CD's or Vinyl?

CDs as I detest surface noise and inner groove distortion/pinch effect.

I follow the artist. Some release on vinyl, some on CD, and some on cassette. And increasingly files and file sharing. I don't consider myself a mainstream music consumer. And I don't consider technology to be the end all of my listening experience either. Streaming reaches pretty far, but still leaves big holes. I just want the art.

I support living artists, so whatever format they're selling at a show or in a record store, that's the one I'll buy. I stream as well but often use that to decide what to buy (and who to support). 

Quality wise, CD usually but I like LP artwork, the ritual of playing vinyl and reading the occasional liner note.

FWIW, this discussion is similar to many I have in the photo world (I'm a fine art photog). Digital vs Analog. At the end of the day, they're just different experiences.

Much of it for me, is not better or worse, but LP sounds different...regardless of equipment...

CD. Forever.

Happy Listening!

About 80% streaming for me because of the convenience. Having millions of tunes at hand is incredible and the sound quality is good on most tracks. The other 20% is vinyl because, to my ears, a clean, well engineered vinyl pressing still sounds better. Maybe growing up with vinyl created a conditioned response, who knows?

Sorry for the off-topic... 

@artistx - I'm a fine-art photographer too and am currently working on putting together a few books. I also used to be a concert photographer through the 70's. 

Vinyl, no question. There is more music I like that is only available on vinyl vs. only on CD. And the Artwork, of course. 

Vinyl without Question. In spite of all the effort I find it much more involving. I have plenty of 35$ wonderful reissues but continue to find excellent used records in VG+ to M- condition for 3-12$. I am beginning to treasure many of my mono, mid 50s to 60s albums on London, Columbia, Angel and other labels. They have a certain magic. 

I have about the same number of albums on CD as I do on LPs (c. 4K each) and switch back and forth.  The digital is all ripped to a network drive for convenience.

I would not opt for either exclusively over the other.

@larsman Good luck with your book. I had my work published in a book many years ago. I enjoyed the process (but I’m a designer as well so…)

CDs and no gun needed lol.  LPs were great and the gatefold albums and inserts and pictures look better big but CDs have it from there.  You didn’t ask about streaming but that has overtaken CDs for me.  I have my Qobuz playlists with me to play on any system on land, lake or air.  

For those who prefer streaming, to what music do you listen? As not all artists, conductors and orchestras are listed and you sometimes only get  one version and not the one you want.

Vinyl is final for the best sound staging. that being said I have a killer analog setup with Sota Cosmos Eclipse vacuum table, SME V with Koestsu Jade all running through tube pre and amps. Cd's or the Aurender to me are for back ground music not critical listening. IMHO

People who don't have experienced actual concert (classic, jazz, pop, whatever) usually say that analog (vinyl) is better or true to the music. I know why. Except some cases of very high end analog system and LPs with highest quality, most analog systems give soft sound rather than sharp sound (this sharp sound is only available from real concerts). So, no-concet-experience-people might think the soft sound is musical. Oh, poor people! I cannot talk any more of audio/music listening with the poor people.

CD is absolutely better than LP. This is what Herbert von Karajan said many decades ago!

Much depends on the (digitization) quality of the media. I once did an A-B test on some of the Beatles' original vinyl albums and their early CD releases. The CDs sounded really 'plastic', thin and harsh compared to the Beatles' old vinyl albums. In addition, playing vinyl is more of a ceremony. Playing or streaming a CD is more of a technique. Anyway, enjoying music is the goal.

Vinyl for sure because of so many reasons. Top three are that it sounds much better than my digital set up, artwork & the nostalgia of it all.

Vynil

Physical media already somewhat obsolete in that vast majority of available media is used. Fewer and fewer new releases on vinyl or cd, especially true for cd. I continue to keep in touch with vinyl availability since I still run a pretty nice vinyl setup and titles available just simply pales in comparison to what is available on streams. 

There have been some recent threads here which have spoken to the superiority of listening to the music vs the sound. If this is true than streaming wins hands down, so much music available and so easily accessed. And if sound quality is important, as I fully agree with, a properly optimized streaming setup can be a winner here as well. 

My take is vinyl will never become totally obsolete due to unique sound qualities that are timeless. CD will die, it has no unique sound qualities vs streams, also more costly and more hassle.

There’s room for all. 
Do what you like. 

Vinyl, no question. It's what I actually look forward to actively listening to. Streaming is awesome for when I want music in the background during my day. My CD player has been collecting dust for about five years now, not sure why it's even in my rack.

I think the amount of hype regarding the curation/care of records is completely overblown, and for me it's part of the magic. Oh no, I have to actively engage with physical media! Next you're going to tell me I have to turn the pages of a book (remember those?)! :)

@r27y8u92 

You know what else von Karajan supported, right? Hint: it was about 8 decades ago. 

Both. New and re-releases are sometimes only Digital and Vinyl or Digital, Vinyl and CD, or Digital and CD, or Vinyl only. 
 

I’ve ran into this a number of times.