The Value Of CDs

[papayaninja]

We've discussed the value of CDs insomuch as they're physical objects, with art and whatnot, but I still get the impression that most people, even if they buy CDs, still listen to their collection primarily through iTunes or other software, and iPods or other PMPs.

I recently found my parents' old CD player and hooked it up to the receiver in my room. And, since then, I've been listening to actual, real live compact disks, pretty much for the first time in 4 or 5 years. And I sort of like it. I don't get plays in iTunes or Last.fm, but who cares? I have to look at the CD case to get track names and see the art, but that's a plus. It's fun. I read the inserts again. I eject CDs and put them in their case and go to my shelf to find another one. I look through my collection instead of skimming through lists of words trying to find something that pops out. Does it take longer? Yeah, two seconds or so, but it's worth it.

So, anyone else a big enough dork that this matters? Do other people use physical media to actually listen to it?

 

[rockmyplimsoul]

You're not alone, if/when I have time to listen to my home stereo (and not be working on some project) it is nice to just chill out and read the lyrics, etc. There's something to be said about going to a physical collection to enjoy it. Now, if I could only find the time and space dust off my record player to break out the vinyl ...

 

[ReyZero]

I don't own any nice and expensive speaker system, so I don't get a huge benefit from listening to the CD itself, or loseless/FLAC media.
Most of the time I listen to music is either when I'm not at home (which would be insane to carry CDs) and in the car (I use my Sirius Stiletto 2) which would also be a pain to swap them out. I remember my father making a new Mix CD every month for this reason, now he shoves an iPod in his deck.

I remember a long time ago I saw one of those 300 disc holder systems that you could push a number and it would bring up the CD you put in with a read out of what you typed it in to be, always wanted one until I picked up an MP3 player.

TBH, if I like a majority of a CD, I buy it physically, since no online music store seems to allow multiple downloads from an account, stupid.

 

[dirtpeach]

For me the value of CDs is the assurance that I'm getting a lossless copy that I can rip securely. I'm not a big fan of the physical media itself. If I liked an artist enough to want to know them better, I'd check their website and if possible, watch a gig.

On another side of the value of CDs, I just bought 20 CDs on sale most of which were only Php50 (approximately USD1). About a kilometer away, at another mall, the same CDs were at the regular price of around Php 400 (around USD8). I hope to see the day when CDs/albums will be a buck each. I may be in for a looong wait.

 

[kornchild2002]

It has been a really long time since I listened to a CD at home. There are some occasional instances where I will listen to a CD on my way home. These times are rare and occur only when I purchase a CD. I have to drive two hours (one hour each way) from my house to my job. I will normally go to Best Buy to purchase a CD and then listen to it on the way home.

I actually hate listening to the CDs. I have to constantly look at the case in order to determine the track title that I am listening to. I like to remember the songs I like. All I have to do is push in the select button on my iPod and rate it, the process takes about 3 seconds per song. I have to remember the songs that I like while listening to a CD so that I can go to my computer and rate the music. I see no need in using a physical format when I can get the same lossless quality by listening to files on my computer. Additionally, I have fast access to the album cover and I have physically gone through adding multiple cover art to my files to include the inside booklet and back of each case.

I still purchase CDs for the same reason as dirtpeach: it gives me a lossless copy that I can pretty much do anything with and I can securely rip it to my computer. I will purchase a CD, flip through the booklet, rip it once, and then file it on my shelf to never be used again. I see no point in me having to get up to put an individual CD in my CD player when I can just turn on my AppleTV and have access to my entire 350GB+ lossy and lossless libraries. Additionally, I can sync my lossy library to my iPod and play it back in my car. I have access to thousands upon thousands of songs in my car with the touch of a button.

CD just can't offer this type of convenience and this level of detail. I have to look at the case in order to see the album art and all the information regarding the track titles. A few clicks with a wireless remote or mouse will give me further information including the album producer, song writers, year of release, and a whole bunch of other information that I would otherwise have to flip through a few pages in a booklet to see. The iTunes Store is even offering digital booklets with many full album purchases. Physical media, when it comes to music, is slowly dieing in favor of digital files stores on a hard drive. It may seem less personal to some people but it offers a much higher level of convenience along with being able to give the user more information. Gone are the days when people are listening to a CD and they have to flip through a few pages to find out the song title. They can down just glance down at their device (or computer screen) and instantly see more information than a CD player could ever give them.

I can see why some people like to listen to CDs as it takes them back to the "good ol days" but I refuse to revert back. It is is kind of like having a propane grill in the backyard with someone refusing to use it in favor of a pile of sticks that have to be rubbed together to make a fire. Nope, I see the iPod as being the industrial age with CDs being the stone age. I just won't revert back to the stone age when it comes to listening to my music. CDs will always have their place and I continue to purchase them along with digital downloads (damn those iTunes Store exclusive tracks) but I don't really listen to the CDs anymore and haven't done so since about 2001 (that was when I purchased my first portable mp3 players and started amassing a library on my computer).

 

[Galley]

I still listen to CDs in the car since my Belkin Auto Kit went to crap.

BTW, you can use scripts to change the playcount and last played date.

 

[Wednesday]

CDs will always have their place and I continue to purchase them along with digital downloads (damn those iTunes Store exclusive tracks).

This is actually the main reason I sometimes purchase music from iTunes. I prefer to buy my music on CD, something that I am finding harder and harder to do in a brick and mortar store. I now purchase most of my CDs from amazon.ca, but try to buy used and/or support local retailers whenever I can. The problem is a lot of the music I buy is not in the top 20 and isn't stocked in the pitiful selections most physical stores have these days.

I like having CDs because I don't like paying money for a lossy copy of something I could have in lossless form, and I like having the subsequent control over what ripper, encoder, and quality of encoding my music will end up in purchasing a physical CD entails.

I also like looking at my CD collection. Music is important to me, and perusing my rows of CDs, taking them down and flipping through them, choosing an album to listen to, and physically opening the case and inserting the disc into the player gives the music a meaning and tangibility a hard drive full of digital files just can't match.

Don't get me wrong; I love my iPods and am awaiting the release of a 64GB iPod touch so I can finally upgrade from my 60GB 4G. I just love being able to see all my music in a lossless, physical, (often) beautifully- packaged form.

~Wednesday~

 

[melsmusic]

I listen to CDs on our stereo system quite regularly. The level I play at, loud, doesn't sound near as good through the ipod dock as the actual CD does.

 

[ScoobZ]

I do still buy plenty of CDs but pretty much just so that I can rip them so I can have them on my computer and iPods.

I occasionally listen to CDs in my commuter car but not much since I can almost always find something to listen to on my XM. I do have a couple of mixed CDs in there for when I need to get pumped up on the way to my hockey games.

In my other car I never listen to CDs because I have a Peripheral unit so I can listen to the iPod. The convenience and capacity easily trumps a CD. I don't even have one CD in that car.

At home I almost never listen to CDs anymore because I really have no time to just sit and enjoy music. When I'm working in the office I have iTunes playing through the computer.

Now, on the rare occasion where I do have time to just sit in the living room and listen to music I still won't choose a CD. I choose vinyl on those occasions. CD booklets are nice and all but nothing beats pouring over an album cover while enjoying the music.

Yes, I'm old. lol!

 

[misper666]

occasionally i use the hifi system but tbh, i'd rather not nowadays. something in me has changed i don't want to impose my music on the neighbours & i quite like having peace & quiet for myself too.

it also depends on which room i'm in, living room will be laptop (itunes ), upstairs will be other stereo equipment but with headphones mostly. i'll use discs upstairs if i want to extract something from a disc.

 

[Razor70]

As most everyone else has already posted, I still buy cd's as a back up lossless copy that will let me re-rip if anything ever happens to my hard drive on my computer. I have a rather nice collection of cd's and vinyl and do enjoy the occasional sit down and listen to them from time to time. But most of my listening is done on my computer or my mp3 player. My car is set up with a connection for my iPod so unless I have just bought the cd at a store and want to listen to it on the way home, then I have my iPod in the car with me and just listen to my music that way. So much more convenient in my opinion.

 

[sbking]

I LOVE CDs, even though I just rip them with EAC, and listen to the lossless files. But I will never buy music on iTunes, it has no monetary value over free mp3s and iTunes is overpriced anyway, a bunch of compressed music that you cannot even redownload should not cost 10 euro an album (yes I know CDs are also compressed but you know what I mean). I also like to have the physical CD incase my hard drive dies. And the artwork is always nice to look at and it's just more awesome and 'personal' than a bunch of digital files.

Physical CD>iTunes

^_^

 

[skruggie]

I have recently rediscovered cds, and even dusted off my old stereo yesterday. It's interesting, I never ever ever listen to full albums on itunes/my ipod - I always shuffle through playlists.

But I am enjoying the album experience on my stereo, its taking me back to the reasons I used to buy cd's in the first place.

I've been slowly segueing off of buying digital downloads and back to buying cds thanks to the vast amount of used cd shops in Los Angeles. Other than the occasional deal of the day on Amazon and my monthly emusic allowance, I don't see myself buying very much non-cd music in the future.