[BlackbeardBen]

Quote:

I buy used CDs because they're so cheap today. I regularly find them for $1 or $2 each.

I won't pirate. Though I will (eventually) rip all the Red Book discs into lossless and put them on a music server while dropping the CDs into deep storage as a backup.

The SACDs will stay out on the rack. You can't rip Scarlet Book and the grumpy old side of me still enjoys putting a disc into a player.

Exactly.  Used CDs are easily the cheapest legal way to purchase music in digital form.  Amazon, eBay, and Discogs (I'm sure there's others people like too) are amazingly cheap and have insanely huge collections.  Browsing locally can be fun too, but still more expensive at actual used music stores than online.
 
All of mine get ripped to FLAC, backed up on a second hard drive, and then put in Case Logic ProSleeves for archiving and main system use (although I will set up a wireless streaming system soon enough).  ProSleeves are amazing...  They don't break when dropped and you fit about four times as many CDs in the same space.
 
Speaking of, man, do I want a Rega Planet...  Top loading CD players are pretty cool.  No tray drive to go bad.  I guess I could go after a LaserDisc player instead; then I'd kill two birds with one stone...  You know, watching the original Star Wars cuts in as high quality as possible (short of viewing in 35/70mm)...
 
 

 

[VanCitySound]

Quote:

i don't notice an audible difference between 320kbps mp3 and flac files. they all sound just as good to me... 

 
Check this out:
 
[size=medium]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoEPLEn1nRA&feature=related[/size]

 

 

[Davezack]

CD's because
1- I have a lot of them
2- They sound fine through my hearing aids
3- I recently bought a tube CD player (Xindak Muse 3.0)
     and now they sound fantistic!
4- I also upgraded to vintage solid state ampflication,
     which made a dramatic improvement.
5. i'm a musician and fill in the gaps from memory
     and  imagination.
6. I'm 68 and am hearing everything I want to.
 
 

 

[bcasey25raptor]

Quote:

 
Check this out:
 
[size=medium]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoEPLEn1nRA&feature=related[/size]

 

number 1, the sound quality on that youtube video was terrible. but i understand what he is saying. the thing is we probably won't succeed in convincing record companies to record music properly. personally flac just takes up to much space. i would much rather have mp3 because it still sounds amazing to me.
 

 

[valhalla]

I buy cd 24 karat gold  (MFSL, DCC, Mastersound, Audio Fidelity, Ryko) and 1st press Japan ONLY because quality sound is the best.

 

[KiwiChristchurch]

Even though CD's cost quite are bit here in NZ, I still buy them only to support my favourite artists though. If I hear something good online, then I consider buying it.

 

[MorbidToaster]

I love the experience of physical media. You take it out, press play and then maybe thumb through the booklet, or read the case while you listen. 
 
Even if I've done it a thousand times before, it really immerses me in the music.
 
That being said, I buy them when I can, but sadly a lot of my new stuff is obtained through downloads now. Once I get my complete set up, I'll spend a ton more on CDs.

 

[bcasey25raptor]

problem with cd's is it takes up to much space to store them all while if it is in mp3 i can store a couple thousand cd's on a 160gb hd. it is convenience.

 

[BlackbeardBen]

Quote:

problem with cd's is it takes up to much space to store them all while if it is in mp3 i can store a couple thousand cd's on a 160gb hd. it is convenience.

Get ProSleeves; problem solved.

 

[theeyealtering]

Quote:

I buy cd 24 karat gold  (MFSL, DCC, Mastersound, Audio Fidelity, Ryko) and 1st press Japan ONLY because quality sound is the best.

 
Now forgive me for my ignorance, as I may well not know what I am talking about. But this really has me wondering.
 
With digital mediums like CDs, the music in recorded in binary right? 1s or 0s. If you play a CD, it either plays the 1s and 0s or it doesn't play the 1s and 0s. Similarly, if you encode it into a lossless format like FLAC, those 1s and 0s are, again, the same.
 
My question is, how can having a gold surface improve audio quality when you are essentially either getting the same 1s and 0s or not?
Presumably, if the 1s and 0s weren't the same, it would just sound totally distorted.
 
Maybe with vinyl, if the press wears out and the grooves aren't as deep the sound may not be the same. But we're talking digital here, it's all or nothing, right? As far as getting from the medium to the point where it is converted into analogue it should be bit for bit right?
 
What am I missing?

 

[Blasto_Brandino]

^Trust me with a Linear Arm and a >$500 cartridge, that'll take a while, My records last me more plays than an average person's cd's do.
 
I'm paying off a CD player ($2,400 USED) and a SACD player ($1,400 USED) and I buy CD's because then and only then do I truly own the music. I like unwrapping them, I like looking at the coverart and the disk label, reading the booklet and accessing any potential special features. I get the artists entire creation, Kids these days just want a few songs, winding up with Ipods full of album fragments (my walkmen wielding friends have mostly full albums). That and I can pick them up cheaper than Itunes, etc. (DVD's too, Johnny Mnemonic $10 off Itunes, $7 shipped new Gigabit edition DVD off amazon) That and I'm a cover art WHORE 500X500 pixels MINIMUM, so I'm doing a lot of coverart scanning.... 
And trust me compare a 320 mp3 to a cd  on a high end system, YOU WILL HEAR A DIFFERENCE! 

 

[BlackbeardBen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blasto_Brandino /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
And trust me compare a 320 mp3 to a cd  on a high end system, YOU WILL HEAR A DIFFERENCE! 

You ought to start ABX'ing codecs over at Hydrogen Audio then, they could use your help.  And I don't mean killer samples either.

 

[El_Doug]

all you're "missing" is audiophoolery garbage - don't worry  
 
Quote:

Now forgive me for my ignorance, as I may well not know what I am talking about. But this really has me wondering.
 
With digital mediums like CDs, the music in recorded in binary right? 1s or 0s. If you play a CD, it either plays the 1s and 0s or it doesn't play the 1s and 0s. Similarly, if you encode it into a lossless format like FLAC, those 1s and 0s are, again, the same.
 
My question is, how can having a gold surface improve audio quality when you are essentially either getting the same 1s and 0s or not?
Presumably, if the 1s and 0s weren't the same, it would just sound totally distorted.
 
Maybe with vinyl, if the press wears out and the grooves aren't as deep the sound may not be the same. But we're talking digital here, it's all or nothing, right? As far as getting from the medium to the point where it is converted into analogue it should be bit for bit right?
 
What am I missing?

 

 

[theeyealtering]

Quote:

all you're "missing" is audiophoolery garbage - don't worry  
 

Ahh, OK. I always was an audiophailure. 

 

 

[Alghazanth]

This is kind of a stupid question to ask on Head-Fi to be honest.