Anyone gone exclusively digital?

kethdredd wrote:

I got tired of getting crappy digipaks time and time again.

I really hate digipaks. Worst invention.

I also like when I can get out-of-print albums for really cheap in MP3 format. Listening to Kane Roberts first album right now, and while it has recently been reissued, at the time that I wanted it, it was a $40 or $50 CD on eBay. I just bought it for $6 on iTunes.

S.D. wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

Until I can get lossless formats from all digital outlets, I am not interested.

Yeah, that's still the main stumbling block for me going completely digital, I'm not paying money for lossy .mp3s anymore.

The new Rush LP also contained a download card for the .flac files, that's a business model I can accept right there.

Yep. I love that concept as well. Give me the vinyl and a lossless download and I would be thrilled.

Some people are just flat-out sentimentalists...

Digital / Mp3, AAC, FLAC etc - PROs outweigh the cons ,Quick and easy access to songs wherever you go, whenever you go, No need for a shelf, a huge lugging case etc...besides you'll be hard pressed to tell a Lossless vs lame 320, there is a minute difference tho, but it will vary from person to person

Physical Medium / CDs - Well You own it, but that's about it...you can't bring it on a trip or a stroll, unless you still have a working jurassic Discman or Boombox, better sound quality? Well do a blind test, 320 vs Lossless (2 format for every song), play it randomly, you'll be surprised by the result


Don't get me wrong here, I own several hundreds of CDs, but I feel like it's time to move on, Did it change my listening experience? A little bit, but have gotten used to it...I don't hate the CD but if there's a way that I can listen to my songs without too much hassle, then I'd go for it

Any music I dl I back up on disc, all I have in my car is a disc player. I don't enjoy headphones that much, something annoys me having this thing in or on my ear.

I'm still a dvd guy, will go blue ray when I have to and i'll buy one that plays both. I still don't have a cell phone though my teen daughter and wife do.

NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Digital is OK for bands I only like a few songs from or if I got the wrong disc from a used CD purchase. However, I am a CD addict and I don't want to be cured.

I still prefer CDs but I gotta admit the digital format is starting to win me over. For one thing, the DL price can be a lot cheaper than the CD price (even used). Plus I have an 8 gig flash drive that I can plug into the Bose stereo in my car so it's just more convenient to have a bunch of music on that as opposed to carrying around a boatload of CDs in my car.

I have no digital music at all, it's all cds

Plus owning a Digital Music/video Player other than the iPod is dirt cheap these days...All you need is a netbook , a large capacity USB HDD and a 'good enough' - sounding multimedia speakers...that's like, less than 400-500 Dollars, all in all (even lesser when you can buy one refurbished)

There's nowhere to go but Digital because downloadable media will take over sooner or later and less than 4 or 3 years down the line, the CD will just be another niche product eventuall putting every CD lovers to finally ditch their beloved medium of choice

Eyesore wrote:

I wonder if you're understanding what I mean, though. You take the hard drive out of the bad PC. The file structure on hard drives rarely become corrupt, meaning all the folders and files are fine, you simply can't access them because it won't boot or whatever.

So you buy one of these connectors, which simply connect to your "bad" hard drive, then you plug the USB cable into a good computer. The "bad" hard drive is then like anything other external hard drive. I wouldn't use it as such, of course, just go into it and take what files you need and then discard it, burn it, whatever you do.

But in nearly 20 years of doing this, seeing countless PCs go down, I've never seen it where the data cannot be retrieved.

I had it happen to me. I tried the USB connector route with no luck and a friend tried various recovery programs which didn't work either. Luckily I had some backups so I didn't lose anything truly important and it was more a pain putting everything else back on, but now I backup things to an even greater extent.

I kept my turntable when "vinyl" was supposed to be obsolete all those years ago and guess what Bands are releasing new product in that format again. Downloading stuff to your computer and device seems like a train wreck waiting to happen. Ya never know what is hitchhiking along for the ride.

If ya dig digital (downloading), go for it. I have tried Ipod's and had two just die on me. My home component stereo has been alive and working since 1975 (speakers have come and gone)
Nobody will ever convince me that digital devices will last that long. I even have a homemade boombox I made with Pioneer Super Tuner car stereo, Pioneer 3-ways and some wood. Just hook it up to 12 volt power supply and it cranks. Made that in high school and it still plays cassettes.

The point of bringing that up is it teaches folks to take care of their stuff and appreciate what they have. The whole thing I have with digital downloading and the devices that are manufactured to play them only feed into the disposable mentality that too many folks have.

I dl every cd before I sell it, or put it in my store. I can't take 15000 cds with when I move to Belize - but I can take a couple of TBs worth of music on a tiny little hardrive. So, eventually....

James B. wrote:

I kept my turntable when "vinyl" was supposed to be obsolete all those years ago and guess what Bands are releasing new product in that format again. Downloading stuff to your computer and device seems like a train wreck waiting to happen. Ya never know what is hitchhiking along for the ride.

If ya dig digital (downloading), go for it. I have tried Ipod's and had two just die on me. My home component stereo has been alive and working since 1975 (speakers have come and gone)
Nobody will ever convince me that digital devices will last that long. I even have a homemade boombox I made with Pioneer Super Tuner car stereo, Pioneer 3-ways and some wood. Just hook it up to 12 volt power supply and it cranks. Made that in high school and it still plays cassettes.

The point of bringing that up is it teaches folks to take care of their stuff and appreciate what they have. The whole thing I have with digital downloading and the devices that are manufactured to play them only feed into the disposable mentality that too many folks have.

I think digital ruins the listen to the entire album mentality. It turns people into show me the hits and the rest is junk - which causes people to miss a lot of good music.

I think that's a generational thing, I still listen to the whole albums I download.

Dark Horseman wrote:

I think that's a generational thing, I still listen to the whole albums I download.

I think that depends more on what types of music you enjoy. It seems pretty rare for people who listen to pop to listen to whole albums, while the opposite seems true for other genres like metal, prog, & jazz, etc.

UNCLE SAXON'S KICKASS CDS wrote:

I dl every cd before I sell it, or put it in my store. I can't take 15000 cds with when I move to Belize - but I can take a couple of TBs worth of music on a tiny little hardrive. So, eventually....

I do the same think though I only have about 15% of that number (who knows, when I'm your age I might be there-providing I get a better job, marry a rich broad, or win a lottery of sweepstakes). I am a slob, so taking CDs into my vehicle just clutter it up. Easier to put my music on an MP3 player. Also, not having my own place I have no room to display my CDs so I keep them boxed up and in my closet. However, I am foremost a collector and I feel like a cheat without buying a hard copy. My family ridicules me for this (my dad jokingly calls me a hoarder) but it's who I am.

I used to feel like buying a DL was lessening the listening experience and went against the collector in me but when I realized how much money I save by downloading and the fact that I haven't sat down with a CD and read lyrics while listening to the music in ages, I got over it.

I'll still buy the CD if the DL and CD are similarly priced but I no longer feel like I'm depriving myself of anything if I just buy the download. Plus I do 99% of my listening in my car which, as I said, has a USB port plus a 1 gig hard drive so I can load up a ton of music (albums and/or selected songs) and create my own personal "radio station".

Popular music was a "Singles" based medium up until the late 60s. Then we went through a few decades where the "Album" was king. Now the trend is just swinging back around to singles again.

Prior to iTunes and things like that there really weren't options for buying singles. 45s had been gone for a long time, cassette singles were also long dead...and CD singles never really took off mostly due to being over-priced.

The age of downloading allowed the single to become viable again and it's slowly overtaking the "Album" format once more. Not a new idea, just an old one coming back to prominence.

S.D. wrote:

Popular music was a "Singles" based medium up until the late 60s. Then we went through a few decades where the "Album" was king. Now the trend is just swinging back around to singles again.

Prior to iTunes and things like that there really weren't options for buying singles. 45s had been gone for a long time, cassette singles were also long dead...and CD singles never really took off mostly due to being over-priced.

The age of downloading allowed the single to become viable again and it's slowly overtaking the "Album" format once more. Not a new idea, just an old one coming back to prominence.

Interesting take; I hadn't thought of it like that before but I think you're right.

S.D. clears things up again.

I still prefer to have the physical copy, but I burn them & put them up. I listen to the 'pod exclusively. Both cars have a MP3 input, just can't beat the convinence. It still amazes me you can carry around 1000 cd's in your pocket! I do buy from I Tunes from time to time, if it is hard to find & I can't wait.

tohostudios wrote:

S.D. wrote:

Popular music was a "Singles" based medium up until the late 60s. Then we went through a few decades where the "Album" was king. Now the trend is just swinging back around to singles again.

Prior to iTunes and things like that there really weren't options for buying singles. 45s had been gone for a long time, cassette singles were also long dead...and CD singles never really took off mostly due to being over-priced.

The age of downloading allowed the single to become viable again and it's slowly overtaking the "Album" format once more. Not a new idea, just an old one coming back to prominence.

Interesting take; I hadn't thought of it like that before but I think you're right.

he i but it is still a shame people miss the gems that were deemed 'popular' by someone...

DallasBlack wrote:

[ (who knows, when I'm your age I might be there-

Love ya DB. Love ya like my long lost Great Grandchild......

I still buy vinyl. So I doubt I would go exclusively digital.

I do like to make mp3 cds to listen to in the car though.

chewie wrote:

I still buy vinyl. So I doubt I would go exclusively digital.

I do like to make mp3 cds to listen to in the car though.

There are dirt-cheap China-made car stereos that are USB-capable (they sound pretty decent!)

I have one, witha 500 GB HDD

About half of my collection is digital, the other half is physical. I disagree with digital being cheaper unless it is a new release album. For instance, I just bought the Aerosmith trilogy for less than $15 including shipping from Amazon. Way cheaper than the digital versions. However, I got both "Electric Age" and "Ironbound" for $5 each off of Amazon as new releases. So... it balances. About 3/4 of my Amazon orders are replacing all the music that I lost when I got divorced. I have been working on this for quite a while and no end in sight. The other thing is there are several albums that are not available at all on either Amazon or itunes as a digital DL that I desperately want. Stuff like Impellitteri and Northern Kings. Disc only but I have not found a decent price yet.

As far as portability goes, I almost exclusively use my iPod. I have an Alpine deck that I got about 4 years ago with installation and warranty from best buy on a closeout because it was previous years model. It has the AUX plug and USB ports in the front so either way I am good to go.