[mattopia]

Fairly new here and thought I'd say hi. I've been into audio in various capacities for quite some time -- as with many I was introduced to decent audio gear via my uncle and his early 80's Denon equipment and Genesis speakers (which he's since passed down to me).

Over the years, I've gone from CD's at home, to CD's in the car, to portable, to 128kb mp3's, to satellite radio. I think I'm going in the wrong direction. It took a decent pair of headphones (my new Grado 60's, very low end for you guys but a big step up from altec computer speakers and iPod earbuds for me) to realize just how much noise and dullness there is in lossy, especially in the 160k and below bitrates, which is the range most of my mp3 collection lives in.

I'm curious if anyone has had this "epiphany" before? Did you run out (like I did) and buy a bunch of CDs of the artists you've been listening to poor mp3 rips of for years? If so, what did you do? I'm tempted to start "from scratch", get CD versions of most of the music I really love, and encode in FLAC or Apple Lossless.

This realization has also caused me to dust off my LP's for a second round of vinyl love. Waiting for a Grado Black from TTVJ to get an old Technics table running again.

 

[Jeff Guidry]

Nice idea.

There is the point you reach if you really love music that you understand quality as being important to the overall listening experience, that an immersive experience can only be had once you get good equipment and have the time to listen to good sources.

There's nothing wrong with listening to low bit rate mp3's if you're just tooling around or don't really need/want to pay close attention to the music. But sometimes (for me) or most of the time (for most others on this site), you want to really fully experience what a recording really sounds like, and can learn to appreciate the art not just of the artist, but of the engineer, who is trying to create a mood just as the artist is.

 

[Pangaea]

I went thru a similar epiphany. I even remember asking my wife about a year ago "why anyone would buy a cd?" They are generally more than a digital download and an inconvenience to buy and store. But a year later that is all I buy. I still put them on my computer - but in lossless form. And yeah, I actually deleted probably a couple hundred $ in itunes purchases to free up room and because I found them almost impossible to listen to at 128.

Fort. I still had a lot of my CDs from the pre- MP3 days.

 

[Kabeer]

Yup,

I have gone through this process as well. Now returning to Lossless from cd's, or high quality MP3's (Lame presets). Its funny how the newer technology formats (online purchased music) are worse quality than the older (I mean cd is pretty darn old now )

 

[goldenratiophi]

I used to buy from iTunes (128 AAC). Then I got my KSC75s and 128 just wouldn't cut it anymore.

Then to CDs for a long while. Then I brought the 30th anniversary vinyl pressing of Dark Side of the Moon and the 20th anniversary CD to a local hi-fi store (well it said "home theater," but it was way better than any home theater store I've ever seen - it sold turntables!). The difference was huge, in favor of the vinyl. Now I'm waiting on a turntable and saving up for a preamp.

But as for buying strategies, I only rebuy what I'm listening to at the time. I had every Pink Floyd album on CD, but I probably will never rebuy them (besides DSOTM and maybe WYWH) on vinyl because I don't listen to them much anymore (burnout).

 

[Kane-DK]

I'm really happy that I never really startet buying my music from iTunes - I have always bought CDs.

Although since I startet this little hobby I have spend a decent amount of time, ripping all my CDs all over again at a higher bitrate - but it is worth it.

 

[Pangaea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kane-DK /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm really happy that I never really startet buying my music from iTunes - I have always bought CDs. Although since I startet this little hobby I have spend a decent amount of time, ripping all my CDs all over again at a higher bitrate - but it is worth it.

x2- my wife thinks I am crazy every time I get my CD books out to re-rip. (I've gone from 128->192 -> 192 (VBR) -> 256 (VBR) - Apple Lossless.

 

[ken36]

Yes, I did it too. Same twisted path from 128 to lossless. Now, I'm in the habit of auditioning a CD at the Russians website, then buying the CD from Amazon, if I like it.

 

[Pangaea]

thats what I do with iTunes. I still enjoy going to the iTunes store on Tuesday to audition music and if I like I go to Amazon. Sometimes you can get some great deals on CDs there, especially thru there vendors. I got the Clash's box set for 8 bucks shipped!!!

 

[skeeder]

I got alot of random music at 192kbps or 160kbps. but everything I listen to alot is either LAME or FLAC.

 

[Kane-DK]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pangaea /img/forum/go_quote.gif thats what I do with iTunes. I still enjoy going to the iTunes store on Tuesday to audition music and if I like I go to Amazon. Sometimes you can get some great deals on CDs there, especially thru there vendors. I got the Clash's box set for 8 bucks shipped!!!

WOW - that was a great deal!

There is some good websites with cheap CDs, but usually I end up buying at cdwow.

 

[krmathis]

Yes, I have been there.
Some years back (5-7 years...) I encoded all my music to 128kbps MP3 or OGG/Vorbis. Until one day about 4 years ago that I became aware of FLAC. Since then my music collection have gone fully lossless. Apple Lossless is my prefered format at the moment...

 

[Zanth]

I've always been a quality guy, and in the early years of mp3 trading and ripping....128 was fine at first but thankfully 192 quickly became the standard. For sampling music, I can tolerate 192, but I always ripp my CD's to something lossless (first it was .wav then I converted to FLAC and now exclusively use FLAC).

My iPod for the car is fully of music with a mix of quality, nothing lower than 192 mind you, but for the car...I think it is fine.

Now then, about vinyl...after getting serious into this game of audiophilia, I definitely wanted to check out the analogue side of things. After years vinyl, my heart was won. If I can find an album on vinyl I'll pick it up before I rush out to get the CD on the first day of release. Recent example...I waited for the heavy vinyl Steve Hoffman mastered White Stripes release vs. getting the CD on the first day of release.

All that said, (not sure about Sat Radio) but FM can sound insanely good with a sweet tune (something like a Magnum Dynalab). In fact, with something like this, on a clear night, I'd be hard pressed to tell between it and a CD.

 

[SysteX]

Over the past year I've slowly been re-riping all my CDs to FLAC instead of 128/192/320 kbps mp3. It's an extremely tedious process, though, with more than 17,000 tracks in my music library.

 

[MrSlacker]

I have been always an advocate for MP3s and was always against buying CDs. However, now I began to realize that there is a no point in my headphone rig if I am feeding it 192KBPS MP3s of some crappy punk bands... I am starting to consider buying CDs and ripping them on my computer... or may be even start listening to them.