Lurker > Bostich2

dancer62 posted...

There is no option in the poll for "I listen to CDs and MP3s, not streaming or radio."

Yep, I didn't vote in the poll for this very reason. I used to listen to streaming audio several years ago at work. If I were able to, I would probably still listen to free streaming radio at work sometimes, but since it is blocked, I just listen to my own music.

The radio options where I live aren't very good. There is one station that plays some music I like, but they seem to have about a 20 song rotation so I got tired of hearing the same songs on my way to work almost every day.

So I almost exclusively listen to music I've bought, free downloads (from places like OverClocked Remix and Dwelling of Duels), and video game soundtrack rips.

Chewster posted...

Yeah they should have had that option, but do people really just buy music without listening to it somewhere else at first? I can understand if it's an artist you're familiar with, but after a certain point you'd run out of stuff you know to buy

I don't feel like I'll run out of music to buy anytime soon. When I used to listen to streaming audio at work, I discovered so many new bands I liked that I haven't exhausted their catalogs yet. Most of the bands I like are still releasing new albums, so I'm not even able to keep up. I'll occasionally discover a new band from going to a concert, but I don't go to concerts nearly as much as I used to.
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Classic NES tunes in 5.1 surround!
http://nes51.wordpress.com/

I keep thinking that the CD format should have been retired long ago, but the music industry can't seem to get its act together. All attempts at a replacement format have been feeble--not from a technical point of view, but in terms of marketing and available content.

I've been a fan of the DVD-Audio format, and would have liked to see it become the new standard, but it still hasn't gained traction after 15+ years of existence. Most importantly, it supports lossless 5.1 surround, which is much better than regular stereo. The higher resolution is nice too, and should result in DVD-A albums sounding slightly better than their CD counterparts. The main benefit, however, is the lossless 5.1 surround. I also like the fact that it is specifically an audio format and doesn't require players to have a screen. At one time, there were DVD-A players in some cars, but I'm not sure if any new cars still have them.

I haven't had any experience with SACD, but at least conceptually, I prefer PCM over DSD. In practical terms, I don't know if it makes any difference though.

I also haven't had any experience with HFPA Blu-ray. In terms of sound quality, it should be just as good as DVD-A. The only nit is that it isn't specifically an audio format--it's just a marketing initiative for regular Blu-rays that happen to feature a music album rather than video.

I definitely prefer to have a tangible product over buying digitally. However, for indie stuff that only gets released through places like Band Camp, I'll get the FLAC version.

MP3 and AAC (iTunes) are both lossy and are therefore unacceptable to me. There is a time and place to use lossy codecs, but not as a paid distribution format. I do not support this business concept at all.

With all that being said, I still primarily buy CDs, except in the rare case when something has a DVD-A version or if it's some indie music that doesn't have a physical release.
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Classic NES tunes in 5.1 surround!
http://nes51.wordpress.com/

This is not necessarily the same thing as the format you normally use for listening.
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Classic NES tunes in 5.1 surround!
http://nes51.wordpress.com/

Mega Man 5 for me.
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Classic NES tunes in 5.1 surround!
http://nes51.wordpress.com/