Rangerland Forum Information

[Mike B.]

Seeing as how I'm finally getting around to furnishing this condo that I've lived in for a year, I'm trying to figure out the best way to go about setting up my audio equipment, and having my music be easily accessible to me once again. I have about 600-700 CDs that have been sitting in boxes since I left NO, since I don't have anything to unpack them into. The CD racks I had in NO were trashed, I threw them out before I left.

I kind of miss my music - I've been listening to the same 10 CDs or so for the last year and a half. But it seems like such a waste to try and find some ugly-ass CD rack that will hold them all. The ones I've seen look cheap, and take up massive amounts of space. Also, and this cantankerous gentleman probably disagrees with me, but it seems like a waste to keep buying CDs, if I'm trying to avoid clutter.

So my question is, what do all you kids do for audio these days? Other than the CD player I bought a few months ago to replace the one I had that crapped out, I haven't purchased any new audio equipment since 1996. Never bought one of those ipod doohickey things, never really messed around with P2P software or itunes. I know they have those ipod docks that you can hook up to an amp and speakers, but would those work for 11-year-old models? Do the new ipods have enough storage to hold an entire collection?

I does seem like a copout to download all your music, though, and I like the tangible product you get when you buy a CD. Maybe if I found a CD rack that didn't look like I bought it in the Wiz in 1997, I wouldn't mind having it on display in my apartment.

Anyway.

[Beamer]

New iPods have 80GBs. They can store you 600 CDs, or close to it.

It's a good start, and you can hook it up to your amp so long as your amp has room for more input.


My advice would actually be to buy a media PC as well. Maybe that's a step down the road.

[Alitaki]

I had a ton of cd's when I lived at my parents place. Went out of my way to build the perfect home theater/audio system with kick ass surround system. Unfortunately my new apartment (and wife) wouldn't accommodate the system so I had to leave it and my music at my parents until a time when I live in a place that can accommodate them. So I had bought an iRiver and converted most of my stuff to mp3 but it was so frustrating to use it that I switched to the iPod and now I don't know how I've lived without it.

Seriously, get an iPod and slowly put all your shit onto it. I picked up the Bose speaker for the iPod and it sounds great. Small, fits in one corner of the living room and fills the whole apartment with sound. Granted its only a 1BR 400 sqft apartment but still. No messy cables to run, and no wall taken up by speakers, audio equipment and media. It'll never sound as good as a system that has multiple speakers and that you can fine tune but for apartment life, it is great.

At the risk of making this post sound even more like an Apple commercial, I also picked up the iHome alarm clock for the iPod. That too has really good sound for what it is. Definitely worth jumping on the mp3 player scene if you're looking to consolidate your collection and avoid clutter.

[Mike B.]

So do you guys pretty much just buy everything off iTunes, and never buy actual CDs anymore? Initially I was thinking that it might be a bummer to not have things like artwork or liner notes anymore, and then I realized that a) I almost never read that stuff anyway, and b) it's widely available on the net if I'm so inclined.

[Giac]

Mike, back when I was an active-duty Marine, I supplemented my income by DJing in military clubs. I amassed a pretty big CD collection, which was taking up way too much space (and didn't exactly impress my then-girlfriend/now-wife). I now have only a handful of store-bought CD's, since I got a good mp3 program and started ripping my CD's to my computer. I've got a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for nothing but music; I've got something like 180gb (around 45k songs) on that hard drive, which is about 8" high, 2" wide and 5" deep, and sits on my desk next to my monitor.

When I was ripping my discs to the computer, I found a used CD shop that would buy the discs from me, ususally for only a couple of bucks a pop, but when you're selling as many as I was, that can add up -- I used those funds to build my DVD collection (and don't get my wife started on that!).

Anyway, by having the song files on my computer, I can play them back with my computer's music program (I use MusicMatch Jukebox), I can load them on my 8GB iPod, or I can burn CD's to listen to in my car -- and with the costs of blank CD's averaging about $.10-.15 (depending on where you buy them, and when you buy them in bulk), I can listen to a mixed music or single album disc until I get bored with it and just chuck it.

It really does make it handy to have them saved on an electronic device.

[xcheck24]

i buy a mix of cds and stuff off itunes, Mike. If it's one song I want, I'll download it off iTunes. If I want a full album and it's a band I REALLY like, I'll buy the cd and rip it onto iTunes. Plus not everything is on iTunes, which is frustrating. like there's no zeppelin on iTunes, which is ridiculous, IMO. and there's just something nice about having cds.

i have all my cds in a couple of those binder cd holders. i gave up with the racks a long time ago.

[Beamer]

I buy nothing off of iTunes. I hate the iTunes program, I hate how it is basically spyware and keeps putting itself back in my startup, and I hate how massive it is.


Most of what I listen to isn't RIAA protected, so I download it. Most of that I own on vinyl records, anyway, probably about 85%. Even if it was RIAA protected I wouldn't have much issue with downloading it, but there's very little RIAA music I'd find worth downloading that I wouldn't find worth paying for, so I buy maybe 3 CDs a year.

[Mike B.]

Interesting options, thanks for the feedback all. In any case, sounds like I need a significant upgrade over my shitty Pentium 3 Dell Inspiron laptop from 2002.

Giac, so you have speakers hooked up to your machine, and play it off the hard drive? How's the sound?

[Giac]

Giac, so you have speakers hooked up to your machine, and play it off the hard drive? How's the sound?

When I did an earlier upgrade (about four years ago), my wife bought me a Klipsch 2.1 THX speaker system for my home 'puter. It's got two speakers that sit on top of my desk, and the subwoofer sits on the floor in the knee hole. I use a Creative Audigy SoundBlaster audio card in my unit, and it's got really good sound with these speakers (we didn't need any more speakers than that since we already have a good surround sound system on the home entertainment center). If I'm home alone and want to listen to music, this combination is more than enough (we've got a 1k square foot, 1-bedroom apartment). If I really want to blow it out, I'll burn a CD of what I want to listen to and play it on the bigger system, but while I'm doing chores around here, it's more than enough.

It's really cool if I have a lot to do around here, because I can load a shitload of stuff to MusicMatch Jukebox and just have it play on and on until I shut it down.

[Puckforbrains]

You could also consider an audio card with RCA jack outputs from your pc and into a home stereo...of course then they would have to be in close proximity unless you bought loooong cables.

Most houses in Florida have a sund system/intercom system wired in the house. We dont use ours much if at all, as its jusyt an FM tuner. But what I am contemplating , is using using the card with speaker outputs , wiring that to a speaker selector switch and homing all the rooms back to that selector , therby making the PC the main source of music for the whole house.

[Andy from the LE...]

Even though I do have an Ipod, I still prefer to buy CDs. I prefer the sound quality, and I like the security of actually having some sort of tangible hard copy, so to speak.

After all, all it takes is a computer virus or hard drive crash to erase everything, you know? Plus, I love reading liner notes, and all that muso shit.

[Nilan 666]

Thought it was just me.

[Alitaki]

Even though I do have an Ipod, I still prefer to buy CDs. I prefer the sound quality, and I like the security of actually having some sort of tangible hard copy, so to speak.

After all, all it takes is a computer virus or hard drive crash to erase everything, you know? Plus, I love reading liner notes, and all that muso shit.

Liner notes are overrated in my opinion. I've read the jacket of every one of my cd's and never went back to them other than to check a lyric. Nowadays, lyrics are readily available online so even that isn't needed.

As for having a hard copy, I've got my music on several DVD's that are stored in a fire proof safe with all my important documents and photos (digital and otherwise). For the price of one cd, I can get a bunch of DVD's and put my entire collection on them.

[Beamer]

Liner notes in a CD barely exist, anyway.
Yet another reason why I have so many vinyl records.

Although, truthfully, the larger reason is that I can sell many of those records for several hundred dollars.

[Kusand]

Although, truthfully, the larger reason is that I can sell many of those records for several hundred dollars.

Which ones could you sell for several hundred dollars, and how much did you pay for them to begin with?

[Andy from the LE...]

Liner notes are overrated in my opinion. I've read the jacket of every one of my cd's and never went back to them other than to check a lyric. Nowadays, lyrics are readily available online so even that isn't needed.

As for having a hard copy, I've got my music on several DVD's that are stored in a fire proof safe with all my important documents and photos (digital and otherwise). For the price of one cd, I can get a bunch of DVD's and put my entire collection on them.

Good reply, but I honestly LIKE the experience of buying CDs. I like browsing endlessly, scanning the racks, hanging by the listening stations. Also, I think buying a CD is completely different from downloading the music, then burning it onto media.

Again, it's probably some pretentious muso shit, but, whatever.

[Kusand]

Again, it's probably some pretentious muso shit

Ding ding! Give that man a prize!

Actually, in all honesty it's not really related to "muso" at all. A lot of people just like looking at things physically before purchasing them. It's the same reason people sometimes prefer going to the bookstore rather than ordering a book off Amazon. Half the fun is in browsing.

[Beamer]

Which ones could you sell for several hundred dollars, and how much did you pay for them to begin with?

I have a ton of Isis test presses, most of which I paid about $50 for, some more some less. They're all in pretty high demand.
Converge - Jane Doe on red/orange is at least $250 these days. Paid $10.
I have an album by that band Brand New limited to 100. I bought it when I lived in Boston because I knew the guy that ran the record label. Never listened to it. Less limited versions go for $220 on ebay.

[xcheck24]

Ding ding! Give that man a prize!

Actually, in all honesty it's not really related to "muso" at all. A lot of people just like looking at things physically before purchasing them. It's the same reason people sometimes prefer going to the bookstore rather than ordering a book off Amazon. Half the fun is in browsing.

i am certainly one of those bookstore people although i do order some things off amazon. but i really love just browsing in the bookstore. it's when i stumble on books I otherwise wouldn't have picked up. and, as a writer, being around all those books really inspires me to go write.

if i buy off amazon, it's something i know I specifically want.

[Puckforbrains]

Liner notes in a CD barely exist, anyway.
Yet another reason why I have so many vinyl records.

Although, truthfully, the larger reason is that I can sell many of those records for several hundred dollars.

Larger problem is finding someone who will pay several hundred for them...


I have an Iron Maiden Box set Imported from Japan..was never available in the US...paid 200 bucks for it in 1993 or so...Who would ever pay more than that for it now?? And as far as memoribilia and merchandising , Maiden is by far one of the biggest bands for that...I cant seem spendign that money now...maybe its because I am older now...

[Beamer]

I use ebay as my price guide, and right now people from Europe go insane buying the music I listen to.




I prefer Amazon far and away over bookstores. It isn't even a close comparison. With bookstores you get the front cover, some select comments from critics and authors playing nice, and if you're lucky a line or two describing what the book is about, often you just have to guess.
On Amazon you get all of that plus links to what else the author has written, details about the plot of any and all novels, complete reviews from newspapers and other readers, genre listings, links to similar books, etc.

I usually read five or six novels a month, but I can never find anything at a bookstore. It's all about Amazon for me.