Returning to Physical Media

[techguy0192]

Over the past few months I’ve been shifting back toward physical media. The main trigger was realizing how much my phone interrupts listening sessions. Streamers require app control, and once the phone is in my hand, I end up checking Reddit, forums, or work email. It breaks the focus and turns listening into a background activity.

I tried a simple change - pick a stack of CDs, leave the phone outside the room, and listen. That alone made the sessions more enjoyable and kept me from drifting into other tasks.

Another factor is how little independent artists earn from streaming. Most of the bands I listen to don’t get mainstream attention, and they rely on touring and selling their music directly. Because of that, I now use Tidal to discover new bands, and then buy the albums directly from the artists on Bandcamp once I know I really like what I'm hearing.

Another aspect of all this is that physical media forces a more deliberate listening process. You pick an album, commit to it, and stay with it instead of bouncing around.

I sold my turntable and a lot of my vinyl several years ago, and said I wouldn’t go back. But a lot of the bands I follow release vinyl only, so I’m considering picking up another turntable. Not decided yet, but I’m thinking about it, and it's very likely to happen.

Overall, this shift has made listening more focused, relaxing, and enjoyable. I'm curious if others here have made similar changes.

 

[2FarGone]

Over the past few months I’ve been shifting back toward physical media. The main trigger was realizing how much my phone interrupts listening sessions. Streamers require app control, and once the phone is in my hand, I end up checking Reddit, forums, or work email. It breaks the focus and turns listening into a background activity.

I tried a simple change - pick a stack of CDs, leave the phone outside the room, and listen. That alone made the sessions more enjoyable and kept me from drifting into other tasks.

Another factor is how little independent artists earn from streaming. Most of the bands I listen to don’t get mainstream attention, and they rely on touring and selling their music directly. Because of that, I now use Tidal to discover new bands, and then buy the albums directly from the artists on Bandcamp once I know I really like what I'm hearing.

Another aspect of all this is that physical media forces a more deliberate listening process. You pick an album, commit to it, and stay with it instead of bouncing around.

I sold my turntable and a lot of my vinyl several years ago, and said I wouldn’t go back. But a lot of the bands I follow release vinyl only, so I’m considering picking up another turntable. Not decided yet, but I’m thinking about it, and it's very likely to happen.

Overall, this shift has made listening more focused, relaxing, and enjoyable. I'm curious if others here have made similar changes.

In my case it hasn’t mattered much. My phone rings very rarely, but even if it was more often, I’m not much tempted on the other apps since I don’t use them on my phone if at all.

 

[Buck Rogers]

My main system listening is 80% Vinyl 20% CD.

Once I find some music on U-tube it's an easy CD or LP purchase on the bay.

Just bought "The Colour of Spring" by Talk Talk, OMG what a gorgeous sounding LP~!

Beautiful pressing!

 

[jobrewer1983]

Over the past few months I’ve been shifting back toward physical media. The main trigger was realizing how much my phone interrupts listening sessions. Streamers require app control, and once the phone is in my hand, I end up checking Reddit, forums, or work email. It breaks the focus and turns listening into a background activity.

I tried a simple change - pick a stack of CDs, leave the phone outside the room, and listen. That alone made the sessions more enjoyable and kept me from drifting into other tasks.

Another factor is how little independent artists earn from streaming. Most of the bands I listen to don’t get mainstream attention, and they rely on touring and selling their music directly. Because of that, I now use Tidal to discover new bands, and then buy the albums directly from the artists on Bandcamp once I know I really like what I'm hearing.

Another aspect of all this is that physical media forces a more deliberate listening process. You pick an album, commit to it, and stay with it instead of bouncing around.

I sold my turntable and a lot of my vinyl several years ago, and said I wouldn’t go back. But a lot of the bands I follow release vinyl only, so I’m considering picking up another turntable. Not decided yet, but I’m thinking about it, and it's very likely to happen.

Overall, this shift has made listening more focused, relaxing, and enjoyable. I'm curious if others here have made similar changes.

You 10000000000000% should pick up a new table and use it!

As for going back to physical media, I left it in the early 2000s when MP3 and the iPod was getting big. Got rid of thousands of CDs. I would rip them and give them away as if I’d never need the CD again. I got back into vinyl a few decades ago, and CD slowly crept back into the rotation. About 7-10 years ago a fellow AKer gifted me a cassette deck, that sent me down the rabbit hole of cassette again.

I still have thousands of MP3 rips from CD that i play using various DAPs but I spin CD, LP and cassette more than I use Spotify anymore. Just keeps you more engaged in your gear and system and SQ all together. I will never not have physical media to play!

 

[techguy0192]

You 10000000000000% should pick up a new table and use it!

As for going back to physical media, I left it in the early 2000s when MP3 and the iPod was getting big. Got rid of thousands of CDs. I would rip them and give them away as if I’d never need the CD again. I got back into vinyl a few decades ago, and CD slowly crept back into the rotation. About 7-10 years ago a fellow AKer gifted me a cassette deck, that sent me down the rabbit hole of cassette again.

I still have thousands of MP3 rips from CD that i play using various DAPs but I spin CD, LP and cassette more than I use Spotify anymore. Just keeps you more engaged in your gear and system and SQ all together. I will never not have physical media to play!

Yes, as I mentioned many of the artist I like only release on vinyl. Looking back on when I was buying vinyl, I was buying a lot for the sake of building a collection. It was very much quantity over quality. Now, I see it as being much more purpose driven - vinyl only releases of albums that never made it to CD.

I think I would remain CD focused with vinyl as a secondary media. A lot of that probably has to due with being an older millennial, CDs and cassette were the formats I most directly experienced growing up.

All that said, I can't see myself investing as much as I did around a decade ago. The last turntable I had was the latest, at the time, Rega RP8 with the 808 tonearm and Apheta 2 cartridge. Before that table I had a Sota Sapphire with a Jelo 750 tonearm and Sounsmith Zephyr MKII. I had a Manley Chinook as my phono preamp. In hindsight, I went overkill based on my actual use.

I'm sure many people are wising they had kept their CDs. I'm glad I did. A couple of decades ago, MP3 rips were the best we could do with the storage constraints most people had to deal with back them.

 

[techguy0192]

Something else I didn't mention in the first post in this thread. I've seen music disappear from Tidal. That's a real risk for fans of independent artists, not so much for the masses that listen to Taylor Swift.

 

[cason]

I’m an old guy who never gave up physical media although I did finally give up on cassette decks and cassettes a couple of months ago.
I’ve pretty much gone “anti-subscription” of late. Everybody wants you to subscribe— then you can’t get unsubscribed. Another way for people to get their hands in your pockets.

 

[Apreggiator]

Digital only here, but I started buying digital files a while ago. Directly from artists or shops that curate and sell them.

Screw Spotify et all.
Still need to set up a dedicated Daphile player to get rid of distraction though.

That said: Even though it sees only occasional use, my secondary vinyl-only setup will never go away.

 

[RVT1K]

I haven't played vinyl in a long time -30+ years now- and gave my vinyl collection to my daughter close to ten years ago now.

Essentially everything I had on CD was also an MP3 and I found myself listening to digital files 98% of the time. So, last year, I thinned out my CD collection since all were collecting dust and most were not being played. The ones I kept were mostly albums that I listen to in their entirety as opposed to just a song or two.

I recently started exploring higher quality digital music and have downloaded a few albums in FLAC format and either 192kHz-24 bit or 96kHz-24 bit.

I don't have any kind of streaming subscription.

I use my phone as a source and installed USB Audio Player Pro to bypass the limits that Android imposes. I also have my phone set to "do not disturb" so it will not interrupt the music.

 

[dbuz]

I never gave up records and CD's, but I've been adding to my collection a lot more lately.

I picked up about 800 CD's for free a few months ago on marketplace (I could have taken a whole pallet). Tons of pop, county, classical, and Christmas music, but I did find about 50 keepers on my 1st look through.

The rest I'll either give away or list on an auction site for cheap.

 

[RunOutGroove]

Physical media seems like the least practical solution, but somehow, I can't seem to get away from it! I'm really a collector at heart, but fortunately, I mostly only collect music, so I'm not hoarding so many other things that I could. I started back in the days when LPs were the thing, so I still have those and still occasionally buy more of them, but rarely anything brand new as it seems like albums are simply cost more than they're worth these days, particularly when CDs are so cheap, are more reliable and less fragile.... and to my ears sound as least as good as LPs, if not better. I love that CDs, or at least used ones, can be found for so cheap these days. I just came upon a box of freebies and grabbed a few that looked interesting. Any that I don't end up liking, I'll either give away or trade toward some other cheap CDs at the record store. Used CDs make me feel just a little less guilty about hording physical media...

 

[Maran72]

I’ve returned to vinyl after many years absence because I missed the dedicated experience of putting on a record and just listening to it. This meant restoring my old turntable which was frustrating but ultimately rewarding. I had kept the best of my old vinyl collection, but some of the new re-issues sound really good to my ears.

 

[2FarGone]

FWIW, I can certainly understand desire on the part of some people to return to physical media. There’s a lot of uncertainty today in the music industry and elsewhere, and listening to music is important to AKers or they wouldn’t be here. Access to a good library is essential by whatever means.

Personally, I regard the convenience of streaming as a very good reason to use it, but that doesn’t have to mean via Qobuz or Tidal. Ripping to and streaming from my own server seems to offer the best of both worlds, but I still regard Qobuz as a great way to access material that I don’t happen to have in my own collection.

 

[UncleAng]

No streaming media here, LPs, CDs & radio

 

[cg123]

Over the past few months I’ve been shifting back toward physical media. The main trigger was realizing how much my phone interrupts listening sessions. Streamers require app control, and once the phone is in my hand, I end up checking Reddit, forums, or work email. It breaks the focus and turns listening into a background activity.

I tried a simple change - pick a stack of CDs, leave the phone outside the room, and listen. That alone made the sessions more enjoyable and kept me from drifting into other tasks.

Another factor is how little independent artists earn from streaming. Most of the bands I listen to don’t get mainstream attention, and they rely on touring and selling their music directly. Because of that, I now use Tidal to discover new bands, and then buy the albums directly from the artists on Bandcamp once I know I really like what I'm hearing.

Another aspect of all this is that physical media forces a more deliberate listening process. You pick an album, commit to it, and stay with it instead of bouncing around.

I sold my turntable and a lot of my vinyl several years ago, and said I wouldn’t go back. But a lot of the bands I follow release vinyl only, so I’m considering picking up another turntable. Not decided yet, but I’m thinking about it, and it's very likely to happen.

Overall, this shift has made listening more focused, relaxing, and enjoyable. I'm curious if others here have made similar changes.

My takeaway is you're doing streaming wrong. Your phone is controlling you, not unlike most people these days. I never quit physical media and still have my records I bought over the years, CDs, and cassettes. Why get rid of tangible physical recordings?? I never sold any gear. I have a WiiM Pro Plus to each of my four systems on my property with which I'm streaming stations like somehowjazz.com, rather than subscriptions. Streaming, done right, is the new FM radio. Anyone who dumped physical media for streaming made a big mistake imo. The goal is the music in all its glorious forms of which streaming is but one.

 

[Drumz1]

My main system listening is 80% Vinyl 20% CD.

Once I find some music on U-tube it's an easy CD or LP purchase on the bay.

Just bought "The Colour of Spring" by Talk Talk, OMG what a gorgeous sounding LP~!

Beautiful pressing!

You MUST be the guy from the 1980s Maxell print ad in an armchair having his hair and scarf blown back by his playback!

 

[Sansuiman]

I never abandoned physical media. I have a modest vinyl collection, a large CD collection, and a fairly decent amount of more obscure material (classical, jazz, blues) on open reel (most of which was gifted to me by an uncle who was downsizing).

I made heavy use of mp3's years ago for burned CD's in my cars, using head units that could play them. I still do in two of my vehicles that are so equipped. Consequently, I've ripped a lot of my CD's and some of my vinyl (but only a limited number of tape reels) to digital format that all resides on a RAID equipped computer (with additional backups of the entire library) that I can use for playback.

Despite that, I still enjoy the experience of using physical media. I still collect vintage CD players as I'm a gear junkie, and enjoy the challenge of repair and restoration, and then actually using them. I'm working on a Luxman DX-103 right now, and next up will most likely be a Kyocera DA-710 I have waiting in the wings.

I never did go in for steaming, YouTube has been an invaluable source for discovering and auditioning new (to me) music, that I can then decide to purchase on physical media, if I so desire. Much of my resistance to steaming is the fundamental objection to the never ending expense, with nothing to actually show for it, and no real control over the music library I curate. Streaming can - and does - pull music all the time, and besides that, I resent the ever widening proliferation of everything as a subscription. A lot of end users are rapidly discovering the downsides to that business model, and the disillusionment is setting in heavily now.

See the currently running row with Sony over their decision to kill physical copies of PlayStation games, and all the discontent online over there being too many video streaming services to afford them all. That, of course, leads inevitably to one foregoing access to some content they'd really like. Corporate greed is slowly killing steaming, just as it previously did with cable tv.

I don't know that it's so much an issue for music streaming, as there aren't as many options, and there is less need to subscribe to more than one for "exclusive" content. But if companies can find a way to screw it up and make the customer experience worse, experience hath shewn that they will do exactly that, every single time.

 

[geezin']

Streaming has taken the place of FM radio for me. I paid for a year or two and decided I could live with commercials...through the mute button.

 

[DesertRatt]

My main system listening is 80% Vinyl 20% CD.

Once I find some music on U-tube it's an easy CD or LP purchase on the bay.

Just bought "The Colour of Spring" by Talk Talk, OMG what a gorgeous sounding LP~!

Beautiful pressing!

Biggest pair of headphones I've ever seen!

 

[Bill Ferris]

FWIW, I never left owning physical media, starting with binge buying LPs in the early ~mid seventies after becoming gainfully employed after building my first decent stereo.

Had to turn in for credit towards the used, or new CD version replacement my ~100 meticulously maintained LP collection in the mid eighties after I lost the use of my left arm/hand in early Dec. of 1981 due to the real concern of the real risk of damaging them when attempting to try to extract a LP & place on the TT, and then remove for returning to their sleeve and jacket with the use of one hand.

So I gratefully embraced CDs & their players when they started becoming readily available in the mid eighties and I could start to afford to purchase replacements of the previously owned LP titles along with desired new rock, & jazz releases and + other genres that I started desiring to explore and build up a collection, and this still continues at a much lesser rate these days.

I have lossless WAV. ripped all my ~1,500 CDs + a handful of high res. purchased downloaded albums for play back of my all day music requirements externally backed up X 3 locally and duplicated at my friends house ~12 miles away.

Using 2 DAC input switchable separate 24/7/365 powered up and playing, playback devices for constant operational backup redundancy (recently purchased new HP brand bloatware stripped down Win 11 Pro OS laptop, and the OPPO universal mentioned above)... I`m going to have my totally inhouse available sourced music, come Hell or high water.

Works very well for my needs/desires since 2016.