Anyone besides me not like MP3s

Matt Till · #1 05-09-2005, 09:28 PM

Basically Downloaded music.

I don't know what it is, I know that technically I could download all my music much cheaper, but I don't. I don't do the burned CDs thing, I don't even like my friends to burn me copies of CDs.

It isn't for the profit of the musical artists, because a good 60 percent of my CDs were bought used. What then? I'm kicking around a few theories

- I'm crazy
- I like to look at album art/liner notes
- CDs aren't deletable

I like the concept of perserving my CDs for future Tills. When my dad died, I aquired a bunch of his CDs and Vinyl and discovred some great stuff. And I'd like Junior to do the same thing when I die. Burnable CDs don't show you the artwork, which gives you a vibe for the album before you listen to it. Sometimes you can see photos of the artists. I think it's more for historical reasons.

Collector reasons too. I can brag about stupid things like "I have the original pressing of Gwars "This toilet earth" with the banned song "Baby D*** F***", etc. I can download B.D.F. but it's not the same. Anyone else weird?

Peter Squire · #2 05-09-2005, 09:36 PM

+1 on each count.

I love to hold the cd, look at the artwork and listen to the new addition to my collection.

Every time a band member or friend has burned me a CD, I end up going out and buying it. I only like MP3's because that's the format we record to. I only like burned CD's because thats what we do to shop our music around.

Everyone elses music that I want - I buy.

Trevorus · #3 05-09-2005, 09:39 PM

Yeah, my drummer is like that. I don't have a lot of problem with it, and I have a lot of copied cd's, but if an artist really impresses me, I will buy thier albums. Usually because I want the artwork, and really appreciate all of their creative genius. The artwork is really a big part of the creativeness of it all.

paintandsk8 · #4 05-09-2005, 09:53 PM

I had gotten really into downloaded music at one point. I had over 3000 songs on my computer, and a hefty stack of burned cd's. Then one day, I had an epifany or something and just decided that I wasn't going to do that any more. I now have the original of every cd in my collection. (I only carry copies, not orginals), and that massive mp3 collection only exists on my backup hard drive (I can't bring myself to totally delete it yet).

I think I like having the originals because of the artwork, liner notes and all that, my conscience, and sound quality. I also think it keeps me from building my music collection up with stuff I don't really like, just because it's available. Since I'm droppin $15-$20 a shot on cd's, I only get the stuff I really want to hear. It sorta helps you cut the fat.

jenderfazz · #5 05-09-2005, 09:56 PM

I like to own the major works of bands I like and hope to have the entire collection of my very favorite bands. However I download and rip friends' CDs to hear the stuff and see how it is. It's how I discovered most of my favorite bands, such as Rush, The Mars Volta, AFI, and Primus. Heard my uncle was into Rush, and checked them out. Heard AFI were similar to Bad Religion on some website, checked them out. Heard Primus on Tony Hawk and wanted to hear some more Les, etc. Now, from only those bands combined, I have 22 CDs in my possession and hope to get some more. Not bad for me, considering I'm 17 and never had money nor the musical taste for these bands until several years ago at most. Not to mention that each band above spawned a love for other bands, that I discovered through friends and downloading. Rise Against, Yes, Sublime, Dream Theater, etc, each have several records in my collection.

I still listen to my collection at home 99% of the time, so I rip the CD to my computer and it stays on the shelf for reference, travel purposes, etc. But at least it'll be in very good condition years down the line.

Peter Squire · #6 05-09-2005, 10:11 PM

+1

Most of my CD's have only been in a CD player once - to get ripped onto my 'puter. Then its out to my iPod or a burnt CD. Keeps em in pristine condition.

Trevorus · #7 05-09-2005, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by southpaw1

+1

Most of my CD's have only been in a CD player once - to get ripped onto my 'puter. Then its out to my iPod or a burnt CD. Keeps em in pristine condition.

Now this is a good idea. I just don't have enough patience to do this, though I ought to start.

paintandsk8 · #8 05-09-2005, 11:13 PM

try leaving 30+ cd's on a plane in california, that will give you a boost in patience

WalterBush · #9 05-10-2005, 12:19 AM

I think that any form of compression is EVIL. Lower dynamic range, higher noise floor, and unless I ripped it myself, there's no telling what some idiot did to boost his or her favorite frequency. Mastering for mp3 is still a somewhat new science, and not generally practiced, so a lot of the highs that add "room ambience" or "air" to a recording sound like there's a flanger on them, and what's more, most compression algorythms cut bass frequencies!!!

I like the CD, complete with artwork, and as time and money allow, I'm replacing my collection with DVD and SACD. If you're fortunate enough to be able to listen to music on a really high end 5.1 setup, you'll never look back. I have to head over to a friends house to listen to the SACD format, but the aural orgasm is worth the trip. You have to hear it to believe it. I think it's sad that in an age when technology will allow more dynamic range than the human ear can generally hear, and a clarity that sounds as if you were in the room with the musicians, most people seem willing to accept crappy .mp3 quality just for the convenience of @#$%$ iPod.

DaftCat · #10 05-10-2005, 12:27 AM

APE and FLAC are NOT evil. They are lossless.

Efficient MP3 encoding isn't new either, but I do agree there are many people who don't understand how to do it properly. I've been doing this since 1994.... yes.... 1994.

gazman_res · #11 05-10-2005, 12:36 AM

MP3's technically last forever.

Stratched CD's are quite useless.

Bruce Lindfield · #12 05-10-2005, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jabberwock777

I think that any form of compression is EVIL. Lower dynamic range, higher noise floor, and unless I ripped it myself, there's no telling what some idiot did to boost his or her favorite frequency. Mastering for mp3 is still a somewhat new science, and not generally practiced, so a lot of the highs that add "room ambience" or "air" to a recording sound like there's a flanger on them, and what's more, most compression algorythms cut bass frequencies!!!

I like the CD, complete with artwork, and as time and money allow, I'm replacing my collection with DVD and SACD. If you're fortunate enough to be able to listen to music on a really high end 5.1 setup, you'll never look back. I have to head over to a friends house to listen to the SACD format, but the aural orgasm is worth the trip. You have to hear it to believe it. I think it's sad that in an age when technology will allow more dynamic range than the human ear can generally hear, and a clarity that sounds as if you were in the room with the musicians, most people seem willing to accept crappy .mp3 quality just for the convenience of @#$%$ iPod.

I agree with this entirely and can see no point in listening to an inferior quality medium - for some arbitrary notion of convenience!

If I like something I want to listen to it at the best quality levels I can and I hate compression - I have a lot of 80s CDs with a lot of this, which now sound horrible and "plasticy" ....

I have no MP3s and will stick with CDs until soembody comes up with a better quality medium.

Maybe because I now listen almost entirely to classical and Jazz CDs - but I have no real interest in MP3s.

reiver1 · #13 05-10-2005, 05:04 AM

- I'm crazy
- I like to look at album art/liner notes
- CDs aren't deletable

It could be that you have a stronger sense of ethics than you give yourself credit for.

bassmonkeee · #14 05-10-2005, 06:35 AM

I think it's funny that most of the arguments for cds over mp3s are the same arguments that the LP guys made when those were fazed out for cassette tapes and cds. And, there are people who hold onto that technology since anything digital is evil. Sound familiar?

Another one of the arguments was that the artwork just can't be interesting at 6"x6" as it can at 12"x12".

I've got over 1300 cds that I used to have on a 6' x 3' wallmounted cd rack. For my birthday in February, my girlfriend got me an iPod. Now, I'm in the process of moving those same cds to mp3s and putting the cds into books for storage purposes.

As for the notion that cds aren't deletable, you are correct--but they are scratchable (although, I've never lost one to a scratch). With the mp3s, I'm backing everything up to DVD. So, I'll have pretty much everything on the 60GB iPod, the mp3s on my hard drive, the DVD backup of the mp3s, and the original discs. So, why should I be worried about a deleted file, again? All of the artwork is in a nice box in the closet in the off chance I really need to look at the book. Saves me a ton of space, and the room looks better without 1300 jewel case spines taking up a 1/4 of one wall.

The only cd packages I still have out are the 7 volumes of the Complete Miles Davis on Columbia, the Complete Charles Mingus on Atlantic, and the Complete John Coltrane Quintet on Impulse and those are now on the bookcase.

Otherwise, it's all iPod, all the time. I'm lucky enough to listen to music while I work, and the iPod has been wonderful. As for sound quality, I have ears as good as anybody, and a good quality sound system at home--I only hear a difference about once every 30 songs, or so. And, that's usually stuff that was from first gen cds.

And, the convenience factor can't be beaten. Sorry, but it's true. On the way to work last week, I heard about the Cream Reunion concerts. So, I was able to listen to live Cream for 2 hours in the morning when I got there because I already had it with me. And, THAT is why I have become a Podhead.

When I'm at home, I can turn the computer on, and I've got the same 8000 songs (and counting) coming out of a THX approved system, and again, sounds just great. I hear all of the instruments, don't hear any artificial artifacts--just sounds great. Would I be able to notice the difference in a blind test? Maybe, maybe not. Guess what? Not wasting my time doing any blind tests...

Bottom line, I listen to more of my music because of the iPod. On shuffle, I have the best radio station ever. Period.

Oh, and I've even got the artwork on the iPod, too.

keb · #15 05-10-2005, 06:43 AM

I'm a CD kinda guy, though I do usually rip 'em (to FLAC) to my PC for convenient access, and then the CDs sit in my CD racks. Good god, technology has made me lazy. Years ago, I had no problems with getting up after 20 minutes to walk over and flip over a vinyl record to play the second side. No problems with walking over to my CD rack to pick out a few. Now I just wanna sit on my butt at my PC and point-and-click albums to play.

daofktr · #16 05-10-2005, 11:08 AM

i love cds...but have had too many destroyed or stolen by my kids....

mp3s have made me practice more...i download something i like, through musicnet@aol, so it's totally legal...

...and i learn the song or arrangement, then i play the hell out of it. that way, instead of kvetching about the lesser sound quality of mp3s, i can kvetch about my sound quality...something i can fix!

Snarf · #17 05-10-2005, 12:05 PM

My main reason for not downloading MP3's from services like Napster is this: Their business model is satan incarnate.

Think about it. Most MP3's available for purchase are 128 kbps, low by my ripping standards. MP3's absolutely do not stand up to the quality of WAVs. So you're shelling out $1 per song, so that's around $12 per album. But that's an album of crappy sounding MP3s with no cover art or booklet that don't cost any money to duplicate. You're paying the same price as a decently priced CD, but getting way less for your investment. Yet people buy into it. I don't understand it. People who download MP3's are throwing their money away.

Nick Bassman · #18 05-10-2005, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassmonkeee

I think it's funny that most of the arguments for cds over mp3s are the same arguments that the LP guys made when those were fazed out for cassette tapes and cds. And, there are people who hold onto that technology since anything digital is evil. Sound familiar?

As for sound quality, I have ears as good as anybody, and a good quality sound system at home--I only hear a difference about once every 30 songs, or so. And, that's usually stuff that was from first gen cds.

I don't really think that cassette tapes had much to do with the demise of the LP. They pretty much ran parallel (like CD and MP3) with the attributes of quality (LP/CD?) vs convenience (Cassette/MP3).

For portable sound I can't argue that MP3 is the most convenient method so far available but in terms of sound quality on a good home system it's no contest between it and CD. I am not the biggest fan of CD either but back in the day when it was introduced the mainstream record buying public were "forced" down the CD route. Granted over the years tremendous strides have been made in both the production and playback of CD but to a lot of ears it still doesn't approach the best analogue playback of the past. I happen to agree.

So here we are again with SACD and DVD-A now coming along to try and replace the system (CD) that was touted as "Perfect Sound Forever".

Although both of these seem to be dead in the water.

On the plus side MP3 is probably going to introduce more people to listen to music than all the high end audio formats but the reduction in quality is a worry.

**WillPlay4Food** · #19 05-10-2005, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshua

I've never downloaded a single song, so I have nothing to compare my @ 500 discs against.

Can I burn discs onto an Ipod?

You rip CDs into MP3 format then use iTunes to copy those files onto an iPod.

What, do you think all those songs on my iPod didn't come from CD?

bassguitar · #20 05-10-2005, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gazman_res

MP3's technically last forever.

Stratched CD's are quite useless.

I'm not against .mp3's - I've got 40 G's worth at 320kbps to use in an iPod, however .mp3's only last as long as the HDD it's stored on. Faiiled HDD's are quite useless too, and an .mp3 is only as good as the backup copy you have of it.