How many members are digital audio purists ? Meaning no streaming or analog just CD/SACD

[bikeman71]

Many times I find there are higher resolution versions available online vs a physical format. Also, I’m a avid collector of Phish & Grateful Dead (Dead & Co) concerts. Most of those aren’t available on CD.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I also love the Phish/Dead stuff. It's fun going to a show and buy the download of the show the next day.

Will you be part of the Phish shows on the west coast this summer? If you are, we should find a way to get together...I live near Lake Tahoe and would welcome you to my place for some listening.

 

[GSOphile]

For now, all CD/SACDs via an Esoteric SACD/CD player - very satisfying SQ. That said, by this time next year I expect I will be streaming some.

 

[Phishphan]

I also love the Phish/Dead stuff. It's fun going to a show and buy the download of the show the next day.

Will you be part of the Phish shows on the west coast this summer? If you are, we should find a way to get together...I live near Lake Tahoe and would welcome you to my place for some listening.

I haven't planned on any Phish so far this summer. I have some clients out in L.A. that I go out and visit during the west coast run. But right now it's too early to say.

I'm almost certainly going to one of the Dead & Co shows at Alpine Valley. My company has an office in Chicago, so I can fly there for a couple of days and drive up to the shows.

I try to tie my concerts to business meetings, so the company picks up the hotel/airfare.

 

[Spock]

I won't waste a second or cent on computer audio.

I did not want to be the first to say that!
Only CD´s around here.


And let me tell my point of view about the convenience of streaming. I don´t want to have all the music in the world because i have no time for that. When i like a new album, it can stay at the cd player about 2 or 3 weeks, till i assimilate all the music, till it gets part of me. I know there are lots of good music that i simply don´t know. It reminds me when i used to go to a record shop and used to saw all the albuns in the shelves and i could only buy one or two and then asked myself: and now? What to buy? is there any that could be better than the one i gonna buy?
I don´ t want this stress now. opcorn:
From friends and from internet I´m always discovering some great albuns. And when i like, I buy the CD.

 

[bart]

Until Christmas, I was only playing physical media: CD, SACD, DVD-audio, Blu-ray audio.
I must have around 3000 silver discs.
Then, I started with a Tidal 3 month trial. I found so many old and new gems that I was immediately hooked.
The next step was subscribing to Qobuz Sublime +.
Wonderful, as I primarily listen to classical and jazz.

I have compared some of my discs to the stream (same DAC).
Sometimes the disc wins (mostly SACDs and Japanese pressings), sometimes the stream wins (newer remaster, hi-res?).

I'll keep on streaming... and putting discs in the tray.
For multi-channel, I only have the physical media solution so far.

 

[nicoff]

....
For multi-channel, I only have the physical media solution so far.

So you know, you can buy and download multi-channel DSD recordings already. Also, with the right equipment (like the Oppo 105 and 103 players for example), it is possible to rip your multi-channel SACDs, save them in your computer/NAS, and stream them (similar to what you do with your ripped CDs). There are threads on this topic in this site already.

 

[Dr Tone]

I don't play physical media, everything is streamed local in my network. I'm thinking of dumping my vinyl rig as it was only ever used for needle drops.

I have Qobuz, but it's only for research and finding new stuff.

 

[nicoff]

The table below shows the history of music sales in different formats. As of 2017, 78% of sales was streaming as compared to 22% for physical media. (Since physical media includes LPs, then the number of CDs sold would be much less than that).

From the chart, the great majority of folks have voted for streaming with their wallets.

Here is another chart that shows how new technology is adopted.

Based on that second chart, one can say that there is up to 16% of consumers (“the laggards” using the term in the chart) that are late adopters and may never adopt streaming.

In a way, this is similar to when CDs were introduced and sales of LPs plummeted. Some folks kept spinning their LPs. Now that streaming is available, some folks keep playing their silver discs. Will physical digital media be as resilient as the LPs? I doubt it. But that’s just one person’s opinion.

There is no right or wrong here. In the end, regardless of how it sounds, we all vote with our wallets.

 

[LostnAmerica]

The table below shows the history of music sales in different formats. As of 2017, 78% of sales was streaming as compared to 22% for physical media. (Since physical media includes LPs, then the number of CDs sold would be much less than that).

From the chart, the great majority of folks have voted for streaming with their wallets.

Here is another chart that shows how new technology is adopted.

Based on that second chart, one can say that there is up to 16% of consumers (“the laggards” using the term in the chart) that are late adopters and may never adopt streaming.

In a way, this is similar to when CDs were introduced and sales of LPs plummeted. Some folks kept spinning their LPs. Now that streaming is available, some folks keep playing their silver discs. Will physical digital media be as resilient as the LPs? I doubt it. But that’s just one person’s opinion.

There is no right or wrong here. In the end, regardless of how it sounds, we all vote with our wallets.

Well, I guess you can call me a “laggard” at least for now. But as for the charts: the top one is eerily similar to what happened to my to my portfolio in 94’ (the Dark line, that is.). Enjoy the Music!
Cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mdp632]

My entire CD/SACD collection is ripped to a NAS and is on my Aurender N10. I have nearly 3TB of digital music in FLAC & DSF. I rarely spin a CD and my TT hasn’t been hooked up in 2 years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You have one of the highest end transports (K1)available today. Since all of your collection is ripped are you using the K1 mainly as a DAC? And just the transport as a backup? Have you compared playing an SACD in the K1 transport versus the digital copy played back over the N10 to the K1's DAC?

 

[hifinutt]

love my cd`s and sacd . even though streamer is good , and talking to a well known brand american hi fi dealer recently , he really loves cd and feels better than streaming

 

[Mordante]

Last weekend I visited a demo of the dCS Vivalidi One.

IMHO The Vivaldi One sounded better when used as transport compared to streaming. However streaming (NAS, Tidal Quobus etc) is much more convenient.

 

[Al M.]

I did not want to be the first to say that!
Only CD´s around here.

Same here. Never went into the SACD business, and as it turns out now with CD playback having the ability of being so fantastic, there wasn't a need to.

And let me tell my point of view about the convenience of streaming. I don´t want to have all the music in the world because i have no time for that. When i like a new album, it can stay at the cd player about 2 or 3 weeks, till i assimilate all the music, till it gets part of me. I know there are lots of good music that i simply don´t know.

I agree. Especially for classical and jazz I listen to the music over and over until I really get to know it, and I cannot listen to all the music in the world either, even though I have quite diverse musical interests.

Also, streaming is only convenient once you have figured out all this computer stuff. There's too much drama for me. I have seen friends labor on their computer audio set-up for years, with countless hours spent, and I still found the CD playback better, and at worst at least as good.

 

[Al M.]

Based on that second chart, one can say that there is up to 16% of consumers (“the laggards” using the term in the chart) that are late adopters and may never adopt streaming.

Even though I only spin CDs for high end audio, I do look for some new music on Youtube, at lower-quality streaming, and then I buy the CD. Being into lower-quality streaming (for exploratory purposes) doesn't make me a laggard, but more like 99.9 % of the population.

 

[nicoff]

Even though I only spin CDs for high end audio, I do look for some new music on Youtube, at lower-quality streaming, and then I buy the CD. Being into lower-quality streaming (for exploratory purposes) doesn't make me a laggard, but more like 99.9 % of the population.

Streaming is streaming. And by your own admission you are already streaming. And so are those who stream lower quality mp3 files from Spotify or Pandora. [emoji3]

 

[kev313]

Same here. Never went into the SACD business, and as it turns out now with CD playback having the ability of being so fantastic, there wasn't a need to.



I agree. Especially for classical and jazz I listen to the music over and over until I really get to know it, and I cannot listen to all the music in the world either, even though I have quite diverse musical interests.

Also, streaming is only convenient once you have figured out all this computer stuff. There's too much drama for me. I have seen friends labor on their computer audio set-up for years, with countless hours spent, and I still found the CD playback better, and at worst at least as good.

Streaming isn’t really any more complicated than setting up a computer these days. It’s fairly close to plug and play. I suppose you could tell a difference in quality if you are heavily invested in a high quality CD player - or emotionally invested in the idea of owning music - but there are positives as well.

The quality is quite good. The trade off for the last % of ultimate performance is obviously not being limited to your collection and not having to collect in the first place. Perhaps my opinion is shaped by the era in which I started listening to music. By the time I was old enough to buy music, records, save for singles, had largely disappeared from popular consumption. I had cassettes and, in high school, CDs. Unfortunately by that time the idea of a great “album” had also disappeared from the popular music industry (with a few great exceptions) and I was often left buying music that I would only play 2 tracks from. Although I like buying vinyl, I don’t feel any particular need to own a music collection. Personally, I find it to be a bit of a disorder, but that’s just my opinion. We often hear an argument that it is the best way to support the artists (Steve Guttenberg is a big proponent), but I don’t buy it. First of all, change is change and industries, and artists, need to adapt. And there is PLENTY of opportunity for artists to adapt. The barrier to creating and distributing art has never been lower.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Al M.]

Streaming is streaming. And by your own admission you are already streaming. And so are those who stream lower quality mp3 files from Spotify or Pandora. [emoji3]

Precisely my point!

 

[SCAudiophile]

SCAudiophile,

I love that CD collection. Well done.

Is that a Bach hard case as well?

Yes,...that's a 2012 Bach Strad B-flat trumpet, silver plated , In the corner on the floor next to a big cigar humidor I have my father's
Big Band era Conn medium bore B-flat, silver plate with the most beautiful etching/scroll work from the bell all the way up the pipe. Still plays
well if not a bit constrained (was my first trumpet back in the early-late 70s....). I could kick myself however...1989 I parted with a
1979 original Benge .468 large bore, gold plated that was an all-time favorite and a large bore Benge flugelhorn when I put the horns
down due to life/work circumstances....very bad choice and I've regretted it ever since. Slowly picking up the horns again,....

BTW...love the 2 axes in your avatar....SWEET!!!

 

[SCAudiophile]

Count me in but mind you that in the 70s-90s I loved Vinyl starting with time with my father and his Big Band vinyl collection
on 33 and 78 and a very solid (by today's standards) intermediate or a bit lower system. I also had vinyl up through the late
1990s until a plumbing leak over a 2 week period we were out of country trashed an entire corner of our home from the top (3rd)
floor down and took out all my vinyl including a good number of original MoFi releases, a Denon high-end (at the time) and
Technics deck and miscellaneous things all related to my vinyl playback. Do I miss vinyl/pure analog playback,..absolutely.
Do I still appreciate it,...hell yes! I have however gone solidly down pure CD/XRCD/SACD/etc...playback with no vinyl
or no streaming. I've hard 'the best' server-based solutions vendor OEM and some home-built by experts and it just
doesn't equal what I hear every day including tests of Tidal, software MQA, etc...here.

Long-winded but definitely

Mark is this you? Ed here.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Sorry for the delay,...work has been killing my forum and listening time

Yes it is! Hello Ed!!!

 

[SCAudiophile]

Thank you LostnAmerica!