CD/DVD prices

[Hobie-wan]

I still buy CDs the vast majority of the time I buy music (exceptions are like when I get an iTunes gift card, Humble Bundle, etc). Hard to beat the lossless copy (albeit, objectively, not as high quality as possible) on media that will likely take much longer to degrade.

Second'd on the "I still prefer to buy CDs when I want to get music" sentiment.

Thirded.

[RCBH928]

I still buy CDs the vast majority of the time I buy music (exceptions are like when I get an iTunes gift card, Humble Bundle, etc). Hard to beat the lossless copy (albeit, objectively, not as high quality as possible) on media that will likely take much longer to degrade.

Second'd on the "I still prefer to buy CDs when I want to get music" sentiment.

Thirded.

CD is lossless and longer lasting than a digital copy?
I thought there was audio formats now called lossless.

I dont buy cds(I dont buy music any way, not a huge fan) but even if I want to , i wouldn't do it due to high price. It used to cost $15 per CD, I think it still does, and for a non music fan thats burning money.

@AppleQueso

I know its not impossible to find a blank VHS(I wonder if they still manufacture them) , but the truth is that you cant just go to your local store and find them on shelves next to DVD-Rs.Maybe online...

speaking of this reminded me, it has been a long while since I last saw a blank cassette tape even though I still own a player in my car and a bunch of them(none blanks)

[AppleQueso]

Second'd on the "I still prefer to buy CDs when I want to get music" sentiment.

Thirded.

CD is lossless and longer lasting than a digital copy?
I thought there was audio formats now called lossless.

Those files are sourced from the CD to begin with.
"Lossless" audio is called that because it doesn't lose any information from the CD its been ripped from.

@AppleQueso

I know its not impossible to find a blank VHS(I wonder if they still manufacture them) , but the truth is that you cant just go to your local store and find them on shelves next to DVD-Rs.Maybe online...

I work at Wal-Mart and we still sell blank VHS tapes in the same section as all the CD/DVD-Rs. So yes, you can just go to your local store and pick some up.

[isiolia]

CD is lossless and longer lasting than a digital copy?
I thought there was audio formats now called lossless.

I dont buy cds(I dont buy music any way, not a huge fan) but even if I want to , i wouldn't do it due to high price. It used to cost $15 per CD, I think it still does, and for a non music fan thats burning money.

There are lossless digital formats, but they're not ubiquitous, and it's even rarer that they exceed CD audio quality (though that does exist). While CD audio is definitely -not- the pinnacle of audio fidelity, it is often at the top end for formats that a lot of music is made available in, and music in better quality is often significantly more expensive, whether in HD digital downloads or SACD, DVD-Audio, whatever.

How long digital lasts can vary. It certainly has the possibility of lasting longer if its regularly transferred to additional/fresh backup media compared to the chances a single CD stands...but that's overlooking the basic premise of buying a CD to someone like myself: I don't tend to actually listen to the CDs themselves. Many of my more recent purchases have probably only been out of their cases once. It takes a few minutes to rip them and have the same basic digital product that I could have paid for directly, but I've also got the original pressed disc as a source/backup that happens to play on devices stretching back decades.

Regarding price, it varies a lot, but then so do games or movies or anything else you might collect. To me, digital is usually not cheap enough, relatively speaking, to give up what I see as perks of buying the physical media. The standard price for a CD seems to have crept downwards anyway. It's not uncommon to see them for $9.99 or less, and in some cases actually less than the digital copy.

If someone prefers digital, more power to 'em. There are a lot of viable routes to get music today, and that's a good thing. Just not all of us have moved on from wanting to buy a physical disc. If it was a matter of paying $5 for digital or $50 for a CD, I'd buy digital. Paying $9.99 for digital or $9.99-12.99 for a CD, eh, I'll still buy the CD.

[RCBH928]

If it was a matter of paying $5 for digital or $50 for a CD, I'd buy digital. Paying $9.99 for digital or $9.99-12.99 for a CD, eh, I'll still buy the CD.

at that price I would buy the CD too, but usually I am looking for 1 or 2 songs on an album, so paying $2 for digital i s better than $10 for a CD.

speaking for cd quality, is it true that vinyl is better?

[AppleQueso]

speaking for cd quality, is it true that vinyl is better?

Short answer: No, not really. It has a certain analog warmth/quality to its sound though that digital media doesn't replicate that some folks are really into. Others don't care for it.

If a given vinyl is objectively better sounding than its cd counterpart, it's pretty much always because the vinyl uses a different, better sounding master.

One problem is that a setup to make vinyl sound really nice is going to cost you a LOT more money than a setup that will make CDs sound just as good.

I'm sure someone can elaborate better, though. I'm not sure if I'd necessarily flat out say the whole "vinyl is better" thing is a myth, but I think I can at least safely say it's a matter of taste.

[Erik_Twice]

speaking for cd quality, is it true that vinyl is better?

In theory, no, by nature of the medium there's always noise and small imperfections affect the quality of the sound.

Now, as AppleQueso hinted, the masters used for the vinyl and the cd are often different and many cds suffer from the loudness war, which artifically modified the pitch of the songs to make them "louder", turning many records into a shitty mess of noise.

I was going to upload you a picture, but it isn't working so google "Loudness war". Seeing those wave forms makes me really sad.

[AppleQueso]

Now, as AppleQueso hinted, the masters used for the vinyl and the cd are often different and many cds suffer from the loudness war, which artifically modified the pitch of the songs to make them "louder", turning many records into a shitty mess of noise.

It's not a modification of the pitch, it's compression, but yeah you get the idea.

[Zing]

I also buy retail CDs and rip them myself.

[Erik_Twice]

It's not a modification of the pitch, it's compression, but yeah you get the idea.

Yeah, sorry, I slipped there

Here's a picture from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Otherside-graphic.png