Returning to CD's and changing taste in music

[ianshreeve27@]

I was recently given a large CD collection and an old Marantz CD63 player. Lots of albums I owned back in the day, first on vinyl and then on CD. Two things have struck me

Listening to CD's again means I'm listening to a whole album, and reading the notes lyrics etc as well. I'm finding this hugely enjoyable. I'm not about to stop streaming, but I'm amazed at the difference it has made

Also, it's made me aware of how much my taste in music has changed in the last 20 (?) years. The CD's I was given have changed how I listen, but I've also realised I don't like a lot of them and am going to have to build a collection that matches my new, older, tastes

 

[Steve983]

Good for you.

 

[Messiah]

Listening to CD's again means I'm listening to a whole album, and reading the notes lyrics etc as well. I'm finding this hugely enjoyable.

Same for me.

Whilst I have never stopped listening to CD’s, they did take a back seat to streaming for a while simply due to the convenience of streaming and other family members listening to their playlists.

Now that my main hifi is in a dedicated space, I do primarily use CD’s when I use it and, like you, will listen to whole album again.

What does differ (to you) is that my music taste is (mainly) still stuck in the 90’s/00’s. 😊

 

[TRIPLE A]

Same here, I recently added a CD transport to my setup and since then have had various CDs play all the way through - without having to change sides or discs lol - which is a real joy. I just got a big box of over 50 CDs from Music Magpie for an absolute song, with some right awesome sounding discs included too! Happy listening

 

[RoA]

I also have recently added a CD Transport and TT again. Mostly streaming these days I only buy hard copies of music I have liked for years, mostly Jazz and Classical and I only buy either new or vgc+ or better for records. A select few and it will never again be a large collection, same for CD's. It is too easy to get carried away by bargain buys and short lived fads only to find half your space is taken up by stuff you'll never use.

 

[Cricketbat70]

I still play and buy CD's. Streaming at work, in the car (no CD player) and in bed at night to help me sleep. In the evening and at weekend CD listening.

 

[Steve983]

I have a cd player in my car so its cd's all the way. The only place I stream is on my desktop pc when I go to You Tube to listen to things I might like - 'try before you buy' kind of thing - the streaming companies wont get a penny from me. They are ripping off musicians and damaging or even killing the future of new music.

 

[RoA]

I have a cd player in my car so its cd's all the way. The only place I stream is on my desktop pc when I go to You Tube to listen to things I might like - 'try before you buy' kind of thing - the streaming companies wont get a penny from me. They are ripping off musicians and damaging or even killing the future of new music.

Artists can take music down through their labels or distributors if they are not happy with returns they get from streaming services.

 

[abacus]

I have a cd player in my car so its cd's all the way. The only place I stream is on my desktop pc when I go to You Tube to listen to things I might like - 'try before you buy' kind of thing - the streaming companies wont get a penny from me. They are ripping off musicians and damaging or even killing the future of new music.

1. If it wasn't for streaming services most new artists would get nowhere.
2. They recommend new music to you based on your tastes, something you cannot do elsewhere.
3. They give you a vast resource to listen to.
4. The money you pay to your favourite streaming service, goes indirectly to all these new artists that would not otherwise get any income from there music.
5. While things could be better, it is not as bad as you make out.

Bill

 

[matthewpianist]

I never stopped using CD, and I have amassed a collection of circaa 4,000 over the past 35 years, since the age of about 11. I've had gaps in my use of vinyl, but it has never been for very long. I have around 300 LPs.

My P3 with the Neo PSU is my end game turntable, and I won't be pursuing further upgrades. It will last my lifetime, and probably longer, and I don't have deep enough pockets to get too hung up on cartridges. When my Elys2 NEEDS replacing, I'll probably spring for one of the Ortofon Rega-fit carts or a new Rega one.

My purchasing of physical media has slowed considerably. I never though I would say it, but I probably won't have time to listen to every recording in my collection again, and I'm finding my listening choices are more focused on music or artists I have a strong relationship with. My tastes haven't changed as such, but my listening has become increasingly focused on classical, jazz, folk and Americana; rock and pop have always been an equal part, but these days it's mostly favourite albums (like Rumours, Late for the Sky, Animals, Achtung Baby, Aladdin Sane etc.), and any exploration of new releases in this genre is through Qobuz. I'm even becoming cautious with new releases by bands/artists I love. I've seen Steeleye Span live ten times, and I love most of their catalogue, but I auto-purchased the CD of their new album, Conflict, and wish I hadn't, because it's awful.

I'm thinning some parts of my physical collection out, and some of my CDs will be ripped to local storage and then stored safely. I'm in the process of trying to put together a system I can commit to for at least five years now, and hopefully longer, and streaming from local storage will be an important part of that. Vinyl has become prohibitively expensive to buy, and I'm only going to buy CDs of special releases, mostly after trying them on Qobuz or our Presto streaming service (the latter for classical and jazz, and we pay per second rather than per stream, which is better for the artist). This week I've purchased Lara Melda's new Chopin album, because it's special. I've never bought downloads before, but over time I see that becoming part of the picture too. Parts of our house are over-run with CDs, and it's getting out of hand.

 

[ToppingSMSL]

I was recently given a large CD collection and an old Marantz CD63 player. Lots of albums I owned back in the day, first on vinyl and then on CD. Two things have struck me

Listening to CD's again means I'm listening to a whole album, and reading the notes lyrics etc as well. I'm finding this hugely enjoyable. I'm not about to stop streaming, but I'm amazed at the difference it has made

Also, it's made me aware of how much my taste in music has changed in the last 20 (?) years. The CD's I was given have changed how I listen, but I've also realised I don't like a lot of them and am going to have to build a collection that matches my new, older, tastes

Did you also notice that your old CD player sounds just as good as modern DACs? That's what I noticed when I listened to my 90s Rotel CD players again. And it made me question all those old What HiFi reviews from the 90s!

 

[Steve983]

1. If it wasn't for streaming services most new artists would get nowhere.
2. They recommend new music to you based on your tastes, something you cannot do elsewhere.
3. They give you a vast resource to listen to.
4. The money you pay to your favourite streaming service, goes indirectly to all these new artists that would not otherwise get any income from there music.
5. While things could be better, it is not as bad as you make out.

Bill

But to all your points, no matter if the music is heard or not the artists will get pennies. It is simply not viable for musicians, period. The only way to support the music you like is to buy physical product or at least downloads. All streamers are ripping off musicians with the majority of the money going to the streaming company and the record companies.

 

[manicm]

There

But to all your points, no matter if the music is heard or not the artists will get pennies. It is simply not viable for musicians, period. The only way to support the music you like is to buy physical product or at least downloads. All streamers are ripping off musicians with the majority of the money going to the streaming company and the record companies.

There's a corollary to this.

Hifi-Huff recently posted a video where he opined that Spotify has saved the music industry, and inadvertently/unwittingly pokes a very sharp prod at lossless/hires streaming - where I maintain a service like Qobuz serves a very niche market.

Back to Hifi Huff - he stated a slightly off but still largely accurate picture that paid up Tidal users are a fraction, I repeat, a tiny fraction of paid up Spotify users. So even though Spotify pays artists much less per stream, or bunch of streams, some listed artists with high enough listeners may actually make more money than on other services combined.
Back to CD, here's a far more interesting video from Mary, specifically about CDs in Japan. Do watch.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvWqwez-ueQ