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I still buy CD's. Do you?

#23
.MP3's are on CD's (usually) at 320kb/s which is fine for me. (it is the highest bitrate of a CD/.mp3) If I download from a subscription site I prefer none-DRM and 320kb/s if downloading .Mp3's. .mp3 does not pertain solely to digital downloads as all CD's (industry standard) will be in .mp3 format when read by a computer.
 
#27
To answer the question, yes I still buy CDs.

but threads like this make me laugh...

Vinyl was king and cassettes garbage...
then cassettes were great, CDs sterile and lifeless
now CDs are king and MP3s garbage...

LOL!

I was sooooo glad to move from vinyl to cassette and then from cassette to CD and mostly I was soooooo happy to move all my CDs to MP3. My playbacks are on a completely new plain of enjoyability now that my entire library is located on a single source. I regularly load eclectic mixes of artists / genres / vibes.

I download some pre-ripped stuff (amazon, CD baby, etc)... but prefer to rip my own MP3s of the actual CDs (I buy new and used CDs often). I've yet to have ANYONE tell the difference between a CD and a 320bit max VBR MP3 of the same tracks.
 
#28
I pay for downloads. I like how when I get a hankering for something, 30 seconds later it's mine. I've rarely noticed the audio shortcomings, sometimes a bit of phasing on the cymbals. It's never bugged me too much.

iTunes has changed my music listening life. Having everything I got right there in one window (or in my shirt pocket w/ the pod), easy to use, easy to search thru, easy to make play lists & folders. And you get random shuffle? I'm sold.

I'll buy a CD if there's a good deal on a used one, or if it's something really cool and obscure you can't just hop on Amazon and get.
 
#29
I still buy CD's for reasons already mentioned: audio quality, cover art, and they're immune from computer crashes. This last one is important, as I learned when my hard drive crashed in 2007. I lost about 90% of my iTunes library, which was almost entirely from my own CD's. I'm happy I had the discs themselves.

I buy fewer CD's these days though, largely because I have a Rhapsody subscription. A friend gave me a three month subscription as a gift, and I got hooked. This way, I can preview just about anything before purchase. Plus, if I'm craving a particular song I don't have on CD, I can usually just fire it up, and get my quick fix without buying the whole disc. As a result, it has saved me way more than the cost of the subscription.

With CD's and Rhapsody, I almost never download anything. I would only for my kids, or if needed to learn to play something and didn't want the whole disc.
 
#30
Yes, I buy CD's; I believe they are the best compromise between storage efficiency, portability, audio quality, permanence, resistance to damage, and ease of play that has ever been devised. I don't do illegal downloads, but I buy from iTunes if there's a song I want to learn. I've got a bunch of vinyl, but I don't listen to it much at all any more, though I have digitized and burned to CD some of my old vinyl that was never commercially CD-ized.
 
#32
dave64o said:
For one thing, I like having the entire album from the artists I like because many times the best material is NOT what the record company chooses to release as the "hits". The record company chooses to release the songs they think will reach the widest audience and make them the most money in the shortest time possible. I'm more interested in the best material.

Third, I like having the entire package - original CD and any and all artwork. Enjoying a little JPG of the album cover that pops up on my MP3 player just isn't the same thing to me.

Fourth, you're guaranteed to get the best audio quality. Downloaded copies may be high quality, but certainly might not be.
Click to expand...

Right on, Dave. :cool: I too believe in the concept of an album (aka collection of songs) put out by artists. They put those songs together for a reason, and IMO should be listened to together as a whole. +1 on the artwork, credits, etc. Singles -- not so much.

I have an iPod, but 99% of the music on it was yanked from my CD collection. And here are the two main reasons I still buy CDs:
(1) They're cheap, especially the older stuff. $6.99 or less for a whole album? Heck yeah.
(2) CD = high quality backup for your songs on your computer (like Dave said above). If you don't back up your songs, get on it. Your drive WILL crash eventually -- I guarantee it.
 
#33
Anthbass said:
Yes, I still purchase CDs. I don't have any sort of downloading account and I like the tactile response of holding CD cases and browsing jackets.
Click to expand...


I agree that there is something to be said for actually holding that CD case in your hand as apposed to an MP3. I also think its more attractive to show someone you CD collection as apposed to a play list on a screen.
 
#34
I'm glad to hear that so many of us low enders still but discs. I also am glad to see the amount of people who enjoy vinyl. I'm not trying to say one is better then the other (CD's or Mp3's) I'm just curious if I'm the last one on earth who still buys CD's. I do see the attraction of Mp3's. For me its more work to maintain your library, back ups, burning. I don't buy as many CD's as I would like but thats cause I'm not 15 and have bills.
 
#35
Hell yes I buy cd's. I'm a firm believer in buying the cd. Of course I rip songs to my mp3 player for when I'm out running, but I love having the whole album. It's a collection of songs from that band from a period in time, every song just as important. I like having the whole package.
 
#38
There's another reason I like CDs (and vinyl) that didn't occur to me when I wrote my previous post: Many of my CDs/records have a story. When I look at certain CDs/records I think about where I was when I bought them. I've been record shopping from New Zealand to Switzerland and It's nice to have those connections to make. "I picked that up at a small shop in Sydney during this great trip..." as opposed to "I got that off iTunes while I was sitting in front of my computer - in my study".
 
#39
I buy CDs or the album off iTunes. Notice I said album, as in every song available.

I prefer to have the hard copy of the album but my entire music collection is digital on iTunes anyway, so the download doesn't make a huge difference to me. The quality is the same to my ears, and it's just plain convenient.

I'm really diggin' that iTunes is almost entirely using iTunes Plus without all the DRM.
 
#40
Well, let's see. I have a CD player in the living room, one in the music room, and one in the office at work. The car still only has a cassette deck, but I'm not in the car long enough for that to matter. Other than the PC in the office at home, I don't have a way to listen to MP# files. The machine at work blocks streaming so it's pretty much a useless medium for me.

Add in that I generally like music from artists that create more than just the hit single and ten tracks of crap (to paraphrase Keith Richards), so I want the album in the order they put it together.

jte
 

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