Going digital

What do you guys think about going digital? I love CD's and I really like having a physical product to look at and so forth, but the CD is on it's way out (as we all know, this has been talked to death).

What got me thinking about it is that I canb buy Theocracy's Mirror of Souls and As the World Bleeds much, much cheaper as downloads, and I still have the music.  For instance, at Amazon brand new cds of those two albums are $11.99 and $13.99 plus shipping.  But I can get the mp3's for $7.12 and $9.49, and not pay shipping.

Thoughts?

And digital is the only way to get some OOP stuff anymore... Forgot to add that...

Hmm, well it certainly does make logical sense to go digital...  I dunno though, perhaps I'm just a purist or old-fashioned or something, but I've gotta have that CD (or tape or whatever) if possible.  Some stuff is digital-only and so-be-it, but if a Cd exists... I'd rather that.

The REAL question at hand is this though: why don't you already have those Theocracy albums?!?

I use digital all the time for playing on my phone..
HOWEVER...it is usually digital files I ripped myself

I will always buy the cd..and on oop stuff I will search out and buy the original cd. Only buying digital as a last resort (some of the stuff from cdbaby like Disciple (aus) that was never on cd).

Even when I DO buy a digital copy...I usually burn it to cd and make my own cover (stop laughing..lol)

I guess my big thing is, I still like to jam on my home stereo system too..which doesn't play mp3. It's old (20+) but kicks some major ass. Pioneer VSX5400 receiver (much cleaner sound than a lot out there today) and Bose 6.2 Bookshelf speakers.

I also never really feel like I "own" a digital copy until it's on cd. Also, I am always worried that the mp3 file can become corrupted because it was stored on a section of the HD that developed bad sectors..

AND..a lot of times the files are only 192kbps from Amazon...but even when they are 320kbps it is not the same as a cd. Give me FLAC files (or another lossless format) and I would be [more] receptive to it.

And I like the pretty covers with a new cd...

I have a love/hate relationship with both. I like the fact that you can get digital files immediately, but I wish they would come with a pdf file of the album art/info. I really dislike the fact that I can't look up production/recording information lyrics, thank you's etc. They are also usually substantially cheaper than buying cds.
However, with most cds I find myself flipping through the booklet once and seldom (if ever) looking at it again. I typically just rip it to my CPU and that is often the last time I handle the disc.
I probably buy about 75% to 80% of my new music digitally.

Oh and not to make it worse, but about 6 months back (or so) Amazon had Mirror of Souls on sale for $5 (digital download).

kerrick wrote:

Hmm, well it certainly does make logical sense to go digital...  I dunno though, perhaps I'm just a purist or old-fashioned or something, but I've gotta have that CD (or tape or whatever) if possible.  Some stuff is digital-only and so-be-it, but if a Cd exists... I'd rather that.

The REAL question at hand is this though: why don't you already have those Theocracy albums?!?

 Simple.  I'm working 60 hours and more money needs to go out than come in...  

However, I have some Amazon gift cards and am trying to decide what to buy.

@b4l, I hear ya.  But just the price and the convenience of storage appeals to me.  Do I have a whole bookshelf devoted to CD's I look at once or twice a year after ripping them to my PC, or do I just store them on my PC and 2 backup drives?

@staybrite, I'm the same way, though Amazon has PDF booklets (for some releases) and those that don't, you can usually go online and find the info.

$5?!?!?!?!? Typical.  When I have the money, it's not on sale

I get frustrated sometimes with digital because a TON of times there is only $1-$2 difference between cd and mp3...which is a joke. 

And if you wait to buy your cds in a group, $25 gets free shipping anyway

Personal experience:

Went 100% digital back in 2005. Sold and gave away ALL my CDs.

Two things happened in the next three years.
First was noticing CDs I used to own (that I either gave away or sold for a few bucks) were going for 30 to 60 bucks on ebay and amazon and elsewhere... to which I started to freak out ("omg I used to have that!!!").

Second, I'm a collector of vinyl from the 60s 70s and 80s since they are rare and nostalgic and just cool to have. I began to realize that CDs are going the way of the LP Record. With that in mind, I thought to myself that there will come a time when CDs are as hard to come by as Records are now. Less than a year ago I began to "Re-Collect" my CD collection (and having a blast doing it).

Today I have over 300 CDs and as many LPs and plan to NEVER part with them. My grandkids are going to look at my CDs as my kids looked at Records. I feel the value of many of the more rare ones will only go up.

As for digital, I'm still a big proponent of digital media. I have over 400 GB of music on my laptop (backed up on 5 other hdd for piece of mind). The convenience of this is great - I can put it on any media player and shuffle thousands of songs at will. I'm still totally into digital, but I want to hang on to my CDs as I feel they are going the way of the LP - and to me that's a sad thing.
Cassettes and 8-tracts had some nostalgia but were really just trash- they disintegrate and warp, so I don't see them the same way I see LPs and CDs.

All that being said... if you do decide to sell off your CD collection, please let me know what you have as I may be interested

Good points, g/f.  If I go digital, I'll hang on to what I have.  I've also noticed that some cd's are cheaper used than the mp3 (Dave Brubek for instance, is $0.01 plus $3.99 s/h used on Amazon but the mp3 is about $8.)

I just don't know what to do.  Honestly, I enjoy having the cd's but I hate having to store them...

Keep conversing!

ishmael81 wrote:

@staybrite, I'm the same way, though Amazon has PDF booklets (for some releases) and those that don't, you can usually go online and find the info.

True, but sadly there are far too few of them (and it seems they are never included on the releases I want).

ishmael81 wrote:

kerrick wrote:

Hmm, well it certainly does make logical sense to go digital...  I dunno though, perhaps I'm just a purist or old-fashioned or something, but I've gotta have that CD (or tape or whatever) if possible.  Some stuff is digital-only and so-be-it, but if a Cd exists... I'd rather that.

The REAL question at hand is this though: why don't you already have those Theocracy albums?!?

 Simple.  I'm working 60 hours and more money needs to go out than come in...  

However, I have some Amazon gift cards and am trying to decide what to buy.

Ah I year ya...  Freakin' money...  

I am still a CD buyer and don't buy any of the new stuff digital. Now if a band releases an EP then I will usually get that digital but if there is a full length I get the CD. Also, maybe the band as one or 2 songs I like, which I will then get the digital single. I am always constantly hitting up the stores around here (usually 1/2 price Bookstore or Goodwill or another store we have) that sell used CD's and will buy them there because they are relatively cheap. Even on Amazon for the most part I can find cd's at pretty decent prices. So until they stop making them, I will buy the cd's.

Also, I really should look into Theocracy. I read nothing but great things about them.

I buy mostly CDs but will get some things on digital if it is something that I like but know it will be a novelty spin (like Building 429).  I'll play it some, but not as much as other things.  It's kind of weird to explain.

But, I do want to keep getting CDs.  Just this past week, something happened and the newest Stryper record just deleted itself off my hard drive.  So, I had to pop the CD back in and re-rip it so I can hear it.  There's a great reason to keep those CDs.

Alldat....THAT is one of my biggest fears...

I lost a whole HD filled one tine with backed up movies because the drive died. And my backup of it had been corrupted because as the other drive was slowly dying it was creating bad sectors and so the backups had data missing.

I've never lost music cuz I have ALL my music backed up on FIVE hard drives and in 3 different locations - talk about neurotic

You are not the only one Guilty/Forgiven.
That's my problem when you only buy digital CDs.
You can loose them.
I still love buying CDs.
Yep, I know oldfasioned, but I love buying CDs.

CD's for me.  Love holding the inlay and reading the lyrics, linear notes etc.

Fundy

...don't forget that unique smell too !

Mmmmmm new cd smell.

Quote :

Love holding the inlay and reading the lyrics, linear notes etc.

That's what I love too.

I used to do that.  I couldn't tell you who is in what band anymore.  I rip the CD to MP3 and just carry around my Zune.

I was diehard cd for a long time. However I'm going digital every chance I get. I do miss booklets but many downloads from iTunes now come with a digital booklet. Not to mention I would only look at them once or twice then never look at them again anyway. Also have been getting back into vinyl. A lot of new releases are available on vinyl. Not to mention you can find the classics dirt cheap, many of which sound better than over produced, loud and compressed cd's. I took about 50 cd's and traded them all for vinyl a few weeks ago. Pretty sure I'm done buying cd's unless something in the $5 bin at Walmart catches my eye.

Digital is great.

I just wish more would start offering Lossless quality.

Then if I need a CD, I can burn one without any loss in quality.

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

...don't forget that unique smell too !

 
Uhhhhhh...sorry G/F....that wasn't the cd