Speaking specifically from amazon.com.

I was updating my cd collection and saw I had missed a few gems and decided to start poking around on prices. I noticed that Amazon.com now shows cd new, cd used, cd new/used from market place, AND .mp3 albums.

Generally speaking I buy the cd's and rip into .wma from WMP. BUT, it looks like some of these .mp3 albums can be bought for 50-60% the cost of the physical disc versus the old pricing of $1 a song +/-.

I personally like having the originals on disc so if need be I have the backups already. Also, in most cases, the cd has a better sound quality than a .mp3 version--my gear is nice enough to notice the difference. But I did see some listings that they offered other audio formats that appear to be high quality digital audio. Even noticed some offering digital downloads of the booklet and in some cases the videos on some discs that offer bonus video. Also came across quite a few .mp3 only albums.

Wondering how/what you guys know about doing the .mp3 albums and what not. I can't argue the cost factor.

**Please don't answer with use torrents or whatever for "free" music. That is not addressing my question.

spotify ftw

(03-25-2012 06:31 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  spotify ftw

Yeah... but can you make a cd from your spotify? If all I can do is stream audio then that doesn't benefit me when I am driving or wanting to make a mix cd or whatever.... If it was sitting at home and chilling I could see your point.

(03-25-2012 05:54 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  Speaking specifically from amazon.com.

I was updating my cd collection and saw I had missed a few gems and decided to start poking around on prices. I noticed that Amazon.com now shows cd new, cd used, cd new/used from market place, AND .mp3 albums.

Generally speaking I buy the cd's and rip into .wma from WMP. BUT, it looks like some of these .mp3 albums can be bought for 50-60% the cost of the physical disc versus the old pricing of $1 a song +/-.

I personally like having the originals on disc so if need be I have the backups already. Also, in most cases, the cd has a better sound quality than a .mp3 version--my gear is nice enough to notice the difference. But I did see some listings that they offered other audio formats that appear to be high quality digital audio. Even noticed some offering digital downloads of the booklet and in some cases the videos on some discs that offer bonus video. Also came across quite a few .mp3 only albums.

Wondering how/what you guys know about doing the .mp3 albums and what not. I can't argue the cost factor.

**Please don't answer with use torrents or whatever for "free" music. That is not addressing my question.

Buy digital, you can usually find CD quality copies out there and for safety, backup on a cloud drive. ADrive has a free basic plan that has 50GB

http://www.adrive.com/plans

There are also other options as well.

I haven't bought a real CD in nearly 4 years.

(03-25-2012 07:23 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  

(03-25-2012 06:31 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  spotify ftw

Yeah... but can you make a cd from your spotify? If all I can do is stream audio then that doesn't benefit me when I am driving or wanting to make a mix cd or whatever.... If it was sitting at home and chilling I could see your point.

no you can't download, but if you have it on your phone, you can cache thousands of songs to it and play them in your car that way

I prefer vinyl, but I've been thinking about upgrading to cassettes soon.

(03-26-2012 12:04 PM)BlazerFan11 Wrote:  I prefer vinyl, but I've been thinking about upgrading to cassettes soon.

LOL.

I had maybe < 10 vinyl albums....

Michael Jackson: Thriller
Elvis: ...some sort of hits LP...

and a few others.... just never got into it and when I had my own money I started getting tapes. I probably have around 300 tapes still.

For me, it depends on what music it is we're talking about.

For my absolute favorites, I will see if I can buy the vinyl. If I can't, or it's something that is a favorite but not quite the upper echelon of my interests then I will buy a CD. I also like to go to discount stores to pick up cheap CDs that aren't yet part of my collection. I've gotten a lot of gems for $1 at Half Price Books and there's absolutely nothing wrong with them.

If it doesn't fall into one of those categories, I just get the digital version. I use iTunes and not Amazon, but either way I think the digital version is a good bet. You can save space at your house and even burn yourself a copy if you insist on having a non-digital backup.

(03-26-2012 05:24 PM)ndlutz Wrote:  For me, it depends on what music it is we're talking about.

For my absolute favorites, I will see if I can buy the vinyl. If I can't, or it's something that is a favorite but not quite the upper echelon of my interests then I will buy a CD. I also like to go to discount stores to pick up cheap CDs that aren't yet part of my collection. I've gotten a lot of gems for $1 at Half Price Books and there's absolutely nothing wrong with them.

If it doesn't fall into one of those categories, I just get the digital version. I use iTunes and not Amazon, but either way I think the digital version is a good bet. You can save space at your house and even burn yourself a copy if you insist on having a non-digital backup.

Well, I no longer have a turn table to play any kind of vinyl on.

Most of the used cd stores around here went out of business. And the ones that do have music that I don't want. I wouldn't mind buying used but not online....scratched up discs FTL.

(03-26-2012 05:24 PM)ndlutz Wrote:  For me, it depends on what music it is we're talking about.

For my absolute favorites, I will see if I can buy the vinyl. If I can't, or it's something that is a favorite but not quite the upper echelon of my interests then I will buy a CD. I also like to go to discount stores to pick up cheap CDs that aren't yet part of my collection. I've gotten a lot of gems for $1 at Half Price Books and there's absolutely nothing wrong with them.

If it doesn't fall into one of those categories, I just get the digital version. I use iTunes and not Amazon, but either way I think the digital version is a good bet. You can save space at your house and even burn yourself a copy if you insist on having a non-digital backup.

Half Priced Books is a great place for everything I like.....Vinyl, CDs, Games and Books and all cheap....

(03-26-2012 06:41 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  

(03-26-2012 05:24 PM)ndlutz Wrote:  For me, it depends on what music it is we're talking about.

For my absolute favorites, I will see if I can buy the vinyl. If I can't, or it's something that is a favorite but not quite the upper echelon of my interests then I will buy a CD. I also like to go to discount stores to pick up cheap CDs that aren't yet part of my collection. I've gotten a lot of gems for $1 at Half Price Books and there's absolutely nothing wrong with them.

If it doesn't fall into one of those categories, I just get the digital version. I use iTunes and not Amazon, but either way I think the digital version is a good bet. You can save space at your house and even burn yourself a copy if you insist on having a non-digital backup.

Well, I no longer have a turn table to play any kind of vinyl on.

Most of the used cd stores around here went out of business. And the ones that do have music that I don't want. I wouldn't mind buying used but not online....scratched up discs FTL.

Then I would purchase CDs of my favorites to have a physical backup and just get the digital copies of things I wanted but didn't fall into that category.

(03-26-2012 04:26 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  

(03-26-2012 12:04 PM)BlazerFan11 Wrote:  I prefer vinyl, but I've been thinking about upgrading to cassettes soon.

LOL.

I had maybe < 10 vinyl albums....

Michael Jackson: Thriller
Elvis: ...some sort of hits LP...

and a few others.... just never got into it and when I had my own money I started getting tapes. I probably have around 300 tapes still.

I transferred everything onto reel to reel. It gives you 6 to 8 hours worth of music per reel...