Do You Own a Device Capable of Playing Audio CDs?

[leejacksonaudio]

As a musician, I have to be concerned about the ways my potential listeners can actually listen to my music. With the advent of digital music, be it downloaded to a computer, streamed to a device, or broadcast to a vehicle, it would seem that one long-standing form of transmission - the audio CD - would be on its way out. However, I also hear word of an uptick in CD sales as of late. The whole thing has left me confused.

 

So, Doomworld Denizens, let's start by sorting things out at the top level. Do you own a device capable of playing audio CDs? This would include computers and automobiles in addition to CD, DVD, and Blu-ray players. Please let me know by voting in this poll.

 

If your answer is no, please tell me what would be your preferred method of receiving music, and secondly if you would consider buying music on a thumb drive. Thank you!

[leejacksonaudio]

I will kick off the topic by stating the obvious. Yes, I am CD-Audio capable. I kinda have to be, don't I? :) I have multiple burners - one internal BD burner and one external DVD burner - and one external DVD reader-only device. My laptop doesn't have a reader. My wife's car has a player, and my Honda Ridgeline has a 6-disc changer built-in. (I utilize those for road-testing new albums before sending them off for printing.)

[Remilia Scarlet]

I have a bluray drive in my computer, and the car I use only supports CDs. So yes, I still have CD music-capable devices ^_^

 

That said, I haven't bought a CD in ages. Whenever I did, I just ended up ripping it to mp3 or Vorbis or Opus so I could listen to it from my laptop or phone.

[leejacksonaudio]

1 minute ago, Remilia Scarlet said:

Whenever I did, I just ended up ripping it to mp3 or Vorbis or Opus so I could listen to it from my laptop or phone.

 

Fair enough - I have too, although I rip mine to FLAC most of the time since I rarely put music on my phone. The important part is you have a device capable of getting a CD in the first place, BUT...would you prefer to buy your music in MP3/Vorbis/Opus natively were it available that way? Or does having the CD hardcopy make a difference?

[taufan99]

I wish I still did. My current laptop, a Lenovo Ideapad Slim 3, has no such CD tray. On the other hand, I do own a USB-powered cassette tape player still in my relative's place. I use it to convert several old tapes into a digital format, usually stuff from the 1990's/2000's but also a handful of older ones. The Indonesian underground music scene still does cassette tape releases for a select of bands and/or releases.

[forgettable pyromaniac]

I have multiple old laptops, that despite running slower than molasses, still all have drives in then capable of doing so. that's how I ripped the iWADs from my copy of the Doom Collector's Edition :) I don't really own any traditional CDs, though. I was born a bit too late for that.

[Eurisko]

I have a vast library of music on CD. I’ll never part with it.
I still love owning and listening to music on physical medium. 

Digital, as convenient as it is always feels disposable. 
 

 

[SiMpLeToNiUm]

I have an external CD player that I can plug into different devices. No more integrated CD drive on my PC.

[Dubbag]

sure do! i even have some cassette players

[Halfblind]

I have an old laptop and Xbox 360 that plays CD's. One of the biggest reason and selling points for a musician to publish their music on physical media (like a CD) these days is so that the buyer can have the booklet insert signed by the artist. There are quite a number of die-hard music fans that attend concerts and conventions to get their physical media signed. Then a percentage of that audience then resells them on eBay and Amazon at a higher price.

[Mr. Freeze]

Nope, I've gone full digital. 

[Jello]

I do, my vehicle has a CD player as well as my desktop, and I have a stereo that plays CD's, although I hardly ever use it. When it comes to physical media I get far more use out of my record player, and I can't really recall the last time I ever bought a physical CD. I guess maybe 5-8 or so years ago I did buy all of the Deadbolt CD's I could get ahold of, mainly because I couldn't really find anywhere to get their music digitally.

 

But I generally do prefer to go the digital route if I can, simply because it's easier. Even on my PC it was just easier to rip all of my CD's instead of swapping them out constantly. 

 

 

[Blzut3]

I do still buy music on physical CD.  Nice to have a physical print of the artwork, but also serves as a backup copy.  Actual playback is FLAC rips.

 

I've also bought a Yes album on Blu-ray Audio.  Found the surround mix quite interesting.

[roadworx]

yep! all of my playstations (ps1-3), my car, and both my old win98 computer and my main computer have audio cd capabilities. i also have loads of audio cd's courtesy of my father, who i share some musical tastes with

Edited March 13, 2023 by roadworx

[Professor Hastig]

I have my BluRay player, but I rarely use it for listening to music. It is just too inconvenient compared to computer based playback - no replay gain adjustment, no playlists, constant changing of CDs, the ones I'd like to buy not being available or far too expensive, etc, etc.

 

I have my music collection backed up in the cloud, encrypted of course, so that nobody can see what I like to listen to. :)

 

[DiR]

I'm too broke for vinyls (also I can't really deal with that kind of inconvenience) so buying CDs is how I get ahold of a lot of music still. Found a lot of great tunes I wouldn't have found otherwise if I didn't go diving for those loose CDs in the back of stores that go for cheap. I usually listen to the CD in its entirety once or twice back-to-back before ripping it to FLACs for the full experience. Once it's ripped though I don't really touch the CD all that much anymore.

 

Buying music on a thumb drive is a neat idea, It might gather its own audience since it's not something you see every day. Doesn't quite have the same charm as a good ol' CD, casette, or vinyl though.

[Sonikkumania]

I have 2 CD players, DVD player, few consoles and a PC with a CD-DVD drive:)

 

I love to listen to physicals but they're not without cons - scratches on CD's for one. 

[smeghammer]

Yes several though no dedicated HiFi kit any more just laptops or little boom boxes used by the kids. No plans to go fully digital as i like the physicality of the discs - and I have an extensive rock and metal CD collection some of which is quite rare (full length Maiden Japan concert of 15 tracks...).

 

The convenience of mp3s is obvious however. I have ripped most of my CDs and Amazon gives mp3s with certain of the CDs purchased, which is cool.

[Remilia Scarlet]

7 hours ago, leejacksonaudio said:

 

Fair enough - I have too, although I rip mine to FLAC most of the time since I rarely put music on my phone. The important part is you have a device capable of getting a CD in the first place, BUT...would you prefer to buy your music in MP3/Vorbis/Opus natively were it available that way? Or does having the CD hardcopy make a difference?

I would prefer a digital format, yes. If FLACs were available, that would be great so I can decide myself if I want to keep the FLACs (and maybe burn a CD myself, for use in my mom's car), or convert them to a lossy format.

 

Actually, I forgot to mention that I sometimes use FLAC in my first post.  But only for the albums that are most dear to me, or for CDs that are very hard to come by. I also like using them as backups for the final renders of my own music that I write.

 

Digital is just easier for me, I guess. When I had a car, it had a USB port on the stereo and supported various formats, which let me hold a LOT more music in a more compact way. When I finally get a car again, I plan to reuse my old stereo because of this.

 

Never streaming, though. I prefer to actually possess files, not stream them from something like Spotify that doesn't pay artists well.

[Doom_Dude]

Yes! I have a shelf style stereo system that has a 3 CD changer and dual cassette deck. Also have a blu-ray player and external dvd drive for the comp.

 

Current collection of CD's is at 1239. I have a pile of vinyl and cassettes I no longer play except on rare occasions.

 

I rip all my CD's to MP3.

 

I don't stream music unless I'm checking out some music on Youtube.

 

I lived through the vinyl era and I haven't bought vinyl in 30 years or something. Not going back, no matter how great the larger art is.

[BetelgeuseSupergiant]

yes, i have an CD/DVD player

i almost not use it because i don't have any CDs, but my dad have a really huge CD collection

[Stupid Bunny]

My car and two very old computers I have can play audio CDs. I also have an external CD drive around somewhere. I have a huge CD collection and it would be a shame if I had no way to play them (or at least rip from them)

Edited March 13, 2023 by Stupid Bunny

[Hisymak]

I have:

- Two Hi-Fi towers (one older Kenwood, one newer Sanyo) capable of playing CDs and cassetes

- A laptop with CD/DVD drive

- A few computers with CD/DVD drive

- A vinyl record player

We have lot of audio CDs at home, and recently I even bought a second-hand CD of a title I was looking for.

Nevertheless, I play CDs or vinyls rarely, it feels rather like something special than something casual. For example I usually play my favourite CDs during Christmas time, or I decide to play a specific CD when I have a very special inclination to do, or when we have a visit and we want to listen to specific songs.

[Somniac]

Not really anymore. I do have an old as hell DVD player that can read CDs, but it isn't connected to anything atm. I have a ton of CDs but they're still mostly at my parents house and I haven't bought a CD in forever. I do most of my casual listening on my phone or laptop but for serious listening I use this:

 

 

Can't beat classic 70s Japanese hi-fi, I think it dates from 1978. I got that thing over 10 years ago too, and aside from a slightly dodgy motor she's still hanging in there.

[Professor Hastig]

I'll probably never understand the attraction of vinyl. It is way too easy to scratch the discs and after that they no longer sound better...

 

[Sonikkumania]

Just now, Professor Hastig said:

I'll probably never understand the attraction of vinyl. It is way too easy to scratch the discs and after that they no longer sound better...

 

Vinyls are things that age like wine. They're like drinking pan coffee with cream - not necessity but brings the output in a whole different way. 

[PsychEyeball]

Used to have a CD player but it stayed behind at my parents' place along all of my CDs. I'd always just rip all of my discs to convert into digital format and listen to everything on the PC.

 

Nowadays I have a Blu-ray player at home but I only use it to watch shows on DVD like Mystery Science Theater 3000. So the answer is kinda both yes and no. I have a capable player but I never use it to play music.

Edited March 13, 2023 by PsychEyeball

[Doomkid]

I have a HiFi system that would have been badass back in the 90s with CD player, cassette player and record player all built in. Also have an external CD/DVD tray for my PC, but I mainly use that for loading old games once in a blue moon.

 

It's been a LONG time since I listened to music from a CD, cassette or even record (other than rare occasions), though. I started downloading music in the form of MP3s and other such formats in about 1999 and just never stopped doing it that way, although YouTube nowadays also accounts for about half of my music listening. Before YT came along, that other half would have been filled by this old thing called "FM radio", if you can believe it. There was a badass rock/metal station in central florida called Real Rock 101.1 about a zillion years ago.

 

In conclusion, I rarely use CDs for music listening, I also don't use services like Spotify or whatever. I really want that MP3 or OGG file if it's a song/band that I like. If you care about supporting musicians, just donate to them or buy their merch, that's how I see it.

 

 

LOL, this thread got me curious if any recordings of that station from back in the day still exist.. and they do:

 

 

 

[bofu]

I still have a combination tape deck, AM//FM radio, and CD player, mostly because it also has an AUX IN jack and has some really awesome built-in speakers I can't even bear to part with, though the detail of 3.5mm ports for audio output is starting to caus eit to gather dust. I haven't used the CD player part in years (right now, it's keeping a signed Mighty Mighty Bosstones CD safe in its CD tray while I try to find its case from a recent move).

[esselfortium]

My car has a CD drive that doesn't get used much nowadays (because I just plug my phone into the aux port usually), and I have an old laptop from 2006 that I sometimes use to rip CDs. I should probably just buy a cheap external CD/DVD drive one of these days, but I haven't needed it very often anymore.