# Should I delete my classical music from my computer (iTunes)?



## rspader (May 14, 2014)

Over the past 7-8 years, I have added about 700 classical CD purchases to iTunes as I acquired them. The original plan was to be able to listen to them on my iPod in the car or when I went for a run, etc. Due to the dynamic range of classical music, however, that never really worked out and I listened to rock, podcasts and audiobooks instead. The only place that I listened to my iTunes classical music was at my computer (where I don't spend that much time) and now that listening has largely been replaced by Spotify. I still have all of the original CDs and those are my primary source (90%) of listening in my home.

I am thinking of deleting the classical CDs from my computer to free up some disk space and, well, they don't seem to be serving any purpose. Before I do that, however, I wanted to ask if there is any reason that I should not delete them? I could not think of any but I thought that it would be good to tap into the knowledge base here to see if I might be headed for regrets after I delete them.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

external disks are cheap. I would not delete anything


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Got any rare Beethoven cycles before you delete them? Lol


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

The main thing that comes to mind is the ability to stream the music from your computer to players in other rooms of your home. Although Spotify may have the same albums, it is not lossless, so the sound quality may not seem as good to you (and I am not interested in starting another debate on lossy vs. lossless).

Another possible reason is that you may be able to integrate a DAP into the playback stream to fine tune the sound. For playback, I use JRiver which includes one.

Neither of these reasons may be important to you, of course.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

You'll retain some independence by keeping your own collection, regardless of streaming and internet developments etc., and be able to make compilations in various media according to your taste.


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

I wouldn't delete them - maybe you'll regret it later, when your iPod needs change...


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

How about listening to it on your iPod while you're on holidays, in a relaxed chair, enjoying the weather and a beautiful view?


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

I reckon, assuming those 700 CDs are MP3, you've got about 100gb of data there? Buy a memory stick (128gb or larger. 128 costs about £25 in the UK) and transfer them to that, save yourself any regrets later on! It'll hardly break the bank....


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

My solution is a cheap iPod cradle plugged into the stereo receiver in the living room. I have two 160 GB iPods that I keep synced to iTunes in my office. So I can listen to iTunes there, and use the iPods in the living room or traveling.

I keep two sets of all my music files on separate hard drives and file my CDs away, seldom using them again.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

rspader said:


> Over the past 7-8 years, I have added about 700 classical CD purchases to iTunes as I acquired them. The original plan was to be able to listen to them on my iPod in the car or when I went for a run, etc. Due to the dynamic range of classical music, however, that never really worked out and I listened to rock, podcasts and audiobooks instead. The only place that I listened to my iTunes classical music was at my computer (where I don't spend that much time) and now that listening has largely been replaced by Spotify. I still have all of the original CDs and those are my primary source (90%) of listening in my home.
> 
> *I am thinking of deleting the classical CDs from my computer to free up some disk space and, well, they don't seem to be serving any purpose.* Before I do that, however, I wanted to ask if there is any reason that I should not delete them? I could not think of any but I thought that it would be good to tap into the knowledge base here to see if I might be headed for regrets after I delete them.
> 
> Your thoughts would be appreciated.


One knows what he likes and what he dislikes. If classical really serves no purpose for you, than I think that you should yes eliminate it from you computer to free some space. Of course, you could offer what you have of it to your friends and familiars first, as this could be a gem for one of them. "One man's trash is another man's treasure", people say...

Interesting that you come into a classical music forum to say that you want to delete you classical collection. A troll?


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## Guest (Nov 27, 2018)

You invested all that time in ripping and tagging. Just get an external HD and put them there. You never know when you might want access to them again. While you're at it, back up the rest of your hard disc.


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## pkoi (Jun 10, 2017)

You can listen to them in Itunes if you have an internet connection and the apple id which you used to purchase the tracks, no reason to keep them in your hard drive.


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## Guest (Nov 27, 2018)

pkoi said:


> You can listen to them in Itunes if you have an internet connection and the apple id which you used to purchase the tracks, no reason to keep them in your hard drive.


He can only listen to them in iTunes if he purchased from the iTunes store. If he ripped physical CDs using iTunes he can only listen to the media files themselves, as far as I know.


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## APL (Oct 27, 2018)

I think there will be a time when there will not be any CD, just download way for money. Like spotyfy, when you want to listen to sg. Wait for till taht time. You have to pay a subscriptions to download.


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## rspader (May 14, 2014)

Allerius said:


> One knows what he likes and what he dislikes. If classical really serves no purpose for you, than I think that you should yes eliminate it from you computer to free some space. Of course, you could offer what you have of it to your friends and familiars first, as this could be a gem for one of them. "One man's trash is another man's treasure", people say...
> 
> Interesting that you come into a classical music forum to say that you want to delete you classical collection. A troll?


Oh, no. I believe that you misunderstood. I love classical music. I still have all of the CDs and listen daily. I was looking for advice about the digital copies of the CDs.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

rspader said:


> Oh, no. I believe that you misunderstood. I love classical music. I still have all of the CDs and listen daily. I was looking for advice about the digital copies of the CDs.


Oops. Yes, I had misunderstood. Sorry for that, my English is not very good. 

Well, my opinion is that you should preserve those copies somehow, perhaps in an external HD.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Save it. You have no idea what your computer listens to when you're not around.


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## DBLee (Jan 8, 2018)

Ideally, they would be backed up as FLAC or another lossless format. But any kind of backup is better than no backup. I agree with copying them to an external hard drive if you want to free up space on your computer.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

The only reason to do it would be if the OP really needed the real estate on his or her hard drive. As others have noted HD storage is cheap and the amount of work that must have gone into ripping 700 CDs is considerable. Yes, the OP still owns the CDs, but reripping them would be very time consuming. At the bare minimum I would transfer the ripped lps to an external HD (you should do this anyway, just to have a backup, as HDs corrupt over time, or something may happen to your computer), and then delete the CDs, if salvaging the space on the computer HD is that much of a priority.
My lp collection was damaged in a house flood at the dawn of the CD era. CDs are more durable but still can be destroyed in something like a fire. Having your CDs backed up, especially a large collection such as yours, is a treasure that I wouldn’t simply toss away


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## eljr (Aug 8, 2015)

rspader said:


> Over the past 7-8 years, I have added about 700 classical CD purchases to iTunes as I acquired them. The original plan was to be able to listen to them on my iPod in the car or when I went for a run, etc. Due to the dynamic range of classical music, however, that never really worked out and I listened to rock, podcasts and audiobooks instead. The only place that I listened to my iTunes classical music was at my computer (where I don't spend that much time) and now that listening has largely been replaced by Spotify. I still have all of the original CDs and those are my primary source (90%) of listening in my home.
> 
> I am thinking of deleting the classical CDs from my computer to free up some disk space and, well, they don't seem to be serving any purpose. Before I do that, however, I wanted to ask if there is any reason that I should not delete them? I could not think of any but I thought that it would be good to tap into the knowledge base here to see if I might be headed for regrets after I delete them.
> 
> Your thoughts would be appreciated.


Time is change as your story reveals. Ripping discs is work and time consuming.
Hence, why do it? 
Your rational is that it frees up space. Well, hard drive space is silly inexpensive today so why do it? Plus, 700 CD's (burned as MP3?) does snot take much space at all. Less than 200gb I would guess.


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## eljr (Aug 8, 2015)

DBLee said:


> Ideally, they would be backed up as FLAC or another lossless format. But any kind of backup is better than no backup. I agree with copying them to an external hard drive if you want to free up space on your computer.


If they are MP3 you cannot convert them to Flac.

Well, you can but it's too late, the information is already missing.

Converting them to flac would simply leave you with MP3's quality (information) in a different format.


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## eljr (Aug 8, 2015)

MarkW said:


> Save it. You have no idea what your computer listens to when you're not around.


Exactly!!!!!

No one should upset their PC.


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## rodrigaj (Dec 11, 2016)

The time spent ripping and tagging has already been spent.

The real dilemma - could you ever conceive of a situation where you would find yourself needing to rip and tag those CD's again? - requires that you be able to foretell the future.

Since the solution, storage on an external usb drive is such an easy one, trying resolve that dilemma is an exercise in futility.


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

Am I missing something?

<...upon rereading, yes, I was...>

... I would save them in a storage device instead of deleting them. I recall when I couldn't hear CM in my vehicle too, but that is no longer a problem now. And with the improvements I've made in my home system lately, I am accessing or streaming music files across my network more than ever., using SSH, SFTP, VNC, and various music players.

How much storage? Assuming 700 titles at 150 MB each, it comes to 105 GB. Solid state memory is good for short term storage and portability across devices, but I prefer SSD cards over USB sticks for speed, convenience, form factor, etc. 128 GB SD cards go for about $20 now.

Magnetic hard drives are better for long term storage. Most of them have far more capacity than necessary to store 105 GB of music.


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## rspader (May 14, 2014)

Thank you all for your thoughtful input. Based upon the strong consensus of opinion that the digital files should be maintained, even if only as insurance for the loss of the CDs, I will keep the files (and continue to add new CDs as acquired). If my disk space gets really tight, I can move them to an external drive.

I appreciate all of the input and the humor as well.


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