Jump to content

CD's at Amazon


jdmccall

Recommended Posts

Seems like they are trying to milk all the money out of the format that they can, while simultaneously trying to kill it off.  Fewer titles are available and sometimes when they are, it's only at crazy stupid high prices, and usually as imports.  Most titles can't be sampled anymore unless you go into their streaming platform where of course, you get the hard-sell to subscribe to that service.   It's just a sad state of affairs, as far as I'm concerned.  And I don't see many options to Amazon as far as CD purchases.  I find very few on-line sellers, and the ones I do find, don't seem too prosperous.  I always thought the CD would never completely go away, but I'm starting to wonder about that conclusion now. 

 

Any other CD lovers out there?  What is your Amazon alternative of choice?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree, I like Wuzzer use Ebay a lot............................I can not stream audio or video, I live in the stone age of rural america where years ago lines were drawn by  the cable companies that basically block me from getting anything other than Sat. or Windstream, Both of which I tried and Both SUCK. Tethering my Cell is WAY faster. But of course they throttle you after 10 GB of DATA even with the unlimited plan (that is limited but they get away with double speak)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, wuzzzer said:

eBay

I've bought a few used CD's on ebay but never really considered it for new stuff.  I'll look a little closer.

4 hours ago, tube fanatic said:

I share your frustration.  Occasionally, Barnes & Noble or CD Universe has had better prices.  It seems that those in charge are trying to force streaming as the only source of music.  I prefer a physical medium.

Maynard

Since the decline of B&M record stores, I have become almost exclusively an Amazon shopper as far as music recordings.  I have checked out B&N a few times; CD Universe...maybe.  I'm not sure.  There's been a couple I found whose web site seemed primitive.  Amazon really spoils a person in that regard!

3 hours ago, joessportster said:

I agree, I like Wuzzer use Ebay a lot............................I can not stream audio or video, I live in the stone age of rural america where years ago lines were drawn by  the cable companies that basically block me from getting anything other than Sat. or Windstream, Both of which I tried and Both SUCK. Tethering my Cell is WAY faster. But of course they throttle you after 10 GB of DATA even with the unlimited plan (that is limited but they get away with double speak)

I'm sure many people are in the same boat, with no high-speed internet access.  Seems that is the last "utility" provided in new housing developments in SW Missouri...and then there's like you say, the true rural areas.

 

I'm not against streaming, but I prefer to own, not rent my favorites, plus I already have 2500-3000 CD's.  I love the CD/SACD formats.  I pretty much dig all optical disc formats but CD and SACD are my preferred ones ,due simply to their audio-centric designs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

52 minutes ago, jdmccall said:

I'm not against streaming, but I prefer to own, not rent my favorites, plus I already have 2500-3000 CD's.  I love the CD/SACD formats.  I pretty much dig all optical disc formats but CD and SACD are my preferred ones ,due simply to their audio-centric designs.

My sentiments exactly. I like to have my stuff in my shelves and not online, i can still export my music to more mobile formats if i want.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Jeff Matthews said:

CD's will go the way of cassette tapes.  And for good reason...  You can put all 2,500 - 3,000 of your CD's on a flash drive the size of your finger nail.  It might not be impressive to look at compared to shelves full of CD's, but that would be the only downfall.

Just for the record, I didn't accumulate my CD collection to impress anyone..  Today, CD-quality streams are typically $20/month, correct?  I probably don't average much more than that on new CD's.  Basically, I'm too far in to stop now!  Besides, I don't hear much compelling new music these days.  It may be out there, but I'm not hearing it.  So, I'll keep looking for CD sources.  CD Universe looked good.  I had over $200 worth in my cart when I noticed the "Adult" header.  I don't know if I want to do business with an establishment that so prominently features porn as part of their business.   Yeah, I know, ebay sells it too, but at least they're more discreet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, jdmccall said:

Just for the record, I didn't accumulate my CD collection to impress anyone..  Today, CD-quality streams are typically $20/month, correct?  I probably don't average much more than that on new CD's.  Basically, I'm too far in to stop now!  Besides, I don't hear much compelling new music these days.  It may be out there, but I'm not hearing it.  So, I'll keep looking for CD sources.  CD Universe looked good.  I had over $200 worth in my cart when I noticed the "Adult" header.  I don't know if I want to do business with an establishment that so prominently features porn as part of their business.   Yeah, I know, ebay sells it too, but at least they're more discreet.

You can copy all those CD's to flash.  You don't have to stream, but you do need a USB in your line-up.

 

I didn't mean to suggest you accumulated CD's to impress.  I was just saying flash drives are comparatively unimpressive (to the eye).  I'm a lawyer, and we used to love to have office libraries to show off all our books to clients.  Those days are gone.  

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Jeff Matthews said:

You can copy all those CD's to flash.  You don't have to stream, but you do need a USB in your line-up.

 

I didn't mean to suggest you accumulated CD's to impress.  I was just saying flash drives are comparatively unimpressive (to the eye).  I'm a lawyer, and we used to love to have office libraries to show off all our books to clients.  Those days are gone.  

 

 

Because we finally figured out you guys skim instead of read.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Jeff Matthews said:

I didn't mean to suggest you accumulated CD's to impress.  I was just saying flash drives are comparatively unimpressive (to the eye).  I'm a lawyer, and we used to love to have office libraries to show off all our books to clients.  Those days are gone.  

 

No offense taken.  I get what you're saying, and I agree.  Physical media is not going to be the main way people access video and audio going forward.  I suppose we're already in that future, in fact.  But I already have a fairly substantial collection of LP's, CD's, SACD's, etc.  I don't intend to sell them.  I like physical media!  I would like to continue buying music on CD or SACD, but it's getting both more difficult and more expensive.  Amazon has been my go-to music store for quite a while but they seem to be pushing streaming and moving away from CD sales.  I guess I'm basically a relic of a bygone era. 🙃

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been lucky with Amazon. I usually buy newer music on CD though. Older music I generally go for vinyl. If there is something obscure or out of print I have had excellent luck with Discogs. Prices are generally very reasonable if not cheap as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, jdmccall said:

 

No offense taken.  I get what you're saying, and I agree.  Physical media is not going to be the main way people access video and audio going forward.  I suppose we're already in that future, in fact.  But I already have a fairly substantial collection of LP's, CD's, SACD's, etc.  I don't intend to sell them.  I like physical media!  I would like to continue buying music on CD or SACD, but it's getting both more difficult and more expensive.  Amazon has been my go-to music store for quite a while but they seem to be pushing streaming and moving away from CD sales.  I guess I'm basically a relic of a bygone era. 🙃

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Chris A said:

 

Humm...and what was your birth year?  Are you male?  Have you ever been exposed to loud music or noise?  For more than 20 minutes?  And which loudspeaker models do you own?  Is the tweeter SPL response flat out to 20 kHz?  What is the phase response of the loudspeakers--measured at your listening position?  Do you have dogs or cats in your home?  Pet birds?  How many times have you played your phonograph records?  Do the pops and ticks bother you?  Do you play RTR tapes?  Does the background RTR tape noise bother you?  Have you ever seen the SPL and phase response of a "good" RTR tape recorder?  What is the low bass SPL response of your phonograph subsystem?  Its phase response?  How many octaves of low bass are you currently missing from your setup.  Do you ever listen to recordings that were made first by a digital recorder?  How many of those original recordings were made since 1990?

 

"Redbook" CDs were introduced in September of 1982 (i.e., 38 years ago).  When did this format die out among hi-fi enthusiasts?  What took its place?  What does that new format look like at 10 Hz?  How about 20 kHz?

 

The whole point of the above is not to irritate, but to encourage a little deeper thinking on the subject.  CD quality is much better than phonograph records by any measure that you care to use, and digital recordings almost always have much greater signal to noise levels (10 Hz to 20 kHz and above) than any analog recordings.  (Phonograph records almost can't hold the full audio signal in two channel format, such that they need >40 dB of corrective EQ to get the analog signal on the discs, and another 40 dB of reverse EQ to get them off the disc into your preamp.  All "analog recordings" made nowadays are made from digital down-mix two-channel recordings, which are in turn typically made from multichannel digital tracks in concert halls and recording studios.  The equipment used to create the vinyl records is another frightening subject (i.e., the original analog record cutters are not being used, in place of "digital stepper cutters").  Vinyl phonograph records are still around nowadays because people will buy them: apparently no other reason exists. 

 

DSD in my listening room apparently sounds better than CD quality (by a very small factor)...but the reason is probably surprising to most: some DSD recordings that haven't been converted into PCM for "mastering" are effectively the original downmix tracks from the recording and/or mixing studio. This is the chief reason why they sound better.  Also there is an even smaller factor related to the phase response flatness above 10 kHz (anti-aliasing filters in DSD are at a higher frequency, farther away from the Nyquist frequency), but that is so small that I've seen no tests where listeners can consistently pick them out from 48 kHz or even 44.1 kHz/16 bit PCM counterparts.

 

Chris

Very interesting. I have never heard of PDM before.

JJK

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/26/2020 at 6:54 AM, tube fanatic said:

I share your frustration.  Occasionally, Barnes & Noble or CD Universe has had better prices.  It seems that those in charge are trying to force streaming as the only source of music.  I prefer a physical medium.

 

 

Maynard

 

One of the long standing problems of retaining fidelity - of the original - in the form of duplication (especially analog), has ALWAYS been the physical medium. It is a major limiting factor in regards to what we hear. And that is not only because of the physical media itself, but also the additional equipment that's required to play it, all of which add their own additional noise, distortion and phase artifacts in addition to that of the physical media itself.

 

We don't have to do that anymore.

 

So, I really don't understand why anyone still insists on "preferring" a physical medium. Even cost is not an excuse anymore.

 

Better sound quality can now be obtained without the physical media, and without the additional equipment and cables/connections required to play it, not to mention the ease of use and access to it virtually anywhere you want.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...