I’m actually starting to get back into CDs. Found a bunch of my old CDs in a box while I was cleaning and have been listening to them a lot lately. Beats the absolute crap out of streaming, and I’m now realizing I miss the “curated” feel of listening to either a studio album or a mixed CD I made two decades ago that still plays somehow.
Even thought about buying a fresh pack of CD-R’s and burning CDs again. My car is one of the last models to come with a CD player, so might as well use it :)
Yeah, and in my case, a fine example of “you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone”. I seldom listened to tracks in order and would skip around or put my favorite song on a loop or switch CDs just to hear one song, etc even on CDs I mixed myself.
This time around I’ve just been putting them in and letting them play. On some albums, it is clear the artist or producer wanted you to dip your toes in with the first track, get you pumped with the second, make you think or feel with the third, give you a breather with the forth, and crack it back up with the fifth (and so on) and the last track is pretty much always the “finale”. Definitely more than just throwing the tracks down and saying “come get it” and something I’m sad I didn’t appreciate more when physical media was common.
Agreed. I much prefer listening to full albums. Even stuff I bought a long time ago as a teenager for one song, I’ve enjoyed going back and listening to the complete album.
It’s not that they don’t exist it’s that artists/producers aren’t focusing on the album experience as much. The album used to be the thing, and the single was the bait to lure you into purchasing it. Now, the single is more likely to be the thing.
For sure. I started building a vinyl collection the last couple of years, but also dug out my old CDs from the basement. There’s some good stuff in there, even things that never came out on vinyl because the industry just dropped LPs like a hot potato back in the day.
Physical media is great, but I still keep like 200Gb of music on my phone for convenience.
I burned a cd for niece a few months back. She was in awe. Surprisingly that spindle of CDRs that have been sitting in my attic for 20 something years still record just fine!
I also have ripped all my CDs as flacs and stream them with navidrome. Convenience is nice and beats syncing to an mp3 player.
I also have a raspberry pi hooked up to my stereo with an nfid reader and print out cards with album art. Just select the one you want, drop it on the reader, and the album plays.
You saying this to a guy who burned 96kbps MP3s to a CD. 96 kbps MP3s that were ripped from another CD I owned and could have re-ripped at an acceptable bitrate had I not been stuck with the shareware version of MusicMatch Jukebox which was the only software I could run to rip CDs lol
To this day, Eve 6 does not sound “right” unless it’s horribly compressed and clipped. Kind of my own, weird version of “sounds better on vinyl”.
But I do have much better tools today, so I can go FLAC through the whole process.
Mine has a cd of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in my disc player and I don’t think I’ve ever used it, but I’m of the same mind to build some playlists in disc again instead of futzing with subscription services
I’m actually starting to get back into CDs. Found a bunch of my old CDs in a box while I was cleaning and have been listening to them a lot lately. Beats the absolute crap out of streaming, and I’m now realizing I miss the “curated” feel of listening to either a studio album or a mixed CD I made two decades ago that still plays somehow.
Even thought about buying a fresh pack of CD-R’s and burning CDs again. My car is one of the last models to come with a CD player, so might as well use it :)
Albums are such a lost art, it kills me.
Yeah, and in my case, a fine example of “you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone”. I seldom listened to tracks in order and would skip around or put my favorite song on a loop or switch CDs just to hear one song, etc even on CDs I mixed myself.
This time around I’ve just been putting them in and letting them play. On some albums, it is clear the artist or producer wanted you to dip your toes in with the first track, get you pumped with the second, make you think or feel with the third, give you a breather with the forth, and crack it back up with the fifth (and so on) and the last track is pretty much always the “finale”. Definitely more than just throwing the tracks down and saying “come get it” and something I’m sad I didn’t appreciate more when physical media was common.
Agreed. I much prefer listening to full albums. Even stuff I bought a long time ago as a teenager for one song, I’ve enjoyed going back and listening to the complete album.
Do y’all not listen to albums on your phone?
It’s not that they don’t exist it’s that artists/producers aren’t focusing on the album experience as much. The album used to be the thing, and the single was the bait to lure you into purchasing it. Now, the single is more likely to be the thing.
They’re still making concept albums. Check out Unleash the Archers
Yeah it’s not that they don’t exist it’s that artists/producers aren’t focusing on the album experience as much.
Then follow better artists who align with your tastes
My personal tastes have nothing to do with the topic being discussed. Stop trying to provoke an argument or I’ll report you.
For sure. I started building a vinyl collection the last couple of years, but also dug out my old CDs from the basement. There’s some good stuff in there, even things that never came out on vinyl because the industry just dropped LPs like a hot potato back in the day.
Physical media is great, but I still keep like 200Gb of music on my phone for convenience.
I burned a cd for niece a few months back. She was in awe. Surprisingly that spindle of CDRs that have been sitting in my attic for 20 something years still record just fine!
I also have ripped all my CDs as flacs and stream them with navidrome. Convenience is nice and beats syncing to an mp3 player.
I also have a raspberry pi hooked up to my stereo with an nfid reader and print out cards with album art. Just select the one you want, drop it on the reader, and the album plays.
Burning CD’s is fun. Please burn lossless files and not mp3s.
You saying this to a guy who burned 96kbps MP3s to a CD. 96 kbps MP3s that were ripped from another CD I owned and could have re-ripped at an acceptable bitrate had I not been stuck with the shareware version of MusicMatch Jukebox which was the only software I could run to rip CDs lol
To this day, Eve 6 does not sound “right” unless it’s horribly compressed and clipped. Kind of my own, weird version of “sounds better on vinyl”.
But I do have much better tools today, so I can go FLAC through the whole process.
Remember minidiscs? Now there’s a tech I’m disappointed never took off
I’ve seen a lot of minidisc players and media on the second hand market the past year. It’s having a comeback, if not in new releases.
Mine has a cd of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in my disc player and I don’t think I’ve ever used it, but I’m of the same mind to build some playlists in disc again instead of futzing with subscription services