Has iTunes, etc. impacted your listening habits?

I have listened to music on a decent-to-good rig for as long as I can remember, save about 10 years when my kids were young, money was short and I had very little time. So, iTunes / computer-based servers hasn't changed the fact that I listen a lot, but it definitely has changed the way I listen.

I love the spontaneity of a song just "coming on", and putting a music server on random play does just that. It is easy to filter the possible songs down to the mood of the moment. It's also easy to find a specific album or artist. I haven't taken it this far, yet, but all the talk of liner notes on albums always makes me think about all the information that can be linked to the music - cover art, reviews, descriptions, song listings - basically anything you could want to know. Put it up on a TV, a computer monitor, a handheld remote.

I believe it is pretty easy to set up, and I think there are few, if any, sonic penalties to such a setup, assuming an excellent DAC. As others have said, you get rid of walls of CD racks, which you may or may not find desirable.

I still have racks of CDs, but don't keep anywhere near my whole collection "on display". I have CD binders of CDs I would likely never listen to standalone. As somebody else said, HD space is cheap, so when I buy one 500Gb HD, I buy two, and always keep a backup.

It is cheaper, more functional and more flexible. If I'm giving up a smidgeon of absolute sound quality, and I'm not convinced I am, it is easily worth it.

Not a iTunes guy, but Pc audio in general has impacted my listening for the better! Others have already stated why..no need to go there. Sound wise ..unless the setup isn't ideal. It's hard for me to understand why anyone would think HD music would be inferior to spinning a disc..I simply do not hear it..if anything HD music sounds better IME. I like that fact you can change the sound on the fly with equalization or just by changing dacs.

To the original poster -- the answer isn't upgrades to "the big rig". It's connecting your computer to the big rig. Look at the squeezebox, for example. And start ripping in a lossless format, if you aren't already!

1800+ CD's ripped in lossless and counting. I have an external DAC hooked up to my PC (near silent} which drives a pair of mono's and some ERA Design4 speakers with a small subwoofer. I do 90% of my listening at the computer these days. When I get the urge to listen on the big rig it's through a Bolder modified Squeezebox2 with the ultimate power supply. The SB2 is sooo good that I dumped my reference SACD/CD player. I use a WiFi PDA to control the SB2 and select tracks/CD's. Also, I can carry the PDA with me when I'm listening through the whole house system.

It's so convenient to have you entire collection at your finger tips. You find yourself listening to things that you normally wouldn't. And, it's great to put it in shuffle mode when working around the house. I'll never go back to a single CD player.

Yes, I do keep the CD's as a backup.

yes thats why you need to invest in a music server such as the cambridge audio. has an audiophile cd playre uses wolfson dacs and is a great choice when you cant get you ass off the couch