# Listening Habits : Sets vs. Albums vs. Digital Releases



## SalieriIsInnocent (Feb 28, 2008)

This has become something that I've started to pay more attention to, now that I'm older, and I do all the purchasing myself. When I was a kid, I tried to get the most bang for the buck, so I would often get large sets of a composers work or works. 

I noticed that when I had more than I could handle in one sitting, I often would just play the cd that had my favorite work, and the other discs in the set would go unplayed. 

This became even more of a factor when I started going digital, and would make playlists of those pieces. 

Lately I've been trying to go by single releases, or at least smaller sets. Like a cd containing 2 symphonies, as opposed to a 10 symphony set. I've found that I will sit down and listen to the entire disc when it is given in a portion of that size. What listening habits do you have? Do you listen to all the pieces, or just your favorites?


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

When I first became a big music enthusiast, the number of CDs I bought actually decreased as I embraced the on the go technology of MP3 players. I would reserve CDs for my very favorite artists. Lately I've trended back to buying more CDs...not giving up digital...but I find that having a physical copy SOMETIMES will slow me down enough, taking the time to select, rotating CDs out of my car....to slow my brain down when I'm listening to the music. It's actually helped me with my compulsive spending to some degree. Plus although I rarely bother to read a libretto, there are a few operas I like enough to want to have it and read it. I do have a weakness for complete sets: Mahler's complete recordings, vocal artist sets, and somehow I like owning a complete Ring set in one box!

I listen to everything. it takes me time, but I don't just pick out favorites.....except if I'm in an overly stressed or emotional mood then familiar is comfortable. I don't neccessarily listen to a whole set to completion at once, I'll take a break and get back to it later. For example, a ten CD set may take me 6-10 months to listen to (or if I'm really into it I might zip through in 1 month)


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

I can identify with that approach, Sonata. I prefer to take my time to get to know and assimilate new works and recordings on CD, one disc at a time, though I do 'graze' on Spotify too, mostly on works that have come to my attention on this forum.

As a result my collection - CDs, LPs and flac files - comprises only around 8-900 recordings over about 40 years of collecting.


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## Le Peel (May 15, 2015)

I buy CDs and turn them into files for my portable player.

MP3 is almost never economically viable for me. Most of the time the used CD version of the recording is cheaper than the MP3 variant. Such as this Bach recording I'm looking at right now, the MP3 is $28.49, while the used CD is between (not including shipping) $5 and $15 depending where you get it. Even a new CD of this recording can be had for $15+S&H. Downloads are viable when I want something specific from a recording or set without having to purchase the whole thing.

As far as listening habits go, I'll only listen when I won't be disturbed and can listen to the whole thing (a single work, not CD or set.) I also won't force a listen, if I don't _want_ to hear it, it gets saved for another day.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I have never liked those big box sets of 'everything'. I make the distinction between the complete symphonies or string quartets or chamber music or Ring-in-one-box &c of a favourite composer and those 30 or 50 or whatever disc boxes that just pack it all in without any concept of cohesion or quality. Although I have a significant number of fine boxed sets, the vast majority of my albums have 1 and 2 discs. As a result, trying to get the pieces I want to own recordings of entails getting some alternate performances. I like having a varied collection and not just all of one artist or label. I see that as personalizing my collection. I mostly buy new albums, primarily reissues or albums that are a couple of years old, and can get the vast majority of them at pretty decent prices. When I compare with the cost of a download, I typically spend only a few dollars more, shipping included, for the CD. It's more than worth it to me, since it's not just about the music, but also about the notes, the photographs and permanence.

Sure, some of the compilation albums—and even single discs—I own have works I prefer to others, but I play the whole disc and the whole set of discs (although not necessarily all consecutively, since I keep track of which discs have been played, so that they all get equal air time). I am very selective about which albums I buy, so I don't have any that contain pieces I intensely dislike and couldn't bear hearing. While I have a 5CD carousel player that is running a fair number of hours a day, I can only focus on one or two discs a day, so the rest get spun again the following day, so that they all get my attention before being swapped out of the player.

I buy CDs of my favourite composers and works. For music I am 'test hearing' or am just not that committed to (yet ), I use the free listening services of You Tube, Naxos Music Library, rdio and others. While I am not a big opera fanatic, I do appreciate having a libretto and I enjoy reading the notes to all of my classical albums (in fact, I habitually read the entire booklet before listening to an album for the first time and I sporadically refer back to it to refresh myself on information about the composer, work and performers). When I really want to hear just one work, I typically go to YT, instead of playing only one piece from a CD. This gives me further opportunity to hear alternate versions of a piece I know.

I really like listening on my fabulous home stereo system. I love the full sound palette. For YT and other online offerings, I use my computer and a set of good quality amplified speakers. While the sound is great, it is noticeably not that of my stereo system. I have entertained the notion of making mp3 copies of all of my collection, so that I can take it with me, but I am too busy listening to bother  I suppose one reason I haven't gotten around to it is that I don't listen much on the go. I don't like ear buds and headphones, since the volume required to cancel out the external noise is vastly higher than I would consider subjecting my ears to. However, I would like music in the car or when I arrive at my camp site or hotel, etc. I suppose I'll rip some more... one of these days?


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

I prefer albums, CDs are what I own. About 400 CDs. I have a few symphony cycles by one conductor. I own no complete box sets, and I don't intend on getting any. 

I don't really like mp3 files, but I have an iPod and external portable speakers with CDs ripped so I can listen at work or away on holiday. This is a compromise, I settle for inferior sound quality at work, but not at home, where I play CDs on my hifi. I've bought a couple of pieces of music as digital releases, but this was a trial. I don't intend to buy anymore digital releases.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

I listen to all tracks of CDs that I have acquired/downloaded because these are recordings that I have consciously chosen to acquire.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I purchase a mixture of CDs and digital, but am leaning more and more toward digital as I run out of shelf space. I rip the CDs to digital anyway, and any info that might be in a CD booklet I can usually look up on the web. 

As for my listening -- that's deliberately random, so it may take years for me to get around to an entire package, especially as I too am partial to those "complete" box sets. It's different though for a non-classical album that I would consider more of a single work of art, as in a concept album or progressive rock album. Those must be savored and explored in depth, the entire album being generally written and performed at one place and time. 

It all depends on the context.


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## SalieriIsInnocent (Feb 28, 2008)

I do copy all of my CDs to FLAC files after I purchase them. Regardless of how well I take care of the CDs, I don't like risking the integrity of the disc. Just trying to get them out of some cases might cause an accidental scratch. I had to throw away a lot of the cds I listened to from childhood, as many were too scratched to play.

Vinyl is a whole other beast. I don't listen to too many classical recordings on vinyl, as I prefer the clarity of a cd. I'll take Jazz on vinyl any day, because most of those just sound better on vinyl, as they don't have all the hiss scrubbing that modern cd releases contain.

I honestly don't like how portable devices seem to ignore the classical fans. Small capacity, few with decent codec support, and overall shoddy design. I bought a sansa fuze because it plays FLAC files, but won't play my 24 bit recordings. 

Then vehicles are even worse. To get something with decent support and capacity costs an arm and a leg. Plus I don't like some of the fancier setups, because they take my mind off of the road, which isn't good for Houston traffic.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I've been handling some of my CDs for over 30 years. Never scratched any of them. Why buy CDs if you're just going to turn them into digital files? I don't want to buy too many more big box sets, but I'm thinking of getting the Complete Works by Poulenc. It's 20 CDs, so not too big. And it's loaded with classic performances by great French artists. But all these comprehensive box sets just drives home the fact that I'll be dead before I listen to all my stuff.


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## SalieriIsInnocent (Feb 28, 2008)

starthrower said:


> Why buy CDs if you're just going to turn them into digital files?


Piece of mind. If I lose the hard drive, I need only re-rip them. FLAC files sound as good as the CD ever will. Most digital music stores offer only mp3s or AACs. I also don't have to worry about the label of the cd going defunct, for somebody to sell the cd at a ungodly price if I do happen to lose my copy. I've had this happen before, but with non-classical recordings.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I like having CDs because they include the artwork. I listen mostly on an MP3 player (Sansa Clip) and in the car (burned discs so as not to damage original discs). I like some box sets, especially for Beethoven symphonies, which I like to listen to all nine in a row. I generally like to listen to whole works (mostly operas) or whole CDs such as arias from a certain singer. My MP3s are on two auxilary hard drives, one continuously hooked to my computer, the other in the store room. I also have put a lot of my most favorite CDs up on Google Drive (you get 15GB of free storage space with a Gmail account). The CDs become a pain in the neck though if you don't have space to organize and store them. Many of mine are packed into boxes.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

I have most of what's usually considered the standard repertoire, and I listen to works rather than artists, so box sets are usually too much duplication as far as I'm concerned.

I buy several new albums digitally every month, and the occasional CD. Much of my listening time is spent listening to those albums straight through, and the rest (about a third?) is just listening to the rest of my collection, either on random play or specific works or even movements.


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## gHeadphone (Mar 30, 2015)

Its funny, i do a similar thing to most people here, i buy Cds and burn them to ALAC, not FLAC as it means i can play on my Laptop, my Fiio X3 player and rarely but sometimes sync to my iPhone and play there without needing a separate FLAC player on there. Most of my friends use Spotify or similar and think this is weird but i like the fact that i own a physical copy should anything happen to the streaming services or my subscription, I can re copy again or lend the discs (which i do when trying to entice my co-workers to join the classical train) and i can read the liner notes!

Im listening to classical for about 18 months and i buy way too much. However i tend to buy single disks rather than complete sets (a few exceptions notwithstanding). This usually means i listen at least once, i remember getting as set of Dvorak symphonies and ive still only listened to the 9th.

I try to listen when i burn the CD so that means generally limit myself to burning 1-2 per evening. I do need to go back and revisit my listened to only once pile though!


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I always listen to CD's, usually one per composer at a time, then switching to the next. For boxes, I never play the complete box in a row (unless it is one opera).


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

SalieriIsInnocent said:


> This has become something that I've started to pay more attention to, now that I'm older, and I do all the purchasing myself. When I was a kid, I tried to get the most bang for the buck, so I would often get large sets of a composers work or works.
> 
> I noticed that when I had more than I could handle in one sitting, I often would just play the cd that had my favorite work, and the other discs in the set would go unplayed.
> 
> ...


This is totally backwards from me. All I purchase these days is large box sets if I can help it.

For a small example, take my Ferenc Fricsay box set.

Say at a minimum I want my favorite recordings from Ferenc Fricsay that I think belong in every collection:
Beethoven 9th 
Dvorak 9th
Bartok Piano Concertos with Geza Anda
Tchaikovsky 6th

Say each disc is roughly $12 (because I want new and not used) I'm at $48

I purchased all of his Orchestral and Concerto Recordings in a box set for $80 when it came out, so for an extra $32 I received 45 CD's worth of great recordings that I can spend a lifetime exploring. I don't just listen to my favorites. I go through each disc and spend hours exploring and find many recordings I've never heard and allow them to become new favorites.

The same thing with smaller box sets.

You can buy Rubinstein's Chopin Nocturnes for $12 or all of Rubinstein's Chopin recordings which includes his wonderful Ballades and Mazurkas for $15. Or I could try to buy them all in separate discs and spend 3 times as much. That makes no sense to me. Or Kempff's Beethoven sonatas. Buy a disc of the popular ones or for a few extra bucks buy all 32 and expand your listening.

Now I don't buy cheap random big box sets of things I'm not going to listen too. I buy complete recordings from Conductors or Performers whom I enjoy which gives me thousands of hours of listening. Gunter Wand's Great Recordings box set is another classic example. You get one of the finest Beethoven & Brahms cycles ever recorded for less than you will pay for each of those cycles on their own, plus you get his Bruckner and Schubert cycles.

So for me it's the more the merrier, but to me I am also buying Quality Recordings from Quality Artists.

I also rip all of my CD's into iTunes so I can take them on the road...


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## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

I love the big boxes, because they usually have music I'm not familiar with. I rip everything to iTunes, set every work up as its own album, put them on my iPod Classic and then shuffle by album. This is the best toy ever; I'm listening to far more classical music than I ever did before.


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