How do you listen to your music? (2012 edition)

[Sticksboi05]

Music sure changes fast doesn't it? How do you listen to what you listen to? Select the formats by which you listen to music.

If you listened to one song, one time in a certain format in the past year, or week or whatever, that doesn't count. What do you consistently use?

[MattFancy]

I pretty much either download mp3s, listen to Pandora or SiriusXM at work/in the car, or stream my music from my computer/phone using Google Play Music.

[China]

With my ears.

[Ellis]

CD's -- with our cd player or downloaded to iPhone.

MP3's, etc -- basically downloaded cd's to my iPhone.

other -- youtube!! through my iPhone. plenty of live shows on there as well as whole albums, old and new.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

CDs. I'm old school and haven't made the transition to MP3s etc.

[Pick6]

I use Pandora everyday now.

[Springfield]

I seldom listen to a lossless format and it's a shame. I'll listen to a CD in my car every now and then but usually I listen to music through my iPhone. Either through the aux jack in my car or my dock at home, the vast majority comes right from my phone. I have about 8 gigs of music on my phone and then of course there's pandora and spotify.

I created the most awesome pandora station based on Radiohead that I'm quite proud of. I listen to that station most often of all now.

It's just too damn convenient.

[brandymac27]

I usually stream, but I'll listen to my mp3 too. I usually play cd's in the car though.

[PCS]

I'll either listen to streaming music or my own library on the computer when I'm doing the digital darkroom thing. Standard radio stations while driving,(don't like having ear pieces in my ears while I'm driving).

[Bacon]

I love music. Listening to and purchasing music (I have an increasingly impressive vinyl collecting going) is my hobby, and I have a bunch of different methods for listening to it wherever I am, so I voted for like four different options.

At home:

-Streamed through Rhapsody, Grooveshark

-Through the turntable

-If I have an album ready to go, on my iPod classic

On the go:

-Through the Rhapsody and Grooveshark mobile apps

-iPod

-CDs in the car

I pretty much never buy CDs because I find MP3s more portable and vinyl more collectible, so that format slipped through the cracks for me.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

Ipod 99% of the time, youtube when im researching new music to put on my ipod.

[Xameil]

With my ears.

DAMN!!!! beat me to it

[skinsfan07]

MP3, CDs, Online radio.

[Bang]

I like Spotify, but Ifind it to be very repetitive.

Also, their "genr" stations dont' come close to anything I like.

I do like Pandora, but again, repetition.

~Bang

[skinsmarydu]

I spend less than 10 minutes in my car at a time. (Every couple weeks we make the trip out through drastic traffic to see family.) But I guess we stick pretty much to radio. We both like what some people would call evil, that wicked NPR...and music.

I must say, every time I rent a car, I try to get a Hyundai. Not only great gas mileage and tons of room for a trip to VA, but they come standard with XM and that's the ****. I could listen to Hair Nation all day!

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

digital

altho I wish the music didnt lose quality.

[endzone_dave]

I used MOG to download all the music I want. I'm not sure if it's the best service but I like it a lot.

[Koolblue13]

I listened to a friends mixed tapes not long ago and they were awesome. I made mixed tapes as a kid I will never forget.

I had a **** ton of albums as a kid, but never again.

I bet a bunch of the old punkers like bang and zooney remember "Let the eat jellybeans".

[ixcuincle]

Mp3 player on computer

[Sticksboi05]

I don't use MP3's anymore because it's not 2003 and we can enjoy the small file size now while maintaining the quality of the source material. FLAC is the way to go. MP3's sound god-awful in comparison, they should be put in the past sooner than later. That said, for convenience I use Rhapsody. And we have a turntable in our apartment so we listen to some vinyl. CD's have fallen in between digital files and vinyl for me also.

[fullnelson9999]

Spotify and Youtube at home, CDs in the car.

I have a bunch of music on my phone, but I hate fumbling with it while I'm driving.

[Enter Apotheosis]

digital

altho I wish the music didnt lose quality.

That's what FLAC is for, although you tend not to lose any discernible audio quality even in going to MP3 so long as you don't botch the encoding process somehow.

I don't use MP3's anymore because it's not 2003 and we can enjoy the small file size now while maintaining the quality of the source material. FLAC is the way to go. MP3's sound god-awful in comparison, they should be put in the past sooner than later. That said, for convenience I use Rhapsody. And we have a turntable in our apartment so we listen to some vinyl. CD's have fallen in between digital files and vinyl for me also.

This is a position that is often trumpeted by pretentious wannabe audiophiles who have little to no concern for practicality or common sense. Even with relatively high grade audio equipment most people can't detect any difference whatsoever between FLAC and 320 kbps MP3. Considering that most people don't invest much into quality audio equipment, they'd probably have a hard time telling the difference between even 192 kbps MP3 and FLAC.

In other words, you may think there's a huge difference but if you were the subject of a blind, Pepsi challenge-esque experiment you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

[Sticksboi05]

That's what FLAC is for, although you tend not to lose any discernible audio quality even in going to MP3 so long as you don't botch the encoding process somehow.

This is a position that is often trumpeted by pretentious wannabe audiophiles who have little to no concern for practicality or common sense. Even with relatively high grade audio equipment most people can't detect any difference whatsoever between FLAC and 320 kbps MP3. Considering that most people don't invest much into quality audio equipment, they'd probably have a hard time telling the difference between even 192 kbps MP3 and FLAC.

In other words, you may think there's a huge difference but if you were the subject of a blind, Pepsi challenge-esque experiment you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

First off, I'm not an audiophile nor do I care to spend thousands on earphones or a sound system. Second, the LAME encoder is much better than it was no question, the algorithms are improved but in the end it is still lossy. 320 kbps MP3's are certainly fine and the quality would be hard to tell apart if even possible, but how often is music you download of that quality? Unless you're torrenting from source material, in which case, you might as well use FLAC.

How many 320 kbps MP3's are being downloaded from free websites or P2P programs. A miniscule amount. Even the streaming services don't offer MP3's of that bitrate. I know Rhapsody doesn't. Most MP3's are 128 kbps and there is a pretty clear difference if you were to rip from a master recording. Obviously if your source material was garbage to begin with it won't make a difference at all.

So it's a little unfair of you to essentially call me something I am not and put opinion's on me that I didn't say. Also, you cannot tell someone else what they hear to suit your argument.

Edit 2 - If you took my post to mean people who use MP3's are losers, that wasn't my intention whatsoever. Sometimes, you need space and that trumps everything else.

[Enter Apotheosis]

320 kbps MP3's are certainly fine and the quality would be hard to tell apart, but how often is music you download of that quality? Unless you're torrenting from source material, in which case, you might as well use FLAC.

How many 320 kbps MP3's are being downloaded from free websites or P2P programs. A miniscule amount. Even the streaming services don't offer MP3's of that bitrate. I know Rhapsody doesn't. Most MP3's are 128 kbps and there is a pretty clear difference if you were to rip from a master recording. Obviously if your source material was garbage to begin with it won't make a difference at all.

Obviously anyone who knows enough to have an opinion on the subject probably knows where to find his/her preferred format or is encoding their own music from source. 128kbps is what Rhapsody uses but the truth is that streaming services are all over the place in terms of bitrate. Pandora is 128kbps by default but bumps up to 192kbps with a paid subscription, Spotify sits at 160kbps but has 320kbps available to premium subscribers, Mog delivers 320kbps, Grooveshark is all over the ****ing place, etc. In terms of free and/or illegal P2P type stuff, there are a lot of people who seek out higher quality MP3 files and they are widely available if you're inclined to look for them. Hell, iTunes may not use MP3 but they do encode in 256kbps AAC which is a plenty high quality lossy format.

The point is that while FLAC is a fantastic format there's not much of a practical basis for most people saving their music that way because, last I checked, FLAC files tend to take up nearly three times as much space as a 320kbps MP3 file (which in itself is excessive for most both space-wise and quality-wise). Hard disk storage space is cheap and easy to come across but many mobile devices don't have anywhere near enough room to fit an entire FLAC encoded library onto them. Music that takes up less space is inherently more versatile. The only practical reason to go with FLAC is if you have future plans to encode your music into other formats or are a diehard audiophile who wants a little peace of mind knowing they aren't missing out on any miniscule noise that exists on the very periphery of their hearing range.

So it's a little unfair of you to essentially call me something I am not and put opinion's on me that I didn't say.

Re-read this sentence again...

This is a position that is often trumpeted by pretentious wannabe audiophiles who have little to no concern for practicality or common sense.

Does it say anything whatsoever about you or does it say something about the opinion? Those people are annoying as hell but I didn't automatically lump you in with them.

[Sticksboi05]

Obviously anyone who knows enough to have an opinion on the subject probably knows where to find his/her preferred format or is encoding their own music from source. 128kbps is what Rhapsody uses but the truth is that streaming services are all over the place in terms of bitrate. Pandora is 128kbps by default but bumps up to 192kbps with a paid subscription, Spotify sits at 160kbps but has 320kbps available to premium subscribers, Mog delivers 320kbps, Grooveshark is all over the ****ing place, etc. In terms of free and/or illegal P2P type stuff, there are a lot of people who seek out higher quality MP3 files and they are widely available if you're inclined to look for them. Hell, iTunes may not use MP3 but they do encode in 256kbps AAC which is a plenty high quality lossy format.

The point is that while FLAC is a fantastic format there's not much of a practical basis for most people saving their music that way because, last I checked, FLAC files tend to take up nearly three times as much space as a 320kbps MP3 file (which in itself is excessive for most both space-wise and quality-wise). Hard disk storage space is cheap and easy to come across but many mobile devices don't have anywhere near enough room to fit an entire FLAC encoded library onto them. Music that takes up less space is inherently more versatile. The only practical reason to go with FLAC is if you have future plans to encode your music into other formats or are a diehard audiophile who wants a little peace of mind knowing they aren't missing out on any miniscule noise that exists on the very periphery of their hearing range.

Re-read this sentence again...

Does it say anything whatsoever about you or does it say something about the opinion? Those people are annoying as hell but I didn't automatically lump you in with them.

Alright, well we both had a misunderstanding. It seemed like you were essentially calling me that but you weren't so my bad. It's already behind me.

For the record, I use FLAC for that reason you mentioned, in the event I do need to save it in a lossy format to conserve space. But I only download stuff I really like so FLAC/space issues don't really concern me.