OK, so if you have no intention to try any new music then I can see why streaming is of less value. I have to say I find it hard to understand as a music lover why you wouldn’t want to explore new music, be that old music by artists you know or new music/artists that are new to you.
Transferring existing physical media onto a HD/NAS/server is only one part of streaming. I haven’t bothered to do that with my old CD collection as I’m quite happy to just stream from Qobuz. Others prefer the benefit of having their old music digitally stored. Neither precludes the other.
Not sure I understand the point you are making here. You can stream albums, playlists and individual tracks. With streaming you can do everything you currently do and much more.
@66richard Perhaps streaming isn’t for you, but your posts come across as someone who hasn’t really understood what streaming is. It reminds me of early conversations with my parents about smart phones and satnav/GPS, where they had a skewed view on the technology and were adamant that they didn’t want or need it. Eventually they came round to using these things as they realised the benefits they can bring.
If your definition of a proper CD player is one with such functions then it does not accord with my understanding of teh key functions of a CD player necessary for one to be ‘proper’! The two CD players I have had, both played music with good sound quality, which to me is ‘proper’. They did have some sort of facility for skipping tracks, and I think for setting order of track play, but I rarely if ever used them, being novelties as far as I was concerned. Nevertheless even a player designed for ready programming in that manner, with dedicated buttons, is scarcely likely to be quicker pr easier than selecting tracks on a tablet or similar device controlling a streamer playing your own stored music - and certainly not when you factor in the time it takes to find a CD open etc, and subsequently return to its rightful place.
As for cleaning etc, my comment related to your dismissal of streaming compared to playing a CD and had nothing to do with LPs and the practical factors around playing them (and while your main source may be LP, ‘ours’ isn’t!).
Artists’ revenues for streaming are a problem but those arguing for physical media are overstating their case. The problem is 100 years old and due to a predatory industry. Artists’ biographies are full of stories about not only not having made any money at all on record sales, but actually owing the label another record after a well selling one because the contract said that artist’s advances, recording, video, promotion, touring costs, lawyer’ fees, etc., come out of the artist’s share.
I highly recommend this article by renowned producer Steve Albini, written before streaming:
[Edit: fixed link. The original article that was hosted on the website of Negativeland is now gone and the link I had posted was just an abridged version. Here is the full one:]
Lucky artists may have received 50 cents (after expenses) for a sold record, but many of the greatest albums of history just sold a few thousand or ten thousand copies.
The streaming economy needs fixing, but there are also some silver linings. At least nowadays you have the choice of downloading from Bandcamp directly from artists or the artists’ own websites. And while fees per stream are ridiculous, most people in the past did not buy music at all, and many more now generate at least a small share by having a streaming account. And in my personal Dylan example, I streamed ~5,000 tracks; if 0.002 euros per stream is true (I forgot the exact numbers, but it is lower for Spotify and may be about right for Qobuz), that’s 9 euros or 18 CDs if the artist’s share per sold CD is 50 cents, which would be on the high side. If I had not been streaming, I would most likely not have purchased 18 Dylan CDs. And for many other albums that I streamed once, I never would have bought a physical copy at all.
I still play CDs because pound for pound I believe they sound better than streaming. I stream Qobuz via my Chord Poly/Mojo and love everything streaming brings but I get a better sound from my Audiolab cd transport into the same dac
Worth the effort for myself and I guess for a few others who already have a nice compilation of cds and vinyl. Why should I pay a monthly fee to hear the same music I already own?
However, if I had to start all over again I wouldn’t hesitate to get a nice streamer and rent the music, just like paying for a mortgage that will never end…
Are you comparing CD with streaming online, or streaming rips of those CDs and/or downloaded files held in your own store? If the latter, the rips should sound no worse and have the potential to sound better, suggesting something not right with your streaming setup, but online streaming has more challenges so perhaps nit surprising if not as good.
I too balk at paying a monthly fee for music I’ve bought on vinyl, then again on CD, then again on remastered and anniversary issues. I dont much care for modern music with the exception of a few artists whose new releases I’d buy immediately on vinyl or CD. As well as vinyl and CD, I listen to iradio and hear contemporary performances of classical music there. I have a Uniti2 prepped for Tidal and Spotify but I haven’t taken the plunge. However, I’m looking to change my car. It has a CD player and allows me to store my music to hard drive. The prospective new car has no CD player but a 3 years subscription to Spotify, so it looks like I’m going to have to fall into line.
You are right in that not all streamer users behave like kids and that streaming is a great way to discover music now that ‘‘Radio Paradise’’ and others are inevitably making FM radio disappear!
As I said you don’t have to pay for a streaming service to enjoy digital replay. Lounge room test, “it’s not about sound quality at all but convenience of use”, in which way is the cataloguing, organisation, physical handling and storage of CD’s more convenient than digital replay ? To me it’s all about sound quality, that’s the motivation for building my system.
As I have explained you don’t have to pay for a streaming service if you don’t want to, but I suspect given your understanding of what streaming/digital music is all about you would do much the same as you do just now.
I see that downloads are starting to come in cd cases with all the art work, just no cd.
This will give the missing feeling of not having anything physical to hold and read etc, plus nice to collect if you want it.
With this going forward, I can’t see why you want the hassle of a cd?
I fully concur with you that streaming locally or through internet is way more easy and convenient. As for sound quality, I still prefer my TT and CD player.
Wow, that’s a lot of CDs (and money)! And personally I don’t think I’d be able to find a CD every day that I liked enough to buy - and to try to do so could easily take hours of sampling… Mind you, when I was 16 the idea of spending every day in a record shop would have been close to my idea of heaven! But then there was a lot of stuff for me to discover, and heaps of good new records coming out seemingly daily - after a few years I’d caught up, and frequency of release of new music I liked diminished, while volume of music I didn’t like increased making finding new gems harder.
For me, the primary reasons to go to streaming would be 1. Improved sound quality 2. Free up space.
Given the jury has more gone on holiday than stepped out regarding sound quality, that leaves getting rid of CD cases. I wonder if the marketing genius behind putting download artwork in CD cases is still in a job
