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A dilemma of Vinyl + CDs vs streaming into old age.....

ex brickie

ex brickie

pfm Member
First I’ll set the scene. In doing so, if this topic has arisen in another thread I’d be delighted if someone could point me towards it....

The background is I’m not retired yet so I’d hope to have at least another 20 years. I have a very decent spec LP12, and a pretty high end CD player. I’ve built up large (as in several hundred each) collections of vinyl and CDs.

Rather morbidly I’m concerned about leaving behind such expensive gear and music collections. I know I could leave instructions with the hifi gear to ensure they aren’t sold for a pittance but the music is a faff to sell. No-one will offer a decent price for a large collection I’m sure. To get their true value it would mean a lot of listing and selling. I’m not convinced my (adult) kids will want that hassle. Plus the music collections take up a lot of space which none of my ‘kids’ have

So I’m wondering what others here are doing in a similar situation because there are plenty here of a similar age (judging by other threads!). I could start the grand sale now - starting with the hifi - and buy a streamer of some type. This would be a significant learning curve for me as I’ve no idea where to start and even worse, I’m worried I won’t get the same sound quality. Logic tells me I should be able to get fabulous digital sound but I wouldn’t know what to but or how much to spend. I don’t even know the basics - eg Would I use my current integrated amplifier?

The other factor that has led me to worry about equivalent sound quality is that I’ve stayed in a couple of decent cottages recently that had streaming facilities. Neither impressed me. One was a Linn streamer amp with in-built ceiling speakers (the speakers may have been the limiting factor). The second was a Sonos system using an iPad for music selection (even that felt weird!) where the Sonos speakers sounded rather boomy and unclear. Again I may have just been unlucky that speakers limited the sound.

So, long story short:

What are others doing with their vinyl/CDs to prepare for the future (I realise that educating my kids into the quality of what I have is a solution but it would need splitting more than 2 ways)?

What would I need to spend to get a streamer of equivalent sound quality ? What kit would I need (Noddy guide please)?

Then do I rent music or how do I manage what feels like a mammoth task of ripping the music I have? I would somewhat resent renting when I have such a fab collection already - so if there’s a way of copying and getting same sound quality I’d give it serious thought

The default of course is continue enjoying what I have but the older I get, the more concerned I become about a huge loss of value if my kids get the collections/equipment

Guidance very welcome (with some links to how I can understand the mysterious world of ripping and streaming in a simple way)
 
Hi ex Brickie,
Which cd player do you have? I am planning to switch from a Naim CDS3 to an equivalent streaming system (auditions under way at the moment), as we are preparing to move to a smaller house and will need to pack the cd collection away under the stairs or in the loft.

Best regards, FT
 
I think you are over thinking this. If your family stand to inherit a record collection & hifi then I fail to see the negatives. CD's are generally worth SFA & very few records are valuable. If you have LPs from the 90s & early noughties they will currently be worth something but in 20 years time the whole vinyl thing will probably have passed anyway.
 
well EX as you as you say have 20 years to enjoy your system because in 20 years you might as well through it in the bin it will be so out of date, and worth pea-nuts, it's like your grandad leaving you his gramophone, enjoy what you have while you can, sound quality is ALL, and as Stuns says why care you will be dead, ive got a expensive system and i don't give it a second thought,
 
I will keep my speakers but have often thought of reducing everything down to a simple maybe 2 box streaming system as I approach my dotage.The goalposts keep moving though.
 
if you enjoy the sound of vinyl, stick with it. CD's only would do my head in as would downloads

Bloss
 
I got fed up of thumbing through LPs and CDs a few years back and figured that when I moved at some point I didn't want the hassle of taking that stuff with me. So I've sold all the vinyl, the CDs will go at some point and now I just stream.

As time goes on I expect my aging ears will forget any perceived difference in SQ and in the meantime the liberated cash from the media and the hardware I now longer need will buy other things I want.

As for what happens when you die, why care ? All your stuff will probably be skipped, or else melted down to make fork handles.

CHE
 
I would suggest that you give a streaming subscription service a try first. Tidal or Qobuz offer lossless (CD quality) streaming, others are lossy MP3 which I would avoid. Their catalogues are large, so there is a huge library to choose from. I suggest this because it is easy to set up, and will help you to decide whether or not it is worth the hassle of ripping your CDs. You can buy a very cheap streamer, or even just use an iPhone, if you want, or jump straight in and buy a quality streamer that will connect to your amp, just like your CD player does.
Then, if you do decide you would like to rip your CDs, the same streamer will play them too, so it won’t be wasted if you decide you don’t like Tidal.
There are two ways to rip CDs. One is with a computer with a CD drive, and suitable software such as iTunes, DBpoweramp or others. If that sounds like too much hassle, buy a proprietary ripper/storage device such as an Innuos Zen Mini which comes set up and ready to use.
 
I'm keeping the LPs in the sitting room until I can no longer get up to change a record.

I'm slowly sorting through the CDs (essentially the classical music ones) to "weed" the collection - removing the stuff I have no desire to listen to. Example: why keep five versions of Orff's Carmina Burana when I listen to it less than once every three years? Why keep Handel's Rodelinda (in two versions!) when it bores me silly? Giving them away seems to be the problem :) Anyone interested in the Lyon area?
Long term plan - they all get ripped and stored in the cellar; the pop and folk are done only the classical left.

As for streaming, the best I've heard so far is the dCS Network Bridge (whether as a stand alone unit or included in the Bartok etc).
 
20 years is a good amount of time to enjoy what you have now so why change and give it all up? When you do eventually pass on, morbid as it may be, your children may appreciate that you have passed on to them something which may not be financially worth much but you have cherished and have given you untold pleasure. Not everything has to be measured in monetary gains....
I have my dad's old LPs which I still cherish even though I don't even have an vinyl player.
 
Gradually add your collection to Discogs. It will give low-mid-high valuations.
Other than that there's more important things to worry about imo.
 
We've had a few threads like this, and TBH I don't see what all the fuss is about. Life's too short to fart about like that; just enjoy the system and the music as it is (unless you're short of cash), cos that's what I'm going to do!
 
ex brickie said:
First I’ll set the scene. In doing so, if this topic has arisen in another thread I’d be delighted if someone could point me towards it....
Click to expand...

Stick with what you've got. If you get another 20 years out of it, you've had your money's worth.

Oddly enough I had lunch with the MD of a cable manufacturer recently, and admitted, to considerable mutual amusement, that I'd been dreaming just a couple of nights before about having to explain prior to my demise that there's probably at least ten grands worth of cable in my flat (probably around half that in the system, the rest in boxes).

Most of my kit will likely pass in due course to a nephew who's the only family member with a real interest in music, but for whatever reason my subconscious had decided to raise an alert re 'there's a lot of wires here.'

Plan is to provide a couple of names to get in touch with re disposal/selling on of stuff – assuming of course they're still with us in turn. None of us getting any younger...
 
On reflection there are lots of sensible views here. It is helping me see that perhaps I’m over-worrying.

I’m fortunate that I don’t need to sell for financial reasons. I can just enjoy what I have - and as is mentioned here, my music will be so old hat technology wise that perhaps it will be worthless.

It has been quite therapeutic getting it off my chest and hearing other opinions though!

When I have more time on my hands though (post retirement) I might be interested in getting all the CDs ripped to a storage unit. If anyone can point me to a link of how to do this easily (not the PC option) and keep at least CD quality that could still be of interest. I have enough CDs not to need to rent music. I assume some of the technology options make it simple to search for albums and tracks - even easier than thumbing through the current CD collection?

I’ll go back to playing some vinyl tomorrow
 
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