I had in mind other likely but less catastrophic scenarios.
CDs
- Thread starter Winnipeger
- Start date
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I'd never get rid of any of my vinyl. We listen to records all the time, but my CDs sit in a closet, because if I want to listen to Kind Of Blue, or Master of Puppets, it's on my phone, which I can stream to any speaker in my house or car. Is the quality the same? Close enough for casual listening IMO. (Sorry Neil Young.)
We have well over a 1,000 CDs that are stored on shelves that I built in a loft. Many of them are uploaded to iTunes and then to iPhones, thumb drives, etc. I still occasionally buy CDs for bands that I like. I prefer to have actual hard copies that I own, and have no issue w/storage.
Like I said, streaming has it's purpose and benefits. I use Apple Music on my phone for the set lists for all of my bands because it's easier to organize and I can bluetooth it anywhere to listen and practice to. I can also instantly pull up and download any new songs we want to cover. If I want to listen to a particular album or artist though, I always grab the CDs if I have them.
Hah! Was just looking at my own CDs yesterday and wondering if I could better use the shelves/boxes for my growing pipe tobacco collection.
I have ripped everything to my hard drive and continue to download music. I want to own it and not be subject to the streaming services and what they have on offer. To my old ears a 320kbps rip is just as good as a lossless CD.
Still not ready to get rid of the physical discs but not sure why!
I have ripped everything to my hard drive and continue to download music. I want to own it and not be subject to the streaming services and what they have on offer. To my old ears a 320kbps rip is just as good as a lossless CD.
Still not ready to get rid of the physical discs but not sure why!
Exactly. I've been on the fence for a few years. I think if I get around to it, I'll pull the packaging apart and store the liners and discs somehow other than jewel cases. Probably not until I retire though.
CDs are also a digital format and have degradation lifespans. I discarded most of mine a number of years ago while maintaining a small vinyl collection on some albums.
Streaming quality is provider dependent. Some are better than other and some offer premium (better than CD) formats. For example, Amazon has been working with various partners and Dolby to remix albums in much higher quality and in Atmos. They aren’t the only ones either. Many albums are getting remixed and mastered for the new digital world.
All of my music is listened to over car, headphones or devices like Alexa of various levels unless it’s a vinyl so the convenience overrules any quality loss.
It’s so rare these days that I have to do any critical listening and in the specific case I do, it’s going to be in a specific work environment so it still doesn’t impact me personally.
Streaming quality is provider dependent. Some are better than other and some offer premium (better than CD) formats. For example, Amazon has been working with various partners and Dolby to remix albums in much higher quality and in Atmos. They aren’t the only ones either. Many albums are getting remixed and mastered for the new digital world.
All of my music is listened to over car, headphones or devices like Alexa of various levels unless it’s a vinyl so the convenience overrules any quality loss.
It’s so rare these days that I have to do any critical listening and in the specific case I do, it’s going to be in a specific work environment so it still doesn’t impact me personally.
Did you put them in the trash? I wouldn't judge you for doing so. This is what I'm contemplating.
People dissing scratches on albums. Ha ha, I have albums going back to 1965 that I have collected, and, sure, a crackle or two, but if one ever skips, it never makes it into my collection. If you don’t want scratches, don’t put them on there. When my kids were young, they were taught my album protocols.
Hell, one tiny scratch on a CD or a pull on a tape ruins it totally. Much more fragile than vinyl.
But, I may be wrong, but I don’t think CDs or tapes will ever be as collectible as vinyl. An album is much more than the music. Its about the art, designs, the whole aesthetic.., the experience.
A good turntable with a good cartridge, balanced tracking weight, and anti skate… even with small speakers is much more enjoyable to me than a CD.
Tapes were always more about copying my albums for the car. Or, copying my friends albums. I may have bought 12 actual pre-recorded tapes. The rest were Maxell metal tapes bought by the crate in bulk.
Hell, one tiny scratch on a CD or a pull on a tape ruins it totally. Much more fragile than vinyl.
But, I may be wrong, but I don’t think CDs or tapes will ever be as collectible as vinyl. An album is much more than the music. Its about the art, designs, the whole aesthetic.., the experience.
A good turntable with a good cartridge, balanced tracking weight, and anti skate… even with small speakers is much more enjoyable to me than a CD.
Tapes were always more about copying my albums for the car. Or, copying my friends albums. I may have bought 12 actual pre-recorded tapes. The rest were Maxell metal tapes bought by the crate in bulk.
I’m pretty sure I did but there’s a slight chance I may have put them out for recycling as well. I have no idea how recyclable a CD is since it’s a mix of plastic and metal.
Best bet is donating to thrift or goodwill, if it's not scratched to hell.
If scratched, burn the jacket and trash the cds. Really no "green" option in this case unfortunately
Send your classic jazz CDs to me! I have thousands of CDs and vinyl LPs and listen to them regularly! I don’t miss cassettes because their day is done and they never sounded that good anyway but were portable and better than 8-tracks! But I still love my vinyl and CD collection.
I kept all my cds, lps and cassettes. I use iTunes but I noticed they sometimes don’t have some albums or they have an album for a while and then take it down. It’s good to have backups.
Probably a much better idea than what I did with them.
When i find time I listen to my cd and lp collection the sound quality is almost unbeatable compared to the mp3 or whatever compressed stuff you get from you tube or other streaming sources.
I love my collection.
Yes also for me it is important to know the context of songs as treasured on albums. And I love liner notes maybe of a music connoisseur of those times for example when a new John Coltrane album was published.
CDs are easy to handle on most reproduction systems it sounds better because of the poor setup. With the right record player and preamplifier a record will reproduce all the beloved details of voices and instruments at dramatic dynamics. Recording and mastering for LPs has been a highly developed subject.
Even mono recordings of Elvis voice can be heard in astonishing crispness and almost as the king performing live in the room.
And there is no data loss.
I have a couple thousand LPs and couple thousand CDs. Even if I were to set up a computer and stream the the digital format, the physical CDs are an instant back up. I have CDs where the cases and packaging are limited and specific to the release, so, I preserve everything if possible. For some of my in-depth collections, I’ve rebought releases because the 1st issue sticker got messed up (but, I’m a nutty collector). I’ve got multiple versions of some albums in LP and CD format and they all sound different because of the mastering or the media.
Tapes can be easily ruined, but CDs are very durable. Even most major scratches on CDs can be easily repaired by polishing them out with very fine rubbing compound. I've collected a lot of used CDs, many scratched to hell, looking like they were dragged through gravel, and I've been able to get them all playing perfectly. Unless the disc is broken or cracked it is usually fixable.
Scratched CDs are more easily repaired than oxidized pipe stems.