Digital vs CD vs Vinyl - what do you prefer?

[HANIAK]

Just wandering what's the general preference nowadays between digital albums, CDs or Vinyl... or even cassette tape!

What do you prefer and why?


I am a big fan of CDs, but since they take loads of space I'm now getting into digital albums. Plus it feels awesome buying and keeping a virtual library at bandcamp!

 

[thrsher]

cds all the way

i just re-alphabetized the collection, each book hold 520. all purchased, no burned copies. sucks that artist are going strictly digital but i completely understand.

 

[GRUNTKOR]

Vinyl > CD > MP3/FLAC etc > Cassette

 

[Chiba666]

Vinyl>CD>MP3.

Most of my purchases are MP3 these days but got to love Vinyl, got over 100 now.

 

[celticelk]

I've never been into vinyl. I prefer CDs from an archiving perspective, and because I'm a sucker for good notes, but the vast majority of my purchases now are MP3 for convenience in delivery and storage.

 

[Baelzebeard]

I have a few vinyls, but other than that I am CD only. I'm such a Luddite, I've never purchased digital only. I was hoping they would standardize on a new hidef physical format like DVD-A. Boo-hoo for me .

Cassette was a garbage format...good riddance.

 

[Winspear]

CD. Love CDs.
My reason for that is I like to own a physical, and a CD is a 100% digitally accurate, convenient copy.
Sure vinyl might sound nice (depending on the setup, I don't know much techs of it) but really I just want to hear exactly what was in the recordig studio, so CD for me.
I only buy digital when it's the only thing available. I will always get a CD when possible. I hate the idea of buying digital if physical is available - just doesn't make sense to me, though I know that's somewhat unjustified.

I am somewhat confused as to why vinyl is the 'trend'. I can't wait until there is a trend for a convenient accurate format again - hopefully Bluray (96khz 48bit). Some artists, particularly classical recordings, are being released this way with great reception. Having recently got a Bluray drive I want to get hold of some.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Depends on pricing and the quality of any "goodies" that come with it.

For instance, I'm more willing to shell out $$ for vinyl if it's a legitimately limited pressing, comes with stickers, patches, posters, is signed and numbered, etc. compared to a plain old CD with limited liner notes. On the flip side, I'm not going to happily pay $$ for a digital copy that's only the music.

Typically, I buy in large batches (save on shipping, smaller labels throw in some cool stuff on large orders) or through pre-orders and I'll pick the package that suits my needs the best. If I'm just getting a "collection completer" I'll grab the cheapest option, if it's something me and my better half listen to on the regular around the house I'll get a nice vinyl and/or a CD for flexability and frequency of play.

I have no preference from a quality point of view.

 

[Demiurge]

For the most part, I buy CDs because it provides a convenient physical copy with the ability to rip a digital copy if need be.

I like vinyl, too, but not really for audiophile purposes, I guess. Sometimes it's nice to be able to sit back and listen to music as one's primary activity. Obviously, you can do that with any format, but with CDs, iPods, etc. it becomes so easy to take music on the go that it becomes a situation where the only time we listen is while we're on the go, having it on while busy doing something else. You can't drag a record player out on errands, to the gym, to work, or into the car for a soul-crushing commute. It forces you to make time for the music, which is really nice.

 

[Azathoth43]

I prefer AAC. I pretty much use iTunes for all my music purchases anymore. I've done double blind tests before and haven't heard any appreciable difference between a wide range of different formats. Plus the last few years I've been going more for a very minimalist lifestyle and it's very appealing to not have a bunch of CD's or LP's cluttering my space.

 

[poopyalligator]

I will always buy CDs and vinyl. I feel cheated if I don't have something physical in my hands. Plus I love limited edition stuff and a lot of the cool goodies you get when you preorder things.

 

[Xaios]

I have no preference from a quality point of view.

This. I don't claim to be able to hear "the space between the sound" or whatever justification some people use to keep buying vinyl. 99.9% of people cannot tell the difference between vinyl and 16-bit 44.1khz CD audio, and if they say that they can, they're lying. There is some appreciable compression once you get down into lower bitrates of MP3 encoding, but you can only really hear it in music that has lots of subtle nuances in the background.

As such, it's all about convenience. I used to buy all CDs, but I've finally convinced myself it's okay to buy digital, because I don't really care that much about merch.

 

[The Uncreator]

CD/Vinyl (depending on artist/music). I can hear a distinct different between digital rips and download versions over a physical CD. CD wins every time.

I also love to collect CD's.

 

[Narrillnezzurh]

CD/Vinyl (depending on artist/music). I can hear a distinct different between digital rips and download versions over a physical CD. CD wins every time.

I also love to collect CD's.

Strictly speaking, there is no difference between a properly ripped lossless audio file and CD playback. Any difference in the two you hear has to do with either the quality of the rip or the compression on the file.

I do all my listening with FLACs, but I like to buy the CDs and rip them myself so I can ensure their quality.

 

[The Grief Hole]

Vinyl all the way. I love having the bigger front cover and pouring over the details as I listen. A well put together vinyl package is a splendid thing (ooh! Vicar!).

IMO vinyl does have a very different sound to CD (not better per say, just different) but you need a great set up to hear it. I find death metal etc. is much clearer on vinyl. Just one asshole.. Sorry, opinion, though.

 

[coffinwisdom]

I only buy vinyl just to have it. I don't even have a turntable I just consider them art and a souvenir for being a fan

 

[TRENCHLORD]

Fullest warmest most enveloping sound IMO is had by taking the CD and recording it through a high quality dolby deck onto a typeII cassette. Sounds better/fuller than the original studio cassette.
Yes there's that tiny background hiss always with cassettes, but I only notice it between songs.
But what a holy undurable pain in the ass cassettes tapes are lol.

CDs all the way for me.

 

[Gunnar]

I love limited pressings, cool colours, and interesting records released on vinyl. Vinyl definitely wins for me, it's so nice having the cool artwork and physical copy(Sunbather by Deafheaven) and it "forces" me to listen to the album from start to finish. With Vinyl I find myself just listening, where as mp3's I tend to listen while browsing the forum or facebook or something.

 

[Winspear]

I'm really looking forward to building a display wall for my CD collection also Just a row of discrete slightly lipped shelves, to have all my CD's laid out in a big square.
These string ones are pretty neat too

 

[Nats]

Even on my mom's old ass record player there's a punch and life in vinyl audio that just can't be replicated from cd. But I guess digital is my preferred since I just stick everything on an ipod and go about my day.