$2.19 for an mp3?

[jazzboCR]

I'm hard-copy-only for the simple reason that I'm such a klutz that soft-copy would get lost or erased or something. I add to my holdings * through the research I do here and I can be a tough audience. I'm good for 1 or 2 a week.
* "Collection" means order and purpose; mine is just a bunch of stuff, so--"holdings".

[Jerome]

I have bought a couple of downloads, some sheet music (PDF's) and such mainly to learn something about a particular piece of music or to get an idea of a session musician's abilities. For my own music collection it has to be hardcopy. I stick about 10 or 20 albums on my phone if I am going travelling. I tend to associate certain albums with places I have been.

[jazzboCR]

There's no question that DLs can be a terrif learning tool; the question is, are they for the ages? My answer is--NO.

[Jerome]

Digressing slightly but in a similar vein - the systems people are playing music back on is the real issue for me. A speaker has to move a volume of air - it's basic science and we can't get away from it. So those earbuds can only produce so much movement even if they only have to move a small volume of air inside the ear. The bass response of these things is terrible. And if they are not placed correctly in the ear the stereo image is distorted/lopsided. They have pre-progammed IC's inside the various devices you are playing music from to make you think you are getting the proper dynamic range but you aren't. Boosting certain frequencies to make you think you have good sound. Tomfoolery - and the buying public have fallen for it. What really amazes me is that they don't notice the lack of quality. Over the ear phones have a much better frequency response but has anyone noticed what they are charging for 'designer' headphones that have the same basic components in them that the cheap ones do? It's nothing short of extortion.

[TheNeedleDrops]

Speaking from experience (a child of the "turn the bass ALL THE WAY UP" generation), I never really started to hear the music until I did a little research on my own and started messing with stuff. You see Joe Shmo drive up in his $1,000 car with his $5,000 stereo system, with the bass all the way up (and then the bass boost on top of that), practically rattling his car apart and you think that has to be the only way to go because, you're 16 and it's either that or listening to music the way your parents do (which in my experience, is the opposite end of the spectrum). It's funny 'cause nowadays I will listen to a song I've had FOREVER and I'll look at my husband and tell him that I've never heard this or that in the song before (not that he cares), but I think its' great. When you know better, you do better.

[jazzboCR]

When you know better, you do better.

Amen, Sistah. There's another problem with earbuds: degrading your hearing. That air volume bouncing off your ear drum has to go someplace and with 'buds being so tightly screwed into your ear, where's it gonna release? Also totally agree with designer 'phones being ludicrously over-hyped and over-priced. My $40 Sennheisers can handle all my music throws at them...and not even want a cigarette afterwards. Not a function of my age either (I'm, yes, 69)--this has always been true for me.

[Jerome]

Also use Sennheisers (model 215). Very basic phones but do the job very well. And I have been through about 5 pairs now. (Always have a spare set in the room). For mixing I have a pair of Yamaha powered nearfield monitors. They are quite brittle/harsh. They're supposed to be in order to detect problems in your mix. For general listening in the room a pair of Mission speakers that have been with me for many moons.