MP3 players and their effect on how I listen to music

[Ermz]

One thing that I find a tad disappointing, more from an engineering perspective, is that it's obvious that people are preffering mp3s for their convenience and small size. The problem herein is that there is the possibility for CD releases to simply die off.

Artists these days, due to piracy, are better off simply releasing their stuff over the internet, where distribution is essentially free and they don't have to pay insane amounts to get CDs pressed etc. Meaning that we'll eventually have audio releases come out in relatively low-quality to what we could really achieve with modern technology, which is a tad disappointing.

Purely speculative on my part though.

 

[DEMIgOD]

I download music, but I buy TONS. I thought about getting an mp3 player.. but for the 300 i would put down on that, id rather buy 300 worth of cds, and vinyls. I love the packaging.

In some cases the artwork might be a selling point, and even make the listening of the album better.

I love looking at the cover of hammerheart (bathory) when listening to it. Not only does the album have a very good atmosphere, but the cover art with the viking warriors, make me visualize being there.

On the topic of having a ton of music in the palm of my hand. I like to sort of.. live the cd for the moment. Usually i will listen to cds in full. I make my own music, and id much rather the cd be heard in full, rather then 2 songs be put on a huge playlist and the rest be forgotton.

that is all.

edit: Actually thinking about it. I got into Opeth by listening to Blackwater park atleast 5 times in a trip to Canada. Had i had a mp3 player with 6592529 bands in it, i might have not got that exposure to the greatness of Opeth.

 

[Kenneth R.]

Artists these days, due to piracy, are better off simply releasing their stuff over the internet, where distribution is essentially free and they don't have to pay insane amounts to get CDs pressed etc. Meaning that we'll eventually have audio releases come out in relatively low-quality to what we could really achieve with modern technology, which is a tad disappointing.

Purely speculative on my part though.

i hope this _Never_ happens.

I am more album-oriented like Moonlapse, i'd rather choose a few discs for the day than 1000, since then i've got a dilemma of what to choose.

 

[Frosties]

Just because you're album-oriented doesn't mean you can't listen to full albums on an mp3 player. I do it all the time. In fact, I never know what mood I'll be when I finish a certain album, but sometimes I feel like I want to hear more of that certain band.
I personally CANNOT just listen to songs - only to full albums. Which is exactly the reason why my mp3 player (I-River, which shits all over I-Pod) is so useful to me. I'd rather walk around with the player than hundreds of cd's.

 

[Kenneth R.]

i'm saying i'd rather have access to 3 discs than 300. that way I'm forced to listen to those 3 and discover new things i hadn't before.

 

[affinityband]

I just feel they are handy and i use it in my everyday life. Getting in depth about the useage of an Mp3 player....

 

[Frosties]

i'm saying i'd rather have access to 3 discs than 300. that way I'm forced to listen to those 3 and discover new things i hadn't before.

I understand that - but don't agree with it. I prefer to go with the flow - if I feel like puting something new on, then I do. If I feel like a certain familiar album, then I go for it. In the end you may regret taking a certain album, because it could suck.

Also, I can't force myself to listen to something - because, then whether it's good or not, I won't enjoy it as much, if at all.

 

[Kenneth R.]

But I'm saying, having favorites, this is a way for me to get away from them and listen to things I don't listen to quite so often, as I don't have the option of saying "meh, back to (favorite band)"

 

[martyrs_price]

I do the exact same thing in hopes of getting reaccquainted with old music and maybe getting back into it again. This way I don't end up overlistening my favorite band and getting tired of them . I hate that!!

 

[MetalManCPA]

I do the exact same thing in hopes of getting reaccquainted with old music and maybe getting back into it again. This way I don't end up overlistening my favorite band and getting tired of them . I hate that!!

There is just tto much music out there to soak it all in. Of course there will be my favorite bands that no matter what I will listen to time and time again.

But there are also so many good tracks out there. I may not like a band as a whole, but that's not to say I love a song or two by a band I don't like as a whole. I'm just starting to find this out with the MP3 player, as I'm listening to what I consider great songs I've either totally forgotten about or maybe heard only once, if at all.

 

[SPLASTiK]

Meaning that we'll eventually have audio releases come out in relatively low-quality to what we could really achieve with modern technology, which is a tad disappointing.

I agree to a point but with the rise of fast broadband internet in developed countries I wouldn't be suprised to see albums being released in uncompressed/lossless compression formats.

 

[Ermz]

That's very true. It's a while off for most countries though. Australia is kind of going ass-backwards in terms of broadband.. our prices are increasing.

People would still preffer the convenience of mp3s for a while longer... most don't give a crap - they can't hear the quality difference, and mp3s are smaller so they can download music in larger quantities and that seems what it's all about these days.

Actually it's a bit of a throwback to high school haha... all those geeks in my internetworking class thought that having 160GB HDs full of pirated music was some sort of penis extension.

 

[Larsson]

i hope this _Never_ happens.

I am more album-oriented like Moonlapse, i'd rather choose a few discs for the day than 1000, since then i've got a dilemma of what to choose.

You don't have to buy a mp3 with 20 gb space. I am also album-oriented so i have filled my 256 mb player with Deliverence/Damnation and Finntrolls Nattfödd(all with 320 b/s), didn't even bother too fill up the 30 mb or so i have left.

I wouldn't however have any problem with being able to have more space so i could take more music with me. I think this could work for you though.

 

[Black Session]

I actually use my iPod like a discman I recently discovered .. I choose the album I want to hear, and play it (sometimes over and over again). what is wrong with convenience? isn't it a good thing that you can take music with you now, instead of having these huge (although charming) LP's you can only play at home ...
someone said: "good old cd's" .. well once people said: good old LP's .. it's simple fear of new things I think. for people who travel a lot it's even better of course! and even Mikael said on this forum I think (or in an interview, don't remember) that he loves his iPod because he can take the music with him far more easy, and in far more quantities.

and okay, for some people, music has to be listened to while being concentrated in the dark, or in the couch or stuff .. but I actually hear lots of new albums mainly while walking or riding my bike to college, or in any other way of transport .. I learned to listen to music that way actually, and it doesn't mean that I don't listen to it at other times too, then more concentrated.

 

[Kenneth R.]

You don't have to buy a mp3 with 20 gb space. I am also album-oriented so i have filled my 256 mb player with Deliverence/Damnation and Finntrolls Nattfödd(all with 320 b/s), didn't even bother too fill up the 30 mb or so i have left.

I wouldn't however have any problem with being able to have more space so i could take more music with me. I think this could work for you though.

not all my music is in .mp3 format. I rip cds in lossless sometimes, or higher bitrates. besides, it wouldn't be 20Gb, it would be 70+ to fit everything. waste of money if you ask me. As for players with small capacity (less than 1Gb) well a CD holds 700mb, so what's the point when i can burn cds instead?

 

[ZeDzEdZeD]

i hate mp3 format...
lossless formats is the only way (FLAC, SHN, APE etc) or if it have to be lossless, Ogg Vorbis is the least worst...

 

[Larsson]

not all my music is in .mp3 format. I rip cds in lossless sometimes, or higher bitrates. besides, it wouldn't be 20Gb, it would be 70+ to fit everything. waste of money if you ask me. As for players with small capacity (less than 1Gb) well a CD holds 700mb, so what's the point when i can burn cds instead?

A mp3 player is smaller then a cd-player(for obvious reasons) for one thing. And I don't mind the the sound quality either, I always listen to my mp3 player in loud enviorments so i dont hear any difference(and I try to avoid cranking up the volume with headphones). Of course this may not apply to the places where you listen to your cd-player. What im trying to say is that an mp3 player works just fine for me.

 

[Kenneth R.]

but not for me, so your convincing isn't gonna happen

 

[Tubbs]

Dammit do I hate hate mp3 players very much.

 

[Kenneth R.]

i hate mp3 format...
lossless formats is the only way (FLAC, SHN, APE etc) or if it have to be lossless, Ogg Vorbis is the least worst...

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