files if you realise you have erased them soon after you've done it, but if you erase them without realising you've done it, then months later you are looking for them, that is the problem. So, with CDs you can't erase them. That's a big reason why I like them.

However you know your own situation very much better than I do and of course if you do want to get the CDs again you can probably buy them very cheaply second-hand.

 

[Lolito2]

I’ve talked the wife into getting a NAS for all our photos, videos, music, etc. I have about 1000 CDs just sitting on the shelf downstairs and was thinking of ripping them to put on the NAS when it arrives. However, I’m sure over 90% of it is on our Amazon Music subscription. Is there any advantage to ripping CDs these days?

Advantages:

- No need to pay to any legal mafia, like amazon or spotify. Legal mafia, is still mafia.
- Money saved.
- You know you are playing FLAC, unlike with streaming, you don't really know what you are reproducing.
- You play the version you like, in streaming they only have one version, prolly last version, remastered, worse one.
- No need to use your existing cd's after the rip, so they can last longer, or you can sell them for someone else to enjoy them.
- No need for internet connection.
- No one will know what you hear, if you don't want mafia to track you.
- Faster playback with rips than with actal cd's.

 

[redrol]

I will never ever stream as my main music collection. FLACs till death.

 

[rcoleman1]

Love streaming…I welcome it. Love my CD rips to Apple Lossless and FLAC (not everything is available to stream). I will never sell my CD collection.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I love real media because of the fact you get album art, liner notes, booklets etc. But I love streaming because I can set up giant playlists and not have to play home DJ. And there is always the rare case that I'll listen to something new that I wouldn't take a chance buying on disc or LP until I head it. I moved to smaller places over the years and my vinyl collection has been in storage a long time, I don't a place for it. The only thing I buy lately is SACDs.

I have some concern about the longevity of CDs. I don't know if it's a real problem but I have read that they deteriorate. I use a filesystem that protects against bitrot and ECC RAM on my server and back upboxes, so the rips will live forever.

Best of both worlds...

 

[MRC001]

... I have some concern about the longevity of CDs. I don't know if it's a real problem but I have read that they deteriorate. ...

I've seen this happen in 1 CD back in the 1980s. It became un-playable after developing some kind of corrosion on the surface underneath the exterior coating, which is supposed to be air and moisture-tight.
That's 1 out of over 2,000 CDs I've owned over the decades, so call it a failure rate of 0.05%.
And since it was in the 1980s, a failure rate of 0.0% over the past 30 years.
That said, I still rip all my physical media lossless to hard drive, so if either one (optical or hard drive) fails I have the other to restore.