The CD Player.

[bigfish786]

And vinyl in probably equal amounts. Sometimes buying the same album on both cd and vinyl . Although it is nice when you get a free digital download code included when you buy a record.

whats been a bit strange for me is that rediscovering vinyl has actually reinvigorated my passion for cd as well. And audio equipment too.

what has changed for me recently is my consumption of video.

I used to buy dvds on a regular basis, and probably have over 700 dvds of movies, concerts, etc.

Now, I tend to stream movies, as I don't get the same enjoyment of ownership with movies as I have with music.

 

[tino]

I usually just flick through my digital media which does leave a empty souless feeling no matter how good the music is knowing it's just a file sitting on the HDD with no artwork, no disc, art and no physical ownership! Looking at my CD collection and the artwork on inlay/disc do catch my attention and interest more then a digital menu on my phone/tablet, and actually do make me play a CD because of the art and curiosity of the album, yet listen to it properly rather then get the NAS urge to skip though albums quickly. The CD sound is fantastic (using Cyrus CD and DAC and Mono 300). I just love the whole package of CDs: ease of use anywhere, able to rip them, great sound, look good, the artwork on CDs and inlays .... It's also the functions that are available e.g.: pause. skip, shuffle trk order. fwrd or rewind to certain points on any track, repeat play, can be handled easily without fear of damage, and the feeling of owning something esp on rare, OOP, limited print releases which all make the CD a icon format that's much more convenient that vinyl and more appreciated then digital.

What’s clear from this is that for some people, the erosion of the physical product, first from records to CDs and now from CDs to downloads, coupled with the creation of a world where just about anything is available virtually, has had a serious devaluing effect and created a feeling of detachment and indifference.

Although I still buy CDs and like to own a physical product, I think it's a little unfair to say that digitally stored music files or streamed music don't promote the same sense of engagement as the physical medium. Decent digital music player software and correctly tagged music files can offer you an immense level of control and information at your fingertips. Artist biographies, lyrics, artwork, inlays, videos, related artists, music recommendations, music of a similar genre, concert tours for that artist, the ability to favourite music, create personal playlists, social media interactions etc. etc. So much more than any bifold pamphlet inside a CD jewel case or the display/remote of any CD player *music2*

 

[nopiano]

I usually just flick through my digital media which does leave a empty souless feeling no matter how good the music is knowing it's just a file sitting on the HDD with no artwork, no disc, art and no physical ownership! Looking at my CD collection and the artwork on inlay/disc do catch my attention and interest more then a digital menu on my phone/tablet, and actually do make me play a CD because of the art and curiosity of the album, yet listen to it properly rather then get the NAS urge to skip though albums quickly. The CD sound is fantastic (using Cyrus CD and DAC and Mono 300). I just love the whole package of CDs: ease of use anywhere, able to rip them, great sound, look good, the artwork on CDs and inlays .... It's also the functions that are available e.g.: pause. skip, shuffle trk order. fwrd or rewind to certain points on any track, repeat play, can be handled easily without fear of damage, and the feeling of owning something esp on rare, OOP, limited print releases which all make the CD a icon format that's much more convenient that vinyl and more appreciated then digital.

What’s clear from this is that for some people, the erosion of the physical product, first from records to CDs and now from CDs to downloads, coupled with the creation of a world where just about anything is available virtually, has had a serious devaluing effect and created a feeling of detachment and indifference.

Although I still buy CDs and like to own a physical product, I think it's a little unfair to say that digitally stored music files or streamed music don't promote the same sense of engagement as the physical medium. Decent digital music player software and correctly tagged music files can offer you an immense level of control and information at your fingertips. Artist biographies, lyrics, artwork, inlays, videos, related artists, music recommendations, music of a similar genre, concert tours for that artist, the ability to favourite music, create personal playlists, social media interactions etc. etc. So much more than any bifold pamphlet inside a CD jewel case or the display/remote of any CD player *music2*

Personally, I feel more like the major does, but intellectually I completely understand tino! I think a liner note or record sleeve is more like a concert programme, so to me it 'goes' with listening. I'd never take an iPad to a concert hall, so looking up stuff seems alien.

Im sure these perceptions have driven some to streaming and others back to LPs!

 

[chebby]

What’s clear from this is that for some people, the erosion of the physical product, first from records to CDs and now from CDs to downloads, coupled with the creation of a world where just about anything is available virtually, has had a serious devaluing effect and created a feeling of detachment and indifference.

I have an increased feeling of inclusion from the tens of thousands of internet radio stations out there.

When I was a kid 'foreign' stations were exotic and part-time entities with strange and haunting call signs/test signals that had to claw their way through layers of interference to be heard at all. They certainly left me feeling 'detached' and distant. Now I can hear clean, clear 'broadcasts' of virtually any kind of music (or talk radio) from almost every country in the world. The only thing that has 'devalued' (to me at least) is the overplayed boomer crap I grew up listening to that was fed back to us by a multitude of cookie-cutter, 'Radio Gold' style, drive-time, pap merchant, advert punting, nostalgia exploiting stations.

I feel liberated now. I can listen to whatever I want from anywhere in the world and never have to listen to The Beatles, or Tom Jones, or Phil effing Collins, or Rod Stewart, or "Me-ee-ee and Mrs, Mrs Jones, Mrs Jones...", or Gerry Rafferty (aaargghh!) ever, EVER again!

 

[MajorFubar]

What’s clear from this is that for some people, the erosion of the physical product, first from records to CDs and now from CDs to downloads, coupled with the creation of a world where just about anything is available virtually, has had a serious devaluing effect and created a feeling of detachment and indifference.

Although I still buy CDs and like to own a physical product, I think it's a little unfair to say that digitally stored music files or streamed music don't promote the same sense of engagement as the physical medium. Decent digital music player software and correctly tagged music files can offer you an immense level of control and information at your fingertips. Artist biographies, lyrics, artwork, inlays, videos, related artists, music recommendations, music of a similar genre, concert tours for that artist, the ability to favourite music, create personal playlists, social media interactions etc. etc. So much more than any bifold pamphlet inside a CD jewel case or the display/remote of any CD player *music2*

The key phrase was 'for some people'. You're somewhere in the middle it would seem. At the other extreme are those people who couldn't wait to rip their CDs and banish them to the loft as soon as they were able to afford the technology to do so. They will look at people who play records and CDs as some kind of anachronistic freaks from bygone times.

 

[MajorFubar]

What’s clear from this is that for some people, the erosion of the physical product, first from records to CDs and now from CDs to downloads, coupled with the creation of a world where just about anything is available virtually, has had a serious devaluing effect and created a feeling of detachment and indifference.

I have an increased feeling of inclusion from the tens of thousands of internet radio stations out there.

When I was a kid 'foreign' stations were exotic and part-time entities with strange and haunting call signs/test signals that had to claw their way through layers of interference to be heard at all. They certainly left me feeling 'detached' and distant. Now I can hear clean, clear 'broadcasts' of virtually any kind of music (or talk radio) from almost every country in the world. The only thing that has 'devalued' (to me at least) is the overplayed boomer crap I grew up listening to that was fed back to us by a multitude of cookie-cutter, 'Radio Gold' style, drive-time, pap merchant, advert punting, nostalgia exploiting stations.

I feel liberated now. I can listen to whatever I want from anywhere in the world and never have to listen to The Beatles, or Tom Jones, or Phil effing Collins, or Rod Stewart, or "Me-ee-ee and Mrs, Mrs Jones, Mrs Jones...", or Gerry Rafferty (aaargghh!) ever, EVER again!

A fair comment but the point I was making is that with so much media now on tap, I feel the whole sense of excitement and anticipation we once felt, when we were all 14 years old and the needle first hit the record after we'd trundled to and from town for our favourite band's latest release, is completely lost to a generation who now only have to fire-up Spotify or Apple Music. I don't at all think they have the same sense of attachment and value to music as we did, because it's so easily all available, like water. For all that they've got, I wouldn't swap them experiences.

 

[chris_bates1974]

Right there Major - that excitement, whether it's a cassette, a CD, or a record, of going into "town" and paying cold hard cash, for the cold hard product and getting it home, all the way wondering if it'll be as good as you hope... those days are gone. Even if I'm going to buy the physical product, I'll almost certainly have listened to it digitally first.

My kids will never have that. They still don't fully understand the difference between broadcast TV, and catch-up/on demand content!!! The idea that something could not be immemdiately available to them is entirely alien.

 

[Andrewjvt]

Right there Major - that excitement, whether it's a cassette, a CD, or a record, of going into "town" and paying cold hard cash, for the cold hard product and getting it home, all the way wondering if it'll be as good as you hope... those days are gone. Even if I'm going to buy the physical product, I'll almost certainly have listened to it digitally first.

My kids will never have that. They still don't fully understand the difference between broadcast TV, and catch-up/on demand content!!! The idea that something could not be immemdiately available to them is entirely alien.

You cant find the eject button on the roku

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I remember back in the day me and my friends used to just get on the train just to go and by some cds and have a great day out looking for what you wanted but now ...

internet has killed them days of I've not been to a record shop for years it's just easy to press a button on your keyboard and buy the same things cheaper and easier then the past .

the internet has a lot to do with the physical side of not owning cds , records people have got lazy or just do not want to collect physical formats because it fills there little houses up with useless things it's just the way things are now .

The internet is doing the same to the hifi shops a lot of people just buy what they see and other people comments in reviews so it's no big deal spending money on a hifi you have never heard before it's just a hifi .

so as much as I hate it that's the future I am an old fart I will still buy cds . You never know cds will come back into fashion like vinyl has then I will be trendy again .

 

[paulkebab]

but I also remember the disappointment of getting to 'the shop' and the latest or possibly oldest album (vinyl or CD) wasn't there "Oh we can order it for you Sir". I remember buying albums that I didn't 100% want because they didn't have what I wanted. We expect things now , we don't want to wait. The digital age with the internet means we don't need to wait for anything that can be digitised so why should we?

 

[MajorFubar]

The internet is doing the same to the hifi shops a lot of people just buy what they see and other people comments in reviews so it's no big deal spending money on a hifi you have never heard before it's just a hifi .

The worst kind are the ones who go to a hifi shop, take advantage of the staff knowledge and possibly even their demo services, then think nothing of going online and buying their chosen products from a faceless hangar in the middle of nowhere. Then they justfify it on the grounds their dealer couldn't offer a similar discount.

 

[Gaz37]

The internet is doing the same to the hifi shops a lot of people just buy what they see and other people comments in reviews so it's no big deal spending money on a hifi you have never heard before it's just a hifi .

The worst kind are the ones who go to a hifi shop,  take advantage of the staff knowledge and possibly even their demo services, then think nothing of going online and buying their chosen products from a faceless hangar in the middle of nowhere. Then they justfify it on the grounds their dealer couldn't offer a similar discount.

I'm not saying this is always the case but some dealers expect customers to pay a premium for the privilege of visiting their plushly furnished shop in a prime location.

In pre-internet days the mark up on hifi was enormous, a colleague of mine used to work for Audio Excellence in Bristol (20 years ago) and back then his staff discount was 25-50% depending on the product and the company still didn't make a loss.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I like to try and support my local hifi dealer but sometimes they do not stock something I want but I always buy locally or in the U.K. .

But I bet most of the hifi sales are internet based sales and like you have said I bet they go into the shop try it out and then buy online afterwards .

I have had good discounts on open boxed stuff in the past and the independent hifi shops look after there customers too .

there has only been a couple of times I've bought blind its very risky doing that buying blind unless you know what you are doing . But it amazes me how meany people come on here and buy blind from someone's comments .

 

[MajorFubar]

In pre-internet days the mark up on hifi was enormous, a colleague of mine used to work for Audio Excellence in Bristol (20 years ago) and back then his staff discount was 25-50% depending on the product and the company still didn't make a loss.

That probably has more to do with rip-off Britain. Products had a RRP, if you charged above it then you probably wouldn't get custom. But the RRP was often (still is often) the US$ price with the currency sign replaced, even though not too long ago the USD-GBP exchange rate was as high as two dollars to the pound.

Then again, when you're talking about gullible idiots who will pay hundreds of pounds for a bit of wire you can't blame retailers and manufacturers from happily trying to screw them over a barrel. You can't fix stupid but you can sometimes fleece it.

 

[Freddy58]

As usual, the Major makes good points. I think it's like anything, when something is easily available/accessible, it's bound to lose its value. I'm not for one minute suggesting that people don't enjoy their music, of course they do, but it's having the physical media that appeals to me, not some throw away resource. To me, being able to pull out one of those old scratchy vinyls from it's storage gives me a great sense of ownership and investment.

Yours, an old fart *biggrin*