What format of music do you prefer?

[mcshane in the 79th]

I felt very retro the other day when I pulled CD out of my shelf and actually PLAYED it in the car. The sound quality seems so much better than mp3's. I guess I was feeling the same as people who reminisce over vinyl

 

[aftershavedave]

we have our music completely digital. everything is cdrip (apple lossless) or flac quality.

i do appreciate that people say you can't hear the difference, but if the only extra cost is file storage, i'd rather go for the lossless file.

we have a decent b&o system which i haven't used for a year, all of the cd's are boxed up and in the loft.

play through our imac, decent cables and a pair of b&o speakers.

should i get another soundcard (an external one)?

 

[beorhthelm]

digitial is obviously the king for convenience, but viynl is the true daddy for quality.

those that cant tell the difference between 192 and 320 bitrates, you're probably right as the difference is often negligable. it depends on the music style, quality of original recording and speakers/headphones. pop music on ipod earphones aint going to show any difference, but some classical, live rock or decent electronic on a good quality hifi will show all sorts of little details.

 

[Curious Orange]

I loved minidisc!

I still use minidisc, I got one for my car years ago to replace the dying Blaupunkt tape deck. It is a great format for people who liked making up mix-tapes - the 80ish minute time limit certainly focuses the mind!

 

[alan partridge]

The purist in me demands vinyl (played on a Linn LP12). I want to sit down and listen to every note, every movement, every sound.

erm what about the analogue hum??

I'm playing devil's advocate...vinyl sounds fantastic

 

[Storer 68]

Just being nosey but I was wondering how most people on here listen to music. I've got tons of mp3s and always have my iPod nearby but at home I much prefer my music having a physical presence and so have mainly CDs. Unfortunately, space and racking becomes an issue but I find having them quite re-assuring.

There's also something, for me, quite satisfying about browsing my racks of CDs looking for something to listen to. It's not so easy to get inspiration with iTunes and also I do enjoy reading the sleevenotes on the CD cases. Also, you can't browse an online store in quite the same way as you can with Resident, Rounder or Rough Trade shops but saying that, I do buy a fair bit of minimal techno and electronica from Beatport (not Juno though - dunno why!)

I've also started re-collecting vinyl but have set very strict rules for myself - it has to be brand new, it has to be heavy vinyl and it can't be a random purchase.

I do know of a few serious music lovers on here that are migrating entirely to electronic format. For those that prefer electronic format do you go for lossless formats or high spec mp3s?

think you will find that everyone since 1920 has migrated to an electronic format.

Digital is all ones and noughts

 

[Fungus]

I have a large and growing CD collection, and haven't bought any digital downloads - anyone who started by buying vinyl albums will be addicted to the physical object and sleeve notes.

Since buying a new car that plays MP3s directly from a USB pen, I've been ripping all my CDs onto my netbook and copying them for playing in the car - I just love having hundreds of tracks on "random". Never listen to radio.

I first rip the CDs to FLAC lossless format to keep on a large hard drive that I can play through the decent hi-fi and speakers in the lounge. Then I convert them to 192kbs MP3 format and add them to the USB pen. All done with free Linux Ubuntu software.

What I'd like is a ghetto-blaster (sorry if non-PC) that takes USB pens, so I can move it around the house or garage. Any suggestions around £100?

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

Mainly MP3 but ocasionnally go to Rounder and buy CD's their if the mood takes me.

I use Spotify a heck of a lot at the moment.

 

[ferring seagull]

Digital or What !

There was a thread on here a few weeks ago to which I posted and you should be able to find.

Suppose it depends upon how much you are willing/able to spend so, this one, I chose as even the largest option with dedicated speakers, was under £500.

I don't have the massive CD libraries of some but decided life would be easier if I didn't have to put on glasses and look for a torch to see what CD I fancied listening to. I purchased a Brennan JB7 which was comparible with the Sony Gigajuke but blogs/buyers reports suggested it was rather better.

Have a look at it on the net, there are three options and you can load a huge number of CDs without any compression, but with even a small amount down to MP3 level, you can load 5/6000 CDs and the sound quality is more than acceptable and I include classical in my interests.

Basically it is a gigantic hard drive which will load a cd in 2.5 minutes and you can search to play by number or input 'elt' for example which will bring up say elton john. Whilst playing, it displays what CD and which track you are listening to - worth a look if it sounds at all what may be of interest to you. Play as you wish or select 'random' .

Martin Brennan is a physicist in Cambridge and the unit comes direct so no retailer's mark up and the service is excellent.

 

[Shirty]

Buy CD's then stick 'em on the ipod. Unfortunately most of the music I listen to seems to come from other peoples crappy ipod headphones rather than my own...

 

[7:18]

Physical albums, love the CD!

 

[The Modfather]

Singles on 7" vinyl.
Albums on CD which I also listen to on the ipod.

Never download, though may have to change this policy when Weller release a one-off digital single in a couple of weeks.

 

[BadFish]

I hate CD's with a passion, I have a record collection in my loft (too scared to have it around the house with three young kids). i bypassed CD's so have a load of minidiscs and old player kicking about. I also have a load of digital music on my ipod purely for convience. I play it though a little midi system thing which sounds okay as it rarely gets cracked up enough to worry about.

 

[fatbadger]

Vinyl, because sound quality matters to me. CD as a second option, because some LPs are just too damn expensive to get hold of and one of the genres I have a lot of (20th-century classical) almost exclusively comes in CD when it comes to new releases. Digital for on the bus, but not for serious listening.

 

[Acker79]

I only buy cds when they are cheaper than downloading, which is more frequent than it should be, imo. I have devices that play cds (computer, dvd player, blu ray player) but no cd player.

I usually listen on my ipod, but sometimes listen via itunes.