i dont get how people can BUY music in mp3 format.

[ZombieHavoc]

i can understand DLing an album for free, or ripping someone else's CD onto your computer, but i could never shell out $10 for an album that i can't hold in my hands and pour over.

that practice seems weird to me. seriously, wouldnt you rather just pay a couple bucks more at bestbuy.com and get the entire package?

[The Mirrorball Man]

You pay for the artist's work. I don't find that strange at all. Yes, I'd rather buy the CD, but it's just because I like to collect round shiny objects.

[ZombieHavoc]

that's what i'm saying though. i pay for the artists work as well...i have purchased hundreds of CDs, vinyl, and cassettes.

i'm just saying that i dont understand how someone can rationalize buying mp3s, there's nothing tangible there, when for very little more you can buy the actual CD. on napster and itunes and what not, it seems that most albums are 9.99. you can get many of those albums for 9.99-11.99 at best buy. just seems weird to me.

though i can understand if you only want to hear one song, and buying that for 99 cents. that makes perfect sense.

[The Mirrorball Man]

Here CDs are much more expensive. I can buy an album on iTunes for the equivalent of 10 dollars, but I'll have to pay at least 16-18 dollars for a CD (and most of them are copy protected these days, so I won't be able to put the songs on my iPod).

[roguespirit]

When I buy a cd I rip it to my computer and never touch the cd again so I reckon I can understand why people buy mp3's

[Bakema NL]

i can understand DLing an album for free, or ripping someone else's CD onto your computer, but i could never shell out $10 for an album that i can't hold in my hands and pour over.

that practice seems weird to me. seriously, wouldnt you rather just pay a couple bucks more at bestbuy.com and get the entire package?

Ditto, I want to have something in my hands when I buy music, not some mp3's on my computer, that's like reading comics off a screen, it sucks.

[roguespirit]

Ditto, I want to have something in my hands when I buy music, not some mp3's on my computer, that's like reading comics off a screen, it sucks.

But when I'm listening to it(which incidentally is why I buy music) I'm driving or doing housework or lying in bed or walking along the road or exercising or dancing none of which leave me with the desire to hold a case in my hand at the same time...so whats the biggie?

[Sanagi]

Discs, record covers and liner notes are all well and good, but music itself is not tangible, so it doesn't need to take a tangible form.

[Smokin' J]

I agree the high quality format on the CD is way better, but there are a lot of up coming music artists that don't have the money to make a million copies of there album. If was going to produce an album, I would go the MP3 route, and do special orders for the CD version. Either way its all about getting paid for your work.

[Bakema NL]

But when I'm listening to it(which incidentally is why I buy music) I'm driving or doing housework or lying in bed or walking along the road or exercising or dancing none of which leave me with the desire to hold a case in my hand at the same time...so whats the biggie?

It just doesn't feel right to me, I want something in my hands when I buy something. I don't want to buy music and get it on my harddisc, give me a cd anytime. Sometimes I buy a cd off the internet, but I much prefer going through the bins in a shop, there's nothing like doing that, ordering stuff from your chair at home is definitely not the same for me.

I listen to my music at home and when I go to work.....those are mp3 cd's which I make myself from the original cd's. Only reason I do that is I have more choice what to play...depends on what I want to listen to at that moment. Maybe I'll buy an mp3 player that doesn't require anything but just the data one day, but that's only for commuting, at home I want the cd, not just mp3's on a computer.
And you know what, you can lay the case on the table or something, no need to hold it. :)

Whenever music is only to be obtained as mp3 or whatever else, through the internet then that's it for me, keep your music, lots of other stuff to enjoy out there. Call me old-fashioned, but I'm serious here.

[Smokin' J]

ordering stuff from your chair at home is definitely not the same for me.

Werd, I buy alot of wax and I could dig for days when I am on the mission for that perfect track.

[Buried Alien]

Yeah. I'm pretty old school myself and I can't really reconcile the idea of using my computer as a stereo/radio. It just isn't the same.


Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Valmore]

When I buy a cd I rip it to my computer and never touch the cd again so I reckon I can understand why people buy mp3's

That about sums it up for me.

And seriously, I only buy complete albums from artists I know I want to HEAR the whole album from.

I'd much rather pay 99 cents a song at MSN for an mp3 I want to hear then $11.00 at Besy Buy for a CD of 10-11 songs I probably won't bother to even rip to my computer along with the one song that I will.

And seriously, when I take music with me - I'm using a portable mp3 players anyway, not a CD player. The only time I play CDs is in my car, and I play burned mixed discs anyway.

Hence, buying CDs, for me and others, is a clunky waste of space. MP3s can be backed up on a simple external hard drive and burned over and over to blank discs and saved on portable players.

And the lack of quality is pretty much a BS made-up issue. Unless you've got golden ears of high-harmony goodness, you're not going to notice the difference. Besides, anyone worth his salt knows vinyl produces the best sound - so why don't we all buy records anymore?

[cactusmaac]

Don't think cars come with record players.

edit - Anyway I always buy CDs. I can generally get them for cheaper than the 70p per track that iTunes and the other sites charge. Case in point, I got At The Drive-In's This Station Is Non-Operational anthology for less than £10 including postage from Amazon UK's dealers' page and that would have cost me at least £5 more from iTunes.

[Valmore]

Don't think cars come with record players.

Exactly my point. ;)

Though as I recall, scientific studies have proven vinyl gives a higher quality sound than CD or digital. BUT... cars don't have record players. And jogging with one would be a great way to lose weight, but you'd scratch the records like all get out.

While I have no problem with people buying CDs (which I still do from time to time) it just makes a lot more sense to buy mp3s these days.

[ocelotrevs]

i can understand DLing an album for free, or ripping someone else's CD onto your computer, but i could never shell out $10 for an album that i can't hold in my hands and pour over.

that practice seems weird to me. seriously, wouldnt you rather just pay a couple bucks more at bestbuy.com and get the entire package?
I agree. When I buy a CD I've waited ages for, to have it actually in your hands feels so nice.
Plus you see some great sleeve art (...Trail Of Dead, Coheed And Cambria) and you usually get the lyrics as well.
I might not play the actual CD, but knowing I can play it without going through the whole process of going booting is pretty cool.
I've got a few albums where the CD art is something I love to look at.

[Bakema NL]

Yeah. I'm pretty old school myself and I can't really reconcile the idea of using my computer as a stereo/radio. It just isn't the same.


Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Well, I do use my computer as stereo too, but I have a great sound on it that isn't anything less than a regular stereo set.

[Grant]

i can understand DLing an album for free, or ripping someone else's CD onto your computer, but i could never shell out $10 for an album that i can't hold in my hands and pour over.

that practice seems weird to me. seriously, wouldnt you rather just pay a couple bucks more at bestbuy.com and get the entire package?

It's cheaper then buying CDs and sometimes I just want that one song. I prefer buying CDs for artist I really like but considering I have something like over 500 CDs they can take up a lot of space.

[Spike-X]

I prefer buying CDs, and can see myself continuing to do so, even when I get broadband and a credit card to be able to access online music stores. I might buy an occasional song here and there, but I couldn't ever see myself buying a whole album in digital-only form.

Just the crap you have to deal with with Digital Restrictions Management would be enough to put me off that.

[DrewTheXenocide]

Question: If you buy your music online, and either you have to change computers/your hardddrive fails, aren't you royally screwed?

[Pepsigirl]

Question: If you buy your music online, and either you have to change computers/your hardddrive fails, aren't you royally screwed?

That's what external hard drives are for. ;)

[howyadoin]

i'm just saying that i dont understand how someone can rationalize buying mp3s, there's nothing tangible thereWell, so what? You can still listen to the song, can't you? And you can probably find the lyrics and the photos on the artist's website.

[clayholio]

These days, I'd much prefer to buy stuff digitally. While you do get better sound quality in a CD, it's not as if you're listening to a radio with poor reception. It's not optimal, but it's extremely convenient. I like being able to carry 10,000 songs around with me in my pocket. Also, at a certain point, you start to run into a storage issue. I actually had a giant CD bookcase built for me (6 feet high by 5 feet wide), but now virtually all of my CDs are sitting in crates right now.

I buy pretty much everything from E-Music, and have for about a year and half. It's more like 25 cents a track (if they've got what you want), and completely legal. The only drawback is that the major labels won't have anything to do with it, so you're dealing only with indies. But, when you're talking about $3 or $4 per album instead of the $19 Tower Records or Sam Goody would have you pay, I'll deal with not having cover art or lyric sheets. But I'm not above buying vinyl if it's really cool looking.

[Ilash]

Yup, buying digital albums just seems weird to me. If I'm going to pay for music, I want it to be on a nice shiny CD with some artwork and liner notes (though most CDs don't come with the latter). In short, if I'm going to pay for a product, I want the whole, tangible thing. And yes, my computer is one crappy stereo as it stands right now and the only way I could bare to listen to any music on it are through these nice headphones I have.

[Grant]

Question: If you buy your music online, and either you have to change computers/your hardddrive fails, aren't you royally screwed?

I back up everything on DVD-Rs.

[Ayo]

Well, so what? You can still listen to the song, can't you? And you can probably find the lyrics and the photos on the artist's website.

You wouldn't notice it from how often I use mine, but I actually hate computers.


I hate having to go to a band's website for some basicness (who are they, lyrics, etc). I'm much more comfortable just opening a paper booklet that tells me the words. Also, I hate computers. I hate websites which are high tech (all of them) and make my poor computer freeze. I don't have the time to search up EVERYTHING on the internet, and most importantly, if I'm buying something to keep, I simply MUST have the artifact. The artifact being the object which contains the information. So books for the printed word/image, DVDs for the moving image, CDs (and vinyl) for the audio entertainments.


I simply must have an official hard copy.





Also, I live in New York and can get shit hella cheap with a little bit of legwork.

[howyadoin]

Also, I hate computers. I hate websites which are high tech (all of them) and make my poor computer freeze.Sometimes in these conversations, I forget that not everybody owns a Mac.

[Xiroteus]

Edit......

[Punchy]

I agree the high quality format on the CD is way better, but there are a lot of up coming music artists that don't have the money to make a million copies of there album. If was going to produce an album, I would go the MP3 route, and do special orders for the CD version. Either way its all about getting paid for your work.

Easier said than done. You have to have some serious software and programming skills to set up an online shop for you MP3s not to mention server space and capacity.

There are quite a few digital distributors out there, but do you really want the first and most direct way for someone to buy your music going through someone else's sight?

Not to mention the liscensing problems if you have a cover on your record or a sample or something. That's a whole 'nother ball of wax that is more easily handled in CD format.

I buy music digitally but only if its exclusively online or out months before the CD is out.

[MKTerra]

Interesting.

I understand the preference for paper books (though I think it'd be cool if they eventually perfected e-paper), but I don't get the solid-media music preference so much.

Then again, with a CD you can rip the songs and get unencumbered files (or at least download them with a relatively clear conscience), whereas the music files you buy directly are pretty much all DRM'ed up. iPod-only Fairplay AAC vs Microsoft-owned WMA doesn't look so appealing to me... :(

[roguespirit]

Whenever music is only to be obtained as mp3 or whatever else, through the internet then that's it for me, keep your music, lots of other stuff to enjoy out there. Call me old-fashioned, but I'm serious here.

Seriously?! You would forgo the joy of music simply because you don't like the format?

[Ilash]

You wouldn't notice it from how often I use mine, but I actually hate computers.


I hate having to go to a band's website for some basicness (who are they, lyrics, etc). I'm much more comfortable just opening a paper booklet that tells me the words. Also, I hate computers. I hate websites which are high tech (all of them) and make my poor computer freeze. I don't have the time to search up EVERYTHING on the internet, and most importantly, if I'm buying something to keep, I simply MUST have the artifact. The artifact being the object which contains the information. So books for the printed word/image, DVDs for the moving image, CDs (and vinyl) for the audio entertainments.


I simply must have an official hard copy.







Yeah, couldn't agree more with everything you just said.

[Smokin' J]

[QUOTE=cactusmaac]Don't think cars come with record players.

And thats where downloading free music and buying CD's come into play. Being a DJ records are my first choice when buying music, but don't get me wrong I will buy the CD over paying for a download if it's not on wax. If you hard drive crashes you are screwed unless the pay sites allow you to keep a record of the music you have downloaded and allow free downloads once you have paid for the song or album

[Bakema NL]

Seriously?! You would forgo the joy of music simply because you don't like the format?

Yeah seriously, more than enough other things to enjoy. Same goes for comics.....make them all digital and I know I'm outta here, on to something else. And that's saying something because I really love comics and music. But when I buy something I want to hold something in my hands, a computer is great, but not everything under the sun.

It's even deeper.........when I got a computer I copied like crazy, just like almost everybody else, game after game, cd after cd. First thing that dawned on me was my musical taste was changing, I used to know what was happening out there, but more and more I was just listening to the most well known bands, really mainstream. Then a band came along which had me going "WTF? This is great and it has been out for a year, why haven't I heard of it?".....and there were tons of other bands out there I never heard of.........I had friggin' lost contact with the music scene(s) because I was so busy copying the more popular stuff dammit. On top of that is I didn't like to listen to copied cd's...the music was the same, but somehow it didn't feel the same, secondrate, bah. Then another thing dawned on me......I played games, lots of them, copied like crazy and bought some others for cheap when they were out for a while already...........I realized I preferred to play the original games, the copied ones were always last choice, if they were ever a choice to begin with, I didn't care about those, they were sitting on the shelf, secondrate stuff..............I think this was subconciously until the moment I really thought about it. I started to like dvd's, they were finally getting affordable, done with these ridiculous prices when they started to hit the market and I didn't bother with copies at all and let's not go into all that filmed-in-the-cinema-crap out there...horrible.........I have a few copies that I got from friends and not one of them have been in my player, I don't care about these secondrate things, when I have them original I'll watch them. From then on I started buying everything again......with games you just have to wait a while and they are a lot cheaper, dvd's aren't expensive anymore and music cd's still are too expensive, so I don't mind the industry taking less income really, they have asked for it themselves. The cd's I buy are not things you'll see in any top 40 usually, music that's not given airplay, music that's considered unpopular, not trendy.........so I'll support those bands, it's only unfortunate the companies profit too from it, but these are small labels a lot of times too. If there is some extremely popular band I like......it's rare......then I have no problem copying it somewhere. But that's only because prices are artificially held high and because I don't like the way the so-called "popular" music is stuffed down our throats........dj's and companies deciding what I have to listen to.........screw them, no radio for me and no music television either, they all suck.

Come to think of it...this used to be the case too when there was only vinyl around. Of course I had a cassette player and I had lots of cassettes too, but I much preferred the vinyl records, these things I bought myself, my records. I played them a lot more than my cassettes, those hit the player nowhere near as often.

[howyadoin]

If you hard drive crashes you are screwed unless...... you were smart enough to back the files up.

[cactusmaac]

... you were smart enough to back the files up.

Well, you pretty much have to back up your files everyday if you want peace of mind about their security.

Which can be a significant pain in the ass.

I'm a little surprised more people aren't using Amazon discounters to buy CDs.

And all that DRM stuff is a load of balls. I know I can play a CD just about anywhere, so why go with a restrictive format?

[Winslow]

I like the MP3 format cause I can make my own CDs of the music i want to listen to, rather than jump around to the few songs that I like on a CD.

I DO need to back up the stuff on my hard drive.

[howyadoin]

Well, you pretty much have to back up your files everyday if you want peace of mind about their security.

Which can be a significant pain in the ass.When I download or rip songs, I put them on one of the partitions of my external drive. When I drag them into iTunes, the program automatically makes a copy on my main hard drive. And when I update the songs on my iPod, copies get created there, too.

And my ass doesn't hurt a bit.

[Winslow]

I don't have an ipod, so I'm at risk.

I use Dell Jukebox and it organizes all my stuff too. It's just a matter of backing up the files the songs are on.

[howyadoin]

I don't have an ipod, so I'm at risk.

I use Dell Jukebox and it organizes all my stuff too. It's just a matter of backing up the files the songs are on.Got a DVD burner?

[cactusmaac]

When I download or rip songs, I put them on one of the partitions of my external drive. When I drag them into iTunes, the program automatically makes a copy on my main hard drive. And when I update the songs on my iPod, copies get created there, too.

And my ass doesn't hurt a bit.

Are you keeping back-ups at a separate off-site location?

That's what you really need in case you're robbed and someone steals your iPod, Mac and ext. hard drive.

[roguespirit]

Are you keeping back-ups at a separate off-site location?

That's what you really need in case you're robbed and someone steals your iPod, Mac and ext. hard drive.

someone broke into my car once.

I now hhave an ipod nano and adaptor for my car. So all the music I wanna listen to I can listen to in my car or anywhere I like and I don't have to carry around a cumbersome cd fascia either.

[roguespirit]

Yeah seriously, more than enough other things to enjoy. Same goes for comics.....make them all digital and I know I'm outta here, on to something else. And that's saying something because I really love comics and music. But when I buy something I want to hold something in my hands, a computer is great, but not everything under the sun.

It's even deeper.........when I got a computer I copied like crazy, just like almost everybody else, game after game, cd after cd. First thing that dawned on me was my musical taste was changing, I used to know what was happening out there, but more and more I was just listening to the most well known bands, really mainstream. Then a band came along which had me going "WTF? This is great and it has been out for a year, why haven't I heard of it?".....and there were tons of other bands out there I never heard of.........I had friggin' lost contact with the music scene(s) because I was so busy copying the more popular stuff dammit. On top of that is I didn't like to listen to copied cd's...the music was the same, but somehow it didn't feel the same, secondrate, bah. Then another thing dawned on me......I played games, lots of them, copied like crazy and bought some others for cheap when they were out for a while already...........I realized I preferred to play the original games, the copied ones were always last choice, if they were ever a choice to begin with, I didn't care about those, they were sitting on the shelf, secondrate stuff..............I think this was subconciously until the moment I really thought about it. I started to like dvd's, they were finally getting affordable, done with these ridiculous prices when they started to hit the market and I didn't bother with copies at all and let's not go into all that filmed-in-the-cinema-crap out there...horrible.........I have a few copies that I got from friends and not one of them have been in my player, I don't care about these secondrate things, when I have them original I'll watch them. From then on I started buying everything again......with games you just have to wait a while and they are a lot cheaper, dvd's aren't expensive anymore and music cd's still are too expensive, so I don't mind the industry taking less income really, they have asked for it themselves. The cd's I buy are not things you'll see in any top 40 usually, music that's not given airplay, music that's considered unpopular, not trendy.........so I'll support those bands, it's only unfortunate the companies profit too from it, but these are small labels a lot of times too. If there is some extremely popular band I like......it's rare......then I have no problem copying it somewhere. But that's only because prices are artificially held high and because I don't like the way the so-called "popular" music is stuffed down our throats........dj's and companies deciding what I have to listen to.........screw them, no radio for me and no music television either, they all suck.

Come to think of it...this used to be the case too when there was only vinyl around. Of course I had a cassette player and I had lots of cassettes too, but I much preferred the vinyl records, these things I bought myself, my records. I played them a lot more than my cassettes, those hit the player nowhere near as often.

But surely then the issue is about your personal habits regarding the computer and less about the format itself. Since I've been isung the electronic format I haven't lost touch with anything, none of the syptomatic things you decribe have applied to me in the slightest. Don't blame the format dude, regulate yourself.

[Winslow]

Got a DVD burner?

No. Just a CD burner.

I need one badly tho'

Got a suggestion?

[Spike-X]

Umm...buy a DVD burner?








:D

[howyadoin]

Are you keeping back-ups at a separate off-site location?

That's what you really need in case you're robbed and someone steals your iPod, Mac and ext. hard drive.More likely they'd steal all my CDs and convert them to cash.

That's what happened in '98.

[ZombieHavoc]

i have no problem with loading the CDs i own into an mp3 player to listen to on the go. but i would never buy albums in that format, like i said.

and touching on the comics thing that was brought up...if it ever got the point where music was only available in mp3 format (though it would suck and be depressing) i wouldnt quit listening to music, but i would stop reading comics entirely if it ever got to the point where i could only read them online.

i understand the benefits of publishing your comics online, but the magic, to me, is lost when you are reading them online. but i guess thats a discussion for a different forum,

[Bakema NL]

But surely then the issue is about your personal habits regarding the computer and less about the format itself. Since I've been isung the electronic format I haven't lost touch with anything, none of the syptomatic things you decribe have applied to me in the slightest. Don't blame the format dude, regulate yourself.

That's aside from it. Main problem is I want to have something in my hands, a product, period. So there's the format problem again.

[roguespirit]

That's aside from it. Main problem is I want to have something in my hands, a product, period. So there's the format problem again.

I understand that but surely the important thing is the joy you get from listening to the music you love. But what your telling me is that joy means nothing if you can't have something in your hands.

[K'Nort]

Mp3's certainly aren't for everyone, but they're perfect for me. I never ever look at liner notes. I want to get rid of the racks. I don't have practical access to things like Best Buy so it's about a $7 savings per album. And due to being set up by an audiophile ex, my computer has a much much better sound system than anything else in the house. Oh and usually I'm only listening to music while in transit.

[howyadoin]

That's aside from it. Main problem is I want to have something in my hands, a product, period. So there's the format problem again.You never listen to the radio, then?

[Punchy]

Mp3's certainly aren't for everyone, but they're perfect for me. I never ever look at liner notes. I want to get rid of the racks. I don't have practical access to things like Best Buy so it's about a $7 savings per album. And due to being set up by an audiophile ex, my computer has a much much better sound system than anything else in the house. Oh and usually I'm only listening to music while in transit.

but technically MP3s are so compressed you lose a lot of sound nuances you have on CD

[howyadoin]

but technically MP3s are so compressed you lose a lot of sound nuances you have on CDWhat about MP4s?

[Winslow]

but technically MP3s are so compressed you lose a lot of sound nuances you have on CD

I've never heard that before, but it makes sense.

I'm not sure my ears could pick out the difference, unless someone helped me point out how certain tracks within the mix are weaker/stronger . .etc.

[cactusmaac]

Meh. Bought myself one of these after Walkman ate my favourite tape compilation (NOOOOO!!!!) in the gym this morning.

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000BTOW40.02.MZZZZZZZ.jpg

[Punchy]

What about MP4s?

Not sure.

I prefer M16s.

[Tadhg]

What about MP4s?

Better quality, but still has the same issues.


Buying digital music doesn't bother me since 90% of the time I'm listening to music on my iPod the loss of quality isn't an issue. Of course, I haven't bought an entire album on iTunes, I really haven't bought much music at all in the last 2 years.

[Bakema NL]

You never listen to the radio, then?

Nope, never. Cable is not even attached, I hate radio....well, dj's and their highly annoying talk and wanting to be funny and not playing records for their entire length...and the fact that most of what they play is not stuff I like.

I understand that but surely the important thing is the joy you get from listening to the music you love. But what your telling me is that joy means nothing if you can't have something in your hands.

The joy of listening is the same of course (more or less.....less actually, quality is less), but my dislike of the way it's presented to me when talking about these mp3's you buy (or whatever else) is so great I could do without. If comics would be only digital I will not be reading them eventhough the joy could very much be the same when it comes to the actual story and drawings. May be hard to understand for people, but I'm serious about it.

I've never heard that before, but it makes sense.

I'm not sure my ears could pick out the difference, unless someone helped me point out how certain tracks within the mix are weaker/stronger . .etc.

I gather you're a bit younger then, because this is common knowledge, but people growing up today are probably more unaware of it as it's more of a common thing to them than with guys like me well in their 30's.
It's maybe a little bit like the difference between vinyl records and cd's, although that difference is better to hear......vinyl sounds so much better...warmer, richer....only thing why I like cd's more is you don't get scratches, I play my stuff a lot. An mp3 loses even more of its sound, most people will not hear it, but you can tell the difference.........all depends on what bitrate you use too of course, but lots of people use shitty bitrates to keep the files small and you can tell the difference, believe me, lots of stuff get lost with mp3. Listen to a regular cd over your stereo first and then put on the headphones and listen to the same track again........that about sums up what you're missing with mp3 as opposed to cd, there's a real difference. But where listening to regular cd's already means not hearing certain sounds which you do hear with headphones on, mp3's mean even more of a sound loss, which is unacceptable to me. We are advancing in technology, that's what they call it anyway, sets get better and better by the day, but at the same time we are accepting a substantial loss in sound quality with the actual music.........and they expect me to pay money for that..........it's a strange world we're living in. :)

What I do like about the digital age is that you can look up lots of stuff on the internet, all kinds of bands/artists, hear snippets or entire songs, videoclips......without any tv or radio force-feeding you all kinds of crap.
I love p2p too, it lets me check out bands and I have discovered a large amount of bands I would never have heard on any radio over here. When I read something about a band that sounds interesting to me I write down the name.....I actually keep a file on the computer with "bands to check"........and search for a couple of songs, listen to it, listen more to it as a lot of music has to grow on you and when I like it, or learn to like it I go out and buy the album. I'm very much an album buyer, not a single song kinda guy, sometimes when I really like just one song without knowing other songs from a band/artist I just go out and buy the album. Most of the time I listen to a couple of songs to get an impression and then buy the album. I have never been disappointed really that way.

[Patient Boy]

Not sure.

I prefer M16s.

Did you just come over from the Parable of the Sheep thread over on the Comm board?

[Punchy]

Did you just come over from the Parable of the Sheep thread over on the Comm board?

No. But I know there's a bunch of gun-lovers over there.

[Grant]

but technically MP3s are so compressed you lose a lot of sound nuances you have on CD

Most people don't even notice. Same is true with cassette tapes. And we had someone waxing nostalgic about those too.

People who download albums traditionally don't care about highest quality audio, linear notes, packaging or whatever. They just want something they can fill their iPod with.

[Bakema NL]

Most people don't even notice. Same is true with cassette tapes. And we had someone waxing nostalgic about those too.

People who download albums traditionally don't care about highest quality audio, linear notes, packaging or whatever. They just want something they can fill their iPod with.

Which is really odd, advancing the technology to listen to music which is a few steps down in quality...........odd.

[Winslow]

I gather you're a bit younger then, because this is common knowledge, . . . .

No I'm ignorant. Or maybe stupid. ;)

I grew up listening to Vinyl, I'm in my early 40's

I don't play an instrument, tho', and I don't have an "ear" for music.

[clayholio]

Which is really odd, advancing the technology to listen to music which is a few steps down in quality...........odd.
It's not that odd. It's trading sound quality for convenience. And it's not really trading that much sound quality for a lot of convenience. Ever tried to travel with 100 CDs in your backpack? Besides, the music is going to come out of speakers or headphones anyways, just the same as if you were listening to a CD player. There's not a whole lot of adjustment to be made.

[Patient Boy]

I don't know how it is over in the States or Europe, but here we get quite a few albums being advertised as "Best listened to on an iPod". It always seemed kind of silly because you obviously sacrifice a little sound quality to be able to listen to it in MP3 format.

[Patient Boy]

No. But I know there's a bunch of gun-lovers over there.

Didn't even bother reading the initial post. Some of the rest of the thread is pretty funny though.

[howyadoin]

It's maybe a little bit like the difference between vinyl records and cd's, although that difference is better to hear......vinyl sounds so much better...warmer, richer....only thing why I like cd's more is you don't get scratches, I play my stuff a lot.What struck me funny about that is that I recently bought the remastered Born to Run re-release, and to me "Jungleland" always sounds weird without the scratches that were in my first vinyl copy, all those years ago.

[Spike-X]

What struck me funny about that is that I recently bought the remastered Born to Run re-release, and to me "Jungleland" always sounds weird without the scratches that were in my first vinyl copy, all those years ago.
I know Nebraska just doesn't sound right on CD.

[Bakema NL]

No I'm ignorant. Or maybe stupid. ;)

I grew up listening to Vinyl, I'm in my early 40's

I don't play an instrument, tho', and I don't have an "ear" for music.

Hahahaha, ok, so I was very wrong on this one........but luckily most people are flattered when you think them a younger age than they are. :D

It's not that odd. It's trading sound quality for convenience. And it's not really trading that much sound quality for a lot of convenience. Ever tried to travel with 100 CDs in your backpack? Besides, the music is going to come out of speakers or headphones anyways, just the same as if you were listening to a CD player. There's not a whole lot of adjustment to be made.

No, I didn't try traveling with 100 cd's in a backpack, I don't need to have that much music with me anyway, so the need is not there. I can understand wanting to take an ipod with lots of music with you when you are going on a holiday or something, I would do that too and make mp3's of my cd's for the occasion, other than that I don't see a need for loads of mp3's on an ipod, but that's personal of course, other people other needs.

[Grant]

Which is really odd, advancing the technology to listen to music which is a few steps down in quality...........odd.

Because the loss in quality is something most people don't even know about or notice. It's more of convience issue like someone mentioned. Not everyone is an audiophile.

[Grant]

No, I didn't try traveling with 100 cd's in a backpack, I don't need to have that much music with me anyway, so the need is not there. I can understand wanting to take an ipod with lots of music with you when you are going on a holiday or something, I would do that too and make mp3's of my cd's for the occasion, other than that I don't see a need for loads of mp3's on an ipod, but that's personal of course, other people other needs.

I have about 500 CDs. Putting everything on the iPod just saves me the time searching and deciding what I can fit in my 25 disc wallet I can just bring the iPod. Plus it's smaller and takes up less space on my carry on. Which is always a bonus.

[Valmore]

I have about 500 CDs. Putting everything on the iPod just saves me the time searching and deciding what I can fit in my 25 disc wallet I can just bring the iPod. Plus it's smaller and takes up less space on my carry on. Which is always a bonus.

Plus, you never know when you're gonna be jonesing for a certain band or song and you look through your CD case and... DAMNIT! I didn't pack my Journey CD! Good thing I have my mass capacity mp3 player here... DON'T STOP BELIEVIN'!!!

[Patient Boy]

I know Nebraska just doesn't sound right on CD.

Does it sound right on MP3?

[Spike-X]

No.

It has to be played on slightly crackly vinyl in a dark room.

With no sharp objects nearby.

[The Mirrorball Man]

No.

It has to be played on slightly crackly vinyl in a dark room.

With no sharp objects nearby.
You, sir, are mistaken. Nebraska should only be played in a CAR, somewhere on a forlorn road where the brokenhearted go to weep.

[howyadoin]

You, sir, are mistaken. Nebraska should only be played in a CAR, somewhere on a forlorn road where the brokenhearted go to weep.Eight track!!!