A question I have been meaning to ask as many people as I can: CD's or Mp3's?

Do you listen to your music on an ipod or on the silver discs? Personally I hear the difference and the CD quality (as we know) is better, but plugging in an ipod and letting your music play till you're ready to turn it off has a great appeal.

I still listen to CD's in the car but in the house or my studio its MP3's. I have ripped as many of my CD's as possible onto my ipod. Its like keeping your VHS tapes and slowly converting them.

I have bought two CD's in the last year on impulse but I mostly download singles on itunes....

I don't listen to the radio except sometimes in the car. Most of the new music I buy is from TV soundtracks, like from True Blood or in one case Doll House.

How about you?

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I've gone over to MP3s almost exclusively. CD only if the album is not available for download. I'm amused by this, as I once said I'd never give up having a physical copy of the music to hold in my hands. Then again, back in the 80's, I said I'd never give up LPs for CDs. Funny how these things happen. Wonder what's next.

For me, the biggest downside to the evolving technology is the loss of information and artwork. When I switched to CDs, I missed LPs' full-size liner notes and cover art. Now, with MP3s there are no liner notes, and I'm always feeling bad that the musicians et.al. are not getting the credit they deserve.
CDs, HDCDs, SACDs, or DVDAs , The quality I get from my universal disc player (Oppodigital) is so much better than mp3, That I could not go there, I would go back to vinyl ,if It became widely available, I could easily add a turntable to my stereo, A well mastered CD is good for me, even a good quality cassette, still listen to cassettes in my car. I do not have a computer, I will admit, It is a great way to sample a song!!
JIm
I have my old CD's (and have ripped them) but now I only buy MP3's unless I can actually find the CD for cheaper or I know I'll never be able to buy the MP3's anywhere. I listen to the MP3's on-the-go and in the office. However, at home I like to listen to vinyl. I love the smell of old albums (and keep buying more), and you can't beat the homey lo-fi sound. I like the idea that my records are a little different each time I listen to them. It makes me feel like I'm interacting with them.
I've still never bought an MP3, downloaded a few freebies. Mostly buy CDs, maybe 200/year, about half of them used. Toy with the idea of going back to vinyl more but really haven't done it, despite the fact that I value the liner notes/artwork (which you get with a CD in tinier form) I do have a zen and load CDs onto that, but I don't use it as much as I thought I would. About the only radio I'll listen too is WWOZ a local listener supported station that plays New Orleans, jazz, blues, roots music. I'm also still a sucker for magazines with CDs, the annual Oxford American Music issue and MOJO are among my faves.
Great topic....something I have bored plenty of people with recently. I am still an avid purchaser of CD's. There is just something about holding the music in your hands. Maybe it goes back to the days of vinyl. Remember how important those album covers were. Remember sitting in your room, holding the album, listening and singing along, reading everything the artist included? But.....I love my ipod! Why? Convenience!! I can take a huge amount of music everywhere I go! So, my answer? Both. Still buying CD's but loving the digital age too!
Hey , Thanks for the great responses so far.

I went to great pains to recreate my original vinyl collection but almost never listen to them. I have hundreds of CD's , some of which are first edition digital but like I said listen mostly in the car. Today, for example, I was playing Joni Mitchell's Blue for about the 100th time this past several months...

There are some great songs out there I want to own, but without buying the whole album, so a download from itunes (which is a pretty good quality mp3) saves money.

I downloaded both versions of "Your Ghost" from Kristen Hersh and Greg Laswell after hearing it close out the show "Doll House." I never watch that show but the one time I did I became immediately addicted to that song...

What I'm really waiting for is mp3 compression with CD quality.

I really do miss the big album covers and the meaningful liner notes of Vinyl.

I know the CD has the quality but sure like putting music on for hours at a time. We had 100 CD player/changer for a while, but being mechanical and using it like an ipod it just croaked.

At least no one has to buy an album with only one good song on it anymore. Of course back in the day that's what 45's were for.
AAAHHH...45's!! Let's take this discussion in another direction for a bit then. Your first 45 purchase was.......................Mine was "Let It Be" backed with "You Know My Name Look Up The Number". Wish I still had the darn record!
Patsy Cine. "Walkin' After Midnight." 3rd grade.
first 45 would be from 1965 for me and maybe the turtles-let me be. good chat on vinyl,cds, and mp3s. i have them all and have been forced into each new format because of availability. i will always love vinyl for various reasons and will keep them forever. cds have their merits too and as earlier stated mp3 files are faster and easier to get. i've embraced them all in the name of music. radio, that's a good topic. enjoyed a.m. in the 60's, f.m. in the 70's, and not listened since. can't stand commercial stations. i hear there is some good internet radio now, but haven't checked it out yet. anybody got a favorite radio station especially if its americana? cheers,norm
I agree on commercial radio. I haven't listened in many many years! I love finding music by reading, research, blogging, word of mouth etc.....I listen to people at work etc talk about how there hasn't been any good music since the 70's...man. Well, maybe you should stop listening to that "Classic Rock" station that is still playing the same songs over and over. There is an abundance of new, exciting artists today. And with the internet, you can find so much more than ever before.
Life is good!
I agree that there are new artists worth listening to but you don't hear about them very often in what passes for the music mainstream whether pop, rock or country. Your really have to research or watch HBO programs (LOL) that feature new artists or showcase known ones in a different context.

I heard an exciting song "I Will Rise Up/Ain't No More Cane" by an unknown artist at the end of a True Blood episode then looked it up and found that the "new" artist was Lyle Lovett. A great song and great recording that I had never heard of except for HBO.

I was very pleased that Bill Miller got another got another Grammy. He has created a perfect blend of traditional Native music, contemporary Native music and what I still think of as county rock. I listen to him a lot.

I sometimes listen to the country stations in Seattle (sparingly) or to the alternative stations such as KEXP, especially a show on Fridays called "Shake the Shack" that features old and new rockabilly and road house music.

I think the music market for a lot of us is a collection of off the grid resources from the internet, odd TV shows and alternative radio. The one thing I look for is some connection to roots and specifically, authenticity. It doesn't have to be Huddie Ledbetter , Bessie Smith, Jimmie Rogers or even Hank Williams but it sure has to have something of that same essence. I still have some vinyl of Big Bill Broonzy and Lightnin' Hopkins that I listen to keep grounded.

Artists like Chris Whitley (who I only discovered when he passed away) for example and to some extent folks like Marc Selby. No mater what the format, it's a never ending quest isn't it?

Oh and obviously No Depression is one of those resources as well.
AAC encoder set to 320 kbps. File sizes aren't too big. Sounds much better than mp3's and not too far off a full range CD.

To answer what I think your point is, however, everything is on my iPod (I sing the praises of the 160GB Classic). I've always been an avid music collector. Tapes and CD's. I consider my older CD's my "Master Copies". They sit there (and I use them for comparison on my own recordings when I get to the mastering stage). When my band started touring, that's when I made the switch. It was either try to fit 1200 CD's in a van with 4 guys, or fit them onto this little device I could put in my pocket. If you have a lot of music, it's a no-brainer.

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Created by No Depression Feb 17, 2009 at 9:06pm. Last updated by No Depression Apr 9.