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Anyone find it far more rewarding listening to real physical CDs on a CD player, rather than using FLACs? And why do you find this?

welsh

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That part of your post which I emphasized in bold is, IMO, a strong argument against greatest hits albums. Generally I like to listen to entire albums, even where there may be only one or just a few really good tracks, because it gives me a better feel for where the artist was at that time in the artist's career. (Yeah, sometimes greatest hits albums have their place too.)

But, I also like to have choices. If I don't want to experience the entire album, e.g., I do only wish to listen to one track, or maybe I set out to listen to the entire album but mid-album my mood changed, server playback makes it easier to exercise my choice.

As an aside, if we are to focus on the artist's intention, could it not be argued that vinyl disrupts that intention due to the pause necessarily involved in having to get up to flip sides? Stated another way, why is it that the artist's intention is that an album be experienced in two parts?
Actually, vinyl disrupts the artists’ intentions in more fundamental ways. Ever wondered why Seventies rock albums always had a ballad at the end of a side? It’s because of the fundamental flaw of vinyl - there’s less information as one gets nearer to the label. Bands who were featured on compilation LPs fought tooth and nail to be on the outside of the plastic.
 

welsh

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A single CD is large enough to store most symphonies, in which case the pause between changing CDs is usually something desirable. The problem is on the budget multi CD sets, when they store different movements of symphonies across different CDs.
Please think about my father, who had to listen to Wagner’s Ring cycle on 45rpm shellac records... he had to change the record every five minutes or so.
 

StefaanE

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Please think about my father, who had to listen to Wagner’s Ring cycle on 45rpm shellac records... he had to change the record every five minutes or so.
That would be 78rpm, 45rpm was for singles. My Dad listened to Handel’s Messiah with Adrian Boult, with a Dual record changer. Impressive, and frightening at the same time, seeing the record fall on the previous one.
 

TimF

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1) I have outgrown a lot of music that was important to me over the years and that is the music I have ripped and included in my master music database of 1,200 cds. 2) I haven't ripped the cd's I've bought for the last few years into my master music database. I buy new or used cds to try new music and expand the forms that I can enjoy; and as an example I'm getting into Prokofiev this winter. As an adjunct, I buy cds to listen to a new or different interpretation of familiar music; i.e., Igor Levit playing Beethoven (oh, these god of music, how rare they are!) 3) Habit. I don't like searching for a music item on the JRiver media server and I'm not sure why. 4) I suspect that I like the mess of having cd's laying around and in piles.
 

Harmonie

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Please think about my father, who had to listen to Wagner’s Ring cycle on 45rpm shellac records... he had to change the record every five minutes or so.

There was an easier way even back then ;)

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Sal1950

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As a pre-teen kid I had 3 or 4 of these that I picked up from adults that had gone the LP route.
Had both the complete player style and the deck requiring a outboard amp to plug into.
I've considered picking one up off ebay but I just don't have the room for it. :(

s-l400.jpg

45j2.jpg
 

StefaanE

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As a pre-teen kid I had 3 or 4 of these that I picked up from adults that had gone the LP route.
Had both the complete player style and the deck requiring a outboard amp to plug into.
I've considered picking one up off ebay but I just don't have the room for it. :(

s-l400.jpg

45j2.jpg
I always believed 45rpm singles and 33.3rpm LPs to be contemporaries. My Dad had 78rpm 12” shellack “albums” designed for record changers, individual 10” and 12” LPs, and 7” singles for “popular” items. I’ve never seen a set of 45rpm singles with a long classical work such as a Wagner opera (but I do have a couple of 45rpm 12” records boasting “superior sound quality” dating from the late 1970ies).
 

Robin L

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I always believed 45rpm singles and 33.3rpm LPs to be contemporaries. My Dad had 78rpm 12” shellack “albums” designed for record changers, individual 10” and 12” LPs, and 7” singles for “popular” items. I’ve never seen a set of 45rpm singles with a long classical work such as a Wagner opera (but I do have a couple of 45rpm 12” records boasting “superior sound quality” dating from the late 1970ies).
Had the Charlie Parker Big Band recordings on Clef, a 4 disc set of 7" 45 "EP" discs, that format being RCA's failed attempt to compete with Columbia's "LP", back in the late 40's/early 50's. Also the Monteux/San Francisco Symphony Orchestra "Scheherazade", another multi-disc EP set, this time from RCA Victor. Those 12" 45s have been recently revived, had a few of the Angel 12" 45s back in the late 1970's/early 1980's. Better than Angel's usual product, not as good as the UK imports [the actual original pressings] on various EMI labels.
 

Sal1950

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I always believed 45rpm singles and 33.3rpm LPs to be contemporaries.
I was more thinking along the lines of adults buying LP's for the complete experience like the Sinatra albums being built around a theme, where the kids were buying 45 singles (pre mp3 days) and building early playlists by stacking the 45s on the thick spindle. A couple decades later rock got into things more complex than the 3 minute songs. ;)
 
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BobbyTimmons

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Please think about my father, who had to listen to Wagner’s Ring cycle on 45rpm shellac records... he had to change the record every five minutes or so.
I guess at least it forces you to listen attentively and prevents you from getting distracted by doing something else.
 
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BobbyTimmons

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I went into the storage unit, seeing if I could pull out my paintings. Some luck [still looking for that box of 12" x 12" Sri yantras], but this also re-acquainted me with my DVDs And Blu-Ray discs. There were CDs in that box too, but there was no point in pulling them out, they've been ripped to Apple lossless. But my Orson Welles DVDs [and the Blu-Ray of "Touch of Evil} are movies I'd have to pay for [again] if I wanted to stream. I know that my complete Beethoven on Brilliant Classics has not been ripped, yet. There's lots of good stuff in there I'm going to extract, once I have the space. But once they're ripped, back to storage. I hear no advantage when I play back the lossless file compared to playing the CD.
Blu-rays also would deliver a higher bitrate for the film, than most streaming services would. And on the other hand, ripping your blu-rays could be impractical in terms of the storage requirement.
 

JSmith

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is it far more enjoyable to just play the original CDs on a CD player, than sending them through a separate DAC.
I don't disagree, but you can use a CD player as a transport only, outputting a digital signal via optical/coax so you don't need to use the DAC in the CD player and can take any advantage of an external DAC.



JSmith
 

ReaderZ

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Blu-rays also would deliver a higher bitrate for the film, than most streaming services would. And on the other hand, ripping your blu-rays could be impractical in terms of the storage requirement.

Very true. Blu-ray is better than current mainstream streaming, the difference is very measurable and visible. Although the latter is catching up fast.
 

Robin L

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Blu-rays also would deliver a higher bitrate for the film, than most streaming services would. And on the other hand, ripping your blu-rays could be impractical in terms of the storage requirement.
Criterion channel on my laptop looks plenty hi-def to me. Finally unboxing my hundreds of CDs, have to sort through for the discs I haven't ripped yet so far, will get rid of the rest one way or another, don't hear any difference if it's Apple lossless or a CD. Takes up space I no longer have. I've got three Blu-Ray players, FWIW.
 
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BobbyTimmons

BobbyTimmons

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Criterion channel on my laptop looks plenty hi-def to me. Finally unboxing my hundreds of CDs, have to sort through for the discs I haven't ripped yet so far, will get rid of the rest one way or another, don't hear any differenced if it's Apple lossless or a CD. Takes up space I no longer have. I've got three Blu-Ray players, FWIW.
A CD won't or shouldn't be able to sound any different from a FLAC file. But I often find listening to the CD to be more enjoyable and attention focusing, than turning on a computer and playing a FLAC (as my attention is then less likely to be solely on the music). That is how it is for me, but other people with different psychologies, have different viewpoints to my own.

As for video quality and blu-rays - the blu-ray will probably deliver a higher bitrate than most any streaming services do. This won't be noticeable on a laptop screen. For small screens, streaming is probably already an equal option for films. But if you watch films on large screens or sit very close to the screen, the difference in compression likely can start to become noticeable (although whether you find it looks worse or not will be subjective).
 
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JSmith

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My point is that I find listening to the CD to be more enjoyable and attention focusing, than turning on a computer and playing a FLAC (where my attention is less likely to be on the music).
It's the physical aspect of finding the CD, viewing the cover, opening the case and popping the disc in... similar reasons are why people like vinyl too. FLAC files on a HDD/USB don't really offer any physical engagement with the source and a physical collection has presence, as it needs space to be stored.



JSmith
 

Robin L

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It's the physical aspect of finding the CD, viewing the cover, opening the case and popping the disc in... similar reasons are why people like vinyl too. FLAC files on a HDD/USB don't really offer any physical engagement with the source and a physical collection has presence, as it needs space to be stored.



JSmith
Which for me, right now, is not in any way a virtue.
 
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BobbyTimmons

BobbyTimmons

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It's the physical aspect of finding the CD, viewing the cover, opening the case and popping the disc in... similar reasons are why people like vinyl too. FLAC files on a HDD/USB don't really offer any physical engagement with the source and a physical collection has presence, as it needs space to be stored.
Yes and I find it also relates to attention on the music, having a set intention to listen to the album, and a greater degree of inability to easily change after making the decision.

To a smaller extent, I guess it's like going to the cinema, instead of watching a film on the television at home (ignoring the difference of visual experience). When you go to the cinema, you are more committed to the film, and can't as easily change your mind, compared to channel flicking at home.

This is partly why I find it more rewarding to listen on CD than through a computer. The extra minute of effort in finding a CD, deciding to listen to it, and inserting it into the player, makes you more committed to listening to it, and you can't change your mind as easily after making the commitment to listen to that particular CD. So I find that I am doing less musical "channel hopping" compared to with FLACs.
 

restorer-john

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This is partly why I find it more rewarding to listen on CD than through a computer. The extra minute of effort in finding a CD, deciding to listen to it, and inserting it into the player, makes you more committed to listening to it, and you can't change your mind as easily after making the commitment to listen to that particular CD. So I find that I am doing less musical "channel hopping" compared to with FLACs.

Absolutely true for me too. :)
 
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