This is Bandcamp Friday:Anyone else taking advantage of Bandcamp Friday?
I snagged 4 digital albums, so lots of new music for the NAS, but unfortunately no ripping, as none of them had physical copies available.
My replies aren't meant to be confrontational, but conversational
It’s not that it’s blasphemy, just that it’s incorrect, because CDs are of course digital files. Digital files can of course sound different to other digital files, even of the same track/recording because they may be different masters and obviously, different masters are supposed to sound different. Of course though, if that’s the case then they sound different because they are different masters, not because one is a digital file and the other is a digital file on a CD.
It is indeed a fact that many of us “hear things differently“ but of course, that’s a function of your hearing, not of digital files. The digital files themselves obviously don’t “hear things differently” or somehow know that you do and change their output accordingly.
Again, you’re talking about your enjoyment of music, not of the digital file/s, which don’t even know they contain music, let alone that it’s enjoyable.
A digital file is entirely a digital file, it cannot be more than or less than entirely digital. Therefore, it cannot sound more or “too” digital, regardless of 24/192 or 16/44 and if the original recording/master was analogue, then a digital conversion will be/sound closer to that analogue recording. Of course, you are entitled to hear differently and to what you feel, enjoy, prefer or believe, but of course these are all (your personal) human traits, digital files do not have any human traits and obviously do not know and are not affected by yours (or any other consumers). You are confusing your personal human response to the content of digital files with the physical properties of digital files themselves.
We'll have to agree to disagree agreeably, cause I'm not listening to your theory, I'm hearing what "my" ears are telling me through "my" system.
But that’s not “disagreeing agreeably” because of course your assertion that it’s “my theory” is a falsehood. You really think it’s only “my theory” rather than actual fact that CDs contain digital files and that a digital file can somehow not be a digital file or be “more analogue”? Why do you think CDs are called “digital audio” and do you really think they were called that in honour of “my theory”?
Firstly, your ears aren’t telling you anything! Your ears send nerve impulses to your brain (specifically your auditory cortex) and it’s your auditory cortex that is telling you what you’re hearing. Surely you’re not claiming that you only have ears and no brain/auditory cortex?
No debate should be needed but apparently is, because “your listening experience”, your ears or your enjoyment are of course yours, CDs/digital files obviously do not have your listening experience (or any “listening experience”) and do not magically change or become something else depending on your (or anyone else’s) listening experience. If your listening experience is the only thing that is relevant to you and the only thing you know about, then stick to that and don’t make-up false assertions about the physical properties of CDs and digital files being something they’re not.
I also ripped my entire collection of CDs and other digital media. This allowed me to accomplish a few things. First, having a backup of my collection Is good since I have had some physical media that failed. For CD it’s rare, but I remember having serious issues with the multichannel blu-ray of The Dark Side of the Moon, when it came out in 2011. As you do, I’m also streaming my collection. Streaming services don’t have all the mastering you are looking for. In some cases they only have the latest remasters. Ripping for me is also important because I rarely play back using a player. I rip stereo and multichannel for playback via Kodi and an AV processor. It’s great to be able to switch between albums and stereo/multichannel with one click.
Ask this question – "should I rip my CDs to my PC?” and you will get a myriad of opinions. But the question behind that question should be what are “you” wishing to accomplish? Many have their ideas, but do they align with yours and your needs?
For me, when I decided to rip my 2700+ CD collection to PC in FLAC using dBpoweramp (which also does a pretty good job in tagging and grabbing album art) I did so with the intention of being able to stream my personal collection anywhere I wanted to via Plex.
Yes, I have Spotify’s music streaming service, but since I’m also a music collector who buys physical copies of stuff I really like and have been buying since the mid-70s. As such my collection is my main source of music, and though I listen to Spotify, it’s also mainly used as a previewer of what I want to buy.
The great thing about having my collection on PC now is I can easily find stuff. I can easily browse though it in JRiver Media Center by album cover, artist, title, track name, or genre. I can easily create personalized playlists. I’m now listening to stuff I’ve not heard in years or otherwise forgot about. And most importantly, I can hear it wherever I want.
Because my Western Digital NAS is also cloud based and supports Plex Media Server, I can stream from outside the home to any device Plex is supported on, including my android phone via Plexamp, as well as phone to car. From the car I can issue voice commands to the Infotainment system to play what I want, be it album, track, or playlist, so no fumbling with knobs or touch screens.
And as long as I have internet connectivity Plex works. I’ve driven from VA to NY with Plex streaming and never lost connectivity from my NAS.
Sure, you can do all this with streaming apps, but this is about those of us who wish to rip our own physical collections and have it available anywhere.
Of course, there’s always a pro/con / “what if” scenario – storage considerations, cost of hardware/software, size of collection, time required, streaming service, what if a drive fails. For me, I did consider those things, and some were already in place, so for me ripping was a no brainer.
This is just one of many avenues, and I’m sure there will be a plethora of opinions and points, and that’s fine. Do bear in mind this is targeted at those such as myself who collect and wish to rip to PC.
My two cents.
For clarity, with my SACD's, I only rip in stereo since I don't have an SACD player or multi-channel setup.
