What music formats do you like and use?

Beside the poll question, it's intersting to know your thoughts about the future of sound formats for the next 5-10 years. What is your vision? Do you reckon that CD-production will be dramatically reduced in a few years and most folks will listen to downloaded music via any means? Or may the DVD-Audio format conquer? What about SACD etc?

CD's and Vinyl are my favs, but have thosounds of MP3's as well

CDs and tapes - yes, I still buy and listen to them in 2005 - but that's about it. I used to download mp3's, until Kazaa started messing up my computer. As far as ipods go, they just seem to be rich kids' new toys at the moment.

CDs. I don't have a record player and I hate using mp3s unless I have to.

CDs for me, with a few MP3s thrown in. I'll probably never get an iPod: £400 for something that you have to buy a new £200 battery for after a year? Aye right, dead on (as they say in my part of the world)! I can think of better things to spend my money on!

It's too bad that my favorite digital format-- MiniDisc-- isn't on there. It's superior to MP3 in every way.

So yeah, I use CD and MD.

bLuE oRdEr wrote: It's too bad that my favorite digital format-- MiniDisc-- isn't on there. It's superior to MP3 in every way.

So yeah, I use CD and MD.

MINIDISC is an excellent medium.Use them a lot.And CD's and VINYL,tapes and MP3's sometime.Oh did i mention 78's? :D

and RADIO,live transmission.NOT ARF.

cds mostly, but some mp3s

Spotnick wrote:

Vinyl is completly gone in North America... I still wonder why I got a Krafty US 12" promo though !! ;)

Err, not completely gone yet Nic, there are still places one can buy vinyl, and that format is what I usually look for first. CD's come second.

I've got a few mp3s of stuff I can't find anywhere at all (i.e. Pop Group and early Triffids singles)so the RIAA can jump in a lake if they have a problem with that.

Just waiting for 8-tracks to come back in style, I never did get rid of my Roxy Music, Lou Reed and Last Poets tapes. :)

Stolen DATs

CDs and tapes. Usually tape the cd so the tape gets all the wear and tear.

i like vinyl and see to take care of my records best, have lots of cds pre-mp3 player, but tend to be buying mp3's lately because of the player i use at the gym; but still like the substance of vinyl and see the needle drop. wave of the future? haven't a clue, not particularily tech savvy (though i do know what a DAT & MD are) - wouldn't mind having a way to personally program music to a satellite so you could carry a tiny receiver and tiny earphones and your personal soundtrack would follow you wherever you go. and the tiny earphone would be remote and no cords just wee little earbuds - crystal clear reception of 12+ hours of programming.

CD-RWs killed tapes. A week after I bought my first CD-RW-driver I gathered all my tapes into a huge bag and threw them away for good. Some of the tapes dated back to mid-80s and one rare one was from 1974! I believe it was AGFA. I used to like DTK and BASF tapes. Oh by the way, when I say tapes I mean compact audio cassettes of course, not reels. Though my uncle still uses reels and the reel-machine from the 70s. But let's not go there. I'm really concerned about the future of CDs. Together with their disappearance, artwork and all those little funny things like info, texts will be gone, too.

MiniDisc beats the crap out of CD-RW too.

Reel-to-reel can be quite good, depending on the format; the wider the tape, the better the sound. If you believe that vinyl sounds better than CD, then you need to keep in mind that the masters for vinyl recordings were made on analog reel-to-reels. If your uncle is using 1/2 inch or wider reel-to-reel, he's probably getting quite good sound quality.

Primarily CDs, but mp3s as well (the ability to play a large number of songs carrying only a small player and being able to do a lot of moving while listening is a small liberation).

As noted, the CD provides artwork, liner notes, etc. that the mp3 does not provide. Perhaps the wave of the future will be a full digital presentation via internet (not only the audio file, but video files etc.). And this may come directly from the band (as many are doing on a limited, piecemeal basis now). The production and distribution of a CD or similar disc may become obsolete, and be replaced by a direct producer (band) to customer (fan) relationship. So the real question is whether the existence of stores to sell CDs is in question. It's amazing how quickly tapes and vinyl have disappeared from most stores. Will that computer you are using right now become your exclusive music store? (it's already happening).

With wireless, you have more flexibility with computer files, and they keep trying to get a single device to do everything (phone, music, e-mail, etc.) so my guess is digital will continue to dominate and evolve. Isn't the creative destruction of capitalism wonderful.

I'm prone to concur, Eric. I think in 5-7 years there will be huge music & video online libraries where you can listen to music or watch a movie in real time. Dozens of thousands songs and movies. Very democratic. Right now the issue is the average slow connection speed, now it literally takes 2 to 30 minutes to download a highly compressed and thus distorted song in MP3 format.

Another interesting issue will be copyright. Well the music industry people have to admit there's been a helluva changes. Want money? Go to play a gig. Want to express yourself? Record and go to play a gig. Damn, it sounds too communist

So goodbye Peter Saville and the banana. :D

Leave the banana alone please!

Mostly CD, but minidisc for portable listening. I've seen MD criticised for poor sound quality but I've always found it spot on. I have the 3 Electronic albums on one MD and even on long play it sounds fine. Shame the format didn't catch on more.

Cd's and vinyl..

|| | ||| 6217|| 8 || 3 wrote: I'm prone to concur, Eric. I think in 5-7 years there will be huge music & video online libraries where you can listen to music or watch a movie in real time. Dozens of thousands songs and movies. Very democratic. Right now the issue is the average slow connection speed, now it literally takes 2 to 30 minutes to download a highly compressed and thus distorted song in MP3 format.

Another interesting issue will be copyright. Well the music industry people have to admit there's been a helluva changes. Want money? Go to play a gig. Want to express yourself? Record and go to play a gig. Damn, it sounds too communist

I think the technical problems of connection speed will not be an issue. Everything is pushing the market toward more bandwidth, faster speeds, better quality. The consumers are demanding it and everyone is trying to satisfy the demand. There will continue to be innovation and improvement in this area. I wouldn't be surprised if we see "pay per listen" where you can preview an entire album on-line (or through your digital cable etc.) for a small fee and then can order it via the same format. In fact, more and more bands are moving toward a direct relationship to their consumers to provide access to the digital audio/video.

The problem will be in the legal area. The attack on Napster a few years back was simply a foretaste of the war that continues. Just the other day I saw a brief article in the news about the record companies going after some university students using a rather advanced computer network to set up a large file sharing operation.

What is interesting is how the digital packaging of audio and video media is challenging the cornerstones of the free market economy:

1. Property
2. Ownership

Property has historically been a tangible thing, and the right of ownership has been sufficient to enable the owner to prevent any non-owner from trespassing on the property or using it without the owner's consent.

While we have always had intellectual property (books, patents, etc.), digital media has created a change in kind, not simply degree, of property. Digital media can be quickly mass produced at a relatively low expense (imagine the cost and difficulties involved in trying to mass produce vinyl) and distributed instantaneously to anywhere in the global. Distribution simply requires an internet connection. There is nothing (short of a lawsuit) to prevent a single person from copying a track from a CD and distributing this to a virtually unlimited number of people.

The historical constraints that property and ownership put on this type of activity are being undermined by the digital revolution. You can't stop it, as the genie is out of the bottle. But it will be interesting to see how the large record labels and music corporations will try to use legal means to constrain it.

Sorry for the lengthy diatribe, my only excuse is that overcompensating for a lack of sleep with copious amounts of caffeine can send one’s brain into dizzying flights of fancy.

A friend of mine at law school is writing a paper for a copyright class. There's a new service based in Seattle called Weedshare. A band releases material directly to Weedshare, along with the licensing rights. Weedshare posts the material on a P2P network. If you download, you can listen to the song 3 times. The 4th time, you have to pay 99 cents. You are then licensed to distribute the song. Everytime somebody downloads from you, and purchases the song, you get a percentage of the 99 cents they pay. With each subsequent purchase, your percentage gets smaller, until you stop getting royalties altogether. But you can actually make a profit from your initial 99 cent investment. Because you can make a profit from the P2P distribution, there is no incentive to hack the system.

Sounds interesting. I'll check out the site. Thanks for the information.

Once I've made my fortune, I'll give you a cut (finder's fee you know) :D

8 track, have 3 in my car, no rom for any passengers though