Like it or not, CD's and downloads are on the way out and streaming is on the way in. Check out the orange (CD's) versus the green (Streaming) in this chart. When most of us think of streaming we think of badly recorded pop music streamed from a low quality streaming service whose music is on MP3 files. Not something you want to hear on your high end system.
But this isn't the way it has to be. For $20/mo you can subscribe to Tidal's "Master" quality streaming service, where the lowest quality file available are CD quality. The streamed signal sounds about as good as a CD played through a good quality player, and there's another advantage I never thought about until I subscribed. With classical music especially, for any well-known composer you have the choice of several different recordings by different artists on different labels. For example, if there's a recording of the work you want to hear on the Dorian or Reference Recordings labels, it will almost always sound better than other versions.
Rusty Messages: 1212 Registered: May 2018 Location: Kansas City Missouri
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
Guess now's the time to buy up the cheap stock of cd's. Reminiscent of when lp's were on the way out. And good cd players should be plucked up for a bargain too. Like turntables were. But who know's, maybe there'll be a revival. The fickle finger of fate move's in mysterious ways.
gofar99 Messages: 1959 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi Fred, Yup, I may have yet to go that way. Right now I have more LPs and CDs than I can ever listen to. I continue to get more from ZIA record exchange as well as other sources. Lots of pristine ones (and some really damaged ones too) available for zilch $$. I do sort of use digital....I have Sirius/XM in the vehicle and playing in the background in the shop. Lots of choices on it and it is only $11 a month. Certainly not up to the quality I get on my main system...but then it is extremely portable. The ton of gear won't fit in either the shop or vehicle.
There are probably more CD's and records in my place than I'll ever hear, too. But it sure is a fun adventure.
I'm an old fart and will sound even older talking trash about streaming. But streaming has some serious flaws.
Fidelity is limited. Sure, there are times when that doesn't matter as much but there are times it does matter. Tidal helps but it suffers from the second major flaw.
Selection is limited. Yes, there are millions of songs to stream. But if you try to listen to a fairly obscure jazz release it starts getting dicey. There are many favorites in my collection that I'd never have heard if all that was available was streaming.
Sure, if streaming was all there was when growing up I'd probably have a completely different list of favorites. But it's fun to kvetch.
Most outdated technology goes through a period of time when it's abandoned and then resurfaces again. Vinyl is a perfect example. Tube amps are another. The new technology just about wipes the old tech off the map and then a few decades later the old tech resurfaces. Might happen with CD's, too.
I think this depicts a growing trend in the current population; I don't even remember the last time I bought a CD off the shelf. It is possible to stream anything online but would we then say that there's better sound quality when streaming music and/or movies?
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