I still buy CDs, and I still rip them myself (usually 320kbps CBR; I’ve noted that 320kbps VBR sounds really bad in comparison), and manually put them on an SD card that goes into my phone. Sometimes I even use a set of Shure headphones with a <<gasp>> CORD!
If you rip the CD yourself, no digital platform can reach into your home and take that from you. When you ‘buy’ digital licenses to listen to music on streaming platforms, changes in licensing can mean that Spotify, or whoever, can remove your ability to listen to it.
I also love album art. Bands like Clutch make interesting artwork that conveys the vibe of the music is interesting ways. It’s part of a concept, not just the songs. But I’m lazy and now I let the small number of CDs that I still buy stack up until I have a bunch to rip all at once rather than on the day I get them.
Since I usually buy my CDs at concerts, I usually have 4+ to rip in one go.
I still need to re-rip Fallujah, Dawn of Ouroboros, Persefone, and Vulvodynia CDs; I ripped them as 320KBPS VBR, and the sound is muddy, with all of the bright edges and crispness gone. Everything that I’ve ripped to 320KBPS CBR is fine, so I assume it’s something about a variable bit rate that’s trashing the sound. It’s unlistenable to me; it’s so apparent compared to anything else I listen to that it’s completely distracting me from the music itself.
Favorite band of mine was running a kickstarter for their next album. They had lots of add-ons you could also purchase, from T-shirts and such to copies of their previous albums on various formats. I bought a total of five albums on CD, ripped them all to FLAC and now the discs sit safely in my CD rack and I can listen to the music on any device I own. To deprive me of my music you would have to commit a burglary.
I still buy CDs, and I still rip them myself (usually 320kbps CBR; I’ve noted that 320kbps VBR sounds really bad in comparison), and manually put them on an SD card that goes into my phone. Sometimes I even use a set of Shure headphones with a <<gasp>> CORD!
If you rip the CD yourself, no digital platform can reach into your home and take that from you. When you ‘buy’ digital licenses to listen to music on streaming platforms, changes in licensing can mean that Spotify, or whoever, can remove your ability to listen to it.
I also love album art. Bands like Clutch make interesting artwork that conveys the vibe of the music is interesting ways. It’s part of a concept, not just the songs. But I’m lazy and now I let the small number of CDs that I still buy stack up until I have a bunch to rip all at once rather than on the day I get them.
Since I usually buy my CDs at concerts, I usually have 4+ to rip in one go.
I still need to re-rip Fallujah, Dawn of Ouroboros, Persefone, and Vulvodynia CDs; I ripped them as 320KBPS VBR, and the sound is muddy, with all of the bright edges and crispness gone. Everything that I’ve ripped to 320KBPS CBR is fine, so I assume it’s something about a variable bit rate that’s trashing the sound. It’s unlistenable to me; it’s so apparent compared to anything else I listen to that it’s completely distracting me from the music itself.
I still haven’t re-ripped a box of CDs whose digital versions were lost in a HDD failure almost 20 years ago. 😒
Favorite band of mine was running a kickstarter for their next album. They had lots of add-ons you could also purchase, from T-shirts and such to copies of their previous albums on various formats. I bought a total of five albums on CD, ripped them all to FLAC and now the discs sit safely in my CD rack and I can listen to the music on any device I own. To deprive me of my music you would have to commit a burglary.