Records, CDs, or MP3s?

[The Metal Advisor]

Re: Records, CDs, or MP3s?

A record can only be played 60 times before the vinyl breaks down and it goes from stereo to mono. Realistically it can only be played about 2-5 times before it starts sounding worn (no matter how good the care of it is).

In my experience, that isn't true at all. Do you have a source? Because I've never seen such a claim before. If vinyl is going to wear, number of plays will vary based on a few things. The wear on vinyl will be minimal if you have a decent stylus, keep your records clean, and have good tone arm adjustable for weight and anti-skid (and you set the arm correctly). Those three things go quite a distance when trying to protect your vinyl.

[NTNR]

Re: Records, CDs, or MP3s?

In my experience, that isn't true at all. Do you have a source? Because I've never seen such a claim before. If vinyl is going to wear, number of plays will vary based on a few things. The wear on vinyl will be minimal if you have a decent stylus, keep your records clean, and have good tone arm adjustable for weight and anti-skid (and you set the arm correctly). Those three things go quite a distance when trying to protect your vinyl.

I do have a source indeed. I have family that worked for various record labels and manufacturers. The manufacturing standard is 60 plays before you lose sound quality. That's why various head shops would spring up around record stores. They'd run through records weekly and have to buy new ones constantly.

[The Metal Advisor]

Re: Records, CDs, or MP3s? I'm not sold at all, but I suppose I'll take your word for it. In my personal experience, that's not been the case.

[radio master666]

Re: Records, CDs, or MP3s? The problem with records isn't the price or sound quality, the problem is finding replacement parts for your turntable

[RelentlessOblivion]

Re: Records, CDs, or MP3s? having never owned any records I can't make a call on that front, however I prefer CDs to MP3s, I just like having hard copies rather than digital ones which can be lost if something happens to either the computer or storage device they are saved to, cds really only fail when poorly looked after

[Os Abysmi Vel Daath]

Re: Records, CDs, or MP3s? CDs, because it's something you can hold in your hand. If I had the money I'd be more into vinyl.

[RelentlessOblivion]

Re: Records, CDs, or MP3s? cd's or mp3's, I've heard stuff on vinyl and it sounded really muddy

[7YearsOfBlood]

I don't own any records but I prefer owning a hard copy of a CD rather than an MP3 so I don't tend to download music from the internet, I like to buy an album and then stream it so I have both. It's nice to have a collection of albums.

[BlutAusNerd]

CDs are fine. Plenty of kvlt elitist types will tell you that vinyl is the way to go, and while I do enjoy vinyl, there's nothing wrong with CDs. Both are better than digital though.

[orcslayr23]

CDs by far. I never buy albums digitally unless I can't physically get it on CD. I mostly listen to music on my iTouch but I am proud of my cd collection plus the CD audio quality is the highest. I enjoy listening to albums on CD every now and then to get the full listening experience as well.

[Spooks]

Mp3 because they are so easily obtainable. Though I do enjoy collecting a CD or two xD

[Viking]

I prefer cds. It is always good to have hard copies and you can put them on your computer. Plus sometimes they have the booklets and stuff. It also looks better in the collection. There are times when I have bought the albums on itunes though. I would rather go buy the cd.

[Chris Rode]

There's nothing like opening a new CD and reading through the insert while memorizing the words to all the songs.

[RelentlessOblivion]

not to mention having the artwork to look at whilst listening to the album.

[FatherAlabaster]

MP3s are most of what I listen to. CDs are better quality, but most of the time an mp3 is good enough. The vast majority of my listening here is done while walking, and it's really noisy, so carrying a CD player and a bunch of albums around is inconvenient and sound quality is kind of lost on me anyway. Different when I've lived elsewhere, but that's the nature of NYC. Also, don't forget: CDs are digital too. 16 bit audio at 44.1 kHz is CD standard. I could fit about 40 CD quality albums on my phone if I wanted to, which I don't; FLAC gives you the same audio quality in about half the space. Burning mp3 files to an audio CD doesn't replace the lost data or sound quality. And even if you're listening to brand new vinyl in a good room, on a good turntable through an awesome amp and great speakers, a lot of metal recordings are kind of garbage to begin with. I love crappy-sounding stuff but it still sounds like crap. Good listening conditions do a lot for well-recorded classical and even some rock CDs, but with metal you aren't missing much.

[RelentlessOblivion]

You have to admit though there's still something about a new cd that you don't get with new mp3 files. Being able to pick up the case and look at the artwork or read the liner notes inside is something that adds to the experience of listening to an album. That being said most of my collection is mp3 albums since the stock at my local record stores tends to be very limited if you're after metal. I do make the odd order on amazon.com (planning on making it a quarterly thing if I can afford it) because as I said physical copies just have an inexplicable charm.

[FatherAlabaster]

I can't disagree. I feel like my listening conditions are so poor most of the time that it just doesn't matter. But if we feel that way about cds, just imagine how bad people must have felt when tapes replaced vinyl. Now there was some fucking artwork. Vinyl was a great format for visuals. Maybe that's why so many people are still putting it out.

[RelentlessOblivion]

No doubt. If it weren't so god damn expensive I'd start a vinyl collection myself. Although given I'm certain to lose what little eyesight I have at some point in the future maybe I won't do that because once my sight goes all that great artwork becomes meaningless.

[Hooligan]

I do buy a couple a cd's every few months or so. I have over a 1000 cd's In my collection. majority of them are metal cd's. I do mp3 often but mostly on out of print stuff that have been made available on digital format. I been seeing a tone of albums that have long been out of print being made avaible on itune like Wrathchild America's 3-D for example. I buy a lot of new release on cd's

[RelentlessOblivion]

Yeah there are a few albums that are actually easily available on iTunes but really obscure and pricey if you want the physical copy. As Jerusalem Burns...Al'Intisar by Melechesh is one such album.

[NTNR]

I only buy albums if I can get them on CD. If I can't I go without. It makes finally getting them that much better.

[m0shthehellouttame131]

Vinyl has the best sound. But i have a CD collection and if i can't find the album on CD i buy it on iTunes.

[NWOBHM]

I chose Vinyl. However, CD's are rad too. Downloads don't do it for me. There's something about purchasing a physical copy that makes you so stoked. When I purchase a record or a CD, I can't wait to play it. I don't really get the same feeling when downloading.

[forge]

I must admit that it's getting harder and harder to find CDs now. I do buy them if it's a band I really like. Other times, I download.

[Vanessa M Stokes]

I love Records!, Cd's are great also but I'll put Mp3's purely because I listen to downloads more often.