![]() ![]() Sure, you see a little picture of the album cover when you’re listening to a song, but you’re missing the story of the album. In this streaming age, the album artwork seems to be more of an afterthought (to consumers, at least). The CD booklets and album artwork are underrated. It might not be much, but you can sell your old records and CDs online or to record shops if you buy a digital song, like an mp3 file, there’s no resale value. Also, there’s the resale value of CDs and vinyl. If you’re looking for vinyl, on the other hand, a new record will likely cost twice as much as that. Audio shops and retailers are practically giving away used CDs, while new CDs are usually in the $12 to $15 price range. If you’re looking for a superior audio format, CDs are the best deal you’re likely to get. CDs are significantly cheaper than vinyl. The best compressed digital music files are referred to as lossless because they don’t lose information, but only a few streaming services are able to play lossless or CD-quality audio - such as Tidal, Amazon Music HD and Apple Music - and those require a subscription and can be pretty expensive. MP3, AAC, WMA are all types of compressed music files. That means that the audio data is being stored in less space, which results in a loss of information and the music isn’t going to sound as vibrant or as complete. If you’re streaming music from the likes of Spotify, Apple Music or Tidal, you’re listening to a compressed music file. ![]() CDs obviously sound better than streaming digital files, too. Plus they’re not going to skip (unless scratched). Compared to vinyl, CDs are able to produce a wider dynamic range and more bass. Sure, you might prefer the warm analog sound, specifically its crackling and other imperfections, as well as the visceral experience of actually dropping the needle on a spinning record, but CDs are simply the best sounding physical audio format that most people can get their hands on. One of the great myths in the audio world is that vinyl sounds better than CDs. Sadly, I was out of Oldies radio at that point, and would love to re-assemble a fresh on-air library for the format now, with everything that's come out in much improved quality since those stations dried-up (ironically).The Best Vinyl Records, As Picked By Music Experts Yes, CDs sound better than vinyl. In addition to other sets I collected along the way, I also have about 35 of Steve's. I kept a detailed wantlist in my wallet for a few years, and found most of these for one or two dollars. The Both Sides Now website has a rundown on what may or may not have been fixed or improved on, depending on the numbers on the inner ring.īut I keep both sets of Billboards and AM Golds, because a friend in radio showed me his collection of various-artist CD's, and it was relatively easy to assemble full sets one at a time in used music stores around the country. Now, these were done earlier, and several volumes received revisions and tweaks over a number of years. I have most of them, as well as several of their Rock and Roll Era series. Their AM Gold series is the spiritual cousin to Rhino's Billboard Top Ten yearly volumes, done by Bill Inglot. Atlantic records had a few which to me sound very good. Some of the music labels in the 1990's put out their own promotional samplers for retail (or other purposes) and may be worth trying too. Other music compilations from other companies also sound good: Razor and Tie (direct-sold) CD's also sound good (but are also overpriced by online resellers). In my experience, the Time-Life Music CD's have a sound quality that feels natural and authentic (as opposed to some modern remasters which sometimes sound designed to sound "good" for today's ears). If you don't see this price online, I would instead enjoyed keeping your eyes open at yard sales, or your local CD reseller (who deserves your business in any event). I think a fair price is between a low of $5.00 and and a high of $10.00. These CD's were originally sold new for about $20. The prices I have seen online have been, I think, far to high (a function of someone trying to make a lot of profit). Each CD (except for The Great Composers) had 18 to 22 tracks. These CD'S were generally part of a multi-cd series (of up to 30 cd's): such as The Rock and Roll Era, Classic Rock, Sounds of the Seventies, Sounds of the 80's, Classic Country or The Great Composers. ![]() I am not referring to the CD's from Time-Life Music that were sold at retail during this period-I don't have experience with these. I am referring only to the "direct-to-consumer" CDs that one would have originally purchased by way of a TV commercial or a direct mail package etc. The Time-Life Music CD's, produced and sold in the 1990's, have mastering that sounds relatively natural and analog-like and are worth owning if you like the music on them. Here and there this has been talked about. ![]()
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