Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

does anyone buy CDs anymore

Options
13

Comments

  • Options
    #62
    jimmy blevins
    Closed Accounts Posts: 475 ✭✭jimmy blevins


    The likes of itunes and especially steam, for games, most take a substantial cut of profits as in a lot of cases physical media is cheaper than downloading.


  • Options
    #63
    _Kaiser_
    Registered Users Posts: 28,755 ✭✭✭✭_Kaiser_


    Haven't bought a CD in about 20 years. Used to download everything in MP3 but in the last 5/10 years I rarely even bother with that. Not a big fan of a lot of the stuff out there now and haven't the interest to go looking for more obscure but better stuff.

    Late 70s-early 00's FTW :)


  • Options
    #64
    Paarthurnax
    Registered Users Posts: 331 ✭✭Paarthurnax


    Haven't bought a cd in about 10 years but I still have my cd collection must check what I have, first cds I bought were singles Zombie by The Cranberries and Always by Bonjovi I think.Circa 95 I think I'm must check what I have in my CD shelf.


  • Options
    #65
    Anesthetize
    Registered Users Posts: 1,462 ✭✭✭Anesthetize


    I rarely buy CDs new any more, unless it's an album I have an mp3 copy of that I have really grown to love a lot. I still pick up used CDs fairly regularly. You can go into a charity shop or a record store that sells used CDs and get them for next to nothing, or even go browsing for used CDs on Amazon. I got Since I Left You by The Avalanches, Demon Days by Gorillaz, and Fevers and Mirrors by Bright Eyes in a charity shop recently for a grand total of €1.

    I listen to mp3s when I'm at my computer or on my phone when I'm travelling. I use Spotify for checking out new album releases before investing any more time in them. But I have a nice setup at home for CDs. Denon CD player + late 70s Toshiba valve amp + old Wharfedale speakers. I've never had any issues with scratched CDs or disc rot either as I look after them and store them correctly.

    Vinyl is okay I guess, but to really get some sort of advantage out of it you need a decent setup. With cheap record players and needles you are wasting time and are probably better off going with a half decent CD player. The big artwork is nice though.

    I mostly download mp3s but it's nice to be able to rip albums from a CD in whatever bitrate you want. For a nice trade off between sound quality and storage space I go with 320kbps. I use FLAC for the albums closest to my heart. Foobar2000 is my media player of choice and is great for managing large music collections, unlike iTunes which consumes too much memory and is inefficient. It's often said that iTunes is a music fan's worst enemy, not to mention their online store being a rip-off.


  • Options
    #66
    boobar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,226 ✭✭✭boobar


    Recent convert to Spotify and Deezer, so no more cds. In fact I find that I use my phone more to listen to music than an expensive mp3 player I bought (about 10 years ago).

    Kindle for books means I no longer impulse buy after browsing in a book store.

    I stream movies now as well, so the days of picking up a dvd in hmv are long gone as well.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #67
    vintagecosmos
    Registered Users Posts: 851 ✭✭✭vintagecosmos


    Spoke to the lads in Golden discs and they said this year is the first time in 20 years they sold more vinyl than CDs.


  • Options
    #68
    Grayditch
    Registered Users Posts: 14,347 ✭✭✭✭Grayditch


    Got sick of the distance I felt from music being all digital, so I invested in a decent stereo system with a record and Cd played. One of the best decisions I've ever made.

    It's great to hear the music properly again, and not tinny sounding mp3s from laptop speakers.


  • Options
    #69
    Anesthetize
    Registered Users Posts: 1,462 ✭✭✭Anesthetize


    Grayditch wrote: »
    It's great to hear the music properly again, and not tinny sounding mp3s from laptop speakers.
    Who the hell listens to mp3s from laptop speakers??

    Also CDs are essentially digital.


  • Options
    #70
    Grayditch
    Registered Users Posts: 14,347 ✭✭✭✭Grayditch


    Anesthetize wrote: »
    Who the hell listens to mp3s from laptop speakers??
    What? Loads of people nowadays.
    Anesthetize wrote: »

    Also CDs are essentially digital.

    Do you think you know what I might have meant?


  • Options
    #71
    Winterlong
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,759 ✭✭✭Winterlong


    Anesthetize wrote: »
    Who the hell listens to mp3s from laptop speakers??

    Also CDs are essentially digital.

    Essentially? They are wholly digital! There is no analogue on CDs, all digital.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #72
    Anesthetize
    Registered Users Posts: 1,462 ✭✭✭Anesthetize


    Grayditch wrote: »
    What? Loads of people nowadays.
    I didn't think people actually did that. The sound of laptop speakers is really terrible and they are not designed for music listening. I assumed everyone used headphones or an external speaker setup but I guess I'm wrong.
    Do you think you know what I might have meant?
    When you mentioned "music being all digital" are you emphasising the 'all' here? If so that makes sense.


  • Options
    #73
    jonon9
    Registered Users Posts: 1,124 ✭✭✭jonon9


    Haven't brought a CD in years but I still kept my collection but on the other hand I still buy records, I just picked up Sex Pistols NMTB this morning.


  • Options
    #74
    endacl
    Registered Users Posts: 22,258 ✭✭✭✭endacl


    Anesthetize wrote: »
    Who the hell listens to mp3s from laptop speakers??
    A whole class of music performance students that I teach, for one. Who regularly hear music on studio monitors, yet are still happy to do their listening on laptops and phones. I fear quality may be a lost cause.

    I clearly remember the first time I heard an album on a decent stereo. Separate turntable into a good amp through decent speakers. I remember wondering "what the hell is that 'tsss tsss' sound?". It was the hi-hat on the drum kit. I'd never heard it clearly before. The recording was AC/DC's Back in Black, for reference. I went back to me knackered ghetto blaster and tapes at home thinking 'this just won't do!' And started saving for a system of my own.

    I must say, I really don't get 'music fans' being 'really into their music' who are happy listening to sh1tty compressed digital files, on devices that only play music as a secondary function, through speakers that can't even effectively reproduce the limited information that the files contain. My favourite recordings from a phone or laptop are vaguely irritating. Through a JoLida valve amp and a pair of B&W speakers, though? Glorious. It's a funny phenomenon. Imagine posters on the cycling forum telling each other that they couldn't understand Tour de France riders using full carbon frames and aero helmets. 'Sure I've a fifty quid rusty mountain bike I bought second hand that does the job. Those pros are wasting their money. They should all be on fifty quid mountain bikes. They do the job. If you waited around at the dump sure you'd probably get one for free!"


  • Options
    #75
    endacl
    Registered Users Posts: 22,258 ✭✭✭✭endacl


    Winterlong wrote: »
    Essentially? They are wholly digital! There is no analogue on CDs, all digital.

    AAD. ADD. DDD.

    Only one of those is 'wholly digital'.


  • Options
    #76
    Grayditch
    Registered Users Posts: 14,347 ✭✭✭✭Grayditch


    Anesthetize wrote: »

    When you mentioned "music being all digital" are you emphasising the 'all' here? If so that makes sense.

    I could have been a bit clearer, I was only listening to music in digital form, mp3s, flacs etc.

    Getting back into buying physical releases, particularly vinyl has resparked my love for music. I wasn't really giving albums time or attention.


  • Options
    #77
    Winterlong
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,759 ✭✭✭Winterlong


    endacl wrote: »
    AAD. ADD. DDD.

    Only one of those is 'wholly digital'.

    But what is important is the transfer, the last letter. D. For Digital.
    There is no analogue signal on a CD! It is all digital on the CD.


  • Options
    #78
    cml387
    Registered Users Posts: 8,398 ✭✭✭cml387


    Winterlong wrote: »
    But what is important is the transfer, the last letter. D. For Digital.
    There is no analogue signal on a CD! It is all digital on the CD.

    Yes, the only analogue bit is where an analogue master tape was used to create the CD.CD is a purely digital format.


  • Options
    #79
    Anesthetize
    Registered Users Posts: 1,462 ✭✭✭Anesthetize


    cml387 wrote: »
    Yes, the only analogue bit is where an analogue master tape was used to create the CD.CD is a purely digital format.
    Everything from the polycarbonate plastic to the label on the CD is comprised of 1s and 0s if you look very closely.


  • Options
    #80
    dublinman1990
    Registered Users Posts: 8,388 ✭✭✭dublinman1990


    I also forgot to mention that if you had a lost a music track on a streaming service due to a copyright claim from the record company or whoever; you have to pay more money to have it back in your downloaded collection again from a similar album.

    Also I had a problem with Windows Media Player as some tracks were downloaded through a music pass on Groove Music; I couldn't play the tracks because WMP encounters a problem with playing the files. I right clicked in properties afterwards & the media usage rights were deemed to be missing.

    This would the case that if music tracks are downloaded with a music pass without purchasing it; they would be deemed as rented music you can't play them offline.


  • Options
    #81
    cml387
    Registered Users Posts: 8,398 ✭✭✭cml387


    I personally have a grudge against CD's when I remember how we were royally ripped off in the eighties by the music companies who charged up to 100% on CD's over tape or vinyl.
    More expensive to produce they said. HAH!


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #82
    harry Bailey esq
    Registered Users Posts: 4,814 ✭✭✭harry Bailey esq


    Robsweezie wrote: »
    do you bother with CDs anymore.....

    Not nowadays,whilst they might look well,its still essentially a gentleman wearing a dress.
    Each to their own though it has to be said.


  • Options
    #83
    PucaMama
    Registered Users Posts: 3,129 ✭✭✭PucaMama


    The only physical music I buy now is vinyl. I use Spotify too.


  • Options
    #84
    Irish Guitarist
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,736 ✭✭✭Irish Guitarist


    One thing I try to avoid is remastered CDs. Most albums that have been remastered in recent years are almost unlistenable. The record company compresses the music so that the quiet parts are just as loud as the loud parts. There's no peaks or troughs and if you listen through headphones it can give you a headache. There's also clipping where some of the original music is lost. One of the worst examples is the 'deluxe 20th anniversary edition' of Nevermind by Nirvana. You can even see how bad it is if you rip the CD to your computer and open it with Audacity. The original album has waves that go up and down. The newer one is a solid block of blue.

    There have been some gimmicks in recorded music over the years (for instance in the late fifties they starting releasing mono albums in fake stereo). This is one of the longest lasting and most annoying.

    If there's an old CD I want to buy I'll look for an older version rather than one that has been re-released in the last ten or fifteen years. If I didn't already own both versions of Nevermind and wanted to buy it I'd look for a used copy on eBay.

    It's the same case with newer albums too. I couldn't listen to a Red Hot Chili Peppers or Arctic Monkeys CD without getting a headache.


  • Options
    #85
    Bret Hart
    Registered Users Posts: 2,790 ✭✭✭Bret Hart


    PucaMama wrote: »
    The only physical music I buy now is vinyl. I use Spotify too.

    How very hipster of you.


  • Options
    #86
    riclad
    Registered Users Posts: 8,184 ✭✭✭riclad


    most of The money from streaming goes to record companys ,not singers ,
    songwriters etc The record companys are just after the mafia when it comes to ripping off people .
    and they have the nerve to complain about youtube not paying them enough money.Many young people discover new music ,pop groups from youtube .
    IF a singer is not on youtube they may as well not exist.
    AT least for the younger audience .
    Many teens dont have the money to buy an iphone , smartphone or subscribe to spotify .or pay for 3g data on a phone.
    Many groups start off putting a few songs on youtube or soundcloud
    and they instantly have a potential global audience .
    a CD is a piece of plastic so its analog in that you,ll have it if all
    the streaming services stop ,you can play it in any pc or laptop
    without connecting to the web.
    You can go to a charity shop and buy cds for 1 euro .
    So they are good value if you like music from a few years ago.


  • Options
    #87
    PucaMama
    Registered Users Posts: 3,129 ✭✭✭PucaMama


    Bret Hart wrote: »
    PucaMama wrote: »
    The only physical music I buy now is vinyl. I use Spotify too.

    How very hipster of you.
    I'm not a hipster I just feel vinyl gives me more for my money


  • Options
    #88
    Ted111
    Closed Accounts Posts: 990 ✭✭✭Ted111


    cml387 wrote: »
    I personally have a grudge against CD's when I remember how we were royally ripped off in the eighties by the music companies who charged up to 100% on CD's over tape or vinyl.
    More expensive to produce they said. HAH!

    Also the twenty quid you paid is for the musical rights. The actual ****ty plastic disc cost them about 20p make. Yet when the useless, flimsy, ****ty, horrible piece of plastic got scratched, you weren't able to pay 20p to replace it - considering you had bought the rights to listen to the music.


  • Options
    #89
    Bret Hart
    Registered Users Posts: 2,790 ✭✭✭Bret Hart


    PucaMama wrote: »
    I'm not a hipster I just feel vinyl gives me more for my money

    Such as what ?


  • Options
    #90
    PucaMama
    Registered Users Posts: 3,129 ✭✭✭PucaMama


    Bret Hart wrote: »
    PucaMama wrote: »
    I'm not a hipster I just feel vinyl gives me more for my money

    Such as what ?
    Vinyl is more sturdy than cds in my opinion


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #91
    Bret Hart
    Registered Users Posts: 2,790 ✭✭✭Bret Hart


    PucaMama wrote: »
    Vinyl is more sturdy than cds in my opinion

    How exactly are they more “sturdy” than CDs ?


Advertisement