[MorbidToaster]

They've really been killing me lately. 40 here, 10 there. Spent 110 yesterday...CDs and vinyl. Ugh. 
 
I'm always torn because I want the music but I know once I actually finish my rig I'll be able to buy all I want instead of worrying about saving for more expensive gear.
 
So close yet so far away. Gotta remember what matters though...The music.
 
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Yep, CDs and records.

 

[W0lfd0g]

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I would say 99% of my music is purchased on CD from a small independent record/cd store in town.  I pay a bit more buying from him but I really miss all the traditional brick and mortar stores closing (nothing like thumbing through a collection of cds).  There are things he just can't get me and for those I will trying going to the artist direct and if not available through the artist fall back to Amazon.  I have purchased a few items on HD Tracks and a few more on iTunes (although I try to avoid buying on iTunes as much as possible).
 
What's I like about the record store is the sense of community.  I can go down to the store and I can talk to the owner and maybe some other passionate customers about music and we feed off each other.  We talk about what we like and don't like and we can bounce ideas and recommendations off each other.  It's great and you just don't get the same sense of community on line.  It's funny though as we talk about this stuff we will often pop onto Amazon or iTunes and listen to a clip.  If we like we have the owner order in the cd.  It's great.
 
Darcy 

It's great that you can have a local experience like this.  Given my musical tastes and circle of friends/associates, I think I will be looking for that sense of community here on Head-Fi.

 

[TheOtus]

Mostly CDJapan.co.jp and YesAsia.com. For finnish and western music in general I use domestic stores or occasionally eBay. If there's no way to obtain a CD, I buy from iTunes.

 

[Eee Pee]

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They've really been killing me lately.

And me again.  I love it.  
 
 
 
And hate it.

 

[eucariote]

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I would say 99% of my music is purchased on CD from a small independent record/cd store in town.  I pay a bit more buying from him but I really miss all the traditional brick and mortar stores closing (nothing like thumbing through a collection of cds).  There are things he just can't get me and for those I will trying going to the artist direct and if not available through the artist fall back to Amazon.  I have purchased a few items on HD Tracks and a few more on iTunes (although I try to avoid buying on iTunes as much as possible).
 
What's I like about the record store is the sense of community.  I can go down to the store and I can talk to the owner and maybe some other passionate customers about music and we feed off each other.  We talk about what we like and don't like and we can bounce ideas and recommendations off each other.  It's great and you just don't get the same sense of community on line.  It's funny though as we talk about this stuff we will often pop onto Amazon or iTunes and listen to a clip.  If we like we have the owner order in the cd.  It's great.
 
Darcy 

Me too- gotta support local record stores or they won't exist any more in a few years 

.  Amazon doesn't need any more money and they're worse than Wal-mart in that they put local stores that I like out of business (music, electronics).  I also subscribe to emusic, which has music at a higher bitrate than itunes at almost half the price without drm.  When I find a true gem I buy the cd at my local record store and add it my lossless music digital archive.

 

[modaudio]

for chinese/cantonese cds http://hifi-cd.com/
 
playasia is cool too, but their restock is abit slow

 

[modaudio]

how about hi-res chinese / cantonese tracks http://hifitrack.com/zh-hant

 

[Chromako]

I usually start with HDTracks (but their selection is rubbish and expensive, so I'll just take what's 88kHz+, there's no use getting the regular stuff from them). Then Amazon Marketplace (some fantastic deals on used discs there), then regular Amazon. Then eBay. For some imports though (in particular Israeli), sometimes disc importers charge a ridiculous sum (I've seen 80USD as the cheapest at times). iTunes stuff is of pretty decent quality recently (256 AAC), and their foreign selection is fantastic.
 
Surprisingly, I've had horrible luck with retail stores, even in Ann Arbor and Portland with all those independent ones. There's an awful lot of Pink Floyd in them, but ask for Sudol or Peles and they'll direct me to a section with nothing in it. Makes me sad. I'm probably just not their typical clientele.
 
My best luck is with the Amazon Marketplace. By far.
 
Interesting story: I was in a giant independent store in Portland, and when I asked if they had anything by Yoko Kanno, they said no, but that The Decemberists had similar stuff, and I might like that. I had never heard of it, so I got it, and when I got home, I was like 

 Oh well. They aren't bad, but not what I was looking for. 

 

[davidcotton]

amazon for the most part (no surprise there!).

 

[TheHavak]

I get all of my music from private trackers. 

 

[Mkubota1]

For cherry picking- iTunes.  For albums, I will preview on iTunes and check Amazon for the used CD.  I found out recently that Amazon has mp3 album downloads for $3.99 or $5.  The selection of these is not huge, but you might get lucky.  Too bad their bitrates are inconsistent- but I've gotten 320vbr which is nice, and 256cbr is usually acceptable for me.

 

[bigshot]

I don't buy from itunes. I buy LOTS of CDs cheap at Amazon, importcds.com, etc. Used when I can. I also love the 78m-era group on usenet. Amazing treasures from remarkable collections.

 

[Audio-Omega]

Local shops, ebay and Amazon.

 

[skimminst]

I live in a small town so we do not have brick & mortar record stores anymore. So I am getting my CD and LP from the net: JPC (german store), Amazon, ebay, medimops (german online store from used CD and LP). Music files I download at B&W's Society of Sound Store or I am listening to online radios (my favorite at the moment is: RTVE.es RADIO 3 just for the music, I do not speak castellano).

 

[deepshikhanc]

I buy a lot of music from MP3skyline. Incredibly cheap and a brilliant selection.