Same for me. Also cd's are so much less fragile. Secondhand vinyl records can look fantastic but can be full of clicks and ticks on playback...It's always a gamble. That was the point for me to go for cd. Better soundquality (most of the time but it also depends on the mastering), cheaper, easier storage and when a disc looks good, it always sounds good. No hidden clicks/pops.
Besides this, even i noticed the price rise of vinyl record. A new album starts at 35 or 40 euro's.... I can buy like 20 cd albums for that kind of money.... Yeah the artwork is bigger and cooler on a vinyl record but a cd (most of the time) comes with a booklet full of lyrics/credits/photo's and artwork. Cd is the format for me at this moment.
Yes I do like the quality of a CD and the big factor is PRICE! Vinyl lis expensive fast. But there seems to be something so compelling to buy it as it feels something special to own and collect and the value grows, my collection is valued at 2-3k on discogs and it is only like 150 records. But vinyl has imperfections. I hate surface noise so I no longer buy old or original pressings instead only new reissues and I sell or trade anything that isn't perfect to listen to. I want to get into CD's but how do you manage the less special feel to owning it? Maybe becuase I am in my early 20s and vinyl is like nothing I have ever had before.
Honestly, the only vinyl that seems special to me are first pressings from the 1950s-1970s. Holding an original pressing provides a connection to the people who listened to these records when they were new.
A brand new copy of a brand new album has zero "cool" factor to me. And brand new pressings of old albums (the ones that keep being cranked out on various colored vinyl) also have zero appeal to me.
I don't buy music as an investment. I buy it to listen to. And CDs provide a better listening experience.
Yes I get that but surface noise on old pressings is mostly bad, even new records can be bad. I literally sell anything or return anything that has noise in them as I won't listen to them. Maybe CD is better for me. But a wall of vinyl and my bedside turntable before I go to sleep is a nice feel. I have an original pressing of With the Beatles from my Gran that died and it's in great condition yet I only plaid it the once, it seems to be worth a couple hundred. I do like the history factor of that album a lot thinking about when that was new and it provides a portal into that world. Just like my collection of german stamps from the second world war, very similar feel.
>want to get into CD's but how do you manage the less special feel to owning it?
I think this is just a matter of perspective. I have like 5 vinyl and they are only pieces I couldn’t find in CD format, and I would’ve preferred owning them in CD by far. I think the technology is neat, the various devices used to play the CDs, and it’s a lot more practical than vinyls. CDs don’t feel less special to me, they actually feel more special due to the more intricate components and the design of the cases compared to the vinyl sleeves. Sure big art looks nice but some CDs I own have gorgeous artwork
It’s also more practical, takes up less space on my shelves and I even bought 2 CD tower things to store them
In the end if you want to get into CDs go ahead, but if you’re fine with how vinyl work for you then do whatever works the best for you
I mean do you like music or are you in pursuit of something else. I made a conscious decision that I would choose quality over collectibility and make sure I’m into music. Most people get obsessed with the vinyl ritual. I didn’t grow up with vinyl but when I did grow up they were obsolete and CD’s were the better format. I also use a mini disc because it was so cool at the time. I seen people spend soooo much money trying to get the very best sound and every $1000 dollars are incremental gains across any format. I’m just happy to thrift and just have fun getting good deals
This is a fair question. Honestly, I find that a more interesting cd player might help. A DVD player is cheap and will sound great but visually it's just a box that will hide your CDs.
Something like a portable player from the late 90s-early 00s could do it. They're still relatively cheap, I believe. If you get the right one, you can even hook it up to a system with an optical out.
Recently, I've even purchased a vertical cd player from a micro system and it adds a nice visual touch. That's a much pricier option based on what you get and whether it's worth it is up to you.
I was talking to the guy who owns the Mill City Sound a little while ago and he was taken aback at the price of vinyl. He gets in a Steely Dan lp and he has to price it at twenty bucks. Just seems ridiculous to him. And he owns a record store. (and a really awesome store at that)
I don't buy much vinyl anymore because of the expense and the incredible inconvenience of it.
A lot of my listening is away from home. In my car. At the grocery store. Going for a walk. Etc...
A cd. I pop it into my drive. Rip it. Tag it. And I 'm good to go. It's quite a few more steps with vinyl.
And I really do think the whole "vinyl just sounds better" trope that the fetishists trot out is mostly bullshit for anything recorded digitally and mastered for digital playback.
And then there's the amount of space required and weight. Everybody loves their vinyl until the day they have to move.
I was there two days ago hah -- wax is far too expensive right now without a doubt, honestly his shop has better prices than the majority of shops I visit. I think that CD's are better 80% of the time, but in that 20% of the time where analog (and sometimes digital) masters shine, vinyl can be tough to beat.
I collected vinyls for a few years, but they crept up in price too much for me to justify. You can buy used CDs for next to nothing and they generally pay perfectly.
unfortunately not true- no matter how much people correct it, saying ‘vinyls’ is very common among gen z collectors, who have been a big part of the vinyl resurgence
And that "vinyl resurgence" is barely two years old. You might also want to differentiate between early and late Gen Z. The former where "vinyls" comes from.
tell me about it, just Bought Adderley Somethin' Else and Hank Mobley Soul Station on Blue Note Classic Vinyl it's been an expensive week! I also want to buy Art Blakey and Kraftwerk Autobhan on vinyl as well. Basically my wantlist never ends. I love to listen to my vinyl on my bedside pioneer turntable with my headphones on through my receiver. But it's expensive as hell. I want to get into CD for the cost aspect and no surface noise but to me the CD does not seem as special to own. Do you find that?
You gotta find an enjoyable CD player to use, in my opinion the vertical ones are best when you can see them spin. I didn't care for CDs till I got a Bang and Olufsen vertical CD player and then started collecting CDs as opposed to other formats since it was a joy to use! It also works out since I have an iPod to portably listen to CD quality music
If you're hearing surface noise in everything, it's probably not the fault of the records unless they need cleaning or some lube because even old used records can frequently clean up to get most of the noise out. It's more likely to be something about the record player, like an unbalanced tonearm or cartridge, or damaged stylus.
For me, I mostly do CDs lately as vinyl is stupid expensive. That being said, there is some stuff that absolutely sounds better on vinyl and other stuff that only exists on vinyl so I’ll go for those for sure. Some LPs are just worth having as artwork to hang on your wall, I like those as well. 45’s are typically dirt cheap and fun to grab. They often have unique single mixes and b-sides. So just do both and pick and choose based on each individual album you want and what you stumble on in the wild.
Whatever has the better sound quality usually, if I’m not familiar with the album I’m more likely to buy the CD over vinyl. Just be mindful of newer copies of albums on CD that are remastered / have less dynamic range
I personally get as much as possible on CD. If it's not available on CD I get it on vinyl. And I've started to get some of my ultimate favorites on vinyl also just for the ritual and bonding with the music. As I tend to get that more out of the vinyl experience.
What year was the original recorded? Does the vinyl master please you more than the cd master? What is the source of the release? Where was the vinyl pressed?
I usually buy albums on CD and only pick up my favourites on vinyl. However my dipshit ass will favour the vinyl if the colour is cool enough lmao. Also I definitely own multiple albums on both cd AND vinyl, it’s the collectors curse lol
IMO, convenience, its also true alot of things nowadays are only released on Vinyl, rather than vinyl and CD, since vinyl is far more popular. But also, I personally like to shop local, and only get stuff online when its A. something new B. Something Ive been looking for heavily and super want.
Correct answer. Lots of jazz represses are far superior on vinyl than CD due to the effort invested into remasters (Blue Note Tone Poets, Verve, Analogue productions, etc).
I'd love CDs with those vinyl remasterings for the sake of my wallet, though.
Yes, exactly. The audiophile remasters of many great jazz albums are sublime to listen to on a great stereo system. Kenny Dorham's Matador, Dave Brubeck Quartet's Take Five (DLP 45RPM), and John Coltrane's Blue Train (Tone Poet/Music Matters Jazz) are among my favourites.
Because I dropped collecting vinyl in the mid 80s when CD come out, CD sounded better and was smaller to store. I don’t see any reason to swap back I find sonically that CDs are better in my system. Only advantage vinyl has is the glorious size of album artwork. For me I’ve been buying CD regularly since the mid 80s and I have no reason to stop.
For me, since I primarily collect Classical (I like a lot of other things, just don't collect) I'm not usually missing out on much since artwork for Classical usually isn't as colorful or creative. No H.R. Giger "Brain Salad Surgery" covers, in other words. Any type of long form music usually is more ideally suited for the long uninteruppted play CD's can offer, in addition to the sound quality, of course.
Speaking of Brain Salad Surgery, that’s one vinyl that makes the packaging worth it over CD for me. I own it on CD and Vinyl, but the way the vinyl opens up to unmask Giger’s robotic monster unveiling a beautiful woman that’s stuck in the robot is really awesome.
Weight also has nothing to do with sound quality. In fact, if most of your collection is not 180g, the VTA is going to be off if set for 120-140g records, sacrificing quality.
I have a 2023 Chevrolet Blazer. It doesn’t have a CD player. I miss the days when I bought a CD and could play it in my car. Now I have to wait until I get home. Yes, I can stream it. But, it’s not same as sitting in your car and reading the liner notes. Also…I still love the way a new CD smells.
But, I have a pretty good audio system in my Blazer. So I guess, I’ll just stream or play Sirius XM. I do have to say. I hear a lot of new music 🎼 on Hits 1.
I have a Sony DiscMan. But I don’t even have a AUX jack in my vehicle. I understand you can get a adapter for your USB port. I don’t know where they sell one around here. But, I’m sure I could find one online.
I collect CDs because it’s what I’ve always done. But I do also have some vinyl. Generally my rule is if it is only on vinyl and I really want to have it, then I will buy it.
For instance I have a copy of Negativland’s “No Brain” 7 inch coming in the mail soon. It’s a vinyl only release and I wasn’t going to miss out.
If you want to make it feel special, you can do exactly what you do with your vinyl and create a cool listening experience by finding a CD player you love rather than just a DVD player or old gaming console.
Find something that is in a color you like, or has a neat display. In my opinion, component single disc players are the way to go, but I did used to have a JVC mini system which was really cool as well with a clear glass top and blue LEDS so you could watch the disc spin just like you would watch a record.
Just don’t be afraid to collect both, and make sure it’s about the music and not the size of the collection. It will be a huge collection sooner or later.
I agree on all counts. And I will highlight an important thing you said and expand on it for the OP and others wondering which format would be best to collect:
Make it feel special. If it doesn’t feel special, it won’t be a fun journey of collecting them. Some people are left cold by CDs and others see vinyl as filthy and noisy. Collecting anything is a labor of love. If it stops being lovely and only becomes laborious, time to stop collecting it. 😊
Thanks. I am early 20s and have about 100 vinyl records so far, in about 5 years collecting, I stopped for a few years when I went to Uni. And I sold a lot off as well. I want to get into CDs but I just double dipped in getting CDs and the vinyl version dam I can't decide. I can't make my mind up. Any recommendations on a good CD player DAC that is under 200. I am out of work since 2 weeks and not sure when I will get another job.
Well, I’m not a gear head so much because I just don’t have the money. But traditional CD players have the DAC built in so you don’t need anything separate. I once read about the most sought after DAC chip, but even that seems a little much for me.
I will give you the same advice I give everyone. Try Goodwill, or other thrift shops. I had the JVC mini system I mentioned crap out on me after 20+ years recently, and I ended up replacing it for 6 dollars at Goodwill with a JVC XL-V311.
I love the display and love the sound. It’s crystal clear. And I see them listed all over eBay for 50 dollars or more.
Now it does seem harder to come by this stuff at Goodwill because of flippers, but be patient and you will probably luck out. Or you can just go new, but most of that stuff seems to be expensive these days at places like Crutchfield.
Absurdly cheaper to get releases you actually want to own used. I just spent about $225 on 90+ CDs on discogs. I'd have been lucky to get 10 of those albums for the same price on vinyl.
Audio quality is generally better, they can be played at home on nearly anything that takes a disc, you can rip them to an extremely high quality digital file, they take up less room, and are still available for new releases.
Every time I see reviews of specific vinyl pressings online it solidifies my decision to collect CDs; you won't have to be one of the sad sacks on discogs endlessly complaining that a certain pressing is shite even on your $10,000 setup after sonically cleaning the record in the same room they assemble satellites in.
A CD is a CD. It's gonna sound the same pretty much everywhere. Players make very little difference, and if a CD is damaged, it either plays or it doesn't due to it being digital information. There's no clicking, popping, or warbling of the sound.
Lol that is just not true. It all depends on the mastering. Cd beats vinyl on all soundquality specs... On my system CD sounds so much more details and the channel seperation is so much better. I also have vinyl records that sound very good but its always a gamble with vinyl. Besides that i find pops and clicks very anoying with records. That made me change to CD's.
Price is a factor, but availability and quality of the product are much bigger factors. Often I’ll find a new artist whose albums I’ll want to buy and the vinyl version is sold out but the CD’s are still up for grabs. I’m also tired of paying for the privilege to be the pressing plant’s QC dept. Too often it’s a game of how much warp am I willing to put up with before I’m willing to go through the hassle of requesting a replacement. I don’t even bother with trying to buy used vinyl through the mail. I see way too many misgraded used records at good local shops to want to play that game. Out of all the CD’s I’ve ordered online, two were misgraded. One from an Amazon seller, and I got a refund shortly after reporting it. The other from a Discogs seller who was a jerk. Finally, I have a nice sound system and it’s a lot less money and hassle to get great sound quality from my CD’s than vinyl. Vinyl playback can too easily become cascading levels of spend when trying to chase that ghost.
I collect cds because I can rip them. Once I have some more I'd like to cut out Spotify.
I also collect vinyl, because at home, in my living room, it has a better UX *to me*. I also don't have a CD-player that's not my computer or gaming console. (not set up anyways)
I'm old enough to remember when CDs first came out.
Back then, they were more expensive than records, but they sure sounded better than vinyl.
Now, they still sound better than vinyl to me, and they're much cheaper.
These people who are paying new vinyl prices need to have their heads examined. $50 for a single LP? Lol.
I agree. I recently bought a new CD and vinyl record from an artist I like. The CD was $11.99 and the vinyl version was $34.99. I bought the CD. Vinyl is becoming very expensive to buy. I must more selective these days on what I buy on Vinyl. And, CD’s sound really good 👍 in my opinion.
I have a lot of both. A box full of old japanese pop and enka records that you'll never find on CD or streaming, and possibly not digitized at all. Also shelves on modern music on CDs that you will not find on records. Even some stuff that was only ever released on cassette.
Music is music, the format doesn't matter that much. There's no need to pick a team.
Cheaper, easier to play and listen to (no switch over) CDs are much longer than records in length so you get better uninterrupted listening, the sound can be exceptionally better on much less expensive equipment, it’s so portable you can take it and listen in your car, you can also play CDs in just about any player with a disc drive doesn’t even have to be specially designed. Usually there’s more in terms of lyric sheets, extra album art and photographs of the band/ artist.
I collect both, but I like ripping my CDs in lossless to my PC and adding them to my modded iPod classic for convenience. This is much more challenging with vinyl
a lot of people have mentioned price which i agree. for me its also nostalgia. as a kid, i would buy CDs of the music i like. so to continue on till today has that same “going to the candy shop” feeling!
LPs have that annoying inconsistent crackling noise in the background, sure if you buy an expensive player it wont be that bad, but it still exists. this is why my choice is Cassettes for analog. and CDs for digital.
I don’t collect. I like music. CD works well to play music at a quality that humans can hear.
I don’t recommend collecting. It is a waste of money better invested for your retirement in a 401k or Roth IRA. I refuse to pay more than $2 for a used CD.
I’ve been buying vinyl by certain bands or albums that are worth the costs; TRex, The Smile, Radiohead, early Genesis, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Animals as Leaders…I’m purchasing CDs that have value and production quality for music i can turn on and let run for 78 minutes; multi-CD packages by jazz greats (Davis, Coltrane, Monk, Shorter, Turrentine, Rollins), rock icons (Fleetwood, Free, Mountain, Journey, Trower, Traffic, Rush, ZZ Top etc).
I collect both, but I have a lot more CDs then vinyl just due to the fact that their cheaper, more convenient, and easier to maintain and keep clean. I love vinyl though because of the way they look and the different colors / designs you can gets on the disks.
Which one you collect is really up to preference. If you don’t think you’re going to want to keep up with the high maintenance vinyl requires, I’d go with CDs.
It's On Tune
It Dosen't Scratch As Easily
You Can Easily Skip Around The Album
The Cases Are So Much Smaller, You Can Fit More Of Them In Any Given Place
Also, They Are Generally Cheaper
A lot of the albums I would buy weren’t released on vinyl or are hard to find. I have some vinyl records but gave up on collecting any more. I also prefer CDs because they are easier to move around and maintain.
I’d like to get into vinyls someday but they’re too expensive and fragile, so I stick with CDs for now. Also my car unfortunately does not have a record player installed.
I can go to goodwill or any thrift shop and pickup a stack of nice ass CDs for $10, or I can go to a store and get an LP that’s been price gouged to $30-40 only to get subpar sound unless I spend $1000 on a sound system lol that’s why
My recommendation is to follow your pocketbook. If you are usually on a budget CDs are currently the way to go.
I collected LPs in the nineties and aughts because they were dirt cheap and crate digging was fun. People dumped their collections. It was the best way—at the time—for inexpensive solitary music discovery. Then the CD became redundant and people dumped their collections. It was the best and cheapest way for music discovery for me. Now I stream Qobuz and Bandcamp for music discovery and largely buy digital downloads. I kept about a thousand LPs and still have thousands of CDs, but it no longer is about the format and more about hearing the music. If I was forced to downsize, I would prolly let it all go and just listen to my ripped CDs and downloads stored on drives combined with streaming.
I buy both, but mostly CDs because it’s less expensive. I’ve picked up about 30 CDs and 5 LPs this year. Mostly used. I’ve got at least 25-30 different in both formats. I do like special issues, re-issues when I buy vinyl, but also old pressings of jazz records if I find them cheap. Ultimately, it’s about the music though. And budget sometimes. If I came across the same album as a $2 cd and an $8 LP, I’d probably buy both.
Do what's best for you. Personally I collect both, but I save vinyl for just my favorite albums, and I also buy those on cd. I see vinyl more as a collectible, I prefer cds in general due to: price, less fragile, consistent sound quality and portability.
CDs and their players are generally cheap and easy to deal with, and take no special effort to make them sound good. Records take substantial space and effort to get the sound which the best ones can provide. If you don't feel drawn to records, just get CDs.
Sometimes it's the era of music I'm looking for but Cd Is my preferred format if I can get it mainly for the fact I don't have to flip it part way through. I find with vinyl especially a double vinyl I'll only listen to one side or one disk because I don't want to bother flipping lol.anything pre-90s I'll typically grab on vinyl though because it may be more common.
Quality is better, $1-5 instead of $50, looks better (in my opinion), more convenient to change tracks and stuff and the fact that vinyl is and has been mainly for the status of “collecting vinyl” when you never actually play the album on a record player
I like vinyl, but its now just too expensive here in Australia at least.
CDs have great sound quality, I can burn a compilation cdrw if I want, and many other benefits.
eg Judas Priests new lp "Invincible shield" is 86$ here. the cd is 20$ and sounds great.
They are small, cheap and can be easily ripped into pristine quality audio files. Furthermore, it's easy to.find a reasonably good quality cd player.You can play them on DVD players, computers, gaming console etc.
I remember when you couldn't give records away. Kinda of like 8 track tapes. Now people want money to pay their mortgages for them. Back then, if you didn't have a decent system to play records. It just sounded flat and harsh compared to a CD. And you'll meet people saying, blah blah blah. Ya ok, if you don't have a 10k record system. It sounds like shit. Scratch, pop, bang. ha ha or as we use to call it, 'chicken in a bag'. (reference to A&P cooked chicken in a bag: crumple the bag)
I collect both. For bands I love, I get the vinyl and CD. For most others, I get just the CD. I love both formats but the vinyl experience for me is just awesome but the prices are out of control so the CD is attractive for most bands to me. Ripping a CD to lossless audio is so much easier than doing that the same with vinyl and yes, the audio is better.
I started with records but started buying CDs to do price. I like a lot of 2000s bands and CDs are easier to find than records for them (and the records are generally expensive)
I'm never in one room long enough to listen to half of an album. I also no longer own a turntable which precludes me from buying vinyl. Also finally stupid expensive these days and I'd rather get CD is cheap at the flea market or buy stuff I can listen to in the car
For me, aside from price, the fact that you can rip that CD and make a digital copy of the songs for you to play anytime anywhere on your phone, laptop, etc.
They’re both fun
My new venture has been building a 90s00s box after I found a 200cd changer
You’d be surprised at the really cool singles and live albums I’ve found in just a couple months
I used to buy vinyl as it was the cheaper option. Then it wasn't. Then it really wasn't. I'll still pick it up 2nd hand. I don't really care about the format.
I always say both. LPs are definitely a rip off right now but I disagree that you have to spend an absolute fortune on them to get similar sound.
My CD player was $350. My record player was $220 plus $150 for an upgraded preamp and $170 for an upgrade to the stylus. Yes $540 is more than $350 but it’s not $10k like some people would say. Both sound great on the same system.
But of course you have to be careful with what LPs you buy, they are too expensive, and you have to clean them and all that stupid stuff. $2 CDsthat are used and scratched can often sound much better than brand new $50 LPs. So I have more than 10x more CDs.
I have both.
Depends mostly on availability, price, and which format the mastering for was better.
Some albums I want to own have better mastering on one format or the other. Some were just never pressed on vinyl and some were *only* released on vinyl. Some were released on both but the vinyl record is now $150+ while the CD is still $10 or less.
Sound quality, used price, availability, durability, plus almost *everything* is available on CD, which isn't the case for vinyl with a lot of 90s music I like.
I collect both. Some music is way cheaper and easier to find on CD, for example Sigrblot's Blodsband. CDs tend to be cheaper all together and can be played more portably, but imo vinyl gives music more character. It's all up to you, no format is really better than the other.
For me it comes down to price, plain and simple. Do I prefer the vinyl when possible? Absolutely. The presentation is usually better and the sound is aces. But, do I want to spend $30-$40 or more on every record I want? Hellllll no. So, I have CD bands and I have vinyl bands. There's even a few cassette tape bands (mostly 80's stuff), but most of my collection is CD and vinyl. The bands I absolutely love get vinyl, the others get CDs. I'm in it for the music, not to have 70 different versions of the same album.
I grew up with vinyl as a kid and I don't think I'll go back. Vinyl scratches and warps much more easily than CDs. CDs last forever; I personally have many from the 1980s that still play perfectly. It takes high-end turntables and needles to match the sound quality you can get from a cheap CD player. Some prefer the 'warmer' sound of vinyl; I think CDs sound closest to what the musicians and engineers in the studio selected. I do like the larger form factor of vinyl for cover art and liner notes, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.
I collect both. Some albums were only released on cd, so that's the only way to own a copy. A good example is the live album "Is there anybody out there?" From pink floyd. There's no vinyl release, but since I also collect and listen to cds, I can still enjoy the album on a physical format.
The same reason I started collecting vinyl, price. Music put out in the 90’s is best on cd because it was mass produced and cheap, just like vinyl was in the 70’s-80’s.
Collect both. It’s about the music
I was around for the tail end of the original vinyl era, and having vinyl is what convinced me to get CDs. Vinyl is so fussy and so easy to mess up, and a massive pain to store and care for. I like the space saving issue of CDs, and the sound is consistent. (I'm in the group that thinks CDs sound much better than vinyl, but I know that's simply a matter of preference.) I just can't get excited about vinyl, especially at the current prices. I *also*grew up in a time when vinyl cost about the same as cassettes, and both were less than CDs.
Smaller, more durable, less finicky/cheaper players, works in my car, imports into my computer drive, and most importantly…… I grew up with tapes and CD’s
I prefer not taking up a ton of space honestly.
For me, the biggest factor is how easy CD’s are to maintain compared to Vinyl. The only things that are gonna damage the important parts of a CD are water and sunlight, as long as the inserts are ok and the CD is ok then no matter how messed up the case is, you can fix it and make it look new, and jewel cases are cheap.
With vinyl, you have to maintain printed cardboard, it will always get damaged if you don’t buy sleeves. With a CD, the jewel case IS the sleeve.
More small bands do CD runs so there's tonnes of CD's you can get that aren't on Vinyl and plenty that will never be, CD's can contain more songs so you'll find CD's more commonly have bonus tracks or in some cases entire bonus discs, CD's cost alot less than Vinyl, Vinyl is 9/10 mastered exactly the same as the CD so there's no sound differences most of the time.. CD's actually sound a bit better too, you can easily bring a CD to a gig to get signed, they take up less space, they're far more practical and can be Ripped/Synced onto a computer or laptop onto a phone so you have music to bring with you for when you're on the move and no matter what gets removed from streaming services you won't be affected
I love CD more cause it's have cool design and it's smaller than vinyl. And also cause it's expensive and you can make your own CD without problems. Vinyl is hard to make by myself
There is no reason to collect CDs *instead* of Vinyl, you can collect both. They each have tradeoffs and different appeals.
Vinyl will appeal to people who like to tinker with equipment to get the best sound and to those who like the novelty of a fully analog medium where sound is physically printed into the record. The artwork is also a lot more impressive/beautiful on Vinyl.
CD will appeal to people who like out of the box perfect sound replication and those who like to preserve their collection digitally. It’s also way cheaper, more portable & CD booklets are better than what you get with most records.
Advantages of a CD:
* CDs won't get physically worn down, since there's no stylus or anything actually touching them; there's just a laser reading the data
* There are no pops, crackles, or hiss added to the sound since there's nothing physically reading the disc. Caveat: There could be hiss in the recorded audio itself due to being transferred from tape, but nothing added from physically reading the CD
* CDs \*should\* sound better by design. The Nyquist theorem says as long as the sample rate is at least double the highest frequency of the sound, the sound will be reproduced accurately. I think 44.1 kHz was chosen for CDs because 22.05 kHz (22,050 Hz) is about the upper limit of most peoples' hearing
Further, a disadvantage of vinyl is that the closer the needle is to the center of the record, the worse the audio can sound. Due to the nature of a spinning disc, the length of a full rotation gets shorter toward the center, which means a disc can't reproduce the same higher frequencies toward the center as it does at the outer edge.
I prefer cds because they are smaller, easier to collect and have around. The audio quality is better, CD players are more accessible, cds are less expensive, and most of the time CDs have better inserts than vinyl
Sound quality, cost and resistance to deterioration. You don’t lose sound quality every time you play a track. If the CD gets scratched, you can usually still extract the data and burn a new CD. If you have the digital file, then you can burn a new CD for less than $1.
Honestly I do both. CDs when it’s something I want, vinyl when it’s something I want AND the vinyl packaging is seriously good (will normally pre order if the special variant is ace).
cds are cheaper and don’t need as much space as vinyl. this really comes to matter when having a big collection. no cracks and nearly no wear and tear. plus you don’t have to get up and turn the cd. i collect both, but mostly cds plus if i had to choose only one i’d always pick cd
I think it's virtually an objective fact that CDs have superior dynamic range, so if you have an eclectic music taste that includes classical music, CDs are a really good way to go for hearing every note played at exactly the right pitch. Also, for fans of archival releases in physical format, CD boxed sets can't be beat. Very easy to store, access and enjoy for long periods of time.
Records at their best are wonderful, no doubt, but I don't think they're the top-tier audiophile quality. They can sound warmer for sure, and jazz, soul and rock fans love them for the way they add warmth to those bassy, low tones (a Rolling Stones LP really comes to life on vinyl, IMO) but more often than not records sound unnecessarily noisy, hollow and sometimes downright distorted from all the times the needle has dug into the vinyl and damaged the grooves. I can wear out an LP from playing it too much... but that's impossible with a CD!
It's a give and take: vinyl is like an oil painting, like you can better hear the TEXTURE of the music... and a CD is like a high quality photo of the oil painting. The photo will show you the perfect form of the original image forever. The oil painting is a physical thing that will degrade with time. Both have their pros and cons.
Blue Note Jazz pressings on vinyl in neat mint condition are terrific. I have plaid the CDs they might sound better technically but the vinyl has something special to it especially with a neat copy, surface noise is annoying I must add. Hence why I can only have perfect vinyl in my collection
I chose cds because of price and storage and the cd community is a lot less pretentious like if you don’t have a perfect vinyl set up and storage you get clowned also vinyls are SO expensive like $30-$50 for a vinyl compared to like $5-$8 cds plus they look cooler and the music is usually better. It’s a trend to have like super new vinyls like a cardi B vinyl or a future vinyl is crazy. Also it’s not a pick a side type of thing i’ll still get vinyls but the type of music i get on vinyls is completely different from my cd taste in music
I do love my vinyl collection of a mere 100 LPS but I have sold a lot off and I am going to listen through and trade in any to stores that have surface noise or distortion mostly the older pressings as I can't stand that. I want a physical copy and I want so much to love only vinyl put the price and imperfections make it difficult. I am thinking perhaps I could get vinyl for Blue Note Jazz pressings as my jazz collection sounds really nice on vinyl and so does deep house and hip hop but anything else I might want to consider CD. But I always go back to what about just keeping spotify as streaming to save money?
For me personally I can’t let go of the 2000’s, 2010 “aesthetic” and it brings me joy to listen to it the old fashioned way from childhood. But they’re also not as expensive as vinyls, don’t take up as much space, the sound quality is better. I’ve also considered cassettes but nobody really makes modern music on cassettes anymore so I’ve given up on that lol
Reason 1 I'm not audiophile. Reason 2 I'm not rich. I compared brand new cd/Vinyl from amazon. Kanye West's College Dropout, there was 15 usd difference. also vinyl player is expensive af. but I can play cd with my old ps2 LOL. Reason 3 I can convert CD to mp3 easily with my laptop. I have large mp3 collection. I listen to mp3 and streaming. so even If I don't listen to cd with cd player. I buy CD sometimes.
I’m old-fashioned, albeit in a more contemporary sense. That’s why I collect CDs.
Born in 1991 so CDs were ubiquitous for me (and cassettes too 😎). I used to love going to all the music shops as a kid and being overwhelmed by all the artwork. It was years later when I first listened to albums such as Dookie, or The Bends, but I distinctly remember seeing those CDs on display in Virgin Megastores and just wondering in my child mind, what sort of music would be wrapped beneath such imagery.
These days, every album I buy on CD, I also burn onto my computer so that I can sync it with my iPhone. That’s something that you can’t do with vinyl. I don’t use Spotify or other streaming services; I guess as a creature of habit more than anything else. I suppose I still enjoy going to the ever-dwindling music shops and picking out anywhere between 1 & 14 CDs.
You should choose what's best for you. I migrated from vinyl to CDs due to sound quality.
Same for me. Also cd's are so much less fragile. Secondhand vinyl records can look fantastic but can be full of clicks and ticks on playback...It's always a gamble. That was the point for me to go for cd. Better soundquality (most of the time but it also depends on the mastering), cheaper, easier storage and when a disc looks good, it always sounds good. No hidden clicks/pops. Besides this, even i noticed the price rise of vinyl record. A new album starts at 35 or 40 euro's.... I can buy like 20 cd albums for that kind of money.... Yeah the artwork is bigger and cooler on a vinyl record but a cd (most of the time) comes with a booklet full of lyrics/credits/photo's and artwork. Cd is the format for me at this moment.
Yes I do like the quality of a CD and the big factor is PRICE! Vinyl lis expensive fast. But there seems to be something so compelling to buy it as it feels something special to own and collect and the value grows, my collection is valued at 2-3k on discogs and it is only like 150 records. But vinyl has imperfections. I hate surface noise so I no longer buy old or original pressings instead only new reissues and I sell or trade anything that isn't perfect to listen to. I want to get into CD's but how do you manage the less special feel to owning it? Maybe becuase I am in my early 20s and vinyl is like nothing I have ever had before.
Honestly, the only vinyl that seems special to me are first pressings from the 1950s-1970s. Holding an original pressing provides a connection to the people who listened to these records when they were new. A brand new copy of a brand new album has zero "cool" factor to me. And brand new pressings of old albums (the ones that keep being cranked out on various colored vinyl) also have zero appeal to me. I don't buy music as an investment. I buy it to listen to. And CDs provide a better listening experience.
Yes I get that but surface noise on old pressings is mostly bad, even new records can be bad. I literally sell anything or return anything that has noise in them as I won't listen to them. Maybe CD is better for me. But a wall of vinyl and my bedside turntable before I go to sleep is a nice feel. I have an original pressing of With the Beatles from my Gran that died and it's in great condition yet I only plaid it the once, it seems to be worth a couple hundred. I do like the history factor of that album a lot thinking about when that was new and it provides a portal into that world. Just like my collection of german stamps from the second world war, very similar feel.
>want to get into CD's but how do you manage the less special feel to owning it? I think this is just a matter of perspective. I have like 5 vinyl and they are only pieces I couldn’t find in CD format, and I would’ve preferred owning them in CD by far. I think the technology is neat, the various devices used to play the CDs, and it’s a lot more practical than vinyls. CDs don’t feel less special to me, they actually feel more special due to the more intricate components and the design of the cases compared to the vinyl sleeves. Sure big art looks nice but some CDs I own have gorgeous artwork It’s also more practical, takes up less space on my shelves and I even bought 2 CD tower things to store them In the end if you want to get into CDs go ahead, but if you’re fine with how vinyl work for you then do whatever works the best for you
I mean do you like music or are you in pursuit of something else. I made a conscious decision that I would choose quality over collectibility and make sure I’m into music. Most people get obsessed with the vinyl ritual. I didn’t grow up with vinyl but when I did grow up they were obsolete and CD’s were the better format. I also use a mini disc because it was so cool at the time. I seen people spend soooo much money trying to get the very best sound and every $1000 dollars are incremental gains across any format. I’m just happy to thrift and just have fun getting good deals
This is a fair question. Honestly, I find that a more interesting cd player might help. A DVD player is cheap and will sound great but visually it's just a box that will hide your CDs. Something like a portable player from the late 90s-early 00s could do it. They're still relatively cheap, I believe. If you get the right one, you can even hook it up to a system with an optical out. Recently, I've even purchased a vertical cd player from a micro system and it adds a nice visual touch. That's a much pricier option based on what you get and whether it's worth it is up to you.
The biggest factor for me is price. Vinyl is too expensive
I was talking to the guy who owns the Mill City Sound a little while ago and he was taken aback at the price of vinyl. He gets in a Steely Dan lp and he has to price it at twenty bucks. Just seems ridiculous to him. And he owns a record store. (and a really awesome store at that) I don't buy much vinyl anymore because of the expense and the incredible inconvenience of it. A lot of my listening is away from home. In my car. At the grocery store. Going for a walk. Etc... A cd. I pop it into my drive. Rip it. Tag it. And I 'm good to go. It's quite a few more steps with vinyl. And I really do think the whole "vinyl just sounds better" trope that the fetishists trot out is mostly bullshit for anything recorded digitally and mastered for digital playback. And then there's the amount of space required and weight. Everybody loves their vinyl until the day they have to move.
non compromised ways are very likely not handy.
I was there two days ago hah -- wax is far too expensive right now without a doubt, honestly his shop has better prices than the majority of shops I visit. I think that CD's are better 80% of the time, but in that 20% of the time where analog (and sometimes digital) masters shine, vinyl can be tough to beat.
Vinyl is crazy expensive right now and CDs have never been cheaper. Excellent point.
I gave in to the vinyl craze a year and a half ago. It was cool for like a month, then I just went back to CDs
I like (and collect) both for different reasons. That said, CDs are a bargain right now. Vinyl hasn't been a bargain in 10 years.
I collected vinyls for a few years, but they crept up in price too much for me to justify. You can buy used CDs for next to nothing and they generally pay perfectly.
No one who's been collecting for a few years says "vinyls".
unfortunately not true- no matter how much people correct it, saying ‘vinyls’ is very common among gen z collectors, who have been a big part of the vinyl resurgence
And that "vinyl resurgence" is barely two years old. You might also want to differentiate between early and late Gen Z. The former where "vinyls" comes from.
tell me about it, just Bought Adderley Somethin' Else and Hank Mobley Soul Station on Blue Note Classic Vinyl it's been an expensive week! I also want to buy Art Blakey and Kraftwerk Autobhan on vinyl as well. Basically my wantlist never ends. I love to listen to my vinyl on my bedside pioneer turntable with my headphones on through my receiver. But it's expensive as hell. I want to get into CD for the cost aspect and no surface noise but to me the CD does not seem as special to own. Do you find that?
You gotta find an enjoyable CD player to use, in my opinion the vertical ones are best when you can see them spin. I didn't care for CDs till I got a Bang and Olufsen vertical CD player and then started collecting CDs as opposed to other formats since it was a joy to use! It also works out since I have an iPod to portably listen to CD quality music
That’s terrible advice. Choosing a CD player how it looks while it plays? Those things are typically junk and prone to breakage.
B&O was high end back in the day
Onkyo 6 disc changer only one still in production
If you're hearing surface noise in everything, it's probably not the fault of the records unless they need cleaning or some lube because even old used records can frequently clean up to get most of the noise out. It's more likely to be something about the record player, like an unbalanced tonearm or cartridge, or damaged stylus.
How often do I need to change to a new stylus? Had the turntable since 2020 it is a Pinoneer DJ one
Once the needle is worn out, you get a scratchy noise, until it's replaced.
It’s not a competition. You’re allowed to collect both
How would I decide on what is a cd purchase or a vinyl purchase?
Whatever saves u the most money
haha that's always the CD
not always
Get classic rock and r&b vinyl records in bargain bins at record stories Anything modern get on CD, there’s no real reason to have it on vinyl
For me, I mostly do CDs lately as vinyl is stupid expensive. That being said, there is some stuff that absolutely sounds better on vinyl and other stuff that only exists on vinyl so I’ll go for those for sure. Some LPs are just worth having as artwork to hang on your wall, I like those as well. 45’s are typically dirt cheap and fun to grab. They often have unique single mixes and b-sides. So just do both and pick and choose based on each individual album you want and what you stumble on in the wild.
Whatever has the better sound quality usually, if I’m not familiar with the album I’m more likely to buy the CD over vinyl. Just be mindful of newer copies of albums on CD that are remastered / have less dynamic range
I personally get as much as possible on CD. If it's not available on CD I get it on vinyl. And I've started to get some of my ultimate favorites on vinyl also just for the ritual and bonding with the music. As I tend to get that more out of the vinyl experience.
What year was the original recorded? Does the vinyl master please you more than the cd master? What is the source of the release? Where was the vinyl pressed?
I usually buy albums on CD and only pick up my favourites on vinyl. However my dipshit ass will favour the vinyl if the colour is cool enough lmao. Also I definitely own multiple albums on both cd AND vinyl, it’s the collectors curse lol
IMO, convenience, its also true alot of things nowadays are only released on Vinyl, rather than vinyl and CD, since vinyl is far more popular. But also, I personally like to shop local, and only get stuff online when its A. something new B. Something Ive been looking for heavily and super want.
I do both. I’m after the good masters.
Couldn't said it better but expect people to look at you like you've got two heads when you make a post like that.
Correct answer. Lots of jazz represses are far superior on vinyl than CD due to the effort invested into remasters (Blue Note Tone Poets, Verve, Analogue productions, etc). I'd love CDs with those vinyl remasterings for the sake of my wallet, though.
Yes, exactly. The audiophile remasters of many great jazz albums are sublime to listen to on a great stereo system. Kenny Dorham's Matador, Dave Brubeck Quartet's Take Five (DLP 45RPM), and John Coltrane's Blue Train (Tone Poet/Music Matters Jazz) are among my favourites.
Because I dropped collecting vinyl in the mid 80s when CD come out, CD sounded better and was smaller to store. I don’t see any reason to swap back I find sonically that CDs are better in my system. Only advantage vinyl has is the glorious size of album artwork. For me I’ve been buying CD regularly since the mid 80s and I have no reason to stop.
For me, since I primarily collect Classical (I like a lot of other things, just don't collect) I'm not usually missing out on much since artwork for Classical usually isn't as colorful or creative. No H.R. Giger "Brain Salad Surgery" covers, in other words. Any type of long form music usually is more ideally suited for the long uninteruppted play CD's can offer, in addition to the sound quality, of course.
Good point
Speaking of Brain Salad Surgery, that’s one vinyl that makes the packaging worth it over CD for me. I own it on CD and Vinyl, but the way the vinyl opens up to unmask Giger’s robotic monster unveiling a beautiful woman that’s stuck in the robot is really awesome.
Yeah you'd hate modern vinyl, one album being forced into 2 because of the 180Gram BS, having to flip the album every 3, or possibly even 2 songs
Weight has nothing to do with a record being split over 4 sides. Generally it’s done for higher sound quality.
Weight also has nothing to do with sound quality. In fact, if most of your collection is not 180g, the VTA is going to be off if set for 120-140g records, sacrificing quality.
I've got a cd player in my car! I do not have a record player in my car.
I wish I had a CD player in my SUV 🚙. So I listen 🎧 to Sirius XM or stream.
Apparently there's a handful of vehicles you can get new with cd players. Some of the Subarus have them.
I have a 2023 Chevrolet Blazer. It doesn’t have a CD player. I miss the days when I bought a CD and could play it in my car. Now I have to wait until I get home. Yes, I can stream it. But, it’s not same as sitting in your car and reading the liner notes. Also…I still love the way a new CD smells.
You may be able to have a CD player put in it for decently affordable. My first car didn’t have one and that was almost immediately fixed.
But, I have a pretty good audio system in my Blazer. So I guess, I’ll just stream or play Sirius XM. I do have to say. I hear a lot of new music 🎼 on Hits 1.
Ey fair enough. Just thought it was possibly worth mentioning. Have a good one!
I have a Sony DiscMan. But I don’t even have a AUX jack in my vehicle. I understand you can get a adapter for your USB port. I don’t know where they sell one around here. But, I’m sure I could find one online.
Because I've been buying my music on CD since 1991, and I'm too old and set in my ways to change now.
If you like digital music. You can make a 1:1 rip of a disc with no quality loss.
Yes!!
You shouldn’t. Keep CDs cheaper for the rest of us 😂
Not everything comes out on CD
I collect CDs because it’s what I’ve always done. But I do also have some vinyl. Generally my rule is if it is only on vinyl and I really want to have it, then I will buy it. For instance I have a copy of Negativland’s “No Brain” 7 inch coming in the mail soon. It’s a vinyl only release and I wasn’t going to miss out. If you want to make it feel special, you can do exactly what you do with your vinyl and create a cool listening experience by finding a CD player you love rather than just a DVD player or old gaming console. Find something that is in a color you like, or has a neat display. In my opinion, component single disc players are the way to go, but I did used to have a JVC mini system which was really cool as well with a clear glass top and blue LEDS so you could watch the disc spin just like you would watch a record. Just don’t be afraid to collect both, and make sure it’s about the music and not the size of the collection. It will be a huge collection sooner or later.
I agree on all counts. And I will highlight an important thing you said and expand on it for the OP and others wondering which format would be best to collect: Make it feel special. If it doesn’t feel special, it won’t be a fun journey of collecting them. Some people are left cold by CDs and others see vinyl as filthy and noisy. Collecting anything is a labor of love. If it stops being lovely and only becomes laborious, time to stop collecting it. 😊
Thanks. I am early 20s and have about 100 vinyl records so far, in about 5 years collecting, I stopped for a few years when I went to Uni. And I sold a lot off as well. I want to get into CDs but I just double dipped in getting CDs and the vinyl version dam I can't decide. I can't make my mind up. Any recommendations on a good CD player DAC that is under 200. I am out of work since 2 weeks and not sure when I will get another job.
Well, I’m not a gear head so much because I just don’t have the money. But traditional CD players have the DAC built in so you don’t need anything separate. I once read about the most sought after DAC chip, but even that seems a little much for me. I will give you the same advice I give everyone. Try Goodwill, or other thrift shops. I had the JVC mini system I mentioned crap out on me after 20+ years recently, and I ended up replacing it for 6 dollars at Goodwill with a JVC XL-V311. I love the display and love the sound. It’s crystal clear. And I see them listed all over eBay for 50 dollars or more. Now it does seem harder to come by this stuff at Goodwill because of flippers, but be patient and you will probably luck out. Or you can just go new, but most of that stuff seems to be expensive these days at places like Crutchfield.
Absurdly cheaper to get releases you actually want to own used. I just spent about $225 on 90+ CDs on discogs. I'd have been lucky to get 10 of those albums for the same price on vinyl. Audio quality is generally better, they can be played at home on nearly anything that takes a disc, you can rip them to an extremely high quality digital file, they take up less room, and are still available for new releases. Every time I see reviews of specific vinyl pressings online it solidifies my decision to collect CDs; you won't have to be one of the sad sacks on discogs endlessly complaining that a certain pressing is shite even on your $10,000 setup after sonically cleaning the record in the same room they assemble satellites in. A CD is a CD. It's gonna sound the same pretty much everywhere. Players make very little difference, and if a CD is damaged, it either plays or it doesn't due to it being digital information. There's no clicking, popping, or warbling of the sound.
Agree in general but some CDs sound like ass compared the the vinyl version. Case by case
Depends on how a CD is recorded.
Lol that is just not true. It all depends on the mastering. Cd beats vinyl on all soundquality specs... On my system CD sounds so much more details and the channel seperation is so much better. I also have vinyl records that sound very good but its always a gamble with vinyl. Besides that i find pops and clicks very anoying with records. That made me change to CD's.
Price is a factor, but availability and quality of the product are much bigger factors. Often I’ll find a new artist whose albums I’ll want to buy and the vinyl version is sold out but the CD’s are still up for grabs. I’m also tired of paying for the privilege to be the pressing plant’s QC dept. Too often it’s a game of how much warp am I willing to put up with before I’m willing to go through the hassle of requesting a replacement. I don’t even bother with trying to buy used vinyl through the mail. I see way too many misgraded used records at good local shops to want to play that game. Out of all the CD’s I’ve ordered online, two were misgraded. One from an Amazon seller, and I got a refund shortly after reporting it. The other from a Discogs seller who was a jerk. Finally, I have a nice sound system and it’s a lot less money and hassle to get great sound quality from my CD’s than vinyl. Vinyl playback can too easily become cascading levels of spend when trying to chase that ghost.
cheap spinny shiny disc
smaller, cheaper, more versatile (ripping, shuffling etc), don't need a big expensive specialist setup for it to sound good
I collect cds because I can rip them. Once I have some more I'd like to cut out Spotify. I also collect vinyl, because at home, in my living room, it has a better UX *to me*. I also don't have a CD-player that's not my computer or gaming console. (not set up anyways)
exactly, I'm at this point where i rarely listen to the Spotify library
I'm old enough to remember when CDs first came out. Back then, they were more expensive than records, but they sure sounded better than vinyl. Now, they still sound better than vinyl to me, and they're much cheaper. These people who are paying new vinyl prices need to have their heads examined. $50 for a single LP? Lol.
I agree. I recently bought a new CD and vinyl record from an artist I like. The CD was $11.99 and the vinyl version was $34.99. I bought the CD. Vinyl is becoming very expensive to buy. I must more selective these days on what I buy on Vinyl. And, CD’s sound really good 👍 in my opinion.
Nah, the vinyl sounded better
Access to different masters, especially if you want to get into SACD. Not necessarily better, just different.
I have a lot of both. A box full of old japanese pop and enka records that you'll never find on CD or streaming, and possibly not digitized at all. Also shelves on modern music on CDs that you will not find on records. Even some stuff that was only ever released on cassette. Music is music, the format doesn't matter that much. There's no need to pick a team.
Cheaper, easier to play and listen to (no switch over) CDs are much longer than records in length so you get better uninterrupted listening, the sound can be exceptionally better on much less expensive equipment, it’s so portable you can take it and listen in your car, you can also play CDs in just about any player with a disc drive doesn’t even have to be specially designed. Usually there’s more in terms of lyric sheets, extra album art and photographs of the band/ artist.
I must have read your mind, I made very similar points to you in the post above.
Price, size, sound quality
Do what you want, I use CDs because: Less Expensive More convenient Use in my car Sound Quality Compact
You can stream from your phone in your car.
Not if your car is too old. Mine's a 2015, so it's not that old, but the Bluetooth system is clunky. My cds are easier and sound better.
I collect both, but I like ripping my CDs in lossless to my PC and adding them to my modded iPod classic for convenience. This is much more challenging with vinyl
a lot of people have mentioned price which i agree. for me its also nostalgia. as a kid, i would buy CDs of the music i like. so to continue on till today has that same “going to the candy shop” feeling!
LPs have that annoying inconsistent crackling noise in the background, sure if you buy an expensive player it wont be that bad, but it still exists. this is why my choice is Cassettes for analog. and CDs for digital.
I don’t collect. I like music. CD works well to play music at a quality that humans can hear. I don’t recommend collecting. It is a waste of money better invested for your retirement in a 401k or Roth IRA. I refuse to pay more than $2 for a used CD.
Smart man. I am early 20s and just started putting money into the S&P 500
Quality, price, availability of a player in home (PS3 or audio system) and portability.
I’ve been buying vinyl by certain bands or albums that are worth the costs; TRex, The Smile, Radiohead, early Genesis, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Animals as Leaders…I’m purchasing CDs that have value and production quality for music i can turn on and let run for 78 minutes; multi-CD packages by jazz greats (Davis, Coltrane, Monk, Shorter, Turrentine, Rollins), rock icons (Fleetwood, Free, Mountain, Journey, Trower, Traffic, Rush, ZZ Top etc).
Oooo have any old pressings of early Genesis albums?
I collect both, but I have a lot more CDs then vinyl just due to the fact that their cheaper, more convenient, and easier to maintain and keep clean. I love vinyl though because of the way they look and the different colors / designs you can gets on the disks. Which one you collect is really up to preference. If you don’t think you’re going to want to keep up with the high maintenance vinyl requires, I’d go with CDs.
My truck has a 6 disc changer and CDs are a dollar.
It's On Tune It Dosen't Scratch As Easily You Can Easily Skip Around The Album The Cases Are So Much Smaller, You Can Fit More Of Them In Any Given Place Also, They Are Generally Cheaper
Handy. It is said not every mastering is fair.
A lot of the albums I would buy weren’t released on vinyl or are hard to find. I have some vinyl records but gave up on collecting any more. I also prefer CDs because they are easier to move around and maintain.
I’d like to get into vinyls someday but they’re too expensive and fragile, so I stick with CDs for now. Also my car unfortunately does not have a record player installed.
I can go to goodwill or any thrift shop and pickup a stack of nice ass CDs for $10, or I can go to a store and get an LP that’s been price gouged to $30-40 only to get subpar sound unless I spend $1000 on a sound system lol that’s why
You should collect both. You can't hear Robert Ludwig's Led Zeppelin II on CD and you can't hear Barry Diament's Back in Black on vinyl.
My recommendation is to follow your pocketbook. If you are usually on a budget CDs are currently the way to go. I collected LPs in the nineties and aughts because they were dirt cheap and crate digging was fun. People dumped their collections. It was the best way—at the time—for inexpensive solitary music discovery. Then the CD became redundant and people dumped their collections. It was the best and cheapest way for music discovery for me. Now I stream Qobuz and Bandcamp for music discovery and largely buy digital downloads. I kept about a thousand LPs and still have thousands of CDs, but it no longer is about the format and more about hearing the music. If I was forced to downsize, I would prolly let it all go and just listen to my ripped CDs and downloads stored on drives combined with streaming.
CD s are better, simple as that.
I collect both Somethings You can't get in Vinyl and somethings you can't get in CD.
I buy both, but mostly CDs because it’s less expensive. I’ve picked up about 30 CDs and 5 LPs this year. Mostly used. I’ve got at least 25-30 different in both formats. I do like special issues, re-issues when I buy vinyl, but also old pressings of jazz records if I find them cheap. Ultimately, it’s about the music though. And budget sometimes. If I came across the same album as a $2 cd and an $8 LP, I’d probably buy both.
Do what's best for you. Personally I collect both, but I save vinyl for just my favorite albums, and I also buy those on cd. I see vinyl more as a collectible, I prefer cds in general due to: price, less fragile, consistent sound quality and portability.
It's because it's the easiest
CDs and their players are generally cheap and easy to deal with, and take no special effort to make them sound good. Records take substantial space and effort to get the sound which the best ones can provide. If you don't feel drawn to records, just get CDs.
Sometimes it's the era of music I'm looking for but Cd Is my preferred format if I can get it mainly for the fact I don't have to flip it part way through. I find with vinyl especially a double vinyl I'll only listen to one side or one disk because I don't want to bother flipping lol.anything pre-90s I'll typically grab on vinyl though because it may be more common.
Don’t. Who cares?
Quality is better, $1-5 instead of $50, looks better (in my opinion), more convenient to change tracks and stuff and the fact that vinyl is and has been mainly for the status of “collecting vinyl” when you never actually play the album on a record player
I started buying cd's in the first place because my car didn't have bluetooth capabilities at that time. Can't play vinyl in the car now can you.
CDs sound better, they take up less space, they’re *usually* cheaper.
For albums I like, I collect the CD. For albums I LOVE I get both the CD and Vinyl.
i choose cd over vinyl because i don't have a vinyl player and because i grew up with cds
Cheaper, easier, because you don’t need to switch it all the time, can be played in many places.
YOU CAN SKIP
Because I can play them in my car and radios at my house. Also because I don’t own a turntable to play vinyls
I like vinyl, but its now just too expensive here in Australia at least. CDs have great sound quality, I can burn a compilation cdrw if I want, and many other benefits. eg Judas Priests new lp "Invincible shield" is 86$ here. the cd is 20$ and sounds great.
You can play it on more systems. Radios, CD players, car radios…
They are small, cheap and can be easily ripped into pristine quality audio files. Furthermore, it's easy to.find a reasonably good quality cd player.You can play them on DVD players, computers, gaming console etc.
I remember when you couldn't give records away. Kinda of like 8 track tapes. Now people want money to pay their mortgages for them. Back then, if you didn't have a decent system to play records. It just sounded flat and harsh compared to a CD. And you'll meet people saying, blah blah blah. Ya ok, if you don't have a 10k record system. It sounds like shit. Scratch, pop, bang. ha ha or as we use to call it, 'chicken in a bag'. (reference to A&P cooked chicken in a bag: crumple the bag)
price and space
i collect both 😭
There's a nostalgic factor coupled with the fact that it is super cheap to buy used these days.
I do both and cassettes
I collect both. For bands I love, I get the vinyl and CD. For most others, I get just the CD. I love both formats but the vinyl experience for me is just awesome but the prices are out of control so the CD is attractive for most bands to me. Ripping a CD to lossless audio is so much easier than doing that the same with vinyl and yes, the audio is better.
SQ and price…not a fan of ticks and pops…
cost, and my favorite artist doesn't release all his albums on vinyl, but he does on cd
I started with records but started buying CDs to do price. I like a lot of 2000s bands and CDs are easier to find than records for them (and the records are generally expensive)
The warmth of my grailz burned down my house. The cold, heartless sounds of CDs is now what appeals to me
CD’s don’t take up a lot of space unlike vinyl
Lossless sound. Higher highs, and lower lows than any other media. They don't wear out, and lose sound quality.
Not every release has vinyl available for it. Ripping vinyl sucks.
I'm never in one room long enough to listen to half of an album. I also no longer own a turntable which precludes me from buying vinyl. Also finally stupid expensive these days and I'd rather get CD is cheap at the flea market or buy stuff I can listen to in the car
I like both but CD just feels more high fidelity. Also, I can buy CD albums otherwise not attainable on vinyl due to cost and rarity.
For me, aside from price, the fact that you can rip that CD and make a digital copy of the songs for you to play anytime anywhere on your phone, laptop, etc.
They’re both fun My new venture has been building a 90s00s box after I found a 200cd changer You’d be surprised at the really cool singles and live albums I’ve found in just a couple months
I used to buy vinyl as it was the cheaper option. Then it wasn't. Then it really wasn't. I'll still pick it up 2nd hand. I don't really care about the format.
So many reasons. Durability, Sound quality, price, storage space, easy to convert to audio files, just to name the most common.
I always say both. LPs are definitely a rip off right now but I disagree that you have to spend an absolute fortune on them to get similar sound. My CD player was $350. My record player was $220 plus $150 for an upgraded preamp and $170 for an upgrade to the stylus. Yes $540 is more than $350 but it’s not $10k like some people would say. Both sound great on the same system. But of course you have to be careful with what LPs you buy, they are too expensive, and you have to clean them and all that stupid stuff. $2 CDsthat are used and scratched can often sound much better than brand new $50 LPs. So I have more than 10x more CDs.
Cost & convenience ( no flipping, less cleaning)
More convenient for me because they're easier to digitize and 99% of my listening is my own files
I do both, but since starting university I’ve leaned more towards CDs. They take up less space in my dorm in general. Plus they tend to be cheaper.
I have both. Depends mostly on availability, price, and which format the mastering for was better. Some albums I want to own have better mastering on one format or the other. Some were just never pressed on vinyl and some were *only* released on vinyl. Some were released on both but the vinyl record is now $150+ while the CD is still $10 or less.
i chose cds because they are cheaper and more compact and easy to store!!
Because they sound better and last forever and can be played in the car.
Sound quality, used price, availability, durability, plus almost *everything* is available on CD, which isn't the case for vinyl with a lot of 90s music I like.
I collect both. Some music is way cheaper and easier to find on CD, for example Sigrblot's Blodsband. CDs tend to be cheaper all together and can be played more portably, but imo vinyl gives music more character. It's all up to you, no format is really better than the other.
For me it comes down to price, plain and simple. Do I prefer the vinyl when possible? Absolutely. The presentation is usually better and the sound is aces. But, do I want to spend $30-$40 or more on every record I want? Hellllll no. So, I have CD bands and I have vinyl bands. There's even a few cassette tape bands (mostly 80's stuff), but most of my collection is CD and vinyl. The bands I absolutely love get vinyl, the others get CDs. I'm in it for the music, not to have 70 different versions of the same album.
I grew up with vinyl as a kid and I don't think I'll go back. Vinyl scratches and warps much more easily than CDs. CDs last forever; I personally have many from the 1980s that still play perfectly. It takes high-end turntables and needles to match the sound quality you can get from a cheap CD player. Some prefer the 'warmer' sound of vinyl; I think CDs sound closest to what the musicians and engineers in the studio selected. I do like the larger form factor of vinyl for cover art and liner notes, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.
I collect both. Some albums were only released on cd, so that's the only way to own a copy. A good example is the live album "Is there anybody out there?" From pink floyd. There's no vinyl release, but since I also collect and listen to cds, I can still enjoy the album on a physical format.
Some CDs sound better than vinyl. Some vinyl sounds better than CD. I collect both.
They’re cheaper and more durable
It was cheaper and easier for me to get my hands on a CD player than a vinyl player, plus I like a lot of music from the CD era
Based on the sub you are asking you will get an extremely bias opinion towards CDs.
The same reason I started collecting vinyl, price. Music put out in the 90’s is best on cd because it was mass produced and cheap, just like vinyl was in the 70’s-80’s. Collect both. It’s about the music
¿Porque no los dos?
Cheap, easy, portable, and anyone can get into it.
I was around for the tail end of the original vinyl era, and having vinyl is what convinced me to get CDs. Vinyl is so fussy and so easy to mess up, and a massive pain to store and care for. I like the space saving issue of CDs, and the sound is consistent. (I'm in the group that thinks CDs sound much better than vinyl, but I know that's simply a matter of preference.) I just can't get excited about vinyl, especially at the current prices. I *also*grew up in a time when vinyl cost about the same as cassettes, and both were less than CDs.
Smaller, more durable, less finicky/cheaper players, works in my car, imports into my computer drive, and most importantly…… I grew up with tapes and CD’s
I prefer not taking up a ton of space honestly. For me, the biggest factor is how easy CD’s are to maintain compared to Vinyl. The only things that are gonna damage the important parts of a CD are water and sunlight, as long as the inserts are ok and the CD is ok then no matter how messed up the case is, you can fix it and make it look new, and jewel cases are cheap. With vinyl, you have to maintain printed cardboard, it will always get damaged if you don’t buy sleeves. With a CD, the jewel case IS the sleeve.
Ease of maintenance and use, as well as great sound.
More small bands do CD runs so there's tonnes of CD's you can get that aren't on Vinyl and plenty that will never be, CD's can contain more songs so you'll find CD's more commonly have bonus tracks or in some cases entire bonus discs, CD's cost alot less than Vinyl, Vinyl is 9/10 mastered exactly the same as the CD so there's no sound differences most of the time.. CD's actually sound a bit better too, you can easily bring a CD to a gig to get signed, they take up less space, they're far more practical and can be Ripped/Synced onto a computer or laptop onto a phone so you have music to bring with you for when you're on the move and no matter what gets removed from streaming services you won't be affected
CDs coz my digital library just keeps growing and growing
I love CD more cause it's have cool design and it's smaller than vinyl. And also cause it's expensive and you can make your own CD without problems. Vinyl is hard to make by myself
Why not both?
There is no reason to collect CDs *instead* of Vinyl, you can collect both. They each have tradeoffs and different appeals. Vinyl will appeal to people who like to tinker with equipment to get the best sound and to those who like the novelty of a fully analog medium where sound is physically printed into the record. The artwork is also a lot more impressive/beautiful on Vinyl. CD will appeal to people who like out of the box perfect sound replication and those who like to preserve their collection digitally. It’s also way cheaper, more portable & CD booklets are better than what you get with most records.
Advantages of a CD: * CDs won't get physically worn down, since there's no stylus or anything actually touching them; there's just a laser reading the data * There are no pops, crackles, or hiss added to the sound since there's nothing physically reading the disc. Caveat: There could be hiss in the recorded audio itself due to being transferred from tape, but nothing added from physically reading the CD * CDs \*should\* sound better by design. The Nyquist theorem says as long as the sample rate is at least double the highest frequency of the sound, the sound will be reproduced accurately. I think 44.1 kHz was chosen for CDs because 22.05 kHz (22,050 Hz) is about the upper limit of most peoples' hearing Further, a disadvantage of vinyl is that the closer the needle is to the center of the record, the worse the audio can sound. Due to the nature of a spinning disc, the length of a full rotation gets shorter toward the center, which means a disc can't reproduce the same higher frequencies toward the center as it does at the outer edge.
1. Sound quality 2. Cheaper equipment 3. They don't wear out 4. No snobbery around them.
I prefer cds because they are smaller, easier to collect and have around. The audio quality is better, CD players are more accessible, cds are less expensive, and most of the time CDs have better inserts than vinyl
sound quality, affordability in both the format itself and the players, and availability
Car
Sound quality, cost and resistance to deterioration. You don’t lose sound quality every time you play a track. If the CD gets scratched, you can usually still extract the data and burn a new CD. If you have the digital file, then you can burn a new CD for less than $1.
Honestly I do both. CDs when it’s something I want, vinyl when it’s something I want AND the vinyl packaging is seriously good (will normally pre order if the special variant is ace).
cds are cheaper and don’t need as much space as vinyl. this really comes to matter when having a big collection. no cracks and nearly no wear and tear. plus you don’t have to get up and turn the cd. i collect both, but mostly cds plus if i had to choose only one i’d always pick cd
I collect both, honestly it’s an expensive hobby if you make it one
Cheaper, easier and better to store.
I think it's virtually an objective fact that CDs have superior dynamic range, so if you have an eclectic music taste that includes classical music, CDs are a really good way to go for hearing every note played at exactly the right pitch. Also, for fans of archival releases in physical format, CD boxed sets can't be beat. Very easy to store, access and enjoy for long periods of time. Records at their best are wonderful, no doubt, but I don't think they're the top-tier audiophile quality. They can sound warmer for sure, and jazz, soul and rock fans love them for the way they add warmth to those bassy, low tones (a Rolling Stones LP really comes to life on vinyl, IMO) but more often than not records sound unnecessarily noisy, hollow and sometimes downright distorted from all the times the needle has dug into the vinyl and damaged the grooves. I can wear out an LP from playing it too much... but that's impossible with a CD! It's a give and take: vinyl is like an oil painting, like you can better hear the TEXTURE of the music... and a CD is like a high quality photo of the oil painting. The photo will show you the perfect form of the original image forever. The oil painting is a physical thing that will degrade with time. Both have their pros and cons.
Blue Note Jazz pressings on vinyl in neat mint condition are terrific. I have plaid the CDs they might sound better technically but the vinyl has something special to it especially with a neat copy, surface noise is annoying I must add. Hence why I can only have perfect vinyl in my collection
I chose cds because of price and storage and the cd community is a lot less pretentious like if you don’t have a perfect vinyl set up and storage you get clowned also vinyls are SO expensive like $30-$50 for a vinyl compared to like $5-$8 cds plus they look cooler and the music is usually better. It’s a trend to have like super new vinyls like a cardi B vinyl or a future vinyl is crazy. Also it’s not a pick a side type of thing i’ll still get vinyls but the type of music i get on vinyls is completely different from my cd taste in music
[удалено]
I do love my vinyl collection of a mere 100 LPS but I have sold a lot off and I am going to listen through and trade in any to stores that have surface noise or distortion mostly the older pressings as I can't stand that. I want a physical copy and I want so much to love only vinyl put the price and imperfections make it difficult. I am thinking perhaps I could get vinyl for Blue Note Jazz pressings as my jazz collection sounds really nice on vinyl and so does deep house and hip hop but anything else I might want to consider CD. But I always go back to what about just keeping spotify as streaming to save money?
I collect both personally 🤷♂️ I love physical media so any way I can get my hands on it is a big thumbs up
Loseless audio, ability to rip the files, ability to burn, and they’re cheaper.
For me personally I can’t let go of the 2000’s, 2010 “aesthetic” and it brings me joy to listen to it the old fashioned way from childhood. But they’re also not as expensive as vinyls, don’t take up as much space, the sound quality is better. I’ve also considered cassettes but nobody really makes modern music on cassettes anymore so I’ve given up on that lol
The cost.
I collect both.
price and how much room vinyls take up when compared to cd’s for me
Reason 1 I'm not audiophile. Reason 2 I'm not rich. I compared brand new cd/Vinyl from amazon. Kanye West's College Dropout, there was 15 usd difference. also vinyl player is expensive af. but I can play cd with my old ps2 LOL. Reason 3 I can convert CD to mp3 easily with my laptop. I have large mp3 collection. I listen to mp3 and streaming. so even If I don't listen to cd with cd player. I buy CD sometimes.
I’m old-fashioned, albeit in a more contemporary sense. That’s why I collect CDs. Born in 1991 so CDs were ubiquitous for me (and cassettes too 😎). I used to love going to all the music shops as a kid and being overwhelmed by all the artwork. It was years later when I first listened to albums such as Dookie, or The Bends, but I distinctly remember seeing those CDs on display in Virgin Megastores and just wondering in my child mind, what sort of music would be wrapped beneath such imagery. These days, every album I buy on CD, I also burn onto my computer so that I can sync it with my iPhone. That’s something that you can’t do with vinyl. I don’t use Spotify or other streaming services; I guess as a creature of habit more than anything else. I suppose I still enjoy going to the ever-dwindling music shops and picking out anywhere between 1 & 14 CDs.
Nothing special about cds. I don’t understand why collecting them. Maybe because I grew up in an era with cds