Lament for the end of the "hard copy" music, movie, etcetera era. [Archive]

Doc Safari

07-07-16, 15:13

So rip them.

You'll be the man.

It would be like some Dead Sea Scrolls type shit.

I DID. But I like the cover art, the booklet narrative which often has the song lyrics, etc.

Truth be told, I've gotten in the habit of ripping CD's I own, then burning "play" copies while I keep my "prepper" copies in pristine condition.

Then, when my music collection was as complete as I wanted it to be, I actually made two USB drives of my entire music collection just for a back up of the back up.

WickedWillis

07-07-16, 15:35

I still buy CD's. I prefer them.

ColtSeavers

07-07-16, 15:44

Shooooooooooot, I still buy books...

WickedWillis

07-07-16, 15:45

Shooooooooooot, I still buy books...

Me too. I don't do books digitally at all.

Firefly

07-07-16, 15:48

THCDDM4

07-07-16, 15:48

I prefer vinyl records and still buy them. Most of the time they come with free digital downloads of the record too. Vinyl has such rich, full and warm sound that just can't really be duplicated.

I'm not a fan of digital media other than its ease of use and portability, it sounds like donkeyballs.

I have a record player that converts albums to MP3's. So whenever I get a new record I burn it to the computer so I can put it on my phone and have back up copies.

No I am not an effing hipster either. I'm just a dinosaur of a 35 year old who likes my vinyl records. I have quite the collection.

Same thing with DVD's and Blueray's and BETA and VHS tapes. I have walls of them.

I have a good buddy who upon first seeing my vinyl collection didn't know what they were, he thought they were old laser discs...

Firefly

07-07-16, 15:51

SteyrAUG

07-07-16, 15:51

Me too. I don't do books digitally at all.

Same here. Best thing about digital is $1 rare first editions on Amazon. Thank you.

And you can't do this with mp3s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_NsirYK9e0

Doc Safari

07-07-16, 16:05

I'm over CDs.

I just rip my stuff.

Records, however, were an experience. THAT was the place for cover art, liner notes, literature, etc.

And thanks to pretentious hippies, they are re-issuing a LOT of vinyl. I saw 1984 by Van Halen in a Barnes and Noble. I geeked out over it to the 18 year old lass behind the counter who just didn't understand why it was a big deal.

It's like if Nintendo started selling brand new NES carts again. Sure, it's outta date and obsolete but the nostalgia factor.

But CDs just suck. Even in the 90s

Hated records. HATED 'em. I can't count the number of times I had to return a defective record to the store because the groove wasn't cut properly and part of the song skipped right out of the packaging. Then there was the dust and debris that slowly caused minute pops and ticks to be heard throughout the record. Wise people copied their records onto cassette tapes (there were no CD's yet), and kept the records clean and in mint condition. But cassettes often sounded like crap and had all the limitations of tape (like not being able to effectively search for a particular song).

So I was the perfect market for this new technology called the "compact disc".

Around 1983-84, I was a broke college kid but I saved my money for any CD player that was within my budget. There was only one and that was offered by Radio Shack. Wasn't even a boom box: it was for a component stereo system so I had to scrounge together a component system with amp, speakers, etc.

I had LP records of Led Zeppelin, Eagles, and many others too numerous to name. I sold my pristine collection in anticipation of buying the same albums on CD.

Then you couldn't get everything on CD. I had to wait literally nearly a decade for the first Beatles CD's to come out. Other artists would only put out their latest album and maybe a greatest hits. You had to wait years for their back catalog to come out on CD. Then, of course, the sound quality was crappy on a lot of the older CD's. That was a bogeyman until labels started digitally remastering a lot of their recordings. Then some of them really sounded like crap, and the LP versions actually had better sound quality.

So I ended up wishing I had kept the LP's (like Zeppelin) that sounded better than the CD version.

I still would never go back to vinyl records, though.

What I really wish is that I could plug my USB flash drive music collection and upload the entire thing to my car stereo. Now THAT might make me think twice about having to own the hard copy.

FromMyColdDeadHand

07-07-16, 16:12

Are those parachute pants?

I was against the digital ownership until my kids kept losing DVDs and scratching the crap out of them. I've bought about 5 'Licensed to Ill' CDs till I finally just bought it on itunes.

That and I can get movie on anything anytime.

Firefly

07-07-16, 16:14

Everybody blames the records. Nobody blames the player. We had a Crossley(original) and later a Sony.

Never skipped nor had issues. I remember sitting up after dark up on the bed with these huge CVC looking earphones that make Peltors look small and listening to Aerosmith, Van Halen, and Prince.

As I got older it pissed me off that black folks were buying records just to mutilate. Run DMC knew what they were doing so they get a pass but everyone else just sucked.

Doc Safari

07-07-16, 16:16

I was against the digital ownership until my kids kept losing DVDs and scratching the crap out of them. I've bought about 5 'Licensed to Ill' CDs till
That and I can get movie on anything anytime.

Hastings is about the only local place you can rent movies. They are in bankruptcy and will probably close July 13.

Netflix is pathetic. They don't have 1/10th of the movies that Hastings rents.

So my girlfriend and I are searching for a new streaming service, and we both have that uneasy feeling that all this "liberating" technology will actually force us back into the movie theater.

That's like collecting guns and high-tech optics for twenty years only to decide you have to downsize to bows and arrows.

ramairthree

07-07-16, 16:28

My kids are blown away by the sound when I put a record, tape, or CD into the rack system with speakers the size of small cars.

I get the hate for the inconvenience, especially on a tape or 8 track, to find your song,
Or change records,

But with 6 pack mags for CDs I never felt inconvenienced.

I also find CD quality to be better than iTunes, MP3, Amazon.

I have to admit some old acts have put records I have bought recently.

I also grab those mega mix dance length single records when I see them for cheap.

But then again I rebuilt a carburetor left handed and wired in relays for brighter headlights when my arm was in a cast.

And I'm definitely feeling like running out and banding some stoned, disinhibition, drunk college chick, burn some rubber, in some acid washed jeans in my 85 Z28 as I listen to Steyr lay some vinyl on.

My cool gun collection at that time consisted of a Colt SP1 and a Star BM.

THCDDM4

07-07-16, 16:32

I didn't say YOU nor I were hipsters.

I just said that bringing vinyl back was the only thing they did right

ETA I wished I had laser discs simply because I had rich friend as a lad whose family had LDs and I would always be at her house watching LDs. It blew VHS away.

I posted before even seeing your post. I just had to put that qualification in there because sometimes when people find out I buy vinyl records they ask me if I'm some hipster or what.

I had laser discs until a few years back when the player died. Wasn't gonna buy a new one so I sold the LD's I had. There's a cult of people who dig em.

I can't stand digital books. I tried that once and it sucked. Something about real paper and holding the book, the way it smells, the way printed words look to my eyes versus digital words. I didn't like digital books at all!

THCDDM4

07-07-16, 16:35

Same here. Best thing about digital is $1 rare first editions on Amazon. Thank you.

And you can't do this with mp3s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_NsirYK9e0

Awesome skills mixmaster styer! :cool:

Doc Safari

07-07-16, 16:35

I had laser discs until a few years back when the player died. Wasn't gonna buy a new one so I sold the LD's I had. There's a cult of people who dig em.

I was the idiot that bought a laser disc player and about five movies just months before DVD's came out and LD's were the new 8-track tape.

LD's suffered from the same drawbacks as LP's: Had to store them vertically to prevent warpage, had to flip them over in the middle of the movie to play the second half, scratches could compromise the picture quality of LD's just like they compromised the sound of LP's.

If only I'd waited a few more months.....

I don't lament the loss of cassettes and 8-track tapes. Both formats were by far the worst ever invented.

THCDDM4

07-07-16, 16:38

I was the idiot that bought a laser disc player and about five movies just months before DVD's came out and LD's were the new 8-track tape.

LD's suffered from the same drawbacks as LP's: Had to store them vertically to prevent warpage, had to flip them over in the middle of the movie to play the second half, scratches could compromise the picture quality of LD's just like they compromised the sound of LP's.

If only I'd waited a few more months.....

I don't lament the loss of cassettes and 8-track tapes. Both formats were by far the worst ever invented.

Ah man, but what about listening to the radio and recording that new single on cassette before it even came out? Sure, you missed the first few seconds of the song, but who cares you had it before you could buy it and rocked it over and over again on your badass ghetto blaster at the mall bro!

And mix tapes. Man I got more than a few ladies to warm up to me big time with some bad ass mix tapes.

Ah, the good 'ol days...

Doc Safari

07-07-16, 16:41

Ah man, but what about listening to the radio and recording that new single on cassette before it even came out? Sure, you missed the first few seconds of the song, but who cares you had it before you could buy it and rocked it over and over again on your badass ghetto blaster at the mall bro!

And mix tapes. Man I got more than a few ladies to warm up to me big time with some bad ass mix tapes.

Ah, the good 'ol days...

I do make my own mix CD's. Usually an artist's greatest hits CD won't have every song I want, so I have to rip the CD's to the computer with the extra songs from other CD's and make my own "best of" mix CD.

I also make "theme" mix CD's. I made one of all Apocalyptic songs, another with only my favorite '70's or '80's songs, another with just summer and surf tunes, etc.

BoringGuy45

07-07-16, 17:29

I don't miss CDs by a long shot. I listen to music when I go running, and I like to skip around to random songs, so having my entire music library on my iPhone has been a dream come true. I remember running with my Discman in high school. As many in my generation know, "skip free" was total bullshit. Unless I carried that thing like a waiter holding a food tray, it would start skipping the first time I swung my arm.

Second, if there's a song I like off an otherwise-shitty CD, I had two choices: Try to think of 15 or so other songs to burn on a CD-R so I don't waste it on that one song, or drop $20 on that shitty CD. I like being able to just download as many or few songs from an album that I please and just put them into my digital library.

Third, it's nice not having to bring 30 pounds worth of CDs on long car trips.

I still do hardcopy movies though. I much prefer having a library of disks than being at the whim of whatever Netflix/Hulu/Amazon/etc decides they want to make available for streaming.

One thing I do miss about CDs is being able to give and get them as gifts.

Doc Safari

07-07-16, 17:37

... if there's a song I like off an otherwise-shitty CD, I had two choices: Try to think of 15 or so other songs to burn on a CD-R so I don't waste it on that one song, or drop $20 on that shitty CD. I like being able to just download as many or few songs from an album that I please and just put them into my digital library.

My main reason for having and owning CD's is that you just can't get everything on MP3's. Take for example the song "Major Tom" by Peter Schilling. I had to end up buying an out-of-print used compilation CD on eBay to find that song.

I've also got CD's by obscure bands that will probably never be available for download. Maybe in another 5-10 years the entire alternative rock universe will be available for download, but that isn't the case now.

So I"m stuck buying CD's (or keeping CD's) if I want certain music. Theoretically, a CD is obsolete the minute I rip it to my computer or sync it to a flash drive, but then again if the songs were hard to come by in the first place....

SteyrAUG

07-07-16, 17:46

Hated records. HATED 'em. I can't count the number of times I had to return a defective record to the store because the groove wasn't cut properly and part of the song skipped right out of the packaging. Then there was the dust and debris that slowly caused minute pops and ticks to be heard throughout the record. Wise people copied their records onto cassette tapes (there were no CD's yet), and kept the records clean and in mint condition. But cassettes often sounded like crap and had all the limitations of tape (like not being able to effectively search for a particular song).

Never had a problem using quality turntables and cartridges. Also they made this thing called a Discwasher and a zero static mat. I always gave every LP or 12" a wipe before playing and never had to listen to "rice crispies", even on the stuff my dad bought in the late 60s.

As with rifles, there is quality and there is other. When my father heard my recorded tapes vs. his store bought tapes he has me start doing recording for him. And of course he bought the worst crap grade blank tapes you could find. I threw them away and just used to HG TDKs from my old stock and he couldn't believe they were actually recordings of his records that he bought 20 years before because they sounded so much better than on the playskool turntable home stereo he was using.

Simple things like a stand alone EQ could also really clean up vinyl. I remember being one of the last radio DJs still using vinyl in the late 80s and early 90s.

Doc Safari

07-07-16, 17:50

Never had a problem using quality turntables and cartridges. Also they made this thing called a Discwasher and a zero static mat. I always gave every LP or 12" a wipe before playing and never had to listen to "rice crispies", even on the stuff my dad bought in the late 60s.

As with rifles, there is quality and there is other. When my father heard my recorded tapes vs. his store bought tapes he has me start doing recording for him. And of course he bought the worst crap grade blank tapes you could find. I threw them away and just used to HG TDKs from my old stock and he couldn't believe they were actually recordings of his records that he bought 20 years before because they sounded so much better than on the playskool turntable home stereo he was using.

Simple things like a stand alone EQ could also really clean up vinyl. I remember being one of the last radio DJs still using vinyl in the late 80s and early 90s.

I'll concede I didn't have expensive hi-fi turntables or even audio equipment. I mostly had "Sears Roebuck" grade stereo equipment.

But I also voluntarily did not commit to using the discwasher every time the record was played. To me that was like having to use Vietnam-era M16 cleaning techniques on your rifle every time you took it out.

To me, if you had to clean the damn thing every time it came out of the record sleeve, that was just another argument in favor of CD's.

I "get it" now, though, that high quality turntables might have changed my mind about hating records so intensely.

tb-av

07-07-16, 18:21

I've got rare CD's from the '80's that haven't been converted to MP3's yet.

You should rip them to FLAC if you intend to preserve what you have. FLAC=Lossless, MP3=Lossy

Koshinn

07-07-16, 18:47

The_War_Wagon

07-07-16, 19:18

Shooooooooooot, I still buy books...

Same here. Can't FIND any CD's WORTH buying these days... other than off fleabay...

SteyrAUG

07-07-16, 22:00

I'll concede I didn't have expensive hi-fi turntables or even audio equipment. I mostly had "Sears Roebuck" grade stereo equipment.

But I also voluntarily did not commit to using the discwasher every time the record was played. To me that was like having to use Vietnam-era M16 cleaning techniques on your rifle every time you took it out.

To me, if you had to clean the damn thing every time it came out of the record sleeve, that was just another argument in favor of CD's.

I "get it" now, though, that high quality turntables might have changed my mind about hating records so intensely.

Not giving you a hard time but here was your problem.

Most LPs had a paper sleeve and 99.999% of the crap in the grooves was paper fibers that flaked off every time you took a record in or out of the sleeve. Much like that early M-16 it was contaminated with every use. So the first thing we did was get vinyl record sleeves that wouldn't scratch the surface or deposit contaminants.

If you were lucky you knew how to hold a LP without adding fingerprints and sweat to the surface. Discwashers not only removed all that crap, they kept the surface from being "Arizona desert" dry. A quick 360 spin under the brush did wonders and took about 10 seconds. Also went a long way to preserve the vinyl itself. I actually rescued many of my fathers LPs which were going on 20 years old with negligent handling.

It's the nature of the format. I wish there was a better one but that is what we had.

cbx

07-07-16, 22:31

What I really wish is that I could plug my USB flash drive music collection and upload the entire thing to my car stereo. Now THAT might make me think twice about having to own the hard copy.

You can....

Just use itunes or Google play.

On Google play, upload your collection. It'll be searchable. On your phone. Then play that to your car. All of the late models do it with blue tooth.

If you ride isn't that fancy, get a parrot system or something similar. Or a motorola roadster. Plays over your car fm or inline.

But Charlie bravo xray, what if I don't have a smarts phone? No sweat. Get an ipod. Do same as above. Belkin makes way nice fm broadcaster chargers.

I have a silly large cd collection. I've been slowly converting everything to digital. Not practical to carry that many cds around.

Or even better yet, get a Google unlimited account. 9 bucks a month gets you unlimited music (yes you read that right all the musics der evar was), and add free YouTube red. Plus, I can stream it all through a chromecast to play at home on on my boobie delux sound system. With queues and everything. They even have a radio option. ( not as good as Pandora, but you get to pick what plays). Stream, download, playback with our cell data. What ever you want.

It's straight boobies, where was this shit back in the day when I used to drop 150$ on ten cds in the 90s....

I listened to trivium and all that remains during weights, Rosanne cash before dinner, and enjoying some old school lagwagon right now.

Love it......

cbx

07-07-16, 22:42

Hastings is about the only local place you can rent movies. They are in bankruptcy and will probably close July 13.

Netflix is pathetic. They don't have 1/10th of the movies that Hastings rents.

So my girlfriend and I are searching for a new streaming service, and we both have that uneasy feeling that all this "liberating" technology will actually force us back into the movie theater.

That's like collecting guns and high-tech optics for twenty years only to decide you have to downsize to bows and arrows.
Get on Google play movies and tv. Rent or buy pretty much any movie or show (even complete seasons) They give you thirty days to start watching your rental. 3 days once started. SD and HD available. As many playbacks as you want.

Get a chrome cast (30$), watch on your big tv. Plus any content you pay for on Google, You get to be able to watch it on you tube also. Their data compression and play back is the best by far.

Amazon has a similar deal with firestick.

Netflix is good, but I use Google play to fill the gaps. Cool thing with Google to is that you can take your device, go to someone else's house, get on their Wi-Fi, and watch your rentals or purchases there too.

It's awesome, to me at least. I've quit red box and movie rental stores all together.

It's sad, but my old blockbuster card went the way of the buggy whip. Progress I guess.

Endur

07-07-16, 23:31

I used to buy nothing but CD's. Now I just plug my phone into the AUX cable hooked to my radio and play Pandora or Spotify.

Big A

07-09-16, 21:23

I still buy CD's of the bands I really like. In fact I just got 2 from amazon today. But most of the newer stuff played these days I just listen to through prime, Pandora, etc.

RazorBurn

07-09-16, 22:18

I DID. But I like the cover art, the booklet narrative which often has the song lyrics, etc.

Truth be told, I've gotten in the habit of ripping CD's I own, then burning "play" copies while I keep my "prepper" copies in pristine condition.

Then, when my music collection was as complete as I wanted it to be, I actually made two USB drives of my entire music collection just for a back up of the back up.

Same for me too. I've backed up my music on three seperate hard drives, and my day to day CD's are burnt copies. I do have XM Radio in my truck, and that has cut down on my CD playing though.

_Stormin_

07-10-16, 18:54

Now I just plug my phone into the AUX cable hooked to my radio and play Pandora or Spotify.
Might want to switch to only Spotify...
40397

Firefly

07-10-16, 19:00

I dunno....

Denzel in Book of Eli had an old iPod and was still able to get his jam on.

That's all I need. An iPod, an m65 jacket, an Oakley backpack, and an HK pistol.

ETA and a King James

Big A

07-10-16, 19:51

I dunno....

Denzel in Book of Eli had an old iPod and was still able to get his jam on.

That's all I need. An iPod, an m65 jacket, an Oakley backpack, and an HK pistol.

ETA and a King James
He had a shortened 870 too...

Koshinn

07-10-16, 22:50

I dunno....

Denzel in Book of Eli had an old iPod and was still able to get his jam on.

That's all I need. An iPod, an m65 jacket, an Oakley backpack, and an HK pistol.

ETA and a King James

In braille.

Spoiler alert.

daddyusmaximus

07-11-16, 00:18

I listen to music on the computer and an Ipod I have hooked up to my car stereo, but I still like having a hard copy of any music or movie. Even if I do buy a song off of Itunes, I'll burn it on a disc so I can keep a hard copy.

Honu

07-11-16, 04:23

I used to have a lot of vinyl :)
also had a DJ company mostly large parties and college stuff and did some stuff in some clubs doing mostly acid house mixes and did a lot of reggae shows :)

think I only have about 600 vinyl left ? quite a few rare stuff from the 80s punk era and some other DJ special mix records of house stuff

but most everything is on digital these days just easy and convenient
I know my brother is into his vinyl he is in his late 50s and a lawyer so he has some nice stuff :) and loves that sound of his 70s band all over again

my 12 year old wanted a house party themed Bday party I have some decent NAD amps PSB speakers and velodyne sub stuff so decent stuff and had a lot of fun turning it up a bit ago :) hahahahaha

can say when I was shooting weddings the modern DJ gear is pretty slick and sadly makes it insanely easy to do any kinda mixing but thats OK I guess

Honu

07-11-16, 04:26

hahah as a fellow old 50s dude good job buddy !

good to see ya having fun with the stuff
I used to have some nice 1200s with my dj stuff cant see what type of tables those are ? to grainy :)
one thing we used to do under our slip mats was use the plastic type sleeves from a album cut into a circle so you have the sleeve then the slip mat got taught that trick back in the 80s from some rap group we did sound reinforcement for :)
not sure if you had ever seen that dual layer setup before ?

Same here. Best thing about digital is $1 rare first editions on Amazon. Thank you.

And you can't do this with mp3s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_NsirYK9e0

SteyrAUG

07-11-16, 14:50

hahah as a fellow old 50s dude good job buddy !

good to see ya having fun with the stuff
I used to have some nice 1200s with my dj stuff cant see what type of tables those are ? to grainy :)
one thing we used to do under our slip mats was use the plastic type sleeves from a album cut into a circle so you have the sleeve then the slip mat got taught that trick back in the 80s from some rap group we did sound reinforcement for :)
not sure if you had ever seen that dual layer setup before ?

1200s of course, Numark board. We did the same thing with two vinyl circles cut from record sleeves and a zero static mat.

Doc Safari

07-11-16, 14:53

I finally tracked down a copy of AC/DC's Back in Black CD in the jewel case--not the crappy 'mini-LP' sleeve that record companies have gone to. You can't even buy the full sized jewel case in the accessory section anymore. I have a stash of used jewel cases from CD's that were used and abused to the point of being ready to throw out. I HATE the cardboard 'mini-LP' sleeve because I had the Led Zeppelin boxed set and every CD had scratches on it after being taken out only a few times.

Honestly, sometimes I wish it could be 1985 again.

Honu

07-11-16, 15:00

thats cool :)
kinda thought they were 1200 but tough to see the bottom curve look and feet made me think so

I used to have Peavy gear back in the day
my main setup was 2 CS1200 amps and a CS1500 amp
3020 cabinets which were great on there own for small gigs one 1200 amp per side
and 6 black widow 18 subs the 1500 amp ran in parallel as the amps could easily take a 1 ohm load
all put together the thing was freaking amazing :) hahahahaha

we used to set it up on the bank (lived on the water) and just crank the thing and go jet skiing beach partyetc.. back in the day when you could get away with that kinda stuff

ot sure if you ever check out new mixers ?
I know the old top numarks had a beat matching feature

but some of the new stuff man can do perfect beat matching and pitch matching speed matching or any combination and all automatically all digital of course :)
pretty cool for work but no tactful feel of course like the good ole days :) ahahahahha

1200s of course, Numark board. We did the same thing with two vinyl circles cut from record sleeves and a zero static mat.

jmp45

07-11-16, 15:08

I copied all my cds importing to itunes. Then store the favorites in a sony 300 disc changer for the main house system and boxed up the cd cases. I can stream from itunes to main house system also. Using the changer or airplay is convenient and saves the discs.

I have a yamaha receiver and infinity quantum jrs. That's all I need. My $ go into gear making music rather than listening. Vintage Marshalls, Vox, Fender, Mesa and quite a few others.

SteyrAUG

07-11-16, 15:49

ot sure if you ever check out new mixers ?
I know the old top numarks had a beat matching feature

but some of the new stuff man can do perfect beat matching and pitch matching speed matching or any combination and all automatically all digital of course :)
pretty cool for work but no tactful feel of course like the good ole days :) ahahahahha

Numark DM-1800, it was one of the few boards with inputs for three turntables and that was my common setup. The beat matching feature was in my head.