Do you still prefer your CD player to other sources?

[The_Lhc]

Also don't want to have to turn on a PC or laptop everytime I want to listen.

So don't then. I can listen to my entire music collection with one click on a remote without having any PC running. This is such an outdated idea...

 

[matt49]

i didn't need to switch on a power hungry computer (400w or more), I don't have the risk of a crash eating all my favourite music, I dont' have to worry about United States spying the hell out of my private life.

I think most people now store their music on a NAS drive. It's always on, so no boot time, and power consumption is low. My Synology DS213j uses 19.82W when accessing data and 3.65W in hibernation.

Like you, I don't want to store my data in the "cloud" (not so much because I'm concerned about being spied on, but because it's not at all clear who cloud data actually belongs to -- and what happens if you lose your internet connection?). But disk space is so cheap these days that there's really no need to use the cloud.

All my music is backed up automatically to two separate external drives, so I don't need to worry about crashes (not that I've ever had a NAS crash on me in the 8 years I've been running this system).

For me there's only one downside to streaming music from disk: getting the metadata organized correctly (as matthewpiano mentioned in an earlier post). But the advantages are so great that it's worth the pain of fiddling with metadata.

:cheers:

Matt

 

[WX]

These days I play albums (the ones I have since the early 90's) on my BD-player connected with coax-digital to the DAC en it does it very well this way.

I ripped all of my 'best of... / greatest hits' and compilation CD's and play them with the MacMini.

I also buy (as much as possible) some newly released albums/songs in 16b/44.1khz FLAC's.

If not available, then the 'good old' CD.

 

[TimothyRias]

For me there's only one downside to streaming music from disk: getting the metadata organized correctly (as matthewpiano mentioned in an earlier post). But the advantages are so great that it's worth the pain of fiddling with metadata.

It is worth to note that getting the metadata organized is not mandatory. You could simply rip the cd have the tracks numbered track 01, etc.and put it in the directory with the name of the cd. Most streamers will allow you to simply browse the directory structure without faffing about with the metadata. This gives yo the same amount of organization as a cupboard full of CDs.

Obviously, there is a lot of advantage to getting the metadata in order. (And it satisfies the obsessive organizer in most of us.) Hence people go through the process, but this is in essence a bonus, not absolutely necessary.

 

[Macspur]

I still prefere my CD player to other sources. It takes 3 seconds to switch on, it takes 3 seconds to load, and 2 seconds to play the music you asked for. In the last time, I'm using a turntable too, but it's more for older music.

I didn't found a cheap DAC for the moment that was able to do the same as my Accuphase DP-500. Yes... ok, I found a Weiss DAC, but he's far away from beeing cheap, so I didn't bought it. The day I will, I will probably reconsider this question.

It would take something to better the DP500!

www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net

Mac

 

[WX]

Like you, I don't want to store my data in the "cloud" (not so much because I'm concerned about being spied on, but because it's not at all clear who cloud data actually belongs to -- and what happens if you lose your internet connection?). But disk space is so cheap these days that there's really no need to use the cloud.

All my music is backed up automatically to two separate external drives, so I don't need to worry about crashes (not that I've ever had a NAS crash on me in the 8 years I've been running this system).

Exactly :exmark:

Funny it is to see that once in a while these same type of questions come along.

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/computer-based-media/is-there-any-reason-to-stop-buying-cds

 

[davedotco]

For me there's only one downside to streaming music from disk: getting the metadata organized correctly (as matthewpiano mentioned in an earlier post). But the advantages are so great that it's worth the pain of fiddling with metadata.

It is worth to note that getting the metadata organized is not mandatory. You could simply rip the cd have the tracks numbered track 01, etc.and put it in the directory with the name of the cd. Most streamers will allow you to simply browse the directory structure without faffing about with the metadata. This gives yo the same amount of organization as a cupboard full of CDs.

Obviously, there is a lot of advantage to getting the metadata in order. (And it satisfies the obsessive organizer in most of us.) Hence people go through the process, but this is in essence a bonus, not absolutely necessary.

I let Spotify organise the data for me.......

I have recently been experimenting with Spotify 'Radio', just enter the name of a band or two that you like (in a particular genre) and let it play, had some great results and found some new stuff to listen to....... :rockout:

 

[MajorFubar]

Anyone but me feel that streamers and computers remove the sense of occasion associated with putting on a record or putting on a CD? I'm saying this as someone who listens to over 90% of music streamed from computer or Spotify...but still, there's something still 'missing' for me.

Same with photography; another of my interests. The instantaneous gratification of digital photography, coupled with the limitless number of photos you can take on countless types of devices, has trivialized the activity to a large extent imo. A part of me misses the days of trying to get 36 good shots without wastage, and eagerly anticipating the prints or slides coming back in the post, not shooting 100 images in a minute in the hope that a proportion will be useable then delete the rest.

Of course you can easily condemn this as the crazed musings of an idiot who is hopelessly stuck in the past. And that would be your opinon, and you're entitled to it.

 

[floyd droid]

Same with photography; another of my interests. The instantaneous gratification of digital photography, coupled with the limitless number of photos you can take on countless types of devices, has trivialized the activity to a large extent imo. A part of me misses the days of trying to get 36 good shots without wastage, and eagerly anticipating the prints or slides coming back in the post, not shooting 100 images in a minute in the hope that a proportion will be useable then delete the rest.

Of course you can easily condemn this as the crazed musings of an idiot who is hopelessly stuck in the past. And that would be your opinon, and you're entitled to it.

With you all the way Major. I get so fed up looking at foaties on forums where folks are heaping praise on a 'fantastic image' thats obviously been fotoshopped up to the gunwales. I often ask ' post up the original that you took ' erm pretty much always a no show. It took me ages to drift over to digital and tbh I still dont really like it.

So I join you in the condemned bin.

 

[FennerMachine]

Almost all my music is on CD.
I have a small vinyl collection but rarely play them.
I have a few songs on my PC but they are low quality compared to CD.

 

[mikeparker59]

Anyone but me feel that streamers and computers remove the sense of occasion associated with putting on a record or putting on a CD? I'm saying this as someone who listens to over 90% of music streamed from computer or Spotify...but still, there's something still 'missing' for me.

Same with photography; another of my interests. The instantaneous gratification of digital photography, coupled with the limitless number of photos you can take on countless types of devices, has trivialized the activity to a large extent imo. A part of me misses the days of trying to get 36 good shots without wastage, and eagerly anticipating the prints or slides coming back in the post, not shooting 100 images in a minute in the hope that a proportion will be useable then delete the rest.

Of course you can easily condemn this as the crazed musings of an idiot who is hopelessly stuck in the past. And that would be your opinon, and you're entitled to it.

OMG Major I'm stuck in the past with you!!

A fellow Potog told me recently that when she goes out taking photos she deliberately limits herself to taking just 36 shots and not chimping, she feels this makes her work harder to look for the best shot in a situation rather than, as you say, taking a hundred and deleting the rubbish. She also has the anticipation of seeing her work later when she gets home.

I can't quite bring myself to not checking just after taking to ensure I got a good shot. I too was guilty of experimenting taking lots of shots because I could, but now I do find myself going back to my film habits and taking more care over each shot, though maybe not as much as if I was actually using film.

A bit off topic that.

As far as streaming goes I do sometimes listen to Internet radio or podcasts but my own music is stored on a hard drive attached to my NP30 so don't actually stream my flac files. I agree though it is more of an occasion to put on a physical disc rather than navigate to a file.

 

[trj007]

Same with photography; another of my interests. The instantaneous gratification of digital photography, coupled with the limitless number of photos you can take on countless types of devices, has trivialized the activity to a large extent imo. A part of me misses the days of trying to get 36 good shots without wastage, and eagerly anticipating the prints or slides coming back in the post, not shooting 100 images in a minute in the hope that a proportion will be useable then delete the rest.

Of course you can easily condemn this as the crazed musings of an idiot who is hopelessly stuck in the past. And that would be your opinon, and you're entitled to it.

Quality over quantity.

 

[The_Lhc]

my own music is stored on a hard drive attached to my NP30 so don't actually stream my flac files.

No? What would you call it then?

 

[manicm]

my own music is stored on a hard drive attached to my NP30 so don't actually stream my flac files.

No? What would you call it then?

The transport of a CD player also streams to its DAC, but I usually associate streaming with playback from a networked source. So I would consider e.g Sonos from PC or NAS as streaming.

To me it's a broad description. Or as narrow as you want it.

 

[MajorFubar]

lol glad to see I'm not alone. I stil enjoy shooting film, especially using manual cameras that make you stop and consider the shot, not some computer with a lens on the front.

(Sorry to the OP for drifting the conversation off-topic)

 

[chebby]

lol glad to see I'm not alone. I stil enjoy shooting film, especially using manual cameras that make you stop and consider the shot, not some computer with a lens on the front. (Sorry to the OP for drifting the conversation off-topic)

I might have said the same thing a few years ago. In fact I did say the same thing a few years ago and kept an old Minolta X700 with 28mm and 50mm Rokkor MD lenses going for occasional use with Ilford HP5+ and my old Nikon neg scanner.

Yes the results were great (film developed by Ilford themselves in Crewe) but it was expensive and labour intensive for absolutely no reason other than to say it was done with film.

Sold the neg scanner for £550 (more than it cost to buy when brand new ) and never looked back.

All of my B&W work since has been from digital cameras and looks just as good. (Actually i'd say better nowadays.)

I can even get it printed onto proper Ilford B&W paper if I want. (The same paper they'd have used to print from my negs.)

Just because a camera is digital doesn't mean you haven't still got a camera in your hands (rather than just 'some computer' as you described it so dismissively) and it doesn't stop you from exercising manual control over all the variables and taking time to get the picture you want, so long as you choose the right camera (which was always true with film too).

 

[MajorFubar]

Sorry Chebby, Clearly I have struck a nerve, and that wasn't intended. I didn't intend to trivialize or be dismissive of digital photography. I own what I consider to be a decent-enough DSLR, and it serves its purpose, but for me, still, digital photography is just not where it's at. But I am a quickly-diminishing minority, so don't listen to me lol.

 

[mikeparker59]

I take streaming to mean playing music stored on a PC via a router or listening to internet radio again through the router. I may be wrong but don't consider sticking a hard drive directly into the NP30 as streaming, as I wouldn't consider playing a cd as streaming from my cd player, connected to my amp.

 

[mikeparker59]

my own music is stored on a hard drive attached to my NP30 so don't actually stream my flac files.

No? What would you call it then?

I take streaming to mean playing music stored on a PC via a router or listening to internet radio again through the router. I may be wrong but don't consider sticking a hard drive directly into the NP30 as streaming, as I wouldn't consider playing a cd as streaming from my cd player, connected to my amp.

 

[Tear Drop]

Sorry Chebby, Clearly I have struck a nerve, and that wasn't intended. I didn't intend to trivialize or be dismissive of digital photography. I own what I consider to be a decent-enough DSLR, and it serves its purpose, but for me, still, digital photography is just not where it's at. But I am a quickly-diminishing minority, so don't listen to me lol.

A camera, like hifi, is merely a tool.

 

[chebby]

A camera, like hifi, is merely a tool.

You say that - and on one level I agree - but on the other hand ...

http://rcdn.photographyreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/fujifilm-X100s_group.jpg

... oh momma! (And no, I am not a collector and they'd all get used as much as I possibly could.)

 

[TimothyRias]

I take streaming to mean playing music stored on a PC via a router or listening to internet radio again through the router. I may be wrong but don't consider sticking a hard drive directly into the NP30 as streaming, as I wouldn't consider playing a cd as streaming from my cd player, connected to my amp.

Although that is a technically correct interpretation of the term streaming, the HiFi world seems to apply to more general (and possibly less correct) terminology of calling any device that converts a digital music file to a PCM stream and feeds that to a DAC (internal or external) a "streamer". Mostly because lack of generally recognized term for "digital music player".

 

[manicm]

I take streaming to mean playing music stored on a PC via a router or listening to internet radio again through the router. I may be wrong but don't consider sticking a hard drive directly into the NP30 as streaming, as I wouldn't consider playing a cd as streaming from my cd player, connected to my amp.

Although that is a technically correct interpretation of the term streaming, the HiFi world seems to apply to more general (and possibly less correct) terminology of calling any device that converts a digital music file to a PCM stream and feeds that to a DAC (internal or external) a "streamer". Mostly because lack of generally recognized term for "digital music player".

Semantics and pedantics. As I explained to Lhc, a CD player also does internal streaming because the transport has to stream the data to the internal DAC, or external if applicable.

The only difference is 6 years ago no-one used the word 'streaming' for it, or even for playing back audio locally from a PC. All of us are correct, but in this context I side with mikeparker59.

 

[The_Lhc]

I take streaming to mean playing music stored on a PC via a router or listening to internet radio again through the router. I may be wrong but don't consider sticking a hard drive directly into the NP30 as streaming, as I wouldn't consider playing a cd as streaming from my cd player, connected to my amp.

Although that is a technically correct interpretation of the term streaming, the HiFi world seems to apply to more general (and possibly less correct) terminology of calling any device that converts a digital music file to a PCM stream and feeds that to a DAC (internal or external) a "streamer". Mostly because lack of generally recognized term for "digital music player".

Semantics and pedantics. As I explained to Lhc, a CD player also does internal streaming because the transport has to stream the data to the internal DAC, or external if applicable.

If I could be bothered I might argue that it is "transporting" the data to the internal DAC, hence a DAC-less CD player begin referred to as a "transport".

The only difference is 6 years ago no-one used the word 'streaming' for it, or even for playing back audio locally from a PC. All of us are correct, but in this context I side with mikeparker59.

I don't think there's any "official" term for any of this digital media malarky, regardless of whether it uses a network or not, that's kind of why I asked mikeparker59 what he would call it.

 

[manicm]

Lhc - I will quote myself on a CDP - 'the transport has to stream the data to the internal DAC' - and pure CD transports have been around for eons.

While technically correct, as TimothyRias put it, anything digital 'streams'. However, since no-one used the term even for seperate CD transports and DACs, or even for simply playing audio from a PC hard drive 10 years ago, I, like mikeparker, will be pedantic, semantic and argumentative and will reserve the term streaming for playing digital audio from a networked source oke: >)