The past meets the future

I am just going through the process of Packing a PTP Solid Nine TT to be taken for a demonstration at a friends tomorrow, where it will be sitting along side a SP10 R, and used to demonstrate Platter Mats and Spindle Weights/Clamps for their effect on each TT.

It is at a time like this when the fragility of the TT and attached ancillaries become a very strong focus, and the thought process is almost as a delicate a operation as a hand cue. 

Would I swap the fragility for a permanent alternative, not yet, it is where my Heritage with music replays are the with the most history.

Streaming is another Method to create a replay of a music recording.

In terms of the Technology, it is the latest and most relevant, and interfaces quite satisfactorily into general methods used in a household today.

There are those who use downloaded content only, and some others are using Hard Media that is stored as a file in conjunction with downloaded content.

When it comes to the individuals who have chose to use Hard Media and create a stored file, these Hard Media Items were at one time a sale item that was supplying a performer/performers and their support, a reasonable remuneration for their work.

A New Act with a growing fan base could quite easily develop their act, as the monies were available to get to this level. Nearly all Hard Media owned by myself in the past, especially my earliest days has been purchased as new items.

Today I know how my purchase along with many others purchases benefitted a Performer or Group.

Today with the knowledge of how beneficial Hard Media Merchandise is to a New Act, I deliberately buy the material, my most recent being a Crowd Fund for a Group I have almost Zero Knowledge of.

If I were to go down the streaming route, my purchase of New Acts Material would be meniscal as a remuneration and the chances of the New Act to survive is severely at risk, when revenues from streaming are the only method for receiving a payment for the work.

Resorting to a Live Performance will help with remuneration, but again, the turnaround of Performers and Bands is becoming vast, and very few are not able to develop their full potential, as monies are quite starved.

I don't look forward to the time the only option is,  to attempt to enjoy music replayed as a streamed content in the home, from an endless roll over of short lived acts that produce almost identical content, very similar to how a TV music channel works . I also enjoy seeing a Act that has a longevity, one that develops their skills and ultimately become one that is more than worth seeing live and is able to be present for a long period of time, this is where the best memories are to be found. 

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Is not an alternative way useful for looking at the differing types of medium that leads onto the need to use different methods to produce a replay of the stored information.

Moving on speedily 75 years from the invention of the Phonograph.

The usual medium of choice for storage from the Olden Days, when the might of Analogue was omnipresent has been to store the recorded information onto a Vinyl Disc or a Magnetic Polyester Tape as the Source Material.

It is safe to say these methods had time of use as the mainstream methods for a period of 20ish Years and were limited to storing Sound Only.

Both Mediums have a weight and a volume for each unit, so this requires a thought out plan from the user, for the managing of the the items when acquired in large quantities.

The methods for maintaining and storing these Mediums has evolved and to do it correct in terms of protecting it to be used for continued usage is a new area of discipline it itself, and not too many are going to take on the challenges required.  

The use of the former as a storage medium was superseded in the mainstream by the Compact Disc as the Storage Medium.

The CD is a Polycarbonate, with a Metallic Coating and other Protective Layers of Coatings. 

A Compact Disc was not only limited to storing Sound Reproduction, but was much more versatile and was used in numerous applications where computing was required, Photographic and Film are both commonly found as a content stored on the medium.

The CD was to be a tremendous success as a Storage Medium and was found in most households as a means of storing information or used as means to have access to music replays.

As a Source Material, it has a mass and a volume, and requires a consideration from a user for the methods required to store it when acquired in large quantities.

There may be disciplines developing for the maintenance and storage of this as medium, but as off yet, the knowledge is not as known as those that are required for the former methods. 

The use of a Hard Drive / RAM as a method to store recorded information and as a Source Material, is the most relevant method being adopted, the method is extremely similar to CD in the content that is typically stored on the produced files.

It is a ubiquitous method and most households will have a means in place to store a information using a Hard Drive / RAM as the starage method, for these reasons it has a very high appeal and will be readily accepted in most situations.

The Hard Drive / RAM as a Storage Medium also differs as the storage space requirement for a large volume of information is substantially reduced and will not impact on the need for space if it is not readily available. Whereas any of the former methods can impact quite noticeably on a space if the Source Material is present in large quantities.

Any logistical requirements for the transport of the entirety of a large collection when stored as a Hard Drive / RAM will only require a small amount of consideration, as it can be such that a few thousand Albums can be consolidated into a device that has a few Kg's in weight as a heavy type of a design.

Where the two former storage methods detach themselves from the methods used to use a Hard Drive / RAM method is when this method also incorporates a the Streaming method to acquire a Source Material.   

The infrastructure required to support streaming is tied into the Cloud Storage Industry, and this Industry is dependant on DATA Centres, that are substantial drains on energy and need a substantial 24/7 Power Feed.

Using a Cloud Service is totally common today and most are using one, even if they don't know of it as a App in use.

What is not readily accepted by many, is the idea of buying into a Service to acquire a Source Material to be used for a Music Replay.

At present from my end, I have my main music replays stored on the Vinyl and CD Medium and I have appox' 100 FLAC Files stored on a Hard Drive RAM.

In relation to how these replays receive air time, the Vinyl LP Album has approx' 70%, CD Album has approx' 20%+ and File Stored Music Albums along with Alexia has approx' 10%.

My wife who has built the HiFi System and Music Collection with me and has a real passion for the system, has a different approach approx' 10% Vinyl LP Album, 10% CD Album on the system, 35% CD Album in the Vehicle as a replay and 45% mixture of FLAC Files on the Laptop and Alexia when in and around the house.