Do you still buy CDs?

[PEZi]

320kbps is still fairly compressed. You can't call yourself an audio snob if all you listen to are MP3's. Some of my music ripped from CD's is ripped at over 1100kbps. Some of my own music is even at over 2800kbps. That's really excessive though... it's hard to tell past 480kbps.

well yeah... i'm not THAT much of an audio snob

over 320, especially with the equipment i have, it all sounds the same. my EQ's and everything are what i rely on most...... i make taylor swift's vocals have bass

[themadscientist]

[PEZi]

i should mention i blew my old stereo.... not the speakers but the stereo itself

i'm still in the market for a worthy replacement.... but they're so damn expensive! i wish i could afford a funktion one system :/

rofl... and i jsut checked soem of my files as well... my t-swift is in 1017kbps... lol

[alms24sebring]

I still buy CDs. In fact I just got 1 today through the mail (see sig). It was signed and everything. Be jelous. Bit I actually prefer CDs. I like having the book to read through, both lyrics and sidenotes, along with the band pics. I think the same way goes for games, I just gotta have the book with it.

[skydragoness]

I'll get a lot of rare/odd/overseas stuff sent to me by my brother which he downloads.
However, if I really, really like something and I know it's not something that will pass/fade as far as my mood goes ..then I buy the actual album.

Albums I bought recently:




(super special and such)

[Koshin]

Sure, I buy CDs

this

[audtatious]

I miss these:



Need to start petitioning companies to bring them back!!!!

[Koshin]

I loved my '76 Coupe de Ville with the 8 track player in it.

[audtatious]

Part of the enjoyment was the major wow and flutter put forth by the decks and having to deal with the tape getting eaten while driving 60mph in traffic

[nissangirl74]

I much prefer having an ipod as a bunch of CDs. I bought Katrina a few for Christmas though. She likes the real thing.

[marlin29311]

CD -> High Bit Rate MP3 -> iPod = Win for all!

I just bought a CD on amazon last week. I don't know the last time I bought a CD in a B&M store though...

[frapjap]

Funny/appropiate time for the topic. I had 90% of my collection stolen when my car was broken into a few years ago. Rare stuff, huge book, big albums and a huge collection from when I was 10-22. Pissed me right the f*** off. The thives missed one small book but since then I've downloaded all of my albums that I used to have- but I still miss my hard copy collection that held pages and pages of albums with the cd book cover behind the circular discs of audio pleasure! I knew RIGHT where to find each and every album- even while driving...

Fast forward, I have a rental car right now and I found myself missing my USB connection. I recently sucked it up and bought the new (physical) Kenny Chesney cd. I felt like a 14 year old again when I watched the sales ads and bought it at Best Buy as a new release for $9.99. Opening up that hard-to-peel-off wrapper, then the sticky thing on the hinges to prevent stealing and FINALLY placing it into the cd player and cranking it to the track that is the radio single and listening to it 4-6 times in a row brought back some memories that my USB drive can't quite supply! Feels like I'm getting old and nostalgic.

So yes, as of last week,I still buy cds.

[Kenrik]

Games - Steam
Movies - Netflix/Torrents
TV - Tivo/AppleTV/Torrents
Songs - iTunes/Torrents

What's a CD?

[Eikon]

I figure in a few years all media will be totally digital. No cds, dvds, blu rays, etc.. All just streamed from a harddrive or internet source. And we'll all enjoy them sitting on our digital couches.. or maybe the whole world as we know it is just a digital dream. I wonder what Larry and Andy Wachowski think of that idea???

[AppleBonker]

I don't really buy hard copies of too many CDs any more. I'll buy digital copies of stuff that I am just going to listen to. And if I'm actually concerned about sound quality I'll try to grab it on SACD/DVD-A/DVD. I'll buy the occasional CD if it doesn't exist on other media and I still want that quality. For me, it has nothing to do with actually having a piece of media with the music on it; it's all about the quality (depending on if I want quality for that particular recording). My hard drive has a hard copy of the files on it, no?

I figure in a few years all media will be totally digital [such as] blu rays

In this case I certainly hope not. I'm a huge fan of the improved quality offered by blu-ray discs. If I had to stream all of that information without taking a hit in quality it would probably take me at least 3-4 hours. And that's assuming there is a server out there with the bandwidth to saturate my internet connection (unlikely). Real-world, I'd probably be looking at nearly 8 hours to grab a single movie. Then, with Comcast, about 5-6 movies would put me over their data cap and would start to cost me a bunch of money per month (and that's if I didn't use my internet connection for anything other than streaming movies). I may be in the minority here, but netflix quality is crap. Even their HD movies are garbage when streamed. Plus, I don't have a PS3 so I can't even get surround sound out of them, let alone any lossless or uncompressed audio. No thanks, I'll continue to buy physical blu-ray media. If everyone else is content putting a garbage signal through their $10k home theater, so be it (maybe the same people who would go to a fancy steakhouse and put A1 on their $50 cut of meat?). I just don't want it to take away from my options.

[MinisterofDOOM]

In this case I certainly hope not. I'm a huge fan of the improved quality offered by blu-ray discs. If I had to stream all of that information without taking a hit in quality it would probably take me at least 3-4 hours. And that's assuming there is a server out there with the bandwidth to saturate my internet connection (unlikely). Real-world, I'd probably be looking at nearly 8 hours to grab a single movie.

Yep, exactly. I LOVE owning a bluray player. When I rent movies on my PS3, I have to allow time for HD versions to download, because I can't stream them smoothly, even with "high speed" internet.

[AppleBonker]

The HD versions are horribly compressed anyway. Netflix can advertise 1080p streams, but that doesn't mean they aren't compressed. Hell, Youtube offers stuff in 1080p, but if you think that quality looks anything like blu-ray you'd need to get your eyes fixed.

Assuming one is interested in the improved video and audio quality, you would be looking at about 30-40 gigabytes of data for just the movie. Extras and whatnot would be more. There is no network in the US capable of handling that kind of data. So in order for streaming media to work, we will either take a hit in quality or pay the price in prolonged buffer time. I'm a big fan of the improved quality, so you know which way I'd lean...

[themadscientist]

I still buy DVDs. I don't even own a Bluray player. It just doesn't matter much to me. I do have an HD TV, but I only bought it because old faithful finally died and it was big. 3D? I give an F.

[mdawg4x4]

I still buy CDs. I have a Pioneer HU in my 98 Jeep that does not have an iPod interface. That way I can listen to music whether in my Jeep or my truck. But, I do not remember the last one I bought, or when.

[Jesda]

I watch movies on my blackberry's 3" screen. Bluray wut?

[Encryptshun]

I watch movies on my blackberry's 3" screen. Bluray wut?

Watching pr0n on a 3" screen makes me feel less bad about myself...

[Watermelonwarrior]

Assuming one is interested in the improved video and audio quality, you would be looking at about 30-40 gigabytes of data for just the movie. Extras and whatnot would be more. There is no network in the US capable of handling that kind of data. So in order for streaming media to work, we will either take a hit in quality or pay the price in prolonged buffer time. I'm a big fan of the improved quality, so you know which way I'd lean...

Google is working on that .. only a matter of time.

"We're planning to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States. We'll deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections."

[themadscientist]

Google is working on that .. only a matter of time.

"We're planning to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States. We'll deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections." if you let us have a tiered network and we can throttle down speeds for all but our "premium" customers

[driverdriver]

There is some stuff I listen to that is still not available for the Ipod(except maybe the odd track-but not the entire album), but available on CD.

My latest CD acquisition: the Japanese released version of Badland's Voodoo Highway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIc-EuBwmr4

RIP Ray Gillen \m/

[EW]

I still buy CD's. I do not want to pay for compressed music at 128kbps. I load the ipod at 320kbps which is ok but CD is still the best.

Unfortunately, we are at a stage where quantity>quality as far as music is concerned for the average user.