Rumors of CD Demise Exagerated? New Hegel

I listen to all types of music except country. I have 1800 CDs that I ripped to flacs during the pandemic (probably the second or third time I've done this, started with .mp3s way back). I've made a bunch of .m3u playlists with those, and I carry them around with me, everything fits on a 1 TB m.2 SSD in an enclosure. I can listen in my car or in various homes, I have a couple of Bluesound and Eversolo setups. I throw out the jewel boxes and use DJ plastic sleeves for the cover art and disc. That allows storage of a large number of CDs in a small space. I seldom buy new CDs, instead, if I decide to collect all the works of a particular artist (just did this with Joni Mitchell and Beyonce) I know that there are guys on ebay with hundreds of thousands of CD inventory, all for $3-$4 each, so I stock up. (This may not work with more esoteric artists). Don't really care about the physical condition, as long as I can rip them with error correction that's all I need. Probably won't ever listen to the physical disc. 

I also have about 600 LPs, most of the audiophile variety. All my physical media and my good hifi system is in my country home, where I have room for storage and the ability to listen loud if I want. My other residences are in cities, there I have modest systems and just listen to flacs or Tidal and Idagio.

This is the Golden Age of music. The ability to listen to 90% of the world's music without financial risk is truly incredible. I remember when I was a kid back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, you'd read a review of a new album, or hear about something from a friend, or an artist you'd like just released a new album, and you'd trudge down to Sam Goody's, or E.J Korvettes (you can tell I'm a New Yorker) in search of the album, which you maybe could or could not find. Then you'd get home and give a listen and decide you really didn't care much for the album after all. Too bad, it's in your collection unless you can swap or resell it. 

Nowadays you can use streaming services to audition whatever you read about, and only buy what you are truly in love with. Oh, and no more back to Sam Goody's on Monday to exchange the defective LP either. lol.

I use Tidal for popular music and Idagio for classical. I try and keep up with the kids and see what's new or hot. If it sounds like I might like it, I build Tidal playlists of 25 songs each, and listen to each playlist extensively, weeding out the ones I don't like. I get initial recommendations from my daughter and her friends, the NY Times (which really does a good job curating music), the grammy awards, the various 'best songs of 202x' lists put out, etc etc. And believe it or not, the NY Times obituary announcements. Often a well known musician will pass, especially if s/he's from another part of the world, but it turns out I knew nothing about them. I can go on Tidal and check them out. 

I can't imagine not having my physical media as backup, if nothing else, but the thirty bucks a month I pay for two high quality streaming services is barely the cost of a couple of CDs. If a musician's music speaks to me in such depth that I would be heartbroken if they left streaming, I'll buy it to make sure.

It's a blended approach that works well for me. 

There is absolutely no need for many items to end up in a Landfill, it is an 'easy out' for the Human to discard and not maintain or repurpose. As a Species the Human in general is very contented in their endorsing methods that are a speedy route for   the poisoning of the environment that is so critical for sustaining them.

Such an attitude is one that is unique to the Human, especially where it is showing their ability to be extremely easily influenced. When this influencing relates to the Human in pursuit of Pleasure, there is no limits. Without any thought of consequences, a Human will behave in a self serving manner.

The most basic display will be for the Premature Superseding of the usage of a satisfactory functioning product with the latest gizmo. These knee jerk reactions are the Coals on the fire, to create a market for alternatives that really really don't offer anything of an improvement. 

For a very limited number, the Forum becomes the place to Justify why change was vital and such an important pursuit. The Forum also becomes the place where others are exposed to being encouraged to carry out making substantial change as a means to progress in their pursuit of pleasure. 

I stream most of my music out of convenience.  For the most part the medium sounds very nice with hi resolution material. I still have enough CDs to justify owning a good CD player, so I use the Naim CDi that I inherited from my late Dad.

It's a great sounding player that is now about 30 years old.  Since I rarely listen to CDs I liken its use to that of a vintage automobile, which gets well taken of and used sparingly. 

I own a Bespoke Built DAC (my first owned DAC) and a used purchase PWA CDT (my only owned CDP or CDT).

I have built a CD Collection over recent years, of which the majority are used purchases.

I have the option to convert these to Files to be stored and used as a Source Material, but this method as of yet has not got my attention as a Main Source to be used as Parity with the other Sources. 

Prior to Digital I was solely using a Vinyl LP as the Source and have a collection that spans over 40 years.

My Turntable of choice is today 40 Years Old from initial production, and there are other ones owned that extend back to earlier production dates.

The Tonearm of choice is similar in age to the Turntable.

The Cartridge of choice, is 20 years Old from initial production.

All Three Items are treated with designs incorporated from the  modern era using materials that will not have been available and most likely not used on these models at their time of production. 

Not at any time have I felt there is something amiss in the periods of time set aside for recorded music replays.

Not at any time have I felt the need to discard and start over, selecting for use, the most recent made available Source Material or Ancillaries used to replay any type of Source Material. 

I do remain open minded and am regularly experiencing and learning about the latest technologies, none of the experiences to date have been too convincing, and older Technologies are for myself well worth maintaining.     

I begin transfering cd long time ago...

I never kept them after that... I had two big hard drive to protect for the accidental lost of one...One connected the other not connected ...

For sure nuclear explosions with EMF will grill my computers... A micronova too... But being there at my age i will not need music anymore ... 😊

i put all my money in music albums not in audio gear... Then i owned 10,000 albums not few hundreds...

Try to put them in a room with 5 thousand books ... And who can afford books and music with a costly audio system in a dedicated room anyway ? Not me...I choose books and music and created my own dedicated room with a low cost audio system but a very good one...

Against the approving nod of purist turntable collectors, i collected files.... i ripped all my cd losless long ago and all the new one or buy files...

I read on an ereader now with only my core 500 extraordinary paper irreplaceable  books which for most of them are not in pdf file anyway ...I read science and philosophy...

Less is always better, especially if like me you need always more than most... it is a paradoxical teaching for sure... I will let you decipher it... 😊