7 ms·

I have plastic shiny disks that are DRM free. They’re actually pretty great, lossless, and no monthly fees. They are called _Compact Discs_ and you can get the

I have plastic shiny disks that are DRM free. They’re actually pretty great, lossless, and no monthly fees. They are called _Compact Discs_ and you can get them pretty cheap these days!

crazypython 5y ago
Where can I buy CDs of popular music?
- dagmx 5y ago
  CDs of popular music are actually the easiest to find. (Target, Walmart or any big local equivalent will have the top charting artists stocked as CDs) It's the more esoteric artists that have become increasingly difficult to get CDs for. Streaming is really a boon for anything outside the mainstream.
  - LgWoodenBadger 5y ago
    The last time I bought a cd-looking disc, the "CD" "CompactDisc" logo/words/terms were nowhere on it, inside or out. I seem to recall that meant they weren't actually CDs, they just happened to look exactly like them, and usually function in a CD player. Computers often had trouble with them. I don't know if this is true, or just bs, but there you go.
    - antiterra 5y ago
      The logo you want is the CD Digital Audio logo which requires adherence to the red book standard. Music discs with Sony root kit DRM did not have this logo.
      - fomine3 5y ago
        Ironically Sony and Philips wrote the redbook.
clydethefrog 5y ago
Can I listen to this tracks on the go without carrying them with them and a special device to play them?
- dahfizz 5y ago
  Once upon a time, iTunes would automatically rip a CD for you. It would even name the tracks, artist, and get the album art for you and integrate it all into your regular itunes library. I don't know if they still do (or if apple even makes cd drives anymore).
  - tobyhinloopen 5y ago
    You can totally still do that with an external CD reader. Source: I totally still do that with my CD collection.
aask_ 5y ago
Well, there is that. But there's also the music produced by independent artists who release on YT. So much music isn't ever mastered to or printed on the cheap plastic magic mirrors.
fullstop 5y ago
I can't carry a few thousand of those with me at all times, though. I hear what you're saying, but the convenience of a vast and portable library is compelling.
- te_chris 5y ago
  Why not both? Spotify is cheap. I spend a fair amount on vinyl and CD/SACD (SACD/CD for classical and the occasional jazz record, vinyl for everything else) and still keep a sub for spotify for work listening and being able to just check something out - although I guess YouTube can do that for free in most cases, and with electronic music, often the only streamable recording of a lot of records.
- marcodiego 5y ago
  Except for convenience, since they're DRM free I don't believe there is any, even legal, reason not to rip it to an SD-card.
  - fullstop 5y ago
    More and more phones are removing uSD card support. It's a losing battle. I don't want the plastic, the physical storage requirements, etc, of a CD. With digital I don't "own" the music, sure, but I've definitely lost more music in my life from scratched discs, people not returning CDs than I ever will through Spotify.
    - CuriousSkeptic 5y ago
      I’ve “lost” some of my favorite movies and music by then not being available on any streaming service. I guess there are many reasons for this, but mainly I guess they are simply victims of copyright.
- tobyhinloopen 5y ago
  I use a disk drive to sync the discs to my music library and bring them with me :) I can format it to MP3, or ALAC, of FLAC, or whatever I like, and I can play them on devices that are made today, or 40 years ago. But secretly I just use Spotify for it’s discover features, and then buy CDs of the albums I like.
objclxt 5y ago
> They’re actually pretty great, lossless CDs aren't lossless unless the material was recorded at or below 16 bit/44.1kHz. You can argue whether the difference is perceptible - some blind studies suggest not - but this fact is what led to a variety of semi-obscure audiophile disc formats that offered higher sampling rates (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Audio_CD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Audio_CD).
- tobyhinloopen 5y ago
  Ok, when people talk about _lossless_ streaming, they usually want their stream to match CD quality. Also, I’m aware SACDs exists. I actually have an amp that can decode DSD encoded audio but I failed to hear a difference.
- dsr_ 5y ago
  That's not a definition of lossless that anyone else uses. The definition of lossless is that either no compression algorithm was used or the compression algorithm is capable of precisely recreating the original bits in as bits out. If you feed a lossless mechanism an 8 bit 3.5KHz mono bitstream, it must reproduce the same 8 bit 3.5Khz mono bitstream at the other end. Quality out equals quality in. In your definition, no sound is ever lossless because no microphones can ever capture the complete audio experience available from a live performance - if you move your head a quarter of a wavelength, the sound will change. That's why we don't use that definition.
- numpad0 5y ago
  OT but since there are tons of professionals and audiophiles here - do anyone notice what can only be called CD artifact? There seems to be something "wrong" with CD that no other formats has, digital or analog.
  - astrange 5y ago
    Bits are bits. Maybe your CD player is scratched.
  - marcan_42 5y ago
chrisseaton 5y ago
Who still has a CD player? Most people don't want to carry around an extra, enormous, mechanical, device.
marcodiego 5y ago
I think the biggest difficulty right now is that streaming is probably more lucrative for distributors, so there's very little incentives for artists to continue releasing albums. Buying compact discs is something that will likely get increasingly harder to do.
davidwparker 5y ago
Anecdotally, I haven't bought a single CD since the Sony rootkit fiasco. I had bought one, got rootkit'd at the time, and vowed not to buy another. I don't regret not buying any more.
- bjornlouser 5y ago
  News to me, thanks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootk...
- mixmastamyk 5y ago
  Modern software makes that rootkit seem almost pedestrian by comparison. Also, I believe you had to install junk software from the CD to a Windows or Mac Computer, before those OSs were hardened somewhat. Avoiding all things Sony seems a better strategy than otherwise benign CDs.
lozf 5y ago
And unlike streaming services or paid "digital downloads", there's no chance of an "inaudible watermark" that turns out to be audible in some cases! Thanks, Universal Music Group.

I have plastic shiny disks that are DRM free. They’re actually pretty great, lossless, and no monthly fees. They are called _Compact Discs_ and you can get them pretty cheap these days!

crazypython 5y ago

Where can I buy CDs of popular music?

dagmx 5y ago
CDs of popular music are actually the easiest to find. (Target, Walmart or any big local equivalent will have the top charting artists stocked as CDs) It's the more esoteric artists that have become increasingly difficult to get CDs for. Streaming is really a boon for anything outside the mainstream.
- LgWoodenBadger 5y ago
  The last time I bought a cd-looking disc, the "CD" "CompactDisc" logo/words/terms were nowhere on it, inside or out. I seem to recall that meant they weren't actually CDs, they just happened to look exactly like them, and usually function in a CD player. Computers often had trouble with them. I don't know if this is true, or just bs, but there you go.
  - antiterra 5y ago
    The logo you want is the CD Digital Audio logo which requires adherence to the red book standard. Music discs with Sony root kit DRM did not have this logo.
    - fomine3 5y ago
      Ironically Sony and Philips wrote the redbook.

clydethefrog 5y ago

Can I listen to this tracks on the go without carrying them with them and a special device to play them?

dahfizz 5y ago
Once upon a time, iTunes would automatically rip a CD for you. It would even name the tracks, artist, and get the album art for you and integrate it all into your regular itunes library. I don't know if they still do (or if apple even makes cd drives anymore).
- tobyhinloopen 5y ago
  You can totally still do that with an external CD reader. Source: I totally still do that with my CD collection.

aask_ 5y ago

Well, there is that. But there's also the music produced by independent artists who release on YT. So much music isn't ever mastered to or printed on the cheap plastic magic mirrors.

fullstop 5y ago

I can't carry a few thousand of those with me at all times, though. I hear what you're saying, but the convenience of a vast and portable library is compelling.

te_chris 5y ago
Why not both? Spotify is cheap. I spend a fair amount on vinyl and CD/SACD (SACD/CD for classical and the occasional jazz record, vinyl for everything else) and still keep a sub for spotify for work listening and being able to just check something out - although I guess YouTube can do that for free in most cases, and with electronic music, often the only streamable recording of a lot of records.
marcodiego 5y ago
Except for convenience, since they're DRM free I don't believe there is any, even legal, reason not to rip it to an SD-card.
- fullstop 5y ago
  More and more phones are removing uSD card support. It's a losing battle. I don't want the plastic, the physical storage requirements, etc, of a CD. With digital I don't "own" the music, sure, but I've definitely lost more music in my life from scratched discs, people not returning CDs than I ever will through Spotify.
  - CuriousSkeptic 5y ago
    I’ve “lost” some of my favorite movies and music by then not being available on any streaming service. I guess there are many reasons for this, but mainly I guess they are simply victims of copyright.
tobyhinloopen 5y ago
I use a disk drive to sync the discs to my music library and bring them with me :) I can format it to MP3, or ALAC, of FLAC, or whatever I like, and I can play them on devices that are made today, or 40 years ago. But secretly I just use Spotify for it’s discover features, and then buy CDs of the albums I like.

objclxt 5y ago

> They’re actually pretty great, lossless CDs aren't lossless unless the material was recorded at or below 16 bit/44.1kHz. You can argue whether the difference is perceptible - some blind studies suggest not - but this fact is what led to a variety of semi-obscure audiophile disc formats that offered higher sampling rates (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Audio_CD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Audio_CD).

tobyhinloopen 5y ago
Ok, when people talk about _lossless_ streaming, they usually want their stream to match CD quality. Also, I’m aware SACDs exists. I actually have an amp that can decode DSD encoded audio but I failed to hear a difference.
dsr_ 5y ago
That's not a definition of lossless that anyone else uses. The definition of lossless is that either no compression algorithm was used or the compression algorithm is capable of precisely recreating the original bits in as bits out. If you feed a lossless mechanism an 8 bit 3.5KHz mono bitstream, it must reproduce the same 8 bit 3.5Khz mono bitstream at the other end. Quality out equals quality in. In your definition, no sound is ever lossless because no microphones can ever capture the complete audio experience available from a live performance - if you move your head a quarter of a wavelength, the sound will change. That's why we don't use that definition.
numpad0 5y ago
OT but since there are tons of professionals and audiophiles here - do anyone notice what can only be called CD artifact? There seems to be something "wrong" with CD that no other formats has, digital or analog.
- astrange 5y ago
  Bits are bits. Maybe your CD player is scratched.
- marcan_42 5y ago

chrisseaton 5y ago

Who still has a CD player? Most people don't want to carry around an extra, enormous, mechanical, device.

marcodiego 5y ago

I think the biggest difficulty right now is that streaming is probably more lucrative for distributors, so there's very little incentives for artists to continue releasing albums. Buying compact discs is something that will likely get increasingly harder to do.

davidwparker 5y ago

Anecdotally, I haven't bought a single CD since the Sony rootkit fiasco. I had bought one, got rootkit'd at the time, and vowed not to buy another. I don't regret not buying any more.

bjornlouser 5y ago
News to me, thanks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootk...
mixmastamyk 5y ago
Modern software makes that rootkit seem almost pedestrian by comparison. Also, I believe you had to install junk software from the CD to a Windows or Mac Computer, before those OSs were hardened somewhat. Avoiding all things Sony seems a better strategy than otherwise benign CDs.

lozf 5y ago

And unlike streaming services or paid "digital downloads", there's no chance of an "inaudible watermark" that turns out to be audible in some cases! Thanks, Universal Music Group.