What a sad world we now live in.......

The last time I fell in love with music I’d not previously been exposed to... I was overseas. And even though I didn’t speak the language I still recognized what was a “hit.”

yes UBW.. lol

It is kind of weird to experience the extinction of a particular physical media that was once so ubiquitous.  DVDs/Blu-Rays are on a similar path too.  I'm amazed how small the movie section is at Best Buy these days.

On the other hand, it takes very little walking in any direction and these days I bump in to a record store selling vinyl.   So that's been really nice to see.

That said, while I do like to occasionally visit local record stores, I actually do most of my vinyl (and rarely, CD) purchases online.I love the ability to sample a lot of an album before buying - via discogs or youtube - even some of the most insanely obscure stuff.   It's simple to purchase and, because records are a cool physical media, I still get a thrill when it shows up at my door.  I don't really  need to go to a record store for that.

(But..I actually try to throw some of my business towards a local record store, to support it).

Go to "Presto Classical" and you ll'find a lot of the best CD-SACD of cassical and jazz music at good price.

Blind listening tests on my rig proved Tidal sounds as good and sometimes better than my ripped CDs. Innuos Zen III. My ripped CDs sounded as good as my past CD transport/dac combo....PS Audio Perfect Wave Memory Player. Ended up selling off all my CDs. Nice space saver and clutter reducer. I thought I would miss my CDs, but it turns out I never even think about CDs anymore.

Searching for new music on Tidal is like shopping online for me. I avoid the crowds, hassle and exhausting shopping experience of brick and mortar stores. More time to ride my bike 😄.

"Change is inevitable, growth is optional"
               George Maxwell

I enjoy listening to the LP's and CD's that I have, but find myself streaming music about 90% of the time. Internet radio has provided a wide range of musical options from all over the world. It sounds fine to me through my outdated streamer, through a decent DAC, to my entry level stereo system (or high end mid-fi?). I just like listening to music.