What's your favorite format?

11168 Views 101 Replies 54 Participants Last post by cdunphy, Feb 17, 2014

wgmontgomery

Discussion Starter · Apr 4, 2012

This may seem to be a simple question (or not), but if you had to have all of your music on one format, what would it be?? Analog (vinyl, reel-to-reel tape etc.), Red Book CD, SA-CD, XR-CD HD-CD, DVD-A...you get the picture. So, what is your favorite format and why??

1 - 20 of 102 Posts

Jon Liu

· #2 · Apr 4, 2012

Good question! I would choose SACD as my one format. I just like the fidelity on CDs and while Vinyl might be better sounding overall, the drawbacks of analog sound, pops and such, are much more distracting to me.

wgmontgomery

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 4, 2012

Jon Liu said:
Good question! I would choose SACD as my one format. I just like the fidelity on CDs and while Vinyl might be better sounding overall, the drawbacks of analog sound, pops and such, are much more distracting to me.

I lean toward SA-CD as well; I love analog, but it does have its drawbacks. Its cons can outweigh its pros, but a quality album or reel-to-reel tape on a quality T-table is amazing! I haven't heard much HD-CD or XR-CD though. Blu Ray AUDIO sounds (sorry for the pun) quite promising though.

tesseract

· #4 · Apr 4, 2012

I enjoy SACD and DVD-A sound equally, but wish I didn't have to navigate DVD-A menus through my TV to chose stereo instead of the default, multi channel.

wgmontgomery

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 4, 2012

tesseract said:
I enjoy SACD and DVD-A sound equally, but wish I didn't have to navigate DVD-A menus through my TV to chose stereo instead of the default, multi channel.

I agree; it IS a pain. I found a small LCD screen for $15 that I'm considering connecting just for this reason. My player has a screen saver, but I have a plasma set and am very wary of static images.

Does anyone have an opinion on XR-CD? I noticed that Elusive Disc states that it (XRCD) is their favorite format. :scratch:

Kal Rubinson

· #6 · Apr 4, 2012

Jon Liu said:
Good question! I would choose SACD as my one format.

Same here but, to be realistic, the only physical formats likely to survive for a while are CD and BluRay.

wgmontgomery said:
Blu Ray AUDIO sounds (sorry for the pun) quite promising though.

It is more than promising, add video (if one cares about that!) and has a very large installed base. The latter adds to its survivability.

Jungle Jack

· #7 · Apr 5, 2012

Hello,
While a huge fan of SACD, Reel to Reel of even Vinyl is a safer long term storage format. Plastic degrades and as time goes by there is going to be the very real issue of any Disc becoming useless. This is most commonly referred to as Disc Rot. Here is an Article about it:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_rot

As I own well over 1000 CD's, this really is distressing. While I can always put them all on an External Hard Drive, that would be some mighty boring work... I am glad that DVD/BD's are not as endangered by this.
As for preference, I really tend to agree with most of Neil Young's musings about CD's, but I still think some sound excellent.

Sadly, as we discuss this, more and more folks listen almost solely to MP3's. Best Buy is even phasing out CD's for sale at their Stores. While there is always the Online option, it takes away the instant gratification. Lucky are those that have a solid Independent Record Store in their locale. Hopefully, due to the Big Box Stores abandoning CD's, there will now be an added niche. Much like when these Stores carried Vinyl when CD's ruled the day.
Cheers,
JJ

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wgmontgomery

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 5, 2012

Jungle Jack said:
Sadly, as we discuss this, more and more folks listen almost solely to MP3's. Best Buy is even phasing out CD's for sale at their Stores. While there is always the Online option, it takes away the instant gratification. Lucky are those that have a solid Independent Record Store in their locale. Hopefully, due to the Big Box Stores abandoning CD's, there will now be an added niche. Much like when these Stores carried Vinyl when CD's ruled the day.
Cheers,
JJ

That's a bit scary! I noticed that even Walmart has reduced its CD inventory.

tonyvdb

· #9 · Apr 5, 2012

I really like my iPod touch so digital format. I have been very happy with the reliability of it and as long as I use an lossless format it sounds very good. CD has been my favorite format I have been buying them since there release in 1983 and so far even those have not seen any issues with "disc rot".

wgmontgomery

Discussion Starter · #10 · Apr 5, 2012

I've had a few CDs (not MFSL) that started to skip for no apparent reason...disc rot? Has anyone heard that gold discs are not supposed to be (as?) susceptible to "disc rot?" That was one of the advantages touted by MFSL.

bambino

· #11 · Apr 5, 2012

I Haven't listened to Vinyl since i was a kid (over 25+ years ago:whistling

but have often tossed a thought or 2 around about buying a turntable but the only ones i want are expensive and i can't justify the price over the use it would see.
My choice is CD allthough the degradation of them that JJ mentiond is a reality but i still have some of the discs i had when i was young and they work just fine others however are shot and it's even visible just by looking at the disc. My other favorite these days is Digital (for conveniance).:T

OZZIERP

· #12 · Apr 5, 2012

SACD

wgmontgomery

Discussion Starter · #13 · Apr 5, 2012 (Edited)

So far, SA-CD is crushing ALL other formats by ~6:1. I'm surprised that analog isn't more popular considering these are 2 channel formats.

FWIW-my vote was for SA-CD, but I LOVE vinyl. I'd probably lean more toward vinyl IF:
1) It was a more durable format
2) I had a better T-Table & phono stage...I can't complain given that I got a t-table (w/ Grado cartridge) and phono stage for <$50! I do, however, miss my Rega P2.

Jungle Jack

· #14 · Apr 5, 2012

bambino said:
I Haven't listened to Vinyl since i was a kid (over 25+ years ago:whistling but have often tossed a thought or 2 around about buying a turntable but the only ones i want are expensive and i can't justify the price over the use it would see.
My choice is CD allthough the degradation of them that JJ mentiond is a reality but i still have some of the discs i had when i was young and they work just fine others however are shot and it's even visible just by looking at the disc. My other favorite these days is Digital (for conveniance).:T

Hello,
I listen pretty much exclusively to CD's (too few SACD's Released). As for CD's becoming unplayable in the future, this is something I read about several years ago and really made me cringe. Variables like Sunlight Exposure plays a hand, but it is a potential issue. Again, I own a pretty ridiculous number of CD's and my thoughts behind it were to have a vast Media Library. And as I have never even Rented a DVD, my DVD/BD Collection dwarfs my CD's.
Cheers,
JJ

wgmontgomery

Discussion Starter · #15 · Apr 5, 2012

Jungle Jack said:
Hello,
I listen pretty much exclusively to CD's (too few SACD's Released).
Cheers,
JJ

+1; I prefer SACD, but the only way to get them here (the major metropolis known as Greenville, NC :rofl: ) is online. I'm building my collections of SACDs, but I'm moving so quickly that I keep getting passed by sloths!

jackfish

· #16 · Apr 5, 2012

Vinyl

The right LP on a good system just sounds better.

Kal Rubinson

· #17 · Apr 5, 2012

jackfish said:
The right LP on a good system just sounds better.

If you say so. The bigger problem, for me, is that there have not been any new classical vinyl releases in 20 years and I see no reason to expect any in the future. Issues of technical superiority, which I do not concede, are irrelevant.

OZZIERP

· #18 · Apr 5, 2012

My main gripe with vinyl was I had a Thorens table SME tonearm and Denon MC cartridge and I would unwrap a brand new copy only to have ticks and pops and yes I used Discwasher before each play.
But I have heard good and bad of all formats and it all comes down to mastering. I think Classical sounds best on SACD do to the available dynamic range and ability to play really low notes without any kind of feedback.

wgmontgomery

Discussion Starter · #19 · Apr 6, 2012

Although NOT new, I picked-up Tchaikovsky [1812 Overture (Vienna Philharmonic)] on CBS Masterworks today...for 50¢!!

I can't wait to give it a spin!!

JoeESP9

· #20 · Apr 7, 2012

Why do I have to choose? I want it all. I've got a decent LP spinner, an SACD/DVD-A player and a CD player with a stand alone DAC. I buy new and used vinyl, new and used SACD's/DVD-A's and new and used CD's. An Oppo BR player is in the near future and I've been looking at RtR decks.

I even play cassettes! There are about 200 LP's I recorded to High Bias/CRO2/Metal cassettes. Should I stop listening to them?

Why, when subjects like come up is it always either or? How about being inclusive instead of exclusive?

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