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full cd itunes v store

  • itunes

    Votes: 18 40.0%
  • store

    Votes: 27 60.0%

  • Total voters
    45

tim2006

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 18, 2006
269
0
when buying a full cd how many buy via itunes and how many go to a store like best buy?
 
tim2006 said:
when buying a full cd how many buy via itunes and how many go to a store like best buy?


It depends.

If the CD is one of my favourite bands and I want to add it to my CD collection, I'll go to the store.

If iTunes has a few "extra's" with the CD, I will normally buy it from iTunes.
 
If you actually want the whole CD, there is little reason to buy from the iTMS. You'll get as good quality as you choose to rip (way better than iTunes store quality), no DRM, and.. well.. a real CD quality CD as backup!
 
iTMS, it just right there, and I hardly ever buy a full CD. So it when I do, it normal when i find it on iTMS and I really think its good
 
It really depends. Does iTunes actually have the full album? Is it possible for me to find this album? Do I have some sort of credit with the iTunes store or a gift card to another?
 
Music Store all the way. I don't like heavily compressed AAC or MP3. The minimum I will listen to is 192vbr AAC, which is what my iTunes library is ripped at.


I will probably eventually get a MacMini as a mediacentre and rip all my music in lossless onto an external drive...
 
I'll buy from iTunes since it's cheaper. Like someone said earlier, I might buy the CD if it's from a favourite band or if I have a gift certificate. I remove all DRM by burning all the purchased songs to a CDRW and reimport them.
 
iTunes is usually cheaper so i go there first. if they don't have it or if there's a sale (like buy 2 get a 3rd free) at a store, i might do that if i have enough CDs i want.

i usually buy songs individually, though. the last CD i bought was a few years ago and the last entire album i downloaded from iTunes was a few months ago.
 
I like higher quality sound so I'd rather get the physical CD.

You don't get much for your money with iTMS but convenience means a lot to a lot of people--that's why lots of people have iPods in the first place.
 
I almost always buy individual songs on iTunes and full CDs in physical media when I want them. That said I rip them in the same format Apple uses and never use them again, but ... ;)
 
I would much rather buy everything from itunes but i dont like the DRM, i dont share my music and i dont make copys and give them around so why should i have to live with the DRM? I would much rather buy it from amazon and rip the cd, that way i can move it around my computers easly.
 
I checked store but then I realized that I actually buy most of my albums from iTMS. It looks like I've bought about 15-20 full albums on iTunes in the last 2 years and I've only bought probably 10 CDs. The problem though is that most of the full albums I buy aren't available at Best Buy. And even if they are I'll only buy them on sale for 9.99, which they are the week they come out. So I've bought a few albums on iTunes that were more expensive at Best Buy. And now iTunes is gettign all these extras. They convinced me to pre-order the new Killers album with getting the song now, the extra song and the video. I might have to quit buying CDs once I quit working at Best Buy. The only reason I buy them though is because I like to have something for my money. Although I'm never dissatisfied with the quality of iTMS music so I should probably just buy it all off of there.
 
definitely the physical cd for these reasons

the ability for gapless play back
a natural but slow back up (slow as in will have to re rip)
better quality
ability to play it anywhere there is a cd player.

Most Importantly I will always buy the hard version for the cd inlay.
 
Neither. Retail stores don't sell any of the music I buy. In the event that the iTunes Store does, assuming I want the whole album, I'd rather get the physical CD from Amazon or something.

If it's just too inconvenient to get a song elsewhere, I might buy from the iTMS, but mostly I don't because
- It's not high quality enough
- I can't play it on other portable players
- You can't easily re-download it if you loose it (of course it's good to keep backups regardless of this)
 
I haven't bought a CD in over a year. Normally, when I want music, its just a single, not the entire album.

I rip all my music as 192kbps MP3s, and the quality difference is negligble.
 
itunes offers a lower price, and you don't have to rip your cd, plus itunes gives you a good quality artwork.
 
I only buy cd's when the earth-shaking bass can't be duplicated cleanly enough in a compressed format.
Definitely spent waaay more money in iTMS last few years than in an actual retail music store. Why buy an album for three great songs and eleven that I'll never play?:confused:
 
Store of course for MANY reasons:
1) It has all the inserts etc (iTunes does to but I just scan in anyway)
2) DRM-Free
3) I can rip the songs in whatever format I wont
4) Higher Quality - 128Kbps sound ick! My iTunes is ripped @ 320K/bit
5) I have a shopping center near by so iTunes convenience is lost :p
6) I can buy some CD's in store on sale for £4-5 that sell on iTunes for £7.99

I bought Christina Aguilera's new album instore for £9 Vs. iTunes £9.99, nuff said! I scanned in the cover and the quality is as good as that from the iTunes store :p
 
It really depends on the price. I like getting physical cds when i can, but prices these days make it just so much better to get from the iTMS. I never listen to physical cds, even through a stereo i usualyl just plug in my iPod, so having it as a backup is the only real advantage for me. Now with prices regularly being $15+ for cds that aren't on sale, can you really compete with $9.99?
 
There are so many discounted CDs around now that it is often cheaper to buy the CD. I tend to use ITMS just for odd tracks.
 
I have non-mainstream musical tastes, so I usually buy CDs online at Amazon.com or wherever. I like having the physical CD, for the same reasons that many others give here. (Higher quality, "backup," etc.) But if I'm looking for just one or two musical pieces from a CD, then I'll buy them off of iTunes and save money.
 
store for sure

1st of all its a dollar or two more usually (sometimes same price) for the cd, plus its the perfect backup. What if aac2 compression, or super lossess comes out and now you have 200 songs bought from itunes that could sound better? with a cd you won't run into that problem. not to mention the ability to play it in a cd player, look at the booklet.

I also like going to cd stores, though I never really go to best buy. They always expose me to something new and I am usually more excited about my purchase.
 
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