[-]

Able_Plum_1161@reddit

100% streaming. I have enough crap junking up my house, thanks.

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Donedirtcheap7725@reddit

Vinyl with a pretty high end system when I want to really listen. Otherwise it’s streaming (qobuz, tidal, iTunes, etc.). I tossed all my cds 10 years ago.

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kaskudoo@reddit

I stream my library from my server with Plexamp. Love it. Mostly at work and in the car.

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Spotify. Sure, I don't own it and all that, but as a Gen Xer being able to carry your entire collection with playlists and everything (plus every other song you can imagine) in your pocket is pure magic.

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CocoaAlmondsRock@reddit

I listen to all digital music, BUT I'm not an audiophile. Audiophiles prefer vinyl.

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Rastus77@reddit

Digital. I’m not going backwards.

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Negative_Solution680@reddit

In the car it's usually XM radio. I stream when I'm working, cleaning or just hanging out with friends. I listen to my vinyl when I want to sit in my lounge room and immerse myself into an album. I watch YouTube reactions or concert footage when I want to be entertained as I listen.

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DJ_Darkness843@reddit

Vinyl is making a comeback. Seems people still enjoy listening to album sides on a turntable.

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bmfdrk@reddit

Vinyl encourages listening straight through. Are “albums” made much anymore, and do younger people have the attention span to listen that way?

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ithinkiknowstuphph@reddit

I think with vinyl you need to be more connected. You actively choose what you want to listen to. Even if you pop an album on in Spotify/Tidal when that’s done it will randomly play stuff and so it’s mindless

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bmanjayhawk@reddit

This.

Vinyl is more of an "experience" and it also serves as a hobby...listening, collecting, and even the shopping part when you spend an afternoon browsing through stacks and stacks of records.

I tend to split my listening pretty evenly between vinyl and streaming.

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Strong_Comedian_3578@reddit

Would it be safe to say that you need to be physically near it since it's not portable? Which would usually mean sitting down and relaxing for the most part.

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bmanjayhawk@reddit

Pretty much, but I'll also put on a record while I cook, do a jigsaw puzzle, work on a Lego set, etc

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linkmantaray@reddit

a friend of mine told me once that shopping for a hobby is 50% of the experience

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ancientastronaut2@reddit

And the album covers are works of art! And you have to read all the liner notes and lyrics.

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Dry_Tourist_1232@reddit

Yes! I never liked cassettes; I bought vinyl until I couldn’t anymore. Going to the record store ( flea market, now!), studying the artwork while the record plays, following along with the lyrics, if they’re on the sleeve. Streaming music, for me, is for background noise. I love vinyl for the whole experience.

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qtilman@reddit

Yeah—the album art used to be a bigger deal. Ronnie James Dio…as a kid I used to stare at those.

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FadingOptimist-25@reddit

Agreed! I loved that moment of opening the album at home to see what was on the sleeve or if it opened like a book, what art was inside.

I bought vinyl until ‘88-‘89, then switched to CDs. I didn’t buy many cassettes. I kept buying CDs until the ‘10s and skipped MP3s. Now we have Spotify.

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Bromodrosis@reddit

💯

Vinyl is deliberate. You don't just push a button and let it ride. You have to physically engage with the music in ways that CDs and streaming don't require. And you have to do it every 20 minutes.

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TripMaster478@reddit

I think that’s what I like about the medium. To me it’s like having a hardcover book versus reading it on a device. I prefer to be able to hold it. That being said, it sounded like crap but I miss the “KATHUNK” when you changed tracks on an eight track. And actually having mix TAPES.

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Wrong_Pen6179@reddit

I still have a ton of my mixtapes! Back in high school I had a whole DJ set up in my parent’s basement. Made so many tapes… but also remember being 30 minutes into a mix and accidentally bumping the turntable and having to start all over again. The worst!!!

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Bromodrosis@reddit

LOL. I love that, KATHUNK.

So many Kiss and Queen 8 tracks.

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DazzlingRutabega@reddit

Also vinyl has a better dynamic range than both cassettes and even CDs

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IronBallsMcChing@reddit

Best quote ever. "Vinyl is deliberate". The warmth of listening to music on a turntable is comforting. Like a conversation with a long time friend or a jacket that always feels right.

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Comfortable_Sea634@reddit

Deliberate...well said this👆

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YesNoMaybe@reddit

Yup.

My 16yo daughter has a CD walkman for exactly that. You pretty much are deliberately committing to listen to it start to finish, which is a very different experience...and honestly i feel like there is something that is added to the experience that people are missing.

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ithinkiknowstuphph@reddit

My kid is always asking me bands I like I have to say “I like them but didn’t listen to them much” because I needed to explain you had to choose between a handful of tapes to take when you went out. And they were expensive so you got what you liked best. Or could tape from a friend. So you could love a band yet not own their stuff

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No-Escape5520@reddit

Mixed tapes were so great for this reason.

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Fuzzy_Attempt6989@reddit

Yeah but I don't get it. I have zero desire to return to vinyl.

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debcon14@reddit

Skip..pop…why not? Skip..pop…why not?

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FunnyGarden5600@reddit

Those are the dollar records. My new and mint vinyl I take care of. I am in my 50’s I take care of my stuff and no skips or pops.

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debcon14@reddit

Well, good for you!!

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entropicamericana@reddit

Great news: Nobody is making you!

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DasBearkicker2112@reddit

Digital is still, after all these years, inferior when it comes to sound. You get the full range of frequencies with vinyl. IF you are into the sound, it’s a great way to go.

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Texaswheels@reddit

You don't have to

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toihanonkiwa@reddit

Vinyl as a hobby has been on the rise for twenty years or so. Atm due to high prices and market exhaustion, it seems to be levelling out. I don’t have the charts&numbers but I can see a plateau-effect in Discogs and Instagram. This was widely anticipated when GenZ got the vinyl fever: they pumbed up the prices and got tired of vinyl, leaving all the rest of us wondering why did they bother in the first place?

Mostly it seems, this vinyl-wave has been a GenX thing, that has been disrupted by GenZ and all those collectors who only buy to build resell value and never break the seal.

I have been casually collecting mostly second-hand vinyl to listen daily and enjoying the manual rituals of vinyl. My collection is still very small after twenty years, only 600+ items, around the same numbers when I used to have cd’s.

Over ten years ago I copied all my cd’s and dvd’s to harddrives and sold the originals away. Since then I have created playlist from nearly 2Tb library and bought some digital albums from iTunes.

But mostly I spin the vinyl and def not touching spotify or any other devils devices that only destroy the music culture for money.

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ekittie@reddit

One of my friends has a great vinyl set up, and I played some albums, which sounded amazing. What I didn't remember is how one album side is about 20 minutes, and it felt like I was constantly running back to flip over the record.

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Flipmstr2@reddit

But why? They have hiss and pops and they wear down over time and will likely get damaged. I have yet to see anybody discern a record from an MP3 with a degradation filter applied to it.

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elev8or_lady@reddit

Let people like what they like.

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Flipmstr2@reddit

I agree. I am just asking what the pros are. I listed several cons on why vinyl is an inferior media. I see comments about “engagement” but I feel you can do that with any of them.

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KpMki@reddit

It made its comeback 15 years ago. I remember reading in 2011 that vinyl sales for 2010 were the highest since 1991. It's been a thing for serious music collectors for a very long time.

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ancientastronaut2@reddit

Made a comeback about 16-17 years ago ish. That's when my husband and I got back into it and started going to record store day and everything. Got really mainstream and kids got into it probably more like ten years ago though.

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Sheriff_Mills@reddit

My son gave me "Queen's Greatest Hits" and a turntable for my birthday! He's my favorite son 💗 He also my only son 😁

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C0ntradictorian@reddit

Yeah, they sell it at Walmart. Makes me wonder how it's gonna go

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izeek11@reddit

and some people aren't as picky about sound quality, like, ahem...

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GelatinousGoober@reddit

lol “making a comeback” is this a response from 20 years ago? Hell cassettes have come back now sadly and CDs are on the rise

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Ok-Rock2345@reddit

I still have my record collection, but alas, no turntable. These days I mostly download music, or stream. But there is something to be said to listening to a vinyl album while holding the album cover, checking out the artwork, even better if it has a sleeve with lyrics.

Listening to a vynil album is not something to do on the go, it's something you make time for. Like savoring a fine meal instead of wolfing down a burger. Maybe that is why concept albums were such a thing, back in the day.

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ShadowKat2k@reddit

This completely.

My daughter and I used to go to vintage stores. I used to browse and buy vinyl while she looked around.

Eventually she got into it too and so I bought her a record player for Christmas. Now she buys the new vinyl from today's artists that still put it out.

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KP-RNMSN@reddit

In a similar vein, my daughter is 21 and at Mizzou and she spent a week hunting down an old crappy digital camera to take photos with. Her and her friends almost had a contest on which camera took the “best” photos, which were actually the worst! It’s wild.

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ToesLikeBeanz@reddit

Wait. You didn’t listen to 8 tracks?!? Pfft

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MDEnce@reddit

Right?

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texas1st@reddit

Gen X here, and I stream almost exclusively. But I do have a small vinyl collection of albums that are important to me for reasons.

First release of Top Gun Kenny Rogers - the Gambler Peter Paul and Mary - Puff the Magic Dragon NORAH Jones- several special releases Etc...

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LandNo9424@reddit

I have a massive collection of digital files. All of the CDs I had I digitized over a decade ago, and got rid of them. I keep a few vinyl but they’re more like objects I cherish than anything, I listen to the digital rips if I want to hear them unless I am in a funny mood 😂 I set up a Plex server and I can stream my music anywhere with that. But more often, I use several iPods for listening on the move.

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0ften_kritical@reddit

On the go or busy around the house I stream. Two or three times a week it’s vinyl, I smoke a bowl, pick an album, pour a dram or two and sink into my lazy boy.

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True_Dimension4344@reddit

It isn’t a genz thing. It’s a music thing. Yes it can be just for nostalgia to use vinyl or it can be deemed very hipster but it could also just be the way some people prefer to listen. Tell your coworker to get a good record player though. The little cheap ones will destroy their collection.

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monkeyzero76@reddit

I'm a Gen X casual vinyl listener. I use an audiotechnica Bluetooth model to my sound bar. It probably sounds awful but I love it.

Mostly I listen to music on my phone (ear buds) when not near the player.

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model563@reddit

Ive always been an album listener instead of a singles listener. Even now with most of my listening on Spotify I rarely use playlists.

Most vinyl accomodates that behavior well. In fact more audiophilic vinyl doesnt because fewer tracks are put on a side. I have a Sigur Ros album thats literally 7 12" singles. I dont play it, its a collectable.

But for the most part I approach vinyl as a ritual. Ive got my mid century style recliner, some big ass vintage headphones, and my turntable. Nothing compares to that for me.

Still decidedly the exception though. Streaming is king. If for no other reason than listening in my car.

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ElectricMilk426@reddit

I use Amazon Prime music. One night I was getting really irritated because some song I was listening to just didn't sound right, and I have Bang & Olufson headphones so it wasn't that. It was really pissing me off. So I found the same song on Apple Music and tried that instead. It sounded better on Apple Music.

I think that something has happened to the fidelity of streaming platforms. It has been a long time since I used Spotify. Maybe that is better. But I already pay for Prime so I couldn't really justify paying for another.

Is there any data to support that one music streaming platform has higher fidelity than another. It has been a long time since I heard a record but this reason may be why people choose vinyl.

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Substantial-Boat6662@reddit

BluePlayer app on iPhone

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TOXicOx18951@reddit

I had over 500 CDs, plus, thanks to the final days of Napster, loaded up iTunes. Now that entire library of music is available on Apple Music on my phone. I also use the Apple app on my Apple TV streaming box to play said music.

Every now and then I listen to my existing vinyl collection, but that’s very seldom now.

Oh, Apple Music also has a Spatial Audio catalog (Dolby Atmos).

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SomewhereLive5921@reddit

I do both. If I’m playing a video game or exercising (passive listening), I go with streaming. When I just want to crash and absorb music, vinyl all the way.

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Numbnuts696@reddit

Hell I still listen to fm/am radio

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eggmanne@reddit

Most of my music is on Compact Disc 💿 I also still have all of my cassettes.

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LessIsMore74@reddit

I'm 51. I got into vinyl around 2000 through several great record shops in Chicago. I bought a turntable and preamp just so I could hear the new single by a band I loved. Then the rest was nostalgia. I soon got tired of flipping sides. Went back to CDs and then streaming.

I find millennials a lot of times are the record collectors. But I can imagine gen Z getting into it, too. Cassette tapes, as well. It's like they crave something finite that will wear out. I mostly listened to tapes as a kid, and as soon as I learned they get worse with every play, I was on my way to CDs. Now, I can't remember the last CD I bought.

We had a house fire a few years ago and I lost my CD collection. I just recently realized I have no device at all that plays media, only things I can stream. Weird how things change. I guess one day, rather than sticking my kids with having to clean out my man cave, there will only be a device that has to have its subscriptions canceled.

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Sneezydiva3@reddit

Pandora and Apple Music mostly. I’m not nostalgic about vinyl at all, except maybe for the album covers. I’m actually in the process of turning my favorite old mix tapes/CDs into Apple Music playlists.

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MissPsychette88@reddit

My 16-year-old son's friends are all crazy for vinyl. They have record-players in their bedrooms and hang out at vinyl stores on weekends. It's considered retro-cool for them.

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FunnyGarden5600@reddit

1970’s marantz receiver, turntable with a WIIM hooked up to stream music to the receiver when not listening to vinyl. Also a portable Bluetooth speaker for the backyard. Earbuds at night in bed.

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moreidlethanwild@reddit

Husband and I are both GenX. He still have his original records collection and we gave a record player. We also have lots of CDs.

I had vinyl as a kid, then tapes, then CDs, then mp3s, then Spotify. I’ve lost most of the physical music I have bought over the years. I’m pained at buying a digital copy of a CD I used to own.

We listen to a lot of original vinyl - there’s nothing like it. We also have an Alexa and that’s on most days when we’re cooking.

Kids today do like vinyl but I think our generation are blessed with some of the best music of all time, and to listen to it on vinyl, how it was supposed to sound, not remastered or anything is just great!

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jonnieggg@reddit

Tidal is a great hi res solution. Get a wiim device and plug it into your amp and your set. Great on-line reading options in the wiim app too. So much more convenient and affordable than physical media.

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dlr1965@reddit

I buy music on iTunes. I love just being able to buy what I want. I make playlists of my favorite stuff. We have SiriusXM and only listen to Octane. Both of us like to keep up with new music but only in the metal/rock world. I don't like listening to "old" music.

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Admirable-Reason-428@reddit

I almost exclusively listen to vinyl. I don’t like streaming

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Uffda01@reddit

What I miss and what I'm trying to focus on more is listening to full albums from artists... when I was growing up it was the end of 8 tracks and the start of cassettes and then CDs - and the first albums I listened to when I started building my own collection (Thanks Columbia house and BMG!!!) you'd still listen to the whole album... and a lot of my favorite tracks wouldn't be the radio releases. I feel like that's what I miss now on streaming platforms. (even though its possible with some streaming subscriptions).

Though I prefer streaming for keeping up with new music or exploring new genres - even their stations get repetitive as shit after a while.

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Suwer63@reddit

Yes!! This too. There’s is frequently an arc and tracks are carefully considered and arranged.

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81ehx@reddit

Record collector and listener here. Most of my listening is streaming as most of my opportunity to listen is in the truck. However, nothing beats when I have the opportunity to actively pick out an album, light a candle, pour a drink, drop the needle and enjoy actively listening to a recording on vinyl. The ritual of it is a big part. There's also the fact that analog recordings sound best on analog sources. When I first got into records a few years ago my mind was blown by all the things I'd never heard before in some of my favorite songs.

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Suwer63@reddit

I love my CDs but I love my vinyl collection more because I can sit and examine the artwork and lyrics as I listen. I read the cover notes end to end. I know who worked on the album, the session musos, the studio, the producers of each track, who the songwriters are. It’s not that the sound quality is necessarily better, it’s just a more mindful activity and approach to the appreciation of music. And musicians.

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newworldpuck@reddit

The eternal debate; what delivers the highest fidelity?

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luvapug@reddit

I listen to music all day everyday, I work from home and music helps me type to a tempo. I have about 40k songs in my Spotify Playlists. Im sure there are tons of duplicates in there because I will add songs to different folders etc. I love vinyl and have a good collection of them, mostly from albums I grew up with since i was given my dads collection, but rarely listen to them lately since I tend to do other stuff after work.

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IamTheDudelyLlama@reddit

With my ears

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StG4Ever@reddit

On vinyl you actively LISTEN to the music, perhaps with cd’s also but when it’s all automated there is no music just background noise.

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Bag-o-chips@reddit

I’m in my mid 50”s and I own my parent's vinyl collection, and have almost 1,000 CDs I bought on my own. I stream everything or play a file. I'd much rather enjoy the music than spend the time to locate, clean, find the track, and play the record. But, hey, you do you.

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02meepmeep@reddit

Vinyl records have better sound than digital.

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ouch_that_hurts_@reddit

I mostly stream but have a few records. I plan on buying albums that I will play the whole thing. Where as, when I used to buy tapes or cd's I'd buy for 1 or 2 songs. But that was when I was young.

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Puzzled_Tomatillo528@reddit

With my ears

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gigantischemeteor@reddit

GenX-er who grew up with my parents’ record player & vinyl and some of my own vinyl before it died off the first time in the mid-80’s. We never completely stopped listening to vinyl, along with cassettes and CDs, of course. When it showed up, I added digital into my mix, and they migrated to CD-only when they gave me the record player when I moved out.

I never stopped buying vinyl either, though for a couple decades there it was used vinyl at record sales and record stores, until it finally began its rebirth. As soon as it started getting issued new again, I began (selectively) buying some new albums in with the used ones I was acquiring periodically.

Streaming services don’t do much for me (as they strike me as a bit brainless) but I still listen to digital formats, still listen to the radio, still listen to SXM, still listen to cassettes sometimes, and every year or so I’ll spark up the ol’ 8-Track and play a few cartridges through it, too. But more than any of them, vinyl gets a fair amount of my attention.

There’s a special amount of joy involved with the deliberate steps involved in selecting the album, setting it up for play on the turntable, playing it back through the big ol’ amplifier and speakers, flipping the record, putting it back away, etc… It’s a kind of sacrament, and I enjoy it very much. I can’t imagine I’m the only X-er that feels this way, at least I hope not.

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QueenScorp@reddit

I probably own a handful of meaningful CDs from high school but I don't ever listen to them 😄. I've never owned vinyl in my life (but my mom had a lot and I do remember listening to records when I was quite young), the cassette to CD revolution happened in my teen years - I had cassettes at 12 and by the end of high school I had a crap ton of CDs.

But nowadays I self-host my own digital media collection and stream it from my home server. Because I am a nerd and also I want to own my own damn music and not be at the whim of some streaming company to tell me what I can and cannot stream. Or I listen to the radio in my car, like the good old days 😋

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Dry-Hat8942@reddit

Pandora and iTunes

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Confident_Low_4554@reddit

Still have all my old records. I don’t listen to them a lot, but some stuff never made it to the digital realm (mostly old punk rock). Also noticing that some stuff that has made the migration sounds like it was remixed (doesn’t sound like the original version 🤷🏻)… kinda like when Ridley Scott put out the director’s cut of Blade Runner. Yeah, I get it, that was his original idea, but, damn it, I need Harrison Ford’s narration.

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jonhinkerton@reddit

I use apple music to listen to songs from cds and tapes I used to own. I listen to a very small bit of music that is newer that I have only ever had from itunes, but I don’t listen to a lot of stuff from after like 2001 in general. I hate using services like spotify that mix music for you and drop in things I don’t know or know and don’t like. I hit a weird spot in my 20s where new music made me impatient and restless so something has to really grab me fast to break through that barrier.

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distant_diva@reddit

my 21 yo son is an old soul. he loves vinyls & collects them. he loves the 60s & 70s like bob dylan, led zeppelin, pink floyd, jimi hendrix, etc. his favorite authors are people like dostoyevsky lol. he drinks black coffee. he cracks me up. at 47 i feel like I’m more gen z listening to my true crime podcasts & love my trash reality shows 🤣 and love my music through spotify as well. too lazy for vinyls.

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PurpleHat6415@reddit

I just stream it. as a kid, once the big switch to CDs arrived, I used to dream of ways to make my own mix CDs so I didn't need to pay good money for 8 indifferent tracks just to get the 2 I wanted. as soon as you could purchase individual songs, I was there and never looked back.

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ChaMuir@reddit

Spitify, phone, headphones

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LPLoRab@reddit

Vinyl arguably has better sound quality, from everything I’ve read on the topic. So, there’s is also that.

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chgonwburbs@reddit

Pandora over here. If I want to listen to whole albums, I go on YouTube.

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entropicamericana@reddit

I used to work in a record store and music is very important to me. I had a carefully curated mp3 collection that Apple kept screwing up the artwork on, mismatching, and even removing tracks. I cancelled my Apple Music subscription this year and have gone back to mp3s, vinyl, and CD. I am listening to music more and having fun with my collection again. I also cancelled all of my streaming movie/tv accounts because the experience kept getting worse (more ads, higher prices, less selection). Luckily, I was never got into ebooks. If you stream it, you don't own it and your collection is at the mercy of the whims of big business (and perhaps government, the way things are going). I am never going back to streaming again.

Vinyl has literally been making a comeback for decades now, to the point where you can buy it in Target, Walmart, Barnes and Noble, etc. CDs are the ones now gaining popularity with the kids.

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dukelivers@reddit

Streamer/DAC, CD Player, Turntable, integrated amplifier, speakers. I got a proper stereo a couple of years ago when my college rig bit the dust. Good for young people getting into physical media. Also, please keep dropping your CDs off at Goodwill. I appreciate it.

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Relevant-Package-928@reddit

I love vinyl records but I don't have a turntable because I don't enjoy the fussiness of vinyl. I don't want yo invest in the kind of sound system that would make it sound great. I miss it though and wish that there was some kind of filter option for streaming music, that sounds like vinyl.

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jennibear310@reddit

Do I have a cassette and CD collection? Sure. But I NEVER gave up my records. All my favorite CDs and cassettes, I own on vinyl. The sound is so rich and crisp. I’ve heard music (tones, sounds, instruments) on vinyl that you just don’t hear on any other medium and DO NOT get me started on digital crap. To me, digital removes the entire soul of real music. I own everything from the 70’s classics: Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, CCR, to everything grunge on vinyl. Everything post 90’s, eh… and guess I just prefer real musicians that wrote the music and lyrics they felt, like poetry set to music, as opposed to most of the the souless auto tune crap of today.

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Puzzleheaded_Bad6461@reddit

With my ears

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Barnus77@reddit

Spotify for car / mixes / casual listening while working etc.

Vinyl for albums I love and want to own forever.

There’s zero guarantee that streaming services will always exist as they do right now. Things change, get taken down. prices go up, deals are made or fall apart. My vinyl records will always be there with the album as the artist intended.

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kevbayer@reddit

Mp3s, terrestrial radio, and streaming.

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pinotJD@reddit

We love records in our house. We drink red wine and listen to them at least once a month, maybe more, and call those evenings Winyl Vinyl.

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TheRealJim57@reddit

Still have cassettes...but no working player. I have (and will buy) CDs, but I rip the songs to MP3 format so that I can play them on my PC/phone/tablet or my car stereo. I refuse to pay for a subscription service to listen to music. If I'm not playing something from my library, then it's the radio or via a free service.

I no longer own a record player, so no more vinyl. I never owned any 8-tracks or an 8-track player.

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Vampchic1975@reddit

I listen to Spotify and Apple Music. Ny daughter has a turntable and is collecting Taylor Swift records. I don’t have any desire.

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bluestbluebluesky@reddit

Yeah, I’m Gen X and I’m definitely a casual vinyl record purchaser.

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RammikinsValintine@reddit

It’s takes a real chode to say “yeah, but have you heard it on vinyl?!” 🥴🥴

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Dorsai56@reddit

Listening to a record is entirely different experience. Artists produced, and listeners typically consumed an LP as a whole, or at least as an album side. The energy of the song which was first, the order in which the songs were put in, the lyrics, everything was consciously designed to communicate a mood. The best groups, the best albums, were very much about this.

While some people still stream an entire album, many more people cherry pick the songs they want to hear. They play the hits, a band's best songs instead of consuming the album as the artist intended. IT makes a big difference.

If you listen on a good stereo system, there is also an audible difference in how the music sounds. There is a warmth in the sound of good vinyl which differs from the crispness in digital recordings. You are also less likely to hit a mix with hard limits on the frequencies the way you often get on CD's.

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_Brandobaris_@reddit

During work - AltNation all day Driving or Home - AltNation or Apple Music

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BitBrain@reddit

I'm no longer interested in physical media. I stream from Spotify and have a small collection of MP3s for what's not on Spotify. The only physical books I keep are unobtainium as ebooks.

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CitizenChatt@reddit

I buy vintage vinyl when I come across stuff that I liked.

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Nubadopolis@reddit

I listen to everything through Winamp

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GigiDeville@reddit

Are you a llama?

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Nubadopolis@reddit

Yes, and it whips my ass

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MustangJeff@reddit

Elder GenX. I have three full systems in my house. All vintage high end with Nakamichi cassette decks, large floor standing speakers, and turntable.

I converted my CDs to Flac years ago and play them through home theater PCs. I have a decent collection of Vinyl and cassette tapes. I also stream through Amazon music.

Streaming works fine for casual background music, but its poor for active listening.

[-]

Aqueouspolecat@reddit

I don't use my stereo to listen to the music, I use the music to listen to my stereo. I know that's kinda lame but it took me a long time to understand that.

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DougChristiansen@reddit

With my ears.

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Echterspieler@reddit

Xennial here. Sometimes i'll pull out an LP but mostly I stream stuff on spotify or youtube. I did recently buy some blank tapes with the intention of making some mix tapes like the old days. I feel like you can hear more detail in vinyl. but only on music that was mae around when vinyl was the most popular format. I probably wouldn't blast Skrillex on a vinyl because it doesn't have the dynamic range to capture the sub bass.

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zeldasusername@reddit

My partner and I still listen to vinyl, we collect it, it's a hob or, we go looking for records together tho I'm better online

I also have access to a streaming service through a family account. I use that to listen while I'm out and about and find new music to buy vinyl for

I'm obsessed with vinyl. My partner also works in a record store, and he just dewarped an ancient fave for me this weekend

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CerebralHawks@reddit

Records are cool. But I like my iPhone and AirPods.

My 80s playlist has over 500 songs. It’s like if you take your best hits station from them but no ads… the hits just keep coming. Hours upon hours and no repeats. Like a day at the roller skating rink, just the music.

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JBN2337C@reddit

The “kids” are also eating up the digital cameras we carried 20 years ago.

They’ve never used a camera before. Any camera. Just phones/tablets. There’s an appeal.

And something about a “vibe”.

Sell your old point and shoot that’s been in the attic and only worth $10 a few years ago for $100 today!

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Ineffable7980x@reddit

I still have all my vinyl and CDs (cassettes are long gone), but at this point I stream almost everything. Amazon Music for $10 a month gives me access to more music that I could ever listen to. And I can create unlimited playlists.

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Useful-Badger-4062@reddit

Same for my husband and me. We have an enormous record collection (plus cds and tapes) and also stream online. It’s not so much that we’re “serious collectors”, because we’re not rich - but more that we are just music people. I still have records from when I was in elementary school in the 70s.

I love how records sound and I love the experience of playing a record.

Vinyl ‘til death.

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Majestic_Course6822@reddit

Awesome! You sound like me and mine. I still have my Sesame Street records.

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darwhyte@reddit

I'm almost 60. I stream. However, I will purchase a CD and or Cassette of a new release of a band I like. I rarely, and sometimes never listen to the CD or cassette, I just purchase them to support the band monetarily.

I listen to Heavy Metal, so the bands I like and support do not get airplay, so I feel it is essential that I support them by purchasing merch from them.

But listening, is almost exclusively streaming.

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BarsoomianAmbassador@reddit

Found the Sleep Token fan!

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CantStandAnything@reddit

Vinyl outsells CDs and tapes for the past few years. Most people like physical formats of one kind or another. We got to experience when it was the only option so it’s understandable to live without it. The kids are smart to want to have the record. Great way to support artists too instead of paying a third party streaming service. Artists get little to nothing from streams.

Another thing is vinyl has a sound of its own. Aside from it being analog and very high definition, especially if you have a premium turntable and great speakers, there is a different mastering process for vinyl. Which means basically the audio that winds up on vinyl is uniquely mastered and sounds always a bit different than the digital version. In some cases maybe better worse in others but the difference is charming.

I personally love good speakers and cranking the jams. I think it’s sad if the best sound system someone has is a Bluetooth speaker. So I think it’s nice when the kids invest in sound.

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JmeJV@reddit

Elder millennial here. I have Spotify premium and I love vinyl.

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wind_miller@reddit

I do it all: vinyl, CDs, mp3s, streaming. (No tapes because I hated that format when it was new.) At this stage in my life, I can’t hear the difference between analog and digital.

Vinyl is not as convenient as digital formats. There’s no remote control. No screens. I have to get up move.

Don’t you ever get tired of the screens and the automatic gadgets that do things?

Don’t you ever want to be left alone to just listen?

Turn out the lights.

Turn on a lava lamp if you have one.

Spin vinyl for the ritual.

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AshDenver@reddit

Burned all my CDs to iTunes years ago and listen that way. Plus I’ve started adding one-off song/album purchases from iTunes.

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AffectionateArt4066@reddit

I have satellite radio because I have lived several places that had no radio reception. I used to have a small cd collection but got rid of it when we moved. I have no vinyl or a way to play it. My brother is an audio engineer and musician. He has an extensive collection(thousands of records), and a serious audio set up, he listens for hours. He also has a home studio. I have learned rather a lot about audio from him.

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ancientastronaut2@reddit

With my ears

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RAddit24@reddit

Albums started going out of style around the same time that weed began being seedless, coincidence???

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Junior_Lavishness_96@reddit

I haven’t had a record player for about 30 years. What vinyl I had is long gone. I still have a box of old cassette tapes but my last tape player got towed to the junkyard years ago. My current car is 20 years old and only plays cds or radio.

There’s something about listening to classical music on vinyl. I’ve always loved it

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lazytiger40@reddit

I listen through streaming. I do buy CD's for bands I like but hardly use them (more for collecting, cover art etc...).

I would like to get back into vinyl but I can't afford it at the moment nor have the time

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DrumsKing@reddit

100% Spotify for 10 years. I've found so much new (to me) music.

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Disastrous-Tourist61@reddit

The best part about streaming is the ability to find new music.

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Flyman68@reddit

Me: This is a great new song

Me: Looks up info on song/band

Me: WTF! This song is 15yrs old and the band has is no longer a thing.

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qtilman@reddit

Totally me

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ihatepickingnames_@reddit

I’m like that with music I hear on TV shows!

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Razzmatazz6314@reddit

https://open.spotify.com/track/4u0OgjkxKe0qbrlXZaYGJ2?si=57b842f3914441c5

Prime example, not even really my preferred genre.

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CyndiIsOnReddit@reddit

This is me every other day! lol I look for music every day though, intentionally! I'm trying to build up several playlists and my biggest is "world collection". I'm trying to have music from every country if I can. I'm getting pretty close! But I'll fall in love with a band thinking it's new. It sure sounds new. Then I'll look it up and it's from 1988 and the singer has long since passed.

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Disastrous-Tourist61@reddit

Been there my friend. 🤣

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Pernicious_Possum@reddit

This is what I tell all the “there’s no good music anymore” people. If you’re not finding new good stuff, you’re probably listening to shitty stuff. I love when an album ends, and a station starts and I get to hear all kinds of cool stuff I’ve never heard before

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Disastrous-Tourist61@reddit

That is a great point!

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bngthm@reddit

I do stream, but I like to listen to individual albums more so than playlists.

When I was younger I used to like to listen to, for example, The Joshua Tree, So, or 90215 all the way through, but had gotten out of the habit of that with Apple Music play lists. I've returned to it and am a happier listener.

More so I like listening to an album start-to-finish.

EDIT: I confused the Fox drama with the Yes album. Hate it when that happens.

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AliveInTheFuture@reddit

Me too. My liked songs list is probably very weird to anyone else, but I never wanted to be that old guy who listened to the same stuff every day for 50 years. There’s still stuff being made that resonates with me, and I’m gonna get weird with it.

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GrumpyCatStevens@reddit

I have a decent collection of compact discs, but most of the stuff I listen to regularly is ripped into my iTunes library. I still buy CDs occasionally, and the new ones I buy get played exactly once - to be ripped into said library!

So for the most part, I play music on my phone, usually through Bluetooth.

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oboingadoing@reddit

I stream from my own server. Spotify sucks. Can't stand it. I still buy some Cds and they get ripped into my Plex library where I can listen to it anywhere. I've bought sone vinyl over the last few years, but only to collect. I don't even have a turntable.

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qtilman@reddit

I stream mostly, but I have vinyl. It’s a different experience. I’m 54; remember that we used to listen to an “album”? Like, start with the A-side, then flip it over?

I read e-books and occasionally listen to audiobooks too, but prefer paper. I own digital clocks, but prefer the analog one. It changed the way you think about time, and books, and music. (Ask a Millennial what “quarter to” or “half past” means. Or, listen when you say that it’s 8:15 and they respond with “No—it’s 8: THIRTEEN.” As though you’ve made a mistake. )

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NL_Gray-Fox@reddit

I also prefer streaming it, either from my own network or via Spotify (although the player is awful), I can't be bothered with changing physical media every time I want to listen to something else.

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BertieMcK@reddit

Thanks to Colombia house, I had an extensive CD collection.

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moustachemoustachio@reddit

I prefer vinyl and have a decent collection. I also just brought a used vinyl section into my little tiny town store. But admittedly, I default to digital streaming on my Alexa speakers because of 1. Hands free, 2. Convenience all around, and 3. Multiple speakers throughout the house that I can include or exclude depending on where I want or need music. In the car, I still listen to and love my cd's.

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Secure_Astronaut718@reddit

I would love to have music collection on vinyl!!

I find the sound on vinyl far better and more realistic. It's sounds more authentic and warm. If that makes sense.

It's also the best way to actually support artists. Especially if you're buying your vinyl at concerts.

Artists make less than pennies a stream.

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jamescockroft@reddit

Young Gen X reporting in (Carter baby, actually). I listened to records growing up and bought more records than tapes, more CDs than records, and probably more from iTunes than both combined. I moved my records from state to state, and left my record player in the last place I left because my record crate had no more room. (My childhood fancy Technics with the laser that read tracks fit in the record crate.) I almost never stream these days. When I do, it’s to see if I want to buy or not. I bought an inexpensive receiver and record player in 2014, and added a tape deck in 2021. I want to add a cd player, and for now I just rip CDs to Apple Music (which I use like I used iTunes). I run the record player into the receiver and the receiver goes to a Bose Acoustimass version 1, or to headphones, or to a cheap analog mixer and then into the computer. I have a modest collection of maybe 25 tapes, maybe 100 records, and about 500 CDs. I bought most of the CDs in the 90s and 00s. About 1/3 of the records came from my dad, another 1/3 came from my teens and twenties. I bought the last third to listen to mostly in my 40s. I’d like to pretend to being an audiophile, but I’m not at all. My system is cheap consumer grade stuff and I did some research and bought the best I could.

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Embarrassed_Kale_580@reddit

I listen to vinyl, still have my albums from way back as well as my dad’s. 4+ crates of albums. Would love to have the 10K speakers but have the 2K ones. I have a CD player as well. I went years without listening to either of those and then about 5 years ago bought a turntable, speakers, receiver and have loved listening to my old stuff. My husband has been buying vinyl to add to our collection. I’d guess I’m an enthusiastic casual listener. I’ll stream occasionally but really enjoy listening to vinyl, reading liner notes, etc.

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edasto42@reddit

Listening to records is a way more immersive experience than streaming, MP3’s, and even CD’s. You have to actively engage with the medium of vinyl more than the others forcing you to pay attention more. I also like the ideas of an artist sequencing an album for a proper side A and side B-again often lost in digital spaces.

Also, music on vinyl is attenuated to a more comfortable level than other digital mediums. The mids are more prominent than digital (which are often more attenuated to a higher frequency), and mid level frequencies are more pleasing to the human ear.

There’s also a collectibility to vinyl that you don’t get with streaming or the like. This creates a more communal experience. The process of acquisition alone can be a shared experience. Call up a friend (or even a date opportunity) and go record shopping together. Flipping through racks ‘hey have you heard this one?’ Or pulling out a ridiculous album from the 60’s to chuckle at the cover. Plus the thrill of the hunt-looking for that special print record from a favorite artist that sometimes might have you go to a couple stores. I’ve had great bonding time with people that have become best friends over the years because of that. These aren’t experiences that can happen with streaming services.

I think your conjecture of who’s buying records is off. When’s the last time you’ve walked into an actual record store? Have you even gone to a record store day? Representation from all demographics can be found.

I personally love the record experience. I don’t put convenience over everything else, so it’s easy to get along in that sphere of existence. And as a musician, there’s something amazing getting the test pressing of your music to approve. Then when the final product does arrive, it’s just such a shared moment (plus it’s really easy to autograph records vs someone’s phone where they stream)

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bngthm@reddit

My MP3 collection has grown too large, unfortunately.

I can go nine months without hearing the same artist. I don't like that. I like getting to know an album start-to-finish.

I liked to listen to, for example, The Joshua Tree, So, or 90210 all the way through.

I like playlists, but more so I like listening to an album start-to-finish.

I like that listening experience better...better than playlists, but only just.

Let me put on Computer Love and jam out.

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Stunning-Flatworm612@reddit (OP)

You make a fair point. I haven't been in a store that sells music in at least 25 years. My experience is limited by the fact that I have lived in a remote and small community for the last 20 years.

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debcon14@reddit

I go but buy cd’s. I like having hard copies of music. But the sound quality is so much better on cds than vinyl. I resisted buying cassettes because I felt the sound degraded and I hated trying to find a specific song.

I had a large vinyl collection that I invested a lot of money into but my ex destroyed it in the 90’s. So now I stream and buy cds when I can.

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edasto42@reddit

CDs may sound crisper sometimes, but it’s generally accepted that modern vinyl records are overall more pleasing to the human ear for a few reasons.

CDs (and digital music in general) have been mastered with heavy compression and boosted high-end EQ to sound louder and more "punchy" on cheap speakers, earbuds, and car stereos. This results in a brittle, fatiguing treble response. This all started in the 90’s because the loudness wars. Everyone wanted to be mixed louder and louder.

CDs use what they call brickwall limiting when mastering the album for distribution. To prevent distortion CDs often apply the brickwall limiting, which chops off dynamic peaks and flattens the sound. This makes music less dynamic and more fatiguing over time

Many CDs often attenuate mixing in the 2kHz–5kHz range. This is the range where human hearing is most sensitive. This can make vocals and cymbals sound harsh (the "sss" sounds in vocals become piercing).

As a musician that’s released music since the advent of the digital age, I have to choose how I want the music mixed and mastered. If it’s going to be a vinyl release we have to get a separate mix that’s more in tune with a records pressing. Digital releases generally don’t use the same mix and mastering.

I know this is mostly borderline audiophile babble, and casual listeners may not notice. But there is definitely some research to this.

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SerentityM3ow@reddit

All good points

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NoNamesLeft600@reddit

So much this. When I go to local used record store, there is everyone from boomers to Gen Z in there. I think it is one of the few things we can all relate to and share among all of the generations.

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edasto42@reddit

I’m super lucky that I have about 7 record stores in my town (plus countless more if I drive into LA proper). The one record store in my town is a pretty prominent one that does record signings regularly. Everyone from household names like Ozzy, to modern stars like Janelle Monae, to up and coming artists that the younger folks live like Omar Apollo. I’m actually considering a part time job there so I can live my Empire Records and Hi Fidelity dreams haha.

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NoNamesLeft600@reddit

That would be cool to work at! I'm in a small town, so I only have one store close to me, but others if I drive 45 minutes or so.

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kptstango@reddit

This answer is perfect, thank you. Not to mention that there is a whole lot of music that is on vinyl and is not available on a streamer.

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socgrandinq@reddit

Such a great point. Music is community at heart. I love the vibes of a record store

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amalgaman@reddit

With my ears, Burt.

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SmooveTits@reddit

Huge FLAC collection and vinyl at home. Sometimes listen to the FLACs away from home but also Spotify and AM.

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Housing-Beneficial@reddit

Most of my music collection resides on my Plex music server, something like 130000 songs are on it. I don't use streaming services, I prefer to 'own' my music, and we can listen to it almost anywhere. I get new stuff mostly from Bandcamp and other online music stores. We probably own 300-400 vinyl records too.

For me - putting on a record reminds me of when I was a kid (I'm in my late 50s) and we'd stop and actually...listen. I am not a serious collector, although a couple of my most prized possessions are a couple of albums. A former boss of mine gave me his record player (Stanton) when he moved to California 8 years ago, so my wife and I started buying records. We usually hit the used section of record stores and buy things that we find interesting or remind us of our childhoods.

My Gen Z daughter has gotten into buying records too, we got her a turntable for Christmas year before last. She recently discovered cassettes after finding a few of our old ones lying around, so I bought her a Walkman-styled cassette player to play them on.

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Eephusblue@reddit

I feel like younger generations that long for the good ole days have no idea what a pain in the ass the good ole days at times were. Yeah maybe the analog vinyl experience is fun for some but many forget how expensive and difficult it was to access music back in the day.

I used to get grief for not knowing band X but I couldn’t afford the cost of that all those CDs to keep up with everything. Now I can check it all out immediately and affordably

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funkcatbrown@reddit

I have a lot of my old vinyl from the 70s 80s and stuff. I usually listen on Spotify but some of my vinyl is not on Spotify. So I bust out my modern little wrecka player and can listen on Bluetooth which is nice.

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librarykerri@reddit

Spotify here. No longer interested in owning music.

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bngthm@reddit

I stream the majority of my music .

[One way of listening] I like to mine new artists from genres/time periods that I already like.

[Another way of listening] Twin Cities, where I lived for a minute, has an MPR affiliate The Current, and also yourclassical.org. Both are great. The Current plays new music frequently.

[Yet another way, remembering what people listened to in the 1980s and checking it out]

I remember a neighborhood kid's older college-age brother owned Andreas Vollenweider (1981) -- and I just now started listening to it, which led me to Alan Parsons Project, The Instrumental Works. This must have been great to smoke weed to back in the day. The Parsons songs kind of remind me of the Tangerine Dream song from Risky Business.

I have to keep listening to new music/new-to-me to avoid ossifying though.

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SwarmOBeez@reddit

It depends on the situation. A lot of the time, I listen to terrestrial radio stations. When at home I listen to several stations from across the country (plus the UK and Australia) via their web streams. In the car, I still often flip through the local stations. I find a lot of new music this way.

Other times I listen to the full albums or playlist I have made on Apple Music. Sometimes, I will let the "autoplay" after and occasionally discover things that way.

At night and on weekends, when I listen to music, I usually listen to vinyl. I like the deliberate choice involved in selected and album and the interaction of flipping it when side A ends. Then deciding how my mood has changed and what I want to listen to next. My vinyl collection is a mixture of stuff I have had since I was a kid and things I have acquired in the last 10 or so years when I started listening to vinyl again. Plus, a bunch of stuff from my parents and older siblings that they didn't want.

I have a decent size CD collection as well and will throw them in from time to time (a lot of time I will put those albums on Apple Music with both repeat and autoplay off instead of digging out a CD). Anything I truly love, I want to have a physical copy of. I don't trust that streaming services will long term always have the music I want to hear.

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Accomplished_Lack243@reddit

Spotify is the way!!

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SnooCats9347@reddit

CD

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GalianoGirl@reddit

CDs in the car, radio or Spotify at home.

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Tenos_Jar@reddit

Generally streaming. I've got hearing issues so any fancy audiophile stuff is simply wasted on me.

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Individual-Cut4932@reddit

I’m 50 and if I am going to be at home doing nothing else, I’ll listen to vinyl. If I’m anywhere else or doing anything besides sitting on my couch it’s Apple Music, streaming the lossless version of music when I can.

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bionicbhangra@reddit

I have hundreds of CDs but they are all rotting in the basement.

I mostly use YouTube for music in background during work on a second screen.

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Difficult-Affect-220@reddit

The artists produced albums with a deliberate set of songs in a particular order. I am rediscovering this art form through vinyl. Expanding my childhood collection and playing them on a new turntable connected to a decent receiver. I do Spotify too.

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bobthenob1989@reddit

YouTube Music and occasional radio in the car.

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UncleDaddy_00@reddit

The orchestra in my head provides all the music I need.

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SphynxCrocheter@reddit

Spouse and I listen to MP3s and live (streaming) radio stations over the internet (free). We also still have CDs we listen to (mostly in the car, because our 2019 car actually has a CD player!)

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FullMoonVoodoo@reddit

Fuck spotify

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VariationOk9359@reddit

car radio and youtube

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Beyond_Re-Animator@reddit

I have fond memories of listening to records as a kid, but no interest in doing that today. If you had told younger me that I’d have access to every song ever recorded on a device that fits into my pocket, and that device wirelessly links to my home audio system, my younger head would explode.

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Droogie_65@reddit

mP3 player, Spotify, CDs, Cassette.

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EdAddict@reddit

I love my records. There’s something about uncompressed sound coming out of my speakers that just takes me back. I like my blue tooth speaker just fine, but damn, I miss my component stereo system with cassette deck and hi-fi.

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cholaw@reddit

I listen while I do other things. I love the development of streaming. I can listen to anything, anytime I want. As much as I want. With lyrics!

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nutmegtell@reddit

I’ve always preferred vinyl but stream mostly. I don’t buy CD’s anymore, but I do buy DVD’s.

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StargazerRex@reddit

MP3 (while exercising), Sirius XM (in the car).

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PreferenceNo7524@reddit

We have vinyl, and I know a guy who has a room full, but he's obviously a collector. Casually, we just stream it with a Bluetooth speaker at home and in the car.

Occasionally, we bust out the 60's white people doing island music 45s for the hell of it. And old Eno.

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MSB218@reddit

I listen exclusively digitally, to a collection I’ve curated over the last 20 years. I won’t mess with cloud/subscription stuff. Though I love analog/audiophile stuff and have a small physical collection and some gear, quick accessibility and portability and zero reliance on network availability are my priorities.

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kilt_inspector@reddit

Still have my vinyl from the 70s/80s, have my mom's vinyl, my uncle's vinyl, and still buy it today.

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shadowmib@reddit

Currently I just listen to one of my 3 dozen Pandora lists. All my CDs are ripped onto one 85GB flash drive if i want to listen to something specific

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thesupineporcupine@reddit

Spotify

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CaptMixTape@reddit

Most the time, Apple Music and AirPod pros, I’ve done all the formats though except 8-track

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ravenx99@reddit

A few years ago, I bought a mediocre turntable and started collecting all the music I had as a teenager on vinyl.

While the nostalgia factor was strong, I had forgotten how bad an experience vinyl could be. Have to turn over or change records every 20 minutes. Brand new vinyl isn't terrible, but I was buying used "Very Good" online and getting records that needed scratch repair... the over-grading is out of control. And locating and repairing scratches is time-consuming and difficult. I bought a pocket microscope! But eventually I gave up on vinyl. I miss the 12" album art though.

I'm back on CDs, which I rip to FLAC for permanent storage and transcode to opus to carry on my phone. I want to own my music, so I avoid streaming.

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furie1335@reddit

Spotify. Either on my laptop or in my car.

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Misfit_Toys_2013@reddit

I don’t have any vinyl, though I do prefer physical media. I prefer CDs over computer files, for sound quality. I listen to them over a Blu ray player or dvd player. A lot of these $10 thrift store players have digital analog converters that used to only be found in crazy-expensive hifi when we were younger. Now I can hear ALL the music. I can pick out the different instruments.

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LaPeachySoul@reddit

I have 2 cassettes from the 80’s left only because they were rare. I have a tons of CDs in climate-controlled storage in another state post-divorce. Don’t believe I have anyway to play them other than my 2013 car sound car sound system. I have a better turntable & a handful of vinyls, but no dedicated spot for it.

I mostly stream music though.

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wowugotit@reddit

Apple Music subscription

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AngryOldGenXer@reddit

There’s a huge market for vinyl. Some say that vinyl sounds better than an mp3. For me, I had cassettes and cds. But I got rid of all of them mainly because of storage. When I sold my cassettes I had just about 100. When I started to sell my cds I had just under 400. Now I have a portable hard drive loaded with more music than those collections had, and it fits in my back pocket.

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rynosota@reddit

Mostly with my ears.... I'll see myself out.

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OlasNah@reddit

I have a vinyl player, but other than some retro-nostalgia which I don't truly have (I was more of the era of Cassettes and CD's really, other than the earliest days of my childhood)... I'm perfectly fine with my phone/Apple music or Youtube.

Not much of a big listener. Stopped listening to music on the car radio many many years ago. Now, I kinda have to catch a snippet of a song while at a store/restaurant or on something I'm watching.

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Texaswheels@reddit

I think you've had your head buried! I know many people that are our age that listen and buy vinyl. I don't, because I'd want a high dollar sound system I can't afford. There is something about listing to an album from the start to end that you just don't get from buying MP3's or listen to random songs you've liked on spotify.

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HailCorduroy@reddit

95% streaming, 5% vinyl. I buy albums I love so I can have a hard copy of them in case of zombie apocolypse. I love the ritual of putting an album on and having to flip it in the middle. Even when I listen to an album on streaming, I still think about it as side 1 and side 2.

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snackcakessupreme@reddit

I have a cheap record player and only a handful of albums. l like it. Since I stream most of my music, I like to buy from my favorite artists to help support them. Vinyl is a fun way to do it.

What I think is funny is how they are releasing cassette tapes again. Doechii's mixed tape originally came out on vinyl last year, but earlier this year she released it on CD and cassette tape. Hilarious to me that they are trendy right now.

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chainmailler2001@reddit

Major nostalgia for me in LPs. I still remember the TV ads offering music collections on cassette or LP before CDs became common. My grandmother had a huge LP collection and I spent many hours going through her collection and listening to them on the shelf system she had with an early generation CD player and record player. I seem to recall even getting a record in a cereal box maybe? In the 80s.

More modern day, I know a few age mates that collect LPs and just as mentioned, they have 2 colections, one for listening to on good systems, one for collecting. A friend of mine runs a second hand shop and one of her treasured finds that she has in her store technically for sale but unlikely for her to actually sell is an old jukebox that plays 45s. There is some serious nostalgia in listening to Pink Floyd and the Eagles on 45s. Was with another friend when they stumbled on an original of The Beatles White Album LP in a second hand shop and and his excitement finding it.

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HopBewg@reddit

We are Omni media when it comes to music. I have tapes (still, and some new ones), CDs, paid for mp3s, subscription to Spotify for work and ~400 album vinyl collection. Tapes are for garage work where I have an old Sony cd/raido/tape deck, CDs & mp3s are car listening, vinyl is living room chills & company, and Spotify is for work or working out.

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UnabashedHonesty@reddit

Like the OP, I (64) grew up on LP’s.

There is no way in hell I want to return to that technology. Hissing, popping, scratching, warping … who needs that? Not me.

I’ll take my Apple music and have access to more music than I could have ever dreamed about. Back then the promise of having such a vast musical library felt like magic. I don’t ever want to go back.

[-]

Francl27@reddit

My kids love vinyl!

I use the basic phone app with my playlists. My favorite band isn't on Spotify because they rip off artists. I just buy the albums/songs I like (either on Amazon or CDs).

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EvenSkanksSayThanks@reddit

pandora usually. sometimes spotify but i much prefer Pandora. free versions only

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_Sh_tlord_@reddit

As much as I hate the 'you'll own nothing and like it' aspect of late stage capitalism, I use Spotify exclusively to listen to music. Along with the thousands of CDs I own already there, I have easy access to an almost unlimited supply of new artists to discover. Most of the artists that I now consider my favorites have never been played on the radio or MTV, and I might never have found them without Spotify.

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fullofsharts@reddit

Growing up in the late 70s and early 80s, I played the family records on the Zenith console system. Mid to late 80s, I had a small cassette collection. When the 90s hit, it was all CDs and a lot of them. (thanks Columbia House and BMG!) Early 2000s, downloaded so many mp3s with the occasional CD purchase. About 10 years ago, I jumped into the vinyl party and spent quite a bit buying a lot of my favorites on that format. But now that vinyl records are way more expensive, I've basically stopped buying them about 3 years ago and switched back to CDs.

I still like CDs in my car or truck. I have an Amazon music account but don't really use it all that often. I play my CDs quite a bit more now and the vinyl kinda just sit on the shelf. I'm sure someday I'll start playing them again.

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killslikeaninja@reddit

I buy records, but I’m very specific on what I want.

But, I still buy my music on CDs. Then I go through an old school process of ripping the CD to my computer, drag and dropping into my iTunes, then onto my iPhone and even my iPod classic. I also back up the music onto an external hard drive x2.

Yes. I said iPod classic. It’s connected to my truck and has 1000’s of songs on it.

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gosluggogo@reddit

Man I listen all the ways! I still have my vinyl collection from HS and a nice turntable and receiver. I also just refurbished my 400 CD changer from the 90's and I like to put it on random shuffle and see what gems pop up. I stream through Spotify and like getting new tunes targeted by the algorithm and also new releases by my favorite artists. I drive around all day for work and listen to the same local college radio station that I've listened to since HS. Those kids play great stuff! And on longer car trips I have Sirius.

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Craig1974@reddit

Apple music. Hi res lossless and dolby atmos

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therelybare5@reddit

I have Apple Music and use YouTube if I’m particularly nostalgic and want to watch music videos!

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shinyshannon@reddit

A combination of my 400 records, 500 CDs, and streaming.

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NoNamesLeft600@reddit

Does this answer your question? :-)

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throwaway731103@reddit

I guess you're a Yamaha guy. Which model is that receiver? (I know it's not technically a receiver)

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NoNamesLeft600@reddit

It's a R-N800a. Actually it is called a network receiver, so you're not wrong. :-)

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qedpoe@reddit

Insane reflections. Toxic acoustic panel deficiency.

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NoNamesLeft600@reddit

Unfortunately, I can't move.

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Gizlby22@reddit

I like my vinyls still. I listen to it sometimes. But most music is thru Spotify. I only buy from iTunes when it’s something I really like and want to listen to a lot

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Tony_Tanna78@reddit

CD, Vinyl and MP3. I've gotten back into vinyl over a couple of years ago and my life is better for it.

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Gawain_Not_Wayne@reddit

On a CD player or MP3 player. Not on my phone. If I'm listening to music, I'm zoning out and not getting disturbed by text messages.

Can't understand Spotify. Isn't that just renting music, or is there more to it?

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justisme333@reddit

Spotify.

Same pathway as OP.

Parent played Vinyl. Hated cassettes, but loved CDs and got an expensive cd player.

I had a walk man, then diskman.

Graduated to Napster and Limewire to burn my own cds then converted to the joys of mp3 players.

Switched over to iTunes, until they started deleting the music I bought.

Eventually discovered Spotify and am happy enough.

Totally agree that Vinyl has a much richer sound, but the expense and space needed for storage make it a silly option in this day and age.

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SaucyNSassy@reddit

Vinyl...is an experience. It's a piece of art, and it's something that is tangible in a way that no other music is.

It's special because you get to go to the store, dig through the records, find one that you want and bring it home. You get to open it, feel the weight of the record, and look at the artwork.

It's just different :)

I listen to music many different ways.....and vinyl holds a special place!

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Bonhamsbass@reddit

Each to their own but I think spotify is a filthy leech, sucking the lifeblood out of the music industry and making it hard for artists to make a living from their craft.

Vinyl will always be the best medium.

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caryn1477@reddit

Spotify. I absolutely love it. I can pretty much listen to whatever I want, whenever I want.

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KellieinNapa@reddit

I have my parents 1964ish stereo console and I absolutely love playing records! It's so fun to look for them in thrift stores and record shops whenever I come across them locally and in my travels. I even brought an album back from Spain. That was a challenge!

There's a warmth that comes across from a record that you cannot get from a digital recording

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Mundane_Ad7197@reddit

Typically to an album, but on my phone.

I think phones are great, and have zero issue with albums on iTunes.

Between 22 years on active duty (Army) and Iron Maiden on a walkman doing my paper route back in the day, my ears are shot; whatever nuance vinyl may have is lost on me.

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filmAF@reddit

i believe vinyl, played on a good system, sounds better than streaming. but when i fled the US, i gave up my stereo and records. if i had a home today, i would listen to music on vinyl on occasion. but streaming (on apple music, who lets me access my pre-existing MP3s) is more convenient most of the time.

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Haunting_Height_9793@reddit

Set up a music room in my house and definitely listen to vinyl, I have 3 collections, my own, my father in law's 1970s rock, and my deceased mom's 1930-1990s easy listening, old crooner stuff.
We listen to something new each weekend morning we can drink our morning joe at home. I found 2 turntables at a garage sale years ago and still have them both.
I also still have my CD collection. But if I'm at home and putzing around, it's Spotify through the Sonos speakers.

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themadprofessor1976@reddit

I reserve vinyl for old jazz and blues, played on a Victrola. That's heaven.

Anything else can just be standard formats.

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KeggyFulabier@reddit

I’ve never stopped listening to vinyl. Every other format just seems so disposable.

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CaroCogitatus@reddit

You can take my curated collection of MP3s and dynamic playlists from my cold, dead hands.

I loved playing vinyl when that's all there was (mostly). I copied them to cassette for portability and loved that. CDs were a revelation in sound quality and data storage, and I dutifully ditched my scratched-from-overuse vinyl collection for bright, shiny CDs. Then MP3 debuted and they work in my car, on my phone, virtually everywhere with no bars required for connection.

WinAmp Army, assemble!

That said, there was something about the big album cover art, double albums, weird packaging, and liner notes/lyrics on vinyl records that's missing these days.

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JaimePfe17@reddit

I use streaming.

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Environmental-Egg893@reddit

I have a massive vinyl collection, and while I do love to give them a spin every few weeks or so, I stream via Apple Music 90% of the time. I’m an audiophile and sound quality is important to me, which Apple 100% does the best of any streaming services with their lossless playback and Spatial Audio.

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Jasdak@reddit

I (“Elder” Millennial) buy vinyl primarily at live shows. I like the art. I don’t “collect” it so much as enjoy putting on records occasionally at home. I grew up with 8-track, vinyl, cassettes, CDs, and mp3s. I also listen to digital music through the same speakers, primarily on Bandcamp (100+ purchases). But never Spotify. Spotify is problematic for every reason that’s been given previously.

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patati27@reddit

I'm an X'er also, and went through the same stages you did, and never understood the Vinyl thing. Three years ago we bought a new house, and I wanted to do something special with the " formal living room", so I built a console table myself, bought a really nice record player, and started buying olid scieecords. There is something to it, and no, I don't believe the sound quality is objectively better. The fact that you buy the records, and they are beautiful, analog objects, the fact that it takes physical effort to get up and change the record, which means you put more thought into what you are going to listen to, all that helps.

There's solid science behind these two, both on the study of perceptual biases and on how we exprience things. I love my vinyl collection now.

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geetarboy33@reddit

I sold all my vinyl at my mom’s garage sale in the late 80s. Now I’ve rebought half of those and listen to vinyl again. There are some albums I’ve bought on vinyl twice, bought on CD and transferred to cassette for the car.

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Cantech667@reddit

I used to have a vinyl collection when I was younger. I unfortunately got rid of it, and now I stream everything on Apple Music. As much as I miss vinyl for the analogue sound, and the albums for the tactile aspect of it all, I love the convenience of streaming music. I listen on an Apple HomePod, and an Amazon Studio.

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StOnEy333@reddit

I think you’re assessment of which Gen-Xers are listening to vinyl and for what reasons is flawed.

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BigLoudWorld74@reddit

I stream music when I'm on the go, but when I want to listen to something and have it actually sound good I pop in a CD.

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Dottegirl67@reddit

I love vinyl for the simple pleasure of listening to a really good album from beginning to end. I wish I had kept all of my albums. Now I mostly stream music but I miss the tangible connection to the music that an album provides.

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spyder7723@reddit

Spotify. I still got my vinyl and cds but Spotify is just more efficient.

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Owlhead326@reddit

I love listening to vinyl when the music was recorded in analog. Has a warmer, richer sound. But mostly I stream to my Bluetooth Bose speakers. When I’m really living it up I’ll add another speaker and listen in stereo. But you can’t get too crazy at this point

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rokken70@reddit

I loved a lot, so now Spotify is definitely the easiest. No big records, no ton of tapes, no packs of CDs.

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HLLAuntClaire@reddit

Regarding vinyls - I guess it’s better someone collect them than being the trash dump? I use YouTube Premium 💕 and I have BEATS and a JBL Mini Boom Box that I connect to thru Bluetooth on my iPhone.

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lesters_sock_puppet@reddit

I collect CDs and have about 5,000 now. I've ripped every one of them into MP3s (at 320bpm) and store them on a hard drive. That way I can listen to whatever I want within a few seconds.

I also load most of these mp3s and plug them into my car. I set my car's stereo to randomly play songs. It's like having my own personal radio station.

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Unique-Sock3366@reddit

I’ll never let go of my vinyl collection.

Vinyl is magical.

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archedhighbrow@reddit

I use CDs in the car, no player yet at home. YouTube is my other go-to.

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Pretend_Command993@reddit

Usually vinyl....I'll check out new things by streaming, but ultimately if I enjoy I'll purchase on vinyl... Love the tactile nature

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Brave-Sale-4704@reddit

I love vinyl! I still have some records from the 80’s and early 90’s. When I’m home I either listen to Spotify or Vinyl. I listen to CDs in my car. Sometimes I listen to the same song 2 or 3 times so CDs are just easier. Also I have over 100 CDs and want to listen to them 💖

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therealhdan@reddit

I listen to spotify and stuff I download from bandcamp.

I ALSO have a CD player to play the folders full of music I still have. The physicality of putting disks in the reader is weirdly still appealing, and I'm so used to that CD player's DAC by now that it's what sounds right to me.

My parents still have a few of my old LPs in a closet, but I don't have a way to play them. I sometimes get the urge to get a decent turn table, but so far I've resisted.

[-]

ajn3323@reddit

56 yo. U loaded all my original vinyl at the turn of the millennium. Got back into vinyl just before Covid thanks to a friend who had me store his records. That was the catalyst… went big into acquisition mode. I’m way more selective tho…. Very frugal and must be a good pressing. Honestly it’s all BS… the way all hobbies have become with flippers… and the labels releasing all these variants and limited edition. Pop records are still poorly pressed and high quality pressings are outta sight price wise.

I also got back into hifi, consistently upgrading my systems throughout the house. Again I consider myself frugal… buying mostly preowned and a few heavily discounted new. I stream a bunch. The stereo is on almost every moment I’m awake… working from home enables that but it can be distracting.

As for CDs I didn’t get rid of them but it’s the last of the formats I’ll listen to. I use a 400 cd changer that is more storage than anything else.

The OP is not wrong tho… most folks at our age gave up on vinyl ages ago… a soundbar or portable speaker is what most people have. The somewhat well heeled passive listener prolly has Sonos throughout the house. I used to as well in the 2010s. Ditched them for a low cost leader called WiiM.

Vintage hifi is extremely popular as a result of all this. Folks are drawn to nostalgia… and what is better than music? I can’t even drink wine without it!

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EndElectoralCollege3@reddit

I still have my vinyl and regret getting rid of my cassettes. I listen to CDs in my car. Especially on long drives.

Short drives I listen to talk.

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milesandhikes@reddit

I love vinyl, best sound in audio in my opinion. Way better than anything digital

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Iko87iko@reddit

When i asked my niece's husband if he ever gets together with his buddies to party & jam tunes he looked at me like I had 3 eyes. Then i dosed him, we listened to music & I did have 3 eyes

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Fine_Comparison9812@reddit

I haven’t bought any records lately but the ones I have had since the 80’s I’d never part with (like Metallica Madternif Puppets, for instance). And, as a bonus, I got a lot of good ones from my parents (once dad died mom didn’t want the “clutter”).

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bkcrypto8629@reddit

Pandora. Paid… no damned commercials.

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timid_soup@reddit

Radio in the car. There are 2 or 3 radio stations in my area that predominantly play 80s, 90s and early 2000 music. I only listen to music while driving. I prefer listening to documentaries or podcasts when I'm at home.

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Kitsune_seven@reddit

I am firmly gen x and I buy and listen to vinyl. I like owning albums as opposed to being reliant solely on a subscription. I do have a Spotify account too, of course, but that’s just for listening to music in the car.

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HighBiased@reddit

Been collecting vinyl since the 90s when it was super cheap to buy records at thrift stores for like 50¢ a record. Then started doing the same with cassettes around 2010 (you can't drive and listen to vinyl).

I stream a lot as well to discover music. Then if I really like it I buy it on vinyl and/or cassette.

Because it directly supports the artist way more than streaming.
Because I don't feel like I own my music on streaming platforms. If the company goes down all your music is gone, or even wifi isn't working I can still listen to all my music.
Also, nostalgia is a powerful drug

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adenovir@reddit

Spotify all the way. Discovered so much new music with streaming. Happy I don’t have to mess with buying and storing records, tapes, CDs and even MP3s.

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platywus@reddit

Vinyl can be audibly appreciated WITH a quality playback system, think $500+ for the player, another $1000 for the speakers and amplifier. If you put it together properly m, it will sound as good or better, depending on the recording, and you get the tangible experience as a bonus. I

I stream mostly at Spotify’s highest quality and there is something I hear in vinyl that’s missing in the stream. My example is Phil Collins drumming on “Hello, I Must Be Going”. It’s a visceral sound of the sticks and echoing between hits that I enjoy when I have the vinyl playing, and is missing with streaming. Part of it is probably psycho-acoustics, but whatever it is, I enjoy it!

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Daredrummer@reddit

Vinyl records sound MUCH better for music recorded before around 1980 or so.

After that, everything became digital. Digitally recorded to a digital medium, CDs.

Older music was recorded analog, which is what vinyl is. Thats why older music sounds so much better on it. Thats why I am puzzled about the recent vinyl trend. Unless you have an old record, you are listening to digital music on an analog format which would not help the way it sounds. At all.

That said, I absolutely love Spotify. It's my favorite service. Could you imagine when you were young if you access to almost every album ever recorded for like $10 a month? It's still incredible to me.

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_playing_the_game_@reddit

gif

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Cold_Lingonberry_291@reddit

Vinyl out sold Cd last year . First time in 50 years. Still the best sound of all.

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Never_Dave_1@reddit

Mostly a shuffle of my mp3 collection ripped from my CDs, bought from iTunes, Amazon or Bandcamp, but I'll also listen to an LP from time to time. They are the only physical media I listen to music on anymore. I can't stand Spotify, and haven't found a decent streaming service that doesn't sound compressed, lag constantly, and/or rip off the artists who I want to support. (Or, cost a fortune, to be honest.)

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L1VEW1RE@reddit

I'm with you up to the point of Spotify. I like owning my music and not needing an internet connection to listen to it. I downloaded all my CDs to my MBP and still buy my music on iTunes. I think I'm already a dinosaur given that.

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kookdang@reddit

I have vinyl but only because I had a roommate in the 90s who skipped town and left me with a $700 long distance phone bill. He did, however, leave his very nice Technics turntable and a few records. So then I started hitting the record bins at thrift stores and built up quite a collection, mostly of classical, jazz, and 60s70s rock. Those were the days when you could actually find good stuff in thrift stores for $0.25 an album. I’m not a serious collector, I don’t think any of my records are rare or valuable but I do enjoy them. There is something special about taking the time to choose a record and put it on and chill out while reading the liner notes.

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djutopia@reddit

You never know! Check out discogs.

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KissMyAlien@reddit

With my ears.

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erk2112@reddit

I hate to tell you but you are wrong on so many levels. You are right on how you listen to “your “ music.

Go to r/vinyl
Vinyl has made several comebacks since it was first released.
They have record store day now a few times a year and vinyl sales are very good.
Taylor Swift and all the other new musicians are getting a new crowd to listen to them. 5 and most important is that every single person listens to music the way they want to and can afford to.

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run_squid_run@reddit

I still listen to vinyl. The reason is even the old albums have been “remastered,” making the louder but also less intricate. I listened to Ozzy’s Diary of a Madman on vinyl then listened to the remastered and the music on the remastered is off, as if someone took Ozzys singing and played it over a house band. I looked it up and that’s exactly what happened, they re-recorded the music so that the original musicians wouldn’t get royalties for the songs.

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djutopia@reddit

Radio, Vinyl, digital, tidal, soundcloud, often times YouTube. I’m a DJ so my relationship with music is a little different. I have a large vinyl collection that’s not all dance music, I just love the format and will pull a record and pick a track, then just keep going trying to build a thread or a vibe. Those are fun sets even if they don’t get a lot of play on YouTube.

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geri73@reddit

I do collect vinyl, but I also listen to streaming as well. When I wanna that raw crackling sound, I get the records out, which is all the time. I stream music when im out and about.

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GenXrules69@reddit

I still have the stereo system from early 90s. Turntable and cd deck. There are a few cases of cds I will pull out occasionally. I have my grandparents zenith tube powered hunk of wood that plays vynil on occasions. It is now a 5 minute warmup but the sound is special. Everyday one of my Spotify playlists.

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OldBanjoFrog@reddit

I have been collecting vinyl since 1993. I prefer vinyl. Tell your colleague that those cheap turntables ruin records

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SavaRox@reddit

I'm with you on that! CDs in my car. I won't pay for streaming service or Sirius XM or anything like that.

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Stunning-Flatworm612@reddit (OP)

Lol I'll tell him but he won't listen. Another Gen z trait.

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OldBanjoFrog@reddit

Be patient with the lad. Remember when we were that age?

I am sure he will turn out just fine.

Have a cup of coffee for me. I would buy you one if I could

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DeathsArrow@reddit

I used to listen to music mostly with Spotify until they started replacing every other album with a crappy remaster. I ripped my entire CD collection a long time ago when Google Music was still a thing, so I added all my albums to my plex server. Vinyl has it's place, I have a lower mid-range turntable that gets occasional use but I'm not collecting a ton of records, they take up too much space.

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Skellington72@reddit

I still love physical media, whether it's vinyl, cassette or cd although I prefer cds. I digitize it all so it's more mobile but I still often listen to the original.

I use Spotify if I need to but will never depend on it. Too much of the music I like isn't there and I don't have to worry about internet connectivity, app functionality or anything being removed from the catalog.

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errantwit@reddit

I have a record collection I've been developing for about ten years. I had records as a kid but lost them when I joined the service.

Someone, said deliberate. Yes!

After being in computer space all week, on Friday afternoon I like to come home, sit on the floor and riff through my collection. It's a whole ritual. Read the liner notes, lyrics, pour a drink and just chill like a Luddite. In surround sound. Fantastic.

Typically though, I listen to a streaming service or KEXP.

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SJB3717@reddit

Sd cards and usb sticks. I hate Spotify because there are so many artists and songs that are missing from their library.

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ConfidenceFragrant80@reddit

Me too! Also hate the ads.

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AllegroMk1@reddit

yep, i tend to do the download youtube links as mp3 thing, and stick them on my phone, or on a stick for car. I like chillstep, dreamcore, and vocaloid. :D

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BAC2Think@reddit

I'm basically just streaming at this point.

I still have many of my old CDs but they'll probably stay in a box for the foreseeable future.

For those of you that still like vinyl or other physical media, Victrola (yes that Victrola) makes a compact 8 in 1 setup for less than $200 via Amazon. Does the 3 main vinyl sizes, cassettes, CDs and has Bluetooth connectivity.

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Ilovetocookstuff@reddit

Spotify! All my CDs went to goodwill ages ago. Didn't have the heart to toss my vinyl. I even fixed my old Thorens manual turntable and got a pre-amp to connect to my home theater and dusted off the old crate of vinyl I had in the attic. I've used it exactly once.

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Pernicious_Possum@reddit

I’m with you. I have no desire to go back to physical media. Takes up too much space, and 90% of the time I’m listening to music I’m doing stuff. I don’t want to have stop what I’m doing and go flip a record, or put another one on

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FallenValkyrja@reddit

I have a decent vinyl collection as I am the only one who still listened to vinyl when my mother passed. Tons of 45s and 33s with a few 78s mixed in. I still like to fire up ye olde turntable (an inexpensive one since finding needles for my once ungodly priced high end ones are difficult to find and expensive) from time to time.

Every day listening I keep to my collections of digital music.

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mizake@reddit

I listen to vinyl, Tidal, cassettes, and flac files from my computer. I'm also a music junkie.

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Randeth@reddit

I use YouTube Music (rip Google Play Music) and have discovered that it's algorithm is pretty spot on once it had enough Thumbs data from me. I still have every CD I ever bought but just couldn't see ever going back to physical media based listening. If push came to shove all those CDs are already ripped so I could self host my own music. But digital playback is just too convenient.

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bdchwild@reddit

I'm always shocked at how many people listen to music just using their iphone. Or perhaps ear buds. Maybe over the ear, nicer headphones. But less and less are listening to dedicated stereos systems with components. I think one of life's greater joys is enjoying 2-ch music on a hifi setup: amps/receivers/speakers/separates/etc.

Hot take — best listening formats from best to worst:
1- hi-res streaming 192kHz 24-bit + Tidal/Qubuz/Apple — Spotify still needs to announce hi-res format
2- CDs
3- Vinyl or reel-to-reel
4- casettes

Movies are also in the same vein. Most people seem to watch their Netflix or HBO on a laptop or TV or phone. Less and less seem to dive into a home theater setup with a dedicated 4K blu-ray player, 11+ channel receiver/amp, speakers, etc.

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SnowblindAlbino@reddit

I still have 1,500 LPs and 1k CDs. Plus some cassettes and 8 tracks. Multiple real stereo components systems, including one in my office. I listen to them all. But also stream for casual listening, through those same stereos via Chromecast Audio and Echo Input.

My adult kids do the same.

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soloracer@reddit

This guy gets it. Same!

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Mihailis27@reddit

I stream hundreds of my ripped CDs from my Plex server.

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FutureGeist@reddit

I had over one thousand cassettes, cds, and vinyl. I digitized all my music pre streaming. I save the best cassettes and vinyl for my son. Then donated the rest to Goodwill. I listen to satellite radio in the car and home office, and stream from various services in both as well.

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SuperAleste@reddit

I don't. I never got into music, at all.

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Relevant_Ad5351@reddit

I've had a Pandora account since before iPhones were a thing. I've got my stations trained beautifully and recently upgraded to the "listen to anything" tier. It's getting worse to navigate but I just can't give up what I've made to switch to Spotify. My last vinyl record was Whitney Houston. I haven't bought a CD since The Dixie Chicks "Fly".

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ave427@reddit

I’m the same. I’ve had Pandora for years!

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FrustratedPassenger@reddit

Pandora here too. I’m not changing yet. Maybe later.

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gogiraffes@reddit

Another vote for Pandora. I pay for Pandora Plus so no ads, and it launches at startup on my home laptop. Unless that dies, I see no benefit to switching to Spotify or sthg else. I like my stations. Set it, forget it.

I miss decent broadcast radio. My current apartment has horrible reception though.

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NoNamesLeft600@reddit

There is a website called soundiiz.com that will export your playlists from any music streaming service to import into any other streaming service. I didn't want to leave Spotify for the longest time because of the playlists I would have to rebuild, but I was able to move to Apple Music without losing a beat using this.

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Relevant_Ad5351@reddit

That is awesome!! Thank you!

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Alamojunkie@reddit

I have record players in three different rooms of the house and separate record collections in each. That being said I do listen to my headphones a lot when I’m outside

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Stump303@reddit

I collect vinyl. Most of it isn’t opened and what is gets played. I spent an obscene amount of money on my turn table and have really good speakers. That is my happy place. I still have the first record I ever bought.

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keeperofthegrail@reddit

I wish I had kept my record collection, I got rid of it when I started buying CDs.

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Electric-Sheepskin@reddit

I feel the same way about vinyl and CDs as I do about physical books— sentimental, but I'm glad I don't have to dust them anymore.

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JRBowen9@reddit

I believe that it's about the aesthetic, the ritual of playing the music. For instance, I was born in 1973, and in the early 2000s, I bought this mammoth refurbished reel-to-reel player. I recorded some records onto some blank reel-to-reels, and would listen to them that way. There was something about watching the perfectly engineered reels turn, watching the VU meters click back and forth...it was mesmerizing. There is something to be said about the same sort of experience with record players, and just watching this perfectly engineered disc spin elegantly, listening to music reproduced with nothing but a needle. From that perspective, I can understand why people are listening to records to this day.

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recoveredcrush@reddit

Pandora all day every day

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serumnegative@reddit

Apple Music for the most part.

I still have tons of vinyl. Don’t listen to it. Would certainly NOT use a ‘cheap’ record player on it — it degrades! I have a technics SL1200 but it’s not setup currently.

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-DethLok-@reddit

In my games room, I'm listening to mp3s of my ripped CDs via Winamp.

In the lounge room it's streaming TripleJ via the ABC's website (That's the Australian Broadcasting Commission, btw).

In the car, mp3s.

In the bedroom, radio, TripleJ again.

Walking, mp3s via bone conducting headphones.

I've never owned a record player, but I do own some records, about 5, one is a 78! :)

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PieTighter@reddit

Mostly from CDs that I've ripped to a computer, but I also have a decent record collection that I listen to when the mood hits. I've actually dropped my streaming service, it's convenient but they kept raising the price.

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technishawn@reddit

I love my vinyl collection. If I want to truly feel the music, I listen on vinyl. Unfortunately, vinyl inventory is low compared to what is available on digital.

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Fandangus_p@reddit

Young Gen X here: I have a turntable w bookshelf speakers hooked up to a preamp w Bluetooth so I can also stream from my phone to the same speakers as the turntable. Satisfies the needs for the vinyl collection and the new stuff from the interwebs. Also have my grade school age kids experiencing the vinyl ritual. They love my Bowie and Steely Dan LPs.

These kids will never understand repopulating music collections over the decades when the listening mediums shifted. It’s interesting to see vinyl’s staying power throughout the years while reel to reel, 8-tracks, cassettes, and CDs don’t seem to be as popular w the retro scene today.

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ewazer@reddit

It’s strictly streaming in our house. We have a cd player that used to get used during the Xmas season, but even that didn’t happen this past year. The last cd I bought, to show support for a band I love, came with a digital copy so I can just tell Alexa to play it anyway. Husband has a vinyl collection from the 70’s and 80’s. He bought a turntable a few years ago, listened to some of his favorites for a month or two, and hasn’t used it since. More power to gen z if they want to listen that way, but we’ve moved on.

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Actual_Engineer_7557@reddit

i thought this question was going to refer to something else

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mkstot@reddit

I enjoy vinyl. It forces me to sit, relax, and just listen. I’ve also learned that one side of a record is the perfect amount of time to roll one up, and smoke it before needing to flip the record. I won’t even get into how digital compression alters how music sounds.

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HBsac@reddit

Smartphone + YouTube Premium = Bliss.

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PacRat48@reddit

Walmart had more vinyl titles in stock than CDs. And zine old bangers, too

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Material-Ambition-18@reddit

My kids got into vinyl when wife inherited a player and bunch of old country records from grandma. It’s cool, but as cool as my I phone plugging into my shop stereo blasting whatever I’m in the mood for

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habner70@reddit

My Gen Z kid loves vinyl and has a huge collection. He loves going to old record stores and combing through the albums. He also has a large CD collection.

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Alltheprettydresses@reddit

Spotify and SoundCloud

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pinballrocker@reddit

I also still love vinyl. I've loved record shopping in person since the 80s, it's a fun hobby. And it's a good way to support a band you see live by buying their vinyl at the show. I play records a couple times a week generally. My set up is:

-Fluance RT85 turntable
-Acrylic platter
-Ortofon 2M Blue Cartridge

I do mainly use Spotify thought, it's great both for older music and finding out about new music. The people I date and my friends make playlists for each other, share their playlists, and we do playlists together for fun and for group vacations. 10 of us stayed in a house in Florida with a pool, we made a Spotify playlist the weeks before, then played it the entire time we were there and talked about people's song choices. It's fun! And Spotify is great for hearing a new album the day it comes out, I listened to the new Sofi Tucker "Butter" album the day after it came out this week.

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dmetzcher@reddit

Spotify.

Prior to that, iTunes (when you’d buy individual tracks/albums).

Prior to that, I downloaded music illegally (from the late 90s to sometime around 2005, give or take).

When it became easier to buy tracks from Apple than it was to download them using Limewire (because record producers were dumping bad copies on illegal downloaders, so you had to download the track and test it, which often meant downloading a different copy if you got a bad one), I started buying music again. $1 per track + an easier experience was a fair price. I also had more disposable income by that point in my life.

When Spotify came along, I ditched everything else.

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MiniJunkie@reddit

My teen son loves vinyls. I listen to most music via Amazon Music tbh.

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Skid-Vicious@reddit

I’m an active hifi enthusiast with a dedicated music room and a nice system in just about every room in the house; a good chunk of it silverface receivers from the 70’s.

When people hear “vintage” they immediately assume “oh you must be into vinyl”. Hell no. Vinyl sucked then and sucks even harder today. It’s expensive, takes up a lot of room, and there’s a lot less music information than a CD or lossless streaming will support, and it doesn’t sound worse every time I play it.

Digital sourcing through vintage amplification (although I’m moving away from that for modern Class D almps) through modern speakers, that’s what works for me.

There is something to be said for the visceral experience of mounting your record and reading the liner notes on the cover, but that’s not enough to make me pay $30 for a decent pressing.

I do have some nice turntables around for the aesthetic but I don’t think they’re even wired up lol.

There is a mini renaissance in cassettes and that I can get behind, mostly because making mixtapes is a lot of fun and cassettes are relatively cheap. Reel to reel, I’ve had half a dozen units through here and I’ve flipped every one for a profit. I just can’t be bothered with analog playback, it’s neat for a little while but then you realize wow this is expensive and sorta crappy.

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FabulousPanther@reddit

Amazon music blows LP sound quality out of the water.

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foeplay44@reddit

I do and I am not all attached to just “our” old music so I am also not in touch with old formats of listening. Therefore I too stream. I’m a younger genx so I think that may also have something to do with since I rolled with millennials in college and married to one so have a lot of their habits.

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Worth_Reply_6002@reddit

It's a nastalgia thing for him. It brings back fond memories. He is probably not thinking about he music quality. Already knows it doesn't sound as good as new tech does. So with that they could be a serious collector but on a different level than you may be. Being born in 1980 I also share the same type of memories from my parents and especially my grandparents. Many fond memories of my grandmother listening to country music on vinyl.

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SerentityM3ow@reddit

I have a huge vinyl collection. I think your experiences and opinions are your own lol

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JennaSys@reddit

I still have a turntable hooked up to an amp with large speakers. But if I'm going to play something for the pure enjoyment of just listening, I'll always choose the CD player over the turntable. Crystal clear with no clicks, pops, hiss, or required flips. For just passive listening to background music though, MP3 or streaming is fine.

I do have a crate full of vinyl albums, but if I really wanted to experience raw nostalgia, I'd get an 8-track player.

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Healthy-Grape-777@reddit

Why are you dissing his dreams and enjoyment? He also explained that he has an emotional attachment to that memory and you’re sounding like you’re minimizing how he feels and his joy. Maybe his parents are dead and this is a way for him to remember them by. I’m Gen X and I have some vinyl and I’m not a serious collector. I have them for the same reasons. The first person that I ever listened to was Billy Idol white wedding album bought from Columbia records by my brother, and given to me as a gift he had a vinyl collection and was 10 years older than me and I would go and listen to his music When I was his first house I remember kiss with the paper and cardboard gun inside of it Carole King and more Huey Lewis in the news the sports album that was one of my favorites on vinyl such good memories attached to vinyl and the sound quality is fine. I’m not a music snob so I enjoy it.

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Pepper_Pfieffer@reddit

Digital or radio. I have no sentimentality about vinyl. It warped and scraped easily and the sound is so much better today.

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Express_Area_8359@reddit

Sennheiser headphones….nin, daft punk swear by them.

Car speakers nothing better than Bose from a junkyard lol (mine are no mount magentic to the door!)

n house speakers Bose in my fave too.

Now to hear it. By a vinyl player go thrifting when then got em for a buck and open your ears.

Thats how i listen

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unclejohnnydanger@reddit

I inherited my parent’s vinyl collection, around the age of 30, when they divorced. One of my favorite hobbies is buying old records from antique stores. I also buy new from time to time, and my kids buy me an occasional vinyl for birthday or Christmas.

I bought a decent turntable and I play records while I read, do jigsaw puzzles, work around the house. I do have a subscription to Apple Music, and stream a majority of the time.

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agentmkultra666@reddit

I also inherited my parents’ records when they divorced! I was 39 and I’d been begging them for years for those records since they didn’t even have a turntable.
I’m not a huge vinyl collector but I like to buy records from current bands that I like, since music pays literally squat these days. I also like having sentimental and/or nostalgic records. Otherwise my tapes (both VHS and audio cassette) take up all the shelf space.

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Professional_Comb922@reddit

My vinyl is a collection of the collections from my parents and grandparents. I picked up cheap records from dollar bins to supplement my interests.

Otherwise it's hard to find stuff that has been released as part of Record Store Day.

Physical music always feels better than paying Spotify.

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Alycion@reddit

I have lots of vinyl. The sound is different. Not better, not worse, just different. It’s comforting. I like it when it’s raining. I also use my phone. I don’t get cassettes making a comeback. That was the worse format 😂 too many issues.

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JJQuantum@reddit

Analog, uncompressed music appeals to a lot of people from all age groups.

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Typical_me_1111@reddit

My son purchased an expensive vinyl players, got some vinyl records. Now he never listens to it, just gathering dust in his room. I was never into vinyl records. Now listen to all my music on Spotify.

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BoldBoimlerIsMyHero@reddit

My mom has all my old vinyls and I went there to listen to them and was like ugh. Five songs and I have to flip it? So I just stick with what I own digitally or Spotify. I pay for the family plan so I have no ads and I love making playlists (the modern mixtape).

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shoresy99@reddit

I agree with you and I am slightly older. Who wants to listen to records where each side is only about 20 minutes long. I far prefer Spotify as well.

The only thing that I miss is that Spotify or other streaming services are not set up as well to allow you to listen to entire albums rather than as songs. For example, I would like Spotify to shuffle play all Pink Floyd albums. But I want it to play each album in its entirety. That isn't easy to do - I wish you can treat an album as just one song.

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Minimum_E@reddit

I started buying vinyl during the pandemic, love the art and the whole package, but playing vinyl is a hassle!

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Aggravating-Shark-69@reddit

I think we all kind of went that way with music I only had a few vinyl records. I was mostly cassette tapes, and then CDs, and then of course MP3’s. nowadays I use Apple Music. I’ve never understood the fascination to vinyl.

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9inez@reddit

It wasn’t fascination at the time, just the durable media the music came on. Vinyl easily maintains integrity over a cassette. Especially cassettes that were repeatedly baked and abused in the car.

Today streaming is my norm. But spinning old school still has its charms, like looking at film based photos.

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whirlydad@reddit

My family uses a mix of Spotify, CDs, Cassettes and a collection of Vinyl that is a mix of bands we really like and inherited vinyl. At one point I spent a week burning all our CDs and uploaded them to Apple Music. We listen to a ton of music.

You don't need an expensive audiophile setup to listen to vinyl. There are some entry level products that are decent setups that won't ruin your records.

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dauchande@reddit

I use spotify for daily use and I’ve started collecting vinyl lately, the problem is that just playing a vinyl record damages it (unlike say cds). So the cost to get a modern turntable (say a Fluance) is north of $500. I buy vinyl in hopes that one day I’ll have a couple of thousand free to buy a good turntable system to play them.

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GlobalTapeHead@reddit

Vinyl is the preferred format for audiophiles. I’m not claiming to be one, but I listen to vinyl records at home , as well as reel to reel tapes and CDs. I have a pretty large and traditional stereo setup. I only listen to compressed music on the go.

I only do streaming on occasion. I already own all the music I like.

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italyqt@reddit

Spotify, if I can’t stream it I will probably not listen to it. Before Spotify I used Satellite radio, before that CDs, and before that tapes.

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ARoomWith@reddit

I will be 53 next month and I am a casual vinyl buyer. I have maybe 200 records that I've collected over the last 25 years. Sometimes, I just like the process.

I have a ton of CDs but haven't bought any in a long time. I mostly use streaming.

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Repulsive-Tea6974@reddit

CDs, vinyl records, Bandcamp, Amazon Music.

If you can’t understand why anyone would listen to vinyl and only stream then you’re just not into music.

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qedpoe@reddit

Rob Gordon here, back on his high horse! 😂

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BlackMile47@reddit

Youtube Music. I've never even been on the Spotify app. I also own maybe 30 vinyl, because sometimes an album just lends itself to that medium, and it's nice to put on a record and enjoy it in my living room.

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KooBee79@reddit

I am a very late Gen X. Love Spotify, I stream most of my music. I also love vinyl because when I was little, that’s what Mum & Dad had. I love the odd imperfection of listening to a record. They have a smell to them, it just brings back memories of Dad playing us his favourites. I don’t have a big collection, I tend to borrow from Dad and then reluctantly return them haha

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robertwadehall@reddit

I was into cassettes as a teenager in the 80s then CDs in the late 80s through the 00s...been mostly MP3 then streaming since then. I tend to stream in the car (my older cars have CD players, my newer ones don't so it's mostly Sirius XM or streaming from my iPhone via Car Play).

At home, when I'm working in my office I stream from my phone to ear buds or a JBL bluetooth speaker. I do have a couple very nice home theater setups w/ CD players, record players, DVD players and surround sound in my living room and bed room...I still have over 500 CDs so I listen to music on CD often at home (or in my older cars). I have been dabbling in vinyl the last 15 years or so, and do listen occasionally to vinyl..mostly classic rock and I do enjoy sorting through vinyl in record stores now and then.

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Emunahd@reddit

Well…my uncle owned a record store in the 1970’s and I have about 250 albums that I love to listen to on the record player. Sounds great and it’s just for the joy of listening. Like, spending a couple of hours in a Sunday morning just listening to records and having coffee.

The rest of the time, XM radio, Pandora, Apple Music.

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Useful-Badger-4062@reddit

You’re my kind of people.

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Emunahd@reddit

Let’s get t-shirts!

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Useful-Badger-4062@reddit

gif

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A-rizzle70@reddit

I have been listening to vinyl since the 90s. I bought a technics 1200 and a phono preamp to relive my childhood. I also listen to Spotify at the gym, in the garden, and in the car.

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architecht13@reddit

Over the last two years, I have started getting back into CDs and records. I prefer the sound of both formats to streaming services, but have found a way to fit all three into my routine.

Physical media satisfies the tactile itch my brain enjoys that streaming just can't scratch. It's a process that leads to what I feel can be a really nice time.

Bonus if I have some nice whiskey to throw over ice and sip on.

As for younger kids, try not to be so hard on them. They're keeping a format alive and getting some enjoyment from it - who am I, or anyone else to tell them they shouldn't be into records.

Next foray is grabbing a minidisc deck so I can enjoy all the minidisc crap in the garage!

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JazzfanRS@reddit

I like the convenience and space saving digital, but I do miss the album cover culture.

Ten years ago I ripped about 30 CD's to my computer. And found a Windows program to connect directly to streaming radio stations. No web browser, no listener algorithms. Still have a turntable for a component sound system I used 10 years ago to convert some obsolete and obscure LPs to digital I couldn't find in any other format at the time.

I recently heard 'Barney Google' (1923) on my favorite old time streaming radio station. They mustve either had a digitally remastered (God I hope not) copy or a pristine 78 rpm record and set up.

Either way it didn't sound right without the crackling and pops I recall hearing it on my Grandmother's Victrola.

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Useful-Badger-4062@reddit

What’s the old time streaming station you listen to?

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JazzfanRS@reddit

Arctice Outpost Radio - Spinning the 78's | Arctic Outpost Radio AM1270

https://radio.streemlion.com:3715/stream is the direct streaming URL for media player applications.

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Useful-Badger-4062@reddit

Oooooh, thank you!

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DorothyJade@reddit

Tidal & Vinyl

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Jimmy-the-Knuckle@reddit

Same way I have since Napster: cheapest model possible online and if I like it enough, I buy the album on cd.

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CallMeSisyphus@reddit

I'm strictly team Spotify, but my Gen Z son has developed a love for vinyl, and he's always on the lookout for vintage albums to add to the collection I gave him when I moved across the country.

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kimmycorn1969@reddit

I gave away all my records lol damn I had so many but I stream Apple Music now it has everything

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ImmediateBug2@reddit

I do most of my listening via Apple Music, but I do have a growing vinyl collection as well.

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Rungi500@reddit

I am a colored vinyl collector. I don't have a record player, yet. I had a decent system as a teen but never had the opportunity to get many colored disks.

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AlarmedTelephone5908@reddit

Oh, man. As a Gen Xer almost old enough to be a Boomer, I never dissuade vinyl!

Heck, I started collecting used vinyl during the 90s when Cds and stealing music from the internet was the norm, lol.

I don't remember when vinyl wasn't "cool," really. People continued to buy it after regular CD use, and since then, you have buyers from every generation alive.

Sadly, some of my main music consumption comes off television drug ads!

Carry on, lil generations!

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blink18zz@reddit

I still have some vinyls from pre-2000 era and listen to them from time to time. It's a nostalgic experience - no internet, you own the media, warm sound with all those hiss and scratches on 90s sound system.
Would I make a vinyl collection in 2025? No thanks, streaming is more practical. These days, I just listen to music on my crappy phone speaker and don't really care about sound quality anymore.

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moon_goddess_420@reddit

I have a Bluetooth speaker for the house and I listen to Sirius or Amazon prime music. In my car, mostly Sirius.

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MoogProg@reddit

CDs and vinyl preserve the track spacing of the original releases. Streaming services have gaps and volume leveling that changes things to a small degree.

Not a big deal, but it's there. So, when the listening experience is a destination event, it can be good to have that hardware interaction to bind things together into one... album.

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Epilogueshift@reddit

I listen to SiriusXM in the car, MP3s on my iPod, or Spotify. My dad had a big vinyl collection growing up. By the time I started collecting music, cassettes were popular, and then came CDs.

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deliriouswheat@reddit

Apple Music 80% of the time, but I try to buy music and vinyl via Bandcamp because it mostly goes to the band/artist.

I also started a vinyl collection a few years back and like to get maybe my top 10% via vinyl. It’s just a more intentional experience and I don’t jump around like I would on the phone.

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9inez@reddit

Not everyone is focused on the efficiency of how music gets into your ears…just like many of us enjoy a manual transmission over the efficient computer controlled automatic shifting of gears in our vehicles.

As someone who lived through the vinyl to digital era, I still have and spin around 250 vinyl LPs, now located and played in my office space. Visitors enjoy checking them out. They often create a nice personal connection that facilitates business related conversation.

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helena_handbasketyyc@reddit

I love collecting vinyl and I DJ on vinyl. I have a small set up at home, and I love the tactile experience of relaxing while sifting through my collection.

I stream music while I work though

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nerfherded@reddit

GenX casual vinyl record purchaser here. Believe it.

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ElkIntelligent5474@reddit

I prefer records although I do not have them anymore. I will let you know why people still listen to vinyl, you can hear all of the slight intonations in the music. For example, Three Days by Jane's Addiction, in the second guitar build up, the guitarist hits the highest reverb note and when I listened to it on a tape from a record recording, it would send chills up my spine, but with the cd recording, due to the 'pixilation of the music, this peak was flattened.

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ElkIntelligent5474@reddit

Also, spotify is for dummies. I can make my own playlists thank you very much.

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HammerMeUp@reddit

Mostly Spotify and have a Sonos speaker in every room.

I wasn't a big vinyl fan. A few years ago I bought a few favorite albums thinking I'd frame them. Then I found an old unused player for cheap and listened to them. Hit up a new record store that specializes in metal and really enjoyed it. I realized I missed going to music stores and finding cool music. Next thing I know is that buying more often. The sound quality was lacking so I Invested in a decent Pro-ject player and some nice Klipsch speakers. Holy shit I loved it! Now I'm a vinyl guy.

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Juanfartez@reddit

With my ears, duh! 🤪

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wyocrz@reddit

Spotify, exactly because I am into Middle Eastern music at the moment.

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Affectionate_Yak8519@reddit

Vinyl has been the top selling physical media for a while. It doesn't matter what generation either as everyone of all ages seems to be into it. Personally I'm waiting for cds to come back because they sound better than streaming or digital. Also Gen Z has been into cassettes which is insane to me as they're the crappiest physical media there is

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dudetellsthetruth@reddit

Gen X

I never ever considered to get rid of my records, reels, cassettes, CD's or Minidisks.

Those are my time capsules and I really do enjoy to play them and sit back and relax.

Spotify is for in the car, in the gym or while at work.

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dzbuilder@reddit

I listen to Pandora. I stream radio stations I like. And I buy digital music to take with me everywhere including where there is no service. I have about 90 albums on my phone and I buy new ones at the rate of 1.5 per month.

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Jwheat71@reddit

I stream a lot of music, but I also play a lot of music from CDs. I work from home and have a decent stereo in my office that I listen to everyday.

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DTM-shift@reddit

About once a year, I tell myself I'm going to figure out how to convert vinyl to MP3 or some other digital format using the equipment I already have, and then use some editing software to break it down into tracks. And every year, I instead go to used record and book stores and look for the CDs of the vinyl albums. And then rip them so I can use them on the phone and laptop. May eventually go the bandcamp route for some of this.

Around 700 ripped CDs, plus streaming stuff for free on the radio.net app. No plans to pay for any music streaming service.

My turntable is hooked up but I haven't used it in a year or more, an old DJ classic Technics SL-1200 MkII. should probably replace the stylus one of these years.

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bungle094@reddit

Apple Music, Sirius, the Relisten app if I want to listen to Phish or Dead, and I’ll buy like a cd every year or two if it’s a favorite artist putting something out (Opeth, Municipal Waste, Pig Destroyer). I’m 52 so I grew up on KISS vinyl, then cassettes in the 80s, then cds in the 90s up until about 200-something. If I had the money and room I’d love to get into vinyl, especially with all the special colored editions.

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ChrisPollock6@reddit

Mostly on CD, I’ve never streamed any music, mpd or iPod.

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WimpyZombie@reddit

What I really miss about vinyl albums is the cover art, liner notes and sometimes unique novelty things some records had. Like....the vinyl album cover to the Rolling Stones' "Sticky Fingers" had an actual working zipper on the jeans.

It used to be so much fun coming home from the record store, running up to my bedroom, putting the headphones on, putting the album on and settling in to read all the album notes and lyrics while I listened.

I do not miss needing to replace the stylus/needle on the record player or when albums got really scratched.

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JazzfanRS@reddit

In high school I got deep into Alan Parsons Project and would do this. Try to figure out what the overall theme each of their concept albums were. Some were easy, some were really subtle but when you get it it really makes sense.

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schmearcampain@reddit

Streaming only. All physical media is long gone.

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Missyado@reddit

I like to own my music but a lot of artists are only issuing either digital or vinyl, so vinyl it is. I still have my CDs but my home CD player has become tempermental so at the moment I listen to CDs primarily in the car.

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sharkycharming@reddit

I mostly listen via Spotify, too -- I love to make playlists (just as I loved to make mix CDs in college, and mix tapes since I was in junior high). But listening on vinyl is more of a ritual than streaming on random. I do enjoy occasionally putting on a special LP and really listening, with more intention than I do otherwise. It's as close as I get to meditating. (I find real meditation absolutely repugnant and boring as hell.)

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Narrow_Market_7454@reddit

Cassette sales have exceeded vinyl recently btw.

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Thorazine1980@reddit

Loud ! I love it loud ,right between the eyes ….kiss

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Infinite-Ask-7285@reddit

Headphones all day, every day. Downloaded from Amazon, Apple, Shazam, et cetera. Everything from classic music to yacht rock to rap and you would never guess the different genres of podcasts. Surprised I don’t have more ear infections.

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Negative_Corner6722@reddit

Mainly Apple Music for me, still have a ton of CDs and cassettes that get no use anymore, and when I go visit my mom (who lives in the house my grandparents lived in all my life) I listen to vinyl. But that’s more of a nostalgia thing because I listened to it with Grandma.

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HPLoveBux@reddit

Little Crosley players are a joke

You need a full high with full range treble and bass and speakers that can separate right from left

If you have full frequency playback … then they don’t sound “better”

But if you do … it’s magic

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HatesDuckTape@reddit

Yup. If you’re listening to records on something like that, all it does is sound slightly better than a cheap Bluetooth speaker at best. It’s just stupid hipster shit.

I’ve got what most people would call an expensive stereo with a solid turntable. I don’t listen to vinyl predominantly, but do every now and then.

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HPLoveBux@reddit

Families had a stereo or entertainment center once upon a time…

Those setups were commonplace but they had all the bass and treble with speakers apart— which is the true listening experience

A little plastic player with one 4 inch speaker

Is just silly

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HatesDuckTape@reddit

Gotta have the proper setup. I even see speakers placed completely wrong in the audiophile sub. Properly spaced speakers is like 75% of the battle.

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WilliePullout@reddit

I have the collections from 3 people original vinyl. I have a record player that runs though my computer.

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Doismelllikearobot@reddit

I (51m) have just over 100 albums, of bands I love and few that were given to me from various in-laws over time. They're so beautiful to experience even without playing. Modern-day LPs come with so many things inside of them.

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Simple-Purpose-899@reddit

Plexamp playing FLAC fikesy. Vinyl will always be inferior to high quality lossless digital.

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battlesong1972@reddit

I listen mostly on streaming/Sirius, but I have a vinyl collection that I still add to and listen to. It’s my CDs that basically never see the light of day anymore. I also agree with many of the people here that streaming helps with finding new things to listen to.

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Important_Call2737@reddit

At this point in my life I won’t buy anything that I can rent including music. I don’t have space in my townhome to have mono amps and standing speakers not to mention my neighbors would not be happy with loud music. So most of the time I am using some kind of small Bluetooth, headphones or ceiling Sonos and the sound range on those is mediocre so having CDs doesnt matter.

I think that vinyl was always a cool thing but it has to be your thing given it takes up so much space. It was popularized in High Fidelity and Suits. If I was younger I might think about vinyl for my favorite bands and music but at this age I am not going to start collecting anything new.

I burned all my CDs digitally.

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mystery_biscotti@reddit

Mostly the MP3s on my phone and computer. I can't stand all the damn streaming services. It's like either I can subscribe (ugh) to pay for uninterrupted music each month that I don't get to keep, and not get to hear the stuff I actually want, or I can keep albums.

I try to buy physical media for movies. The streaming services can rescind your license for a movie they host at any time. Plus, Internet outages can happen. Why let greedy corporations house and curate my music? Screw that.

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Razzmatazz6314@reddit

I was the same way too. I eventually caved and got the family plan for Spotify.

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HoldMyDevilHorns@reddit

I collect vinyls. I find it annoying when people say vinyl is making a comeback. Lol. People have been saying that for decades. Truth is, it never really went away. But, I allow myself one vinyl purchase per month. Of course, I make the rules and I also know how to break the rules.

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Ok_Researcher_9796@reddit

I went through a tape collection, then a CD collection. Then I ripped all my CDs onto my computer and started using a flash drive. Within the last 3 or 4 years I pretty much just stream everything. My kids just use Spotify, although my 17 year old begged for a record player. So I got her one with some records she wanted. She used it like 5 times and now it's collecting dust.

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velvet42@reddit

Mostly, I listen to music via mp3 and YouTube. That said, I absolutely listen to vinyl and will still pick up records at resale shops if I see something that strikes my fancy. And I would not consider myself a "serious collector", either. I don't care about a record's value (at least not as a deciding factor for purchasing it) I just care that it's something I want to listen to

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Superb-Ag-1114@reddit

I live in a small-ish townhome, but if I had the room I would totally have one of those big 1970s record player/8 track player/radio consoles and a big record collection just for the nostalgia aspect. The pops and crackles are part of my childhood soundtrack. Music hits different when you listen to the songs in order while reading the album cover. But yes, I have a Spotify subscription and appreciate the convenience of that too.

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Razzmatazz6314@reddit

At one point I was looking around for one of those to refurbish/modernize. In the end I opted for a more modern LP/CD/Cassette player that has an old timey look.

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Oliviasfool@reddit

I miss that hiss.

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GuitarHeroInMyHead@reddit

I do not understand nostalgia for something that generation never had. I get our generation pining for the days of LPs, but my 20-something kids never ever had LPs, never played them or likely even saw them. By that point, my record collection was packed away in boxes. They had CDs - not LPs. I would get if they wanted CDs again.

LPs are never coming back to what they were - specifically because they cost $40 a piece! It will be a limited, niche thing for artists to try to make some money off their music.

I listen exclusively through streaming. For less than the cost of 50% of an LP today, you can have access to basically all the music in the world. Who needs pops, crackles, the storage hassle and the cost of the equipment for LPs?

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Razzmatazz6314@reddit

While the majority of my music listening is Spotify and Youtube (while I'm working), I have been growing my record collection. I'm a younger Gen X and grew up with tapes then CDs, but remember my dad's collection so it started there about 20 years ago. Now I build it up because it's tangible, plus when I go to a concert I can grab a vinyl to help support the band or I can find $1-5 vinyls at the flea market.

The younger generation that's grown up with iPods and Spotify do make a large part of the market now because it is foreign to them. My 14 year old Gen A has acquired most of my CDs and tapes to listen to in her room and is starting to build up her own physical media collection. Last night she was listening to an old Chris Isaak tape when I told her it was time for bed.

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DarthDiggler501@reddit

Pretty much only in the car and it's almost always lithium on Sirius xm. If im are home and want to hear something, I open the YouTube app on my TV and search "full album" followed by the band name.

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Flux_My_Capacitor@reddit

Plenty of music can only be found on those older formats. You just don’t understand this as you listen to only popular crap that’s available via streaming.

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GrandElectronic9471@reddit

My wife and I (53 & 47) just upgraded our record player because we listened to it so much. We stared listening to records again a few years ago on a whim and now our collection is pushing 100 albums. We love it.

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starksfergie@reddit

I never got rid of my childhood vinyl and about 15 years ago it became bigger to us again. We still listen to records on weekends and just listen to iTunes/Apple through our computers while we work (both of us from home). So I have about 60,000 songs in iTunes (from ripping from cds, we have about 6,000 cds still in the house but over 2,100 records now too). We do not pay for Spotify or Apple Music as we know what we like and pursue it as opposed from just listening to other people's mixes (we make our own) ;)

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Msteele315@reddit

I listen to a lot of my music on Sirius XM or mp3.

When I do listen to physical media music, I have a home stereo setup that includes cassette, CD, and vinyl options. I rarely choose vinyl or cassette. It's just too much hassle. I would rather play a CD.

But I can understand why people might gravitate to vinyl. There's just something about it. Large album cover artwork, that sound of the needle, the mechanical aspect. You have no choice but to be fully engaged. It's like driving a car with a manual transmission in 2025.

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Zealousideal_Set_874@reddit

Vinyl is the way.

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Any_Pudding_1812@reddit

i still collect vhs :) and books … and Vinyl.
For some of us having a physical bit of plastic that contains the music, encased in cover art still feels kinda magical.

but day to day i use itunes or whatever it’s called now and have all my music digitalised or digital and blue tooth from my phone or computer. I don’t stream from a service. seems even if it’s data i collect that also. streaming feels like renting. even back in the rental video era as a kid (12) i stopped renting and got a beta player and bought ex rental tapes as the stores made the transition to only vhs and sold off stock.

so yeah. i’m a collector. :)

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agentmkultra666@reddit

I also collect VHS! Also cassette tapes, and I have a small record collection.
I agree, I like to own my music/movies. I went to go play one of my playlists off Spotify at work and I discovered a bunch of the songs had been removed, boooo

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tecg@reddit

I almost exclusively use YouTube for playing music these days. We have some Christmas music CDs that we play during the season, but that's the only time I'm still using CDs.

I kind of get the fascination with vinyl - I do have a little bit of nostalgia for them, but not enough to actually build a collection. The sound quality is poor though. The biggest draw are the album covers, which can be fantastic works of art in their own right. That was the only thing that was truly lost in the switch from records to CDs - the much smaller CD covers just aren't the same.

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Deedeelite@reddit

Youtube music. I'm loving this part of the digital age.

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Mathchick99@reddit

I stream and have vinyl

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DecemberPaladin@reddit

Usually Youtube in the car (phone face down—safety first). Two years ago we got a Bluetooth record player, and we have a small collection. We like to go out on Record Store Day, just to see what they have.

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PopeCerebus@reddit

I enjoy the ritual of listening to vinyl. It makes me pay attention to the music more, be more involved in the experience.

I do have most everything I own digitized onto a server that I access with Sonos/Plex. Thousands of cds, vinyl, downloads, and some cassettes are on there and as long as I have internet connection I can access them anywhere I go.

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jasnel@reddit

iTunes via Bluetooth in my car.
Streaming iTunes from my computer at work.
Pandora on the living room TV.
Vinyl on the living room record player.
CDs on the living room CD player.

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CompleteService8593@reddit

57 and still collect vinyl and CD’s, couple thousand of each. I use a fairly high end 2 ch system to listen to in a treated room. I do stream as well but mostly due to convenience and time constraints. I also have a substantial library of lossless music on various HD’s, but I’ve noticed I’m not using as much.

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MotherOf4Jedi1Sith@reddit

I have vinyl. I love hearing the crackling of the needle on the album. It's so nostalgic for me.

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ExtraAd7611@reddit

I don't use spotify but when I've heard other people play it, it seems to crank through the hits as a radio station would, which leaves a lot of music unlistened to. You can listen to a lot more songs from an artist by playing an entire long-playing (LP) album.

For a similar reason, if I were a musician, I would play my biggest hits first, rather than saving them for dessert. Then once the casual listeners have heard their songs and left, the serious listeners who will enjoy the rest of the album can move up front and take their seats. And then maybe play one or two of them a second time for dessert.

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Relative-Scholar3385@reddit

I dont have any vinyl but I am glad I still have plenty of my old CD's. I like having a hard copy of my music. Streaming is great but sometimes a song will be removed from an album, Im assuming because of licensing or who knows what.

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CyndiIsOnReddit@reddit

I listen almost exclusively on Youtube on my PC browser with some really good speakers, just a playlist mostly or I'll explore suggested videos. I love playing it so loud the neighbors cringe. (everyone around here does!)

I don't own any form of playable media or a stereo and haven't held a record in my hands in 30 years. My oldest friend is a volunteer radio DJ and she has an extensive record collection, mostly from the 60s-80s. But when she plays music on the station I can hear it's sometimes scratchy if I tune in to their online station. She thinks it adds character. I think it sounds scratchy.

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splorp_evilbastard@reddit

I listen to a terrestrial radio station, mostly. I have an Echo hooked up to my Sonos speakers I use for my main TV to play music. I have an Echo hooked up to a pair of Anker speakers in the bathroom. I use the Echo to play the radio station. I have my 30 year old Kenwood receiver & EQ in my office hooked up to a pair of floor speakers. My car is a 2012, so it's just terrestrial radio (there is a CD player, but I don't use it).

I have a CD collection that I've ripped (around 400 discs) and additional MP3s that I've 'acquired' (4900ish tracks, total). I mostly listen to those when I do my work outs (treadmill, cable weight machine, or outside runs). I've got those MP3s on my phone, my desktop computer, and 2 cloud services (YouTube Music and iBroadcast).

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maddog2271@reddit

I followed a similar trajectory. I still kept my CD collection of jazz and blues music, got rid of almost everything else. I still have a disc player. But 95% of my listening is streaming. I like old audiophile stuff but I am not one of those folks, and I am old enough to remember the suck of carrying a walkman and tapes. as far as I am concerned Spotify is one of the best things to ever happen to me.

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Appropriatelylazy@reddit

I prefer records but have no real issues with other formats. (I have never been a fan of the word vinyl though...)

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nyouhas@reddit

Usually I’ll stream through YouTube with ublock origin, but every now again I’ll break out the turntable and put on some Herb Alpert or Stones

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schec1@reddit

Mostly mp3’s or similar, when the ipod first came out I ripped my entire cd collection to my iTunes. My library gets moved to all my phones. I still buy new albums off ITunes or whatever it’s called now. After my last move (10ish years ago) I decided to sell off my vinyl collection, I pretty much I downloaded everything in it to my library since it’s easier to consume than vinyl. I do also use free Spotify to checkout new artists.

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Sitting_pipe@reddit

Why Vinyl Records Are Considered Superior by Some Listeners

1. Analog Sound

Vinyl records store sound as an analog wave, which captures the full original signal. Digital formats sample the sound, which can lose detail. This can result in a more natural or "warmer" sound on vinyl.

2. Physical Interaction

Using a vinyl record requires manual steps: removing the record, placing it on the turntable, and lowering the needle. This creates a more intentional listening experience.

3. Larger Artwork and Packaging

Vinyl packaging is larger, allowing for full-size album art, readable liner notes, and other inserts. This provides more visual and tactile engagement.

4. Dynamic Range

Many vinyl releases preserve more dynamic range, while digital formats—especially streaming—are often compressed for loudness, which reduces contrast between quiet and loud parts.

5. Permanent Ownership

Vinyl records are physical and not tied to any digital license. They can’t be removed from a library due to licensing issues or file corruption.

6. Encourages Full Album Listening

Because skipping tracks is more difficult than on digital players, vinyl encourages listening to full albums in order, as they were sequenced by the artist.

7. Community and Culture

There is a global community centered around vinyl collecting, trading, and audio gear. This supports a shared appreciation for music as a hobby.

8. Durability

With proper care, vinyl records can last many decades. Older records from the mid-20th century are still playable today.

9. Higher-Quality Audio Systems

Vinyl listeners often use higher-quality playback equipment, such as dedicated amplifiers and speakers, which can improve the listening experience.

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w3woody@reddit

I buy my albums from Apple iTunes Music, though I do stream music from Apple--mostly as a sort of 'browsing'. I like owning my music for some reason.

I have thought, at times, of buying a record player and setting up an amp in my home office--but (a) I don't have the space, and (b) a lot of the music I've recently started listing to isn't really available in record format. And the stuff that is, is eiter really expensive specialty pieces, or can really only be found by scrounging things like garage sales.

Which means collecting vinyl sounds more like a hobby than it does a way to listen to music.

And to be fair, unless you are very very serious about your sound--like "rearranging the room to make it accoustically favorable, mounting your speakers properly at ear level, and using accoustics software to properly correct for room-induced distortion" serious, you're just buying some really expensive shit for no reason at all.

That doesn't even get into the fact that my hearing, over years of hearing loud noises, is shit. Meaning even in a very well balanced accoustically perfect room I'm probably not telling the difference between a $100k system and a first-gen Apple HomePod.

So I'm sticking to the HomePod and playing MP3s from my computer.

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ComicsEtAl@reddit

I filter music through the crickets who live in my ear.

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No_Dependent_8346@reddit

Man, I wish I had my old collection, 23 milk crates, alphabetized

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Then-Raspberry6815@reddit

For Vinyl we have a late 50s jukebox, four turntables (one to USB to record mp3s.) We have a couple cassette decks, multiple CD players (one 300 CD changer), 8 track studio recorder/player, six reel to reel player/recorders, Roland & Pioneer DJ set up, & to many instruments to list, from banjos, guitars and keyboards to modular rack systems, samplers, etc...) listening to or creating music in many formats has always been a big part of my life. Our Vinyl collection is around 20,000, thousands of cds and cassettes.

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Useful-Badger-4062@reddit

One of our household goals is to someday have a cool jukebox.

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TheRiverIsMyHome@reddit

I'm younger gen x. I have a decent collection of vinyl. I'm pretty particular about what I buy though. Most of it was my dad's. The care he took of those albums and our wonderful memories associated with them is why I have them. I don't listen to them as often as I do streaming, it's an intentional act.

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73DodgeDart@reddit

I buy vinyl mostly because I am a collector and the fun collectibles are all released on vinyl. I have always felt like cds provide the best sound but when I A/B tested some ripped CD tracks against the same Spotify stream and couldn’t tell them apart I stopped buying most CDs. I still go to my favorite record store for Record Store Day and to buy blu-rays as the quality of a blu-ray is still better to my ears and eyes than most streaming services. Shout out to Soundsations in Westchester, CA!

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djunderh2o@reddit

If one wants to get into vinyl, that’s fine. I’m not into buying shit that takes up boxes and boxes.

I listen to Pandora. 20ish stations on shuffle. I don’t pay for ad-free.

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omhound@reddit

YouTube Music is my go-to for music. I still have my CD collection from years ago, can't let them go, I paid a lot of money for them.

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endlesssearch482@reddit

I had a huge cassette collection in the 80s that turned to CDs in the mid-90s, then I got an iPod in 2007 (always a little behind the times, you may note), then in 2016 I discovered EDM. That’s when SoundCloud and iTunes became my primary source for music. I listen at the club, I listen on my Shokz, i listen at home, I listen in my car…. I love to dance every chance I get. Heading off to Ibiza in a couple weeks to dance my booty off.

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lgramlich13@reddit

My husband (a boomer,) and I both still have and listen to our records, cassettes, and CDs (but mostly the latter.) I have a few digital music files that are largely inconvenient to listen to.

I also still have a bootleg 8-track of The Jackson 5ive's Greatest Hits somewhere in the house, but no longer have a player for it.

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welltravelledRN@reddit

It’s vintage now! Everything from back then is cool again, and I’m here for it!

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ShyChiBaby@reddit

Spotify, I quit collecting shit years ago. I can't imagine a world where I want to sift through crates of records instead of just pushing a button and being able to listen to all of them at once. I think kids just really enjoy collecting shit whether it's records, cassettes, CDs, or DVDs.

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Squigglepig52@reddit

I refuse to pay for any kind of streaming, video or music.

I just transfer my old CDs to my PC.

Also -I know a lot of GenX with record collections, even now.

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ChavoDemierda@reddit

I stream everything.

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TimeAndMotion2112@reddit

I listen to cassettes vinyl and streaming. Still have my CDs but the other physical formats are just more fun.

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Novel_Willingness721@reddit

Very much like you (53M). my parents both vinyl, I mostly made mix tapes listening to the radio with my figure on the record button.

I got my first CD player and CD for high school graduation (1989, Fine Young Cannibals FYI 😁). From that point I did a lot of Columbia Records purchasing of CDs.

When MP3s became a thing I jumped on board, ripping all my CDs to MP3. Had an iPod. Then the iPhone came with an iPod built in. I mainly listen via my collection of MP3s, and I have a subscription to Apple Music, that I freely download from on a regular basis.

I’ve tried services like pandora and Spotify but I just don’t get the variety of music I want without a ton of work I’ve already done with iTunes and Apple Music.

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216_412_70@reddit

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Secret-Asian-Man-76@reddit

Records, CDs, MP3s and streaming. I don't do cassette tapes as I don't have a functioning tape deck, but I still have all the old mix tapes I made back in the 90s.

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Alpacadiscount@reddit

For those of us who like a wide variety of music outside the mainstream, the amount of music that is unavailable to stream is MASSIVE.

I still buy vinyl and CDs all the time because oftentimes it’s the only way to hear it.

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TickingTheMoments@reddit

Im 53 years old as well. My musical journey is very similar to yours. Vinyl, AR, cassette, CD, streaming and full circle back to vinyl. I’ve got a modest collection.

For myself, listening to music on vinyl versus streaming is a kid to reading a physical book and reading an e-book or audiobook. It’s tangible. It’s something you can hold and experience physically.

The other thing, for me, about vinyl and other physical media is that I own a copy of the music. streaming services can decide at any time they want to make a particular piece of media I want to listen to you unavailable. That physical copy is the license for me to play the music. I don’t have to worry about terms and conditions, other than not playing it for commercial purposes. The only way they’re ever getting that music from me is when they pride it from my Cold dead fingers. Or I decide to sell it or give it to my son who will most likely have no interest in it & sell it.

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Blkrabbitofinle1601@reddit

I don’t do vinyl but I also don’t do streaming. Have a massive cd and mp3 collection, mostly played through a 120GB iPod that is 95% full.

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bike619@reddit

With my ears.

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bemenaker@reddit

whatever

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IanCogno@reddit

Vinyl is an awful way to collect music. I stream because; I don’t have to store it, clean it, maintain it. It won’t warp or scratch and it will sound the same each time I play it

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Strong_Molasses_6679@reddit

Any media, loud, and at least two speakers!

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bigmedallas@reddit

I listen to music rather than listen to gear, that said I have lots of gear. I do listen to Spotify on my laptops and phones either on wired headphones or wireless earbuds and also via a wired dac on 2 systems or wireless Chromecast Audios plugged into 6 systems (3 in the home area and 3 in the work area). I have about 1800 CDs and maybe 50 vinyl records. All of the CDs and Vinyl are all ripped and hosted locally on a TrueNAS server so I can access it all easily. I still have a portable CD player, iPods, a mobile Minidisc player, I would guess out of convenience I listen to Spotify 60% and my higher quality sources 40% of the time.

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BakeSoggy@reddit

I got a record player for Christmas and I'm slowly rebuilding my grandma's 8 track collection on vinyl. So far, I've got Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. I'm looking for Led Zeppelin 2, Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland (Grandma had the version with the naked women on the cover, which was really something for an 11 year old boy on a sleepover), Jefferson Starship's Spitfire, The Kinks' Misfits, etc.

I don't know how or why, but vinyl records are having a major resurgence.

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OreoSpeedwaggon@reddit

I mostly listen to content streaming from Spotify these days, but I also have a flash drive full of songs in my car that I'll listen to as well and update occasionally. (I'm in the process now on ripping my entire CD collection to a 1 TB flash drive too.)

It works for me because I like convenience. However, I don't admonish anyone for preferring different formats. Some people love vinyl records and that's totally cool. They have a unique sound, so I totally get that. Cassette tapes and portable players like Walkmans are coming back now too. After that, I'm sure CDs will see a resurgence. People like what they like and there's nothing wrong or bad about any of it.

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DIYnivor@reddit

I mostly stream online radio stations now.

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TangerineLily@reddit

I do miss the artwork from Vinyl records...

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Reasonable_Loquat874@reddit

I am Gen X and listen to a combo of vinyl albums and Spotify streaming. Spotify 100% for car and on-the-go. At home it’s about 50/50 vinyl/streaming and mostly depends on where I’m at in the house. I have a turntable in my office/den and my elementary aged kid has a record player in their room that gets used almost daily.

I have a massive CD collection that has not been touched in at least 15 years. At some point I’ll show those to my kid and get them a CD player to explore with.

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AnitaPeaDance@reddit

I do not understand the appeal of vinyl. The only use I see for them is to keep the meaning of the record scratch sound effect relevant.

I like to buy the CDs so I own a physical copy of the music. I copy the CDs to our digital collection where I can access it from different computers and my ipod.

I have a strong aversion to subscription services.

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JellyfishOther339@reddit

Scott Dudelson, who had spent 25 years building his vinyl collection, lost his entire collection of over 8,000 records in the Palisades fire. He was able to salvage some records from his ex-wife's home where they were temporarily stored

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AwwwBawwws@reddit

My Huge stash of compact discs turned into a huge stash of mp3s. I uploaded them to Google music a long, long time ago. Other mp3s, collected from "places" (oink.me being a major culprit) sit in a network connected NAS.

YouTube music for most listening.

I have a few dozen records from my teen years, mostly collectible type stuff. No tapes, other than about a dozen mixers I saved from the late 80s.

I do have a few 8 tracks I kept from my mother's stash.

A few mini-discs from shows I bootlegged, long since turned to mp3.

No wax drums, and no, I'm not in the market.

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Disastrous_Drag6313@reddit

Am into electronic dance music, collect vinyl because that's how my music gets played still.

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Decent_Can_4639@reddit

Considering picking up a second-hand NAD3020, a Technics 1200 turntable and some good bookshelf speakers. Plan is to actively listen to albums back-to-back a sort of a digital detox.

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NullRazor@reddit

I stream my music digitally, but I most often stream entire albums, and listen to each track in order as they appear on the record.

I sometimes will start a streamed "Station" using a seed song, and that is how I am introduced to new music. When I find someone new I like, I then listen to their entire album to get a better feel for the music/artist.

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Efficient-Hornet8666@reddit

Pretty much strictly digital audio and streaming only these days. I’m not re-doing my music collection every decade to have physical media. I’ve never gotten the appeal of vinyl, myself, anyway.
I have some low level hearing loss in one ear, so I really don’t need the highest quality possible to just enjoy the music. Most of the time I just listen in mono with one headphone in. But, sometimes, I’ll switch the player to stereo and drop the other one and let it just do its thing.

But, yeah, no desire to change the setup i have now…except for the fact that I’d like to have my old iPod classic back in working order.

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Survive1014@reddit

I ditched my vinyl about 12 years ago. Got tired of lugging around after two moves in a row.

I keep my first pressings, but gave the rest to friends who would appreciate them.

I am fully digital now.

I occasionally pine for the clarity that vinyl brings, but I enjoy decluttering so much more.

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Kilgore47@reddit

(fuck streaming, its an industry / technology that has helped to kill the music business, they dont pay shit to artists except the top 5%, its an unsustainable business model for artists / musicians.

I'm 52, I was mostly like you when I was young I never bought vinyl, I thought it was dead, you couldnt have payed me to own records in my teens / 20's, & 30's. I was always very into music and had hundreds of CDs but as the music industry died in the last 20 years and all my CDs got scratched up and held very little resale value, compared to vinyl, I started going to thrift stores and collecting vinyl, replacing a lot of the music that I owned on CD over the years for $1-3 each. I appreciate owning mp3s to play on my phone or computer and have converted most of my CDs to mp3s, but collecting vinyl is a much more rewarding way of owning music.

About 10 years ago, itunes deleted 1/3 of my music library because its proprietary now- even though I had converted it from CD. I didnt own a lot of the CDs anymore, because I had sold it to record stores to free up space- its all about owning physical media for me now. I ended up getting a lot of that music back from friends and from burning CDs to mp3 that i had checked out of the local library (still a great place to get music).

Its a lot harder for me to find vinyl in thrift stores nowadays, but I'm addicted to thrifting and am still looking all the time, and I also sell vinyl on ebay. I'm much more invested in the listening experience when I play vinyl, and its all about taking good care of each record and curating a collection, which actually has resale value. I have records that are worth hundreds of $, that I paid a few dollars for at a thrift store. For me, the hobby reinforces the music appreciation.

A lot of my friends are lifelong musicians, and I've seen most of them struggle to make money from their talents and passion for music because streaming has changed the way people consume and listen to it and its so much harder to make any money from it. A couple of friends I grew up with have been very successful in the music business, I trip out on the disparity, between the friends that can make a living at it, and the friends that barely get by and have to do it as a hobby. Anyways, i love vinyl, and hate streaming

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riverfish72@reddit

90% of my listening is streaming now, 9% vinyl, 1% CD.

In HS I drove a 79 Chevette with a boom box on the passenger seat to listen to tapes. Then had a tape deck in vehicle until 2015 (tape deck and CD player 2002-2015). Still have both my cassette and CD collections (400-500 of each) but nothing hooked up at present for the tapes.

Hooked up CD player recently and will go through stuff with the kids, but we use the turntable a lot more, and will find some awesome stuff at the LIBRARY.

I found i missed the experience of listening to an album start-to-finish- just so easy to skip around streaming.

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AuntJibbie@reddit

WHAT??? Your GenX and don't see why anyone would still listen to vinyl?? 😳

The sound. The nostalgia. The feeling.

Dude.

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LordsOfWestminster@reddit

I still buy vinyl but it is typically a re-release or special edition of something i already have. New (or new to me) music is purchased on CD and then ripped to a file for listening. Streaming is for finding new music or convenience.

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7LeagueBoots@reddit

Rarely these days.

Sometimes I’ll put on an album or specific song on my computer, or use a streaming service as background, but that’s about it. Once in a while something on Youtube, but that completely screws up my feed, so I rarely do that.

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MaxwellEdison74@reddit

I sold all of my records and tapes at a garage sale about 20 years ago. Sometimes I wish I had kept them, but then I realize that I also have hundreds of CDs that I've taken with me from place to place over the years, and I don't listen to them. While I miss the experience of reading the liner notes while listening to an entire album, I thoroughly enjoy the convenience of being able to instantly stream any song or album I want to hear.

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HatesDuckTape@reddit

I refuse to stream because I don’t want to rent music. I don’t listen to much new stuff, so financially it’s also not worth it. I ripped all my CDs uncompressed a while back and stored them on a dedicated hard drive. I transfer whatever I want to hear on the go to my iPhone.

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AdSpiritual2594@reddit

I stopped enjoying music sadly. Not just the new music, seems to be all music. It’s become too over stimulating to me and cause anxiety. I either listen to an audio book, podcast, or nothing now.

Am I the only one with this condition? I used to love music and had huge sound systems at my house and in my cars.

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

Vinyl, CD's and stream at work. If I get lucky I am going to find a working 8 track player and put in the old car so listen to my parents old 8 tracks as well.

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Anonymo123@reddit

I still have my vinyl I got forever ago. My mom gave me her Beatles stuff which was nice. Otherwise it's streaming music on YouTube and sometimes the radio when I'm bored of YT.

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HoneyWyne@reddit

53 and I love my vinyl records. Always have.

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MyriVerse2@reddit

Mostly radio. Otherwise, MP3 player or digital files (mostly from CDs).

No vinyl. I hated it back in the 70s.

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seanner_vt2@reddit

Sirius XM, Spotify and SoundCloud are all I use.

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hanzobust75@reddit

I find listening to vinyl a hassle. I buy CDs that I then rip to my PC. This allows me to stream all my music

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TheJokersChild@reddit

Are your CDs just not on streaming?

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hanzobust75@reddit

No idea. I'm not paying for another service.

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WingZombie@reddit

I stream mostly but we have record Fridays in my house where we listen to vinyl. I’m a music lover and I found with streaming I listen with less intension and if just kind of becomes background soundtrack. When I listen to physical media I pay more attention, I look at the jackets and read the liner notes. It takes me back to how I listened growing up.

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Comfortable-Toe-863@reddit

We either chrome cast to our stereo or Spotify as it’s built into our amp, then we pass the iPad around and it’s meant to be 3 songs each! But I still have all my CD’s about one thousand, old vinyl and new vinyl and a box of mix tapes I made in the 80’s, and a good mate just gifted me an original boom box 😂

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nixtarx@reddit

All my life I wanted music on the go that didn't roll or skip while walking, running or driving. I don't miss pops, skips or transient noise at all. As far as compression goes, my hearing isn't good enough to tell the difference. I don't love what Spotify has done to the music industry, but as a consumer I can't say no.

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frank-sarno@reddit

I still buy CDs and albums to support the artists and have something physical but typically just stream everything. I have about 60 vinyl albums but don't have a turntable.

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Hall45Rox@reddit

I listen to music constantly! New and old, I love it. I like the idea of vinyl more than actually listening to vinyl. I am a CD baby.

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A_Legit_Salvage@reddit

I have friends that collect/listen to vinyl, but I basically just use Apple Music at this point, or Bandcamp sometimes. I grew up with cassetts and cds and going to local music stores for new and used stuff (and trading in like 20 things to get $2 off a new thing lol). There's part of that experience I miss...finding "new" music for me then was seeing new bands play before the headlining act or hearing about some new band from a friend. Now it's basically the "Discover" station on Apple Music...

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thejake1973@reddit

It’s a nice hobby to have, but it’s not for me. I get my stuff through Spotify and the ease of access is so nice. It has also grown my musical tastes much further than just going to a record store ever would have.

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dlc741@reddit

Streaming everything. I still have piles of vinyl but don’t listen to them. The only thing I miss about cassettes (and we have hundreds) are mixed tapes.

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om_hi@reddit

I have vinyl, CD, and digital. There's something about listening to jazz on vinyl on a rainy day. It's a vibe.😂

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0_fuks@reddit

Apple Music. When I’m talking to young people where I work I ask them what kind of music do they like. They take one look at me and almost always say that they like classic rock. I then tell them that I don’t believe them. I then ask them what music is playing when they get in their car. They always say rap lol.

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oldschool_potato@reddit

I followed almost that exact path. I do have a couple of friends that swear by vinyl and say the music is so much richer. I don't hear it. One of them I put in the poser category, but the other is an adult music purist. The guy lives in NYC now and goes to live shows almost weekly. Has had a ridiculous sound system as long as I've known him for 30* years. He'll listen to anything and doesn’t talk about vinyl being superior or even brings it up, but whenever have talked about it he just loves the feel.

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stizz14@reddit

I collect physical media. I can’t get into an album unless I have a physical copy in my hands. Most of my collection is nostalgia, lots of post punk, and music I grew up loving. I have found some new music I like and with the vinyl resurgence I can actually get new music on vinyl something I couldn’t say 20 years ago when it seemed that format was dead and I was forced to buy cd.

Also there are small labels pressing music that never really took off here (in America) like I found this band Sad lovers and Giants, they have an album Epic Garden Music. It’s from 81 and I’ve never heard it until this year. Thankfully that album was repressed and available in the states. No music No life homie

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Technical_Chemistry8@reddit

I love records. I love the ritual of digging through bargain bins at farmers markets and record stores, I love the applied magick of tripping through the gatefolds, perusing the liner notes, turning the records, and so forth.

I listen to spotify too, when I'm out and about and wearing earbuds, or in the car.

At home, when I'm alone? I'll take alchemy over algorithms any day.

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Altrebelle@reddit

I progressed through the stages as we all did...vinyl>cassettes>CDs>mp3s. Im not a fan of streaming...was pretty spotty when it first started. I hated not "owning" my music. I eventually went with a streaming service for convenience and for the family (the kids wanted something...best to keep it as a family plan😂) I didn't stop collecting music. While I'm not spending stupid amounts of money for audio gear...I do have a collection of in ear monitors and headphones for a capable desktop set up.

I do understand the vinyl sound some of the kids are after. There is a certain something there. My youngest (16) listens to vinyl at home...streams when she's out and about. I don't mind helping her with her "collection" especially now when she's got a part time job to save for a car.

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Donkeyshow3@reddit

With my ears

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CajunPlunderer@reddit

Most of my music is online as well now. But I inherited my parents vinyl (Beatles, Stones, that stuff). I've since gotten into picking up old classics at used shops. Nothing fancy or really collectible, just fun stuff to play at home.

As you said, it's more of a hobby than my main source.

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Chicagogirl72@reddit

My 24 and 19 year olds have a vinyl collection. I just tell Alexa what I want to hear

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udonbeatsramen@reddit

Mainly on streaming. CDs are all in the garage except for a selection from my favorite bands which is in the CD rack in the living room. Nowadays when one of my favorite bands releases a new album I will buy it on vinyl, but I'm trying not to accumulate too many more (especially if I already own it on CD).

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Whydmer@reddit

Gen X here, I got rid of my original vinyl records in the late 90's probably. I was inspired to start "collecting" again about 6 years ago. I have a small record player/stereo and a small collection of albums.

I also have Sonos speakers throughout the house and listen to streaming music, both classic 70's and 80s as well as a wide range of more modern music.

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NoValuable1383@reddit

Tidal on Sennheiser HD600s. My shit hearing can't tell a difference enough in quality, it's just that Spotify is too much of a cancer. Their recommendation engine is much better though.

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elijuicyjones@reddit

I have a curated music collection that I’ve been adding to for thirty years. It’s all the highest quality possible, digital files, stored on my server and I listen to them through PlexAMP or my desktop players via SMB.

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No_Possession_5038@reddit

On vinyl and I listen to old cassettes as well at home. Out and about or working it’s streaming but nothing beats relaxing with a nice cocktail and a solid album on the turntable.

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77765876543@reddit

Apple Music and Tidal. If I can't listen to a song, or if it's modified/re-recorded from it's original version, I buy the disc on eBay.

All my Burt Bacharach is on 8 track.

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PleasedPeas@reddit

Vinyl happened, thank goodness it’s the future. I listen via headphones usually to music via Spotify.

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Sintered_Monkey@reddit

It's a retro thing, just like driving a restored vintage car. Does it make sense? No. Is it practical? Also no. Is the sound quality better? Some people seem to think so, but I have to say that I don't. But it's just kinda fun.

For me, I just listen to Spotify anyway, because it's so much easier.

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NegScenePts@reddit

Deezer streamed through my phone to wireless earbuds. Any music I want...at any time I want? Sign me up! Hoarding physical music means that I am stuck listening to the same stuff over and over, and usually in one specific place where I keep the media I own. The 'warmth' or 'depth' of the sound of vinyl is just the microscopic scratching of a needle on plastic, it doesn't add anything now that music is produced to replicate sounds without taking that 'extra' into consideration.

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Judgy-Introvert@reddit

We have a huge vinyl collection. I stream music of course, but I’ll never give up my vinyl.

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numsixof1@reddit

I'm 49. I remember Vinyl as a kid.. had a few albums but got into Tapes then CDs.

Now I buy CDs (if its available) rip to FLAC and listen on my plex server. Wife likes Vinyl though.

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webgambit@reddit

The bulk of my listening is Spotify. But on the occasion I do like to throw on a record and have a bourbon.

Spotify is passive while vinyl is for active listening.

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Zealousideal_Jump990@reddit

With my ears.

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Mortimer452@reddit

I own a record player but mostly because I still have all my parent's vinyl from when I was growing up. Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Beach Boys, Doors, dozens of others. I'm not an audiophile or vinyl collector by any means, just bought one for the nostalgia feels. I put them on while doing housework, just like Mom did when I was a kid.

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Little-Jelly-8789@reddit

I (50F) listen to music a bunch of different ways. Sat radio in the car. Spotify at home and on the go (walks, etc). I still have a huge cd collection that gets played at home and sometimes in the car. And I have a good-sized collection of vinyls. We even have a couple of random cassette tapes around here. We don't have anything to play then on, though. I definitely wouldn't say vinyls are strictly a Gen z thing. My dad, who is 80, has over 400 vinyls and a pretty deluxe setup. He loves his music.

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Jolly_Security_4771@reddit

I've been thoughtfully collecting records since I was 13. I don't have a huge collection because I also give them away. That being said, I don't listen to them nearly as often as streaming or the radio. It's exactly like buying books to me.

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90Carat@reddit

Mostly Spotify at work. Radio in the car.

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Aggressive_Finding56@reddit

Almost entirely listening to music on vinyl but sometimes I set up my reel to reel when I really want to calm down and get into the music. Streaming is just an adhd triggering event for me.

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No-Diet-4797@reddit

I have Pandora but I still just listen to the radio. I'm cheap I guess. I love the old vinyls though. I grew up listening to a lot of 50s rock n roll with my parents. They used to dance around the room. There's a song, "Let the Little Girl Dance", that I don't remember the artist but dad would put me on his feet and dance me around the room. I'll listen to vinyl until the day I die.

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jimheim@reddit

Hipsters gonna hipster.

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NoNamesLeft600@reddit

It's moved far beyond that.

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ThinWhiteRogue@reddit

I stream music. I've never owned more than a couple of vinyl records, and I haven't had a turntable since I was a kid.

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flonky_guy@reddit

I moved off Spotify over the Joe Rogan thing and now have an Apple Music subscription. The sound is Soooooo much better and I don't have to see ads for that douchebag every day.

But I do have a small record collection and a very nice turntable. Playing it gives me the warm fuzzies of blasting Maiden and Priest and rushing to flip the record before the rush wears off.

Mostly I listen to the radio for music. We are back in an era where music can be loud and whiney and punk is back to not sucking so local radio and even the mainstream "alternative" radio introduces me to a lot of new stuff.

Tape and CDs are totally dead to me, however.

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TrapperJon@reddit

I have CDs. I also have some digital stuff like Spotify and such.

All of my albums, 8-tracks, and cassettes are dead and gone.

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punkdrummer22@reddit

Spotify 100%.

My 15 yr old daughter loves vinyl. I can't stand it

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snootchiebootchie94@reddit

I am at the borderline if Millennial and Gen X. I have a decent sized record collection, like 350 or so, some cd’s as well, and also stream. I have been collecting records though for about 20 years. My ratio is abbout 50% record, 48% streaming, and 2% cd’s. One of my cats doesn’t have Bluetooth, so I still use cd’s or listen to the radio in it.

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ny-central-line@reddit

I stream almost exclusively, though I have a pretty big CD collection (around 450 discs) and a respectable vinyl collection (probably 150 or so). I don’t have a good turntable (some random Technics spinner from the 80s) and I’m…between CD players at the moment, so Apple Music it is.

I’ll be honest, I’m in the group who thinks vinyl sounds like crap unless you spend serious money on a turntable, needle and cartridge; I collect vinyl for the album covers not for listening.

My gen-Z step daughter has one of those awful cheap record players and listens to random vintage records on that, but I totally don’t get it. Sounds like that GE clock radio everyone had 30 years ago…you know the one I’m talking about (the GE 7-4612).

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barkallnight@reddit

I do both wax & Spotify.

I prefer wax because the sound quality is much better than any other medium on the consumer side, you have the nice big cover to look at while listening, and you pay for it once and it’s yours forever.

Spotify is nice for the car or in headphones but I generally don’t use it on my home stereo.

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Hot-Butterfly-8024@reddit

It’s just kind of indicative of how much it’s a nostalgia/trend thing, because great vinyl in pristine condition on a really nice turntable and a great amp/speaker system really does sound amazing. But listening to that lightly scratched copy of Phil Collins on your Goodwill Strawberry Shortcake all-in-one record player is probably as bad or worse than hearing it on a phone speaker.

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QueenMumof4@reddit

I just pre ordered the new TøP vinyl. The sound of vinyl is comforting to me. I listen mostly on Spotify, but nothing like a Saturday morning record rotation

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PlasticWentech@reddit

I don't stream a lot except when on the road. I've got a moderately large collection of CD and vinyl (around 3400 titles). I rip all CDs and select vinyl to my hard drive for quick and easy access. I'll also put those files in batches on thumb drives to take on the road. But when i want to really listen to something I dig out the physical media.

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Moody_GenX@reddit

I pay for YouTube music. Before I left the states I used the free Pandora but it doesn't work here. Im happy with it because I also don't get commercials on YouTube either.

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hermitzen@reddit

Yeah if I had the money and the room, I think I would set up a turntable, equalizer and all the stuff with my husband's giant speakers that have been in the basement since the mid 90s. But after the novelty has worn off, we'd probably go back to streaming playlists. There's a reason we made mix tapes back in the day. Most of the time, you really don't want to hear the entire album.

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habadoordashery18@reddit

Aurally

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Glittering-Eye2856@reddit

Have the vinyl, CD and digital. You cannot duplicate the analog and crackle of a good record. Not sorry.

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mstermind@reddit

I use Spotify and Radio Garden.

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VinylHighway@reddit

I collect records, CDs, and stream music.

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Curious_Field7953@reddit

I still listen to the vinyls my Pop had from the 50's, 60s, 70s & 80s on a turntable. There's nothing that takes me back to good memories like this.

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Physical-Incident553@reddit

I’m all about streaming. Apple Music. I haven’t had vinyl since the early 90s.

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GarthRanzz@reddit

59 and it depends on my mood and location. I buy vinyl still for the bands I like or to fill holes in my collection but, mostly, I use Apple Music since we have a sub that covers all of our Apple stuff. And I’m constantly making playlists there for TV shows that I feel have great music.

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Apprehensive_Judge_5@reddit

Vinyl, streaming, and CD

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Ok_Schedule5017@reddit

I have had pandora for as along as I can remember. I tried Spotify and didn’t like it as well.

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burtguthrup@reddit

Do you find that in streaming, you branch out and find new things all the time, hit shuffle and hope for the best, or listen to what you’re familiar with?

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The68Guns@reddit

Youtube, car radio and a small record player.

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CHILLAS317@reddit

Some years ago, audio "enthusiasts" convinced themselves and others that the background noise and pops inherent to vinyl was actually "warmth" and somehow desirable, leading to the current resurgence of the medium

I'll admit I kinda miss the format with the big album art and everything, but I'll take the convenience of high quality digital audio any day

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Fluid_Anywhere_7015@reddit

Yup. I grew up with vinyl, then cassettes, but skipped CD's and when Napster came around, I sure as hell donned my tricorn hat and went sailing on the high seas.

I moved around...a LOT...during several careers, and lugging around literally hundreds of pounds of equipment and crates and crates of vinyl was (and still is), a stupidly insane waste of time and space.

The clarity and convenience of having a home media server that stores my entire library of music (and it's stupidly huge these days), that will play out to literally any speaker in my house, coupled with a phone that I can aux into whatever car I'm driving is right up there in terms of amazing modern conveniences that I love.

Not to mention the fact that I've built, by this point, HUNDREDS of "Best of" albums that cherry pick the songs I like, and leave behind the much subjectively weaker "b-sides" that I never enjoyed. Being able to listen to back-to-back selections that I've curated without having to get up and reset a frigging tonearm to get to the track I wanted is bliss.

I spend MORE time with my music than I ever did in the past. I curate playlists, build iTunes Radio stations out of my library, and use Spotify to discover amazing new music that lame shit commercial radio stations would never play in my market.

But I'm with you on missing the big album art and the cool liner notes that used to accompany vinyl (and even cassettes). But, like I mentioned beforehand, I'm now spending time tracking that stuff down online in order to print out the cover art and notes into framable formats.

And your call-out about the hisses and pops being redefined as "warmth" is absolutely spot-on.

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La_Mano_Cornuta@reddit

Bandcamp - to support artists I really enjoy

Apple Music - To listen to older more established artists.

Gave up my physical music collection after moving it a second time.

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Terrorcuda17@reddit

I've got a small collection of vinyl left. Mostly for the album art. For music nowadays I just build playlists on YouTube and stream them over my phone.

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Any_Neighborhood4980@reddit

I stuck with tapes as long as I could. I always hated CD’s I’ve been collecting vinyl since I found Dead Kennedy’s Holiday in Cambodia and The Minor Threat record at a thrift shop for $0.50 each. I stream with Apple Music while I’m on the road but at home I “play with my records”. In this digital world it’s nice to have a physical copy of music. Album art and liner notes are part of the experience. Plus when the shit hits the fan I’ll still be able to listen to music!🤞🏼

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chopper5150@reddit

About 10 years ago when my daughter was in high school she asked me to buy her a record player and I was so confused. I’d never listened to records around her, I only had them as a kid. She’s 26 so probably about the same as your coworker. But yeah, I always see music being released with special edition vinyls nowadays. Personally, I’m good with YT music.

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YRUSoFuggly@reddit

Year younger, but same story at our house.

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chopper5150@reddit

On the bright side I knew for her birthday and stuff I could just get her some records for her collection.

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japhia_aurantia@reddit

Knowing how hard it is to make a living in music today, I try to maximize my support for artists I love. So I do most of my listening on my phone, but I still buy albums from iTunes because Spotify pays a pittance and I refuse to pay into their terrible payment scheme. I have a small vinyl collection for the same reason - the artists get way more money from physical album sales.

I also buy concert tickets for that reason - and also because (to also answer your question) - my actual favorite way to listen to music is live, singing along in a room full of other fans.

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hatred-shapped@reddit

I basically make playlists on YouTube. I tried Spotify for a bit but the suggestions sucked. I'd put in say Gordon Lightfoot and it would suggest some garbage like Tupac. That and CDs.

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RCA2CE@reddit

I stream on Spotify but I completely understand why someone would prefer vinyl - it sounds better

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Quick-Economist-4247@reddit

Streaming, Spotify & Tidal

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Ok-Try-6798@reddit

Mostly streaming via Apple but I have 1000+ records that I’ve been collecting all my life and never stopped when it lost popularity. I have rules for listening to vinyl and pretty much don’t listen to what I have on vinyl from any other music source. I’m so glad vinyl is back but it’s also so expensive now, bring me back to the days where I could get 5 records for $1!

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missdawn1970@reddit

I mostly listen to the radio, sometimes CDs in my car, and sometimes Pandora at work. But I do miss the crackling of a vinyl record.

There's plenty of room in this world for everyone to listen to music in their own way. There's no reason to judge somebody for listening to vinyl.

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YRUSoFuggly@reddit

My wife got me a Diamond Rio for Christmas 2000 and I've been digital ever since. I loaded my hundreds of CDs first onto a local disk, then uploaded to Google Music, and today stream it back via YouTube Music.

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Careless-Gazelle-247@reddit

I have a vinyl collection, but I normally listen to music on my plex server via plexamp. I stream from my own collection of mp3 and flac files.

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Foreign_Power6698@reddit

In the ‘80s, I was into music from the ‘60s, so listening to music on vinyl was really the way to go for me. I did listen to a lot of cassette tapes but it didn’t feel the same. I love vinyl as an adult but it’s not practical.

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Avasia1717@reddit

parents had records and a few tapes. throughout the 80s i was getting my own tapes. cd’s starting in 93. then i was making my own music and putting it on tapes so i could listen in the car. then i got into minidiscs so i could have digital quality but still infinite recordability like tapes. i don’t think i bought any music post-2000. it was all illegal downloads from then up to now.

i dj’d for an couple years and still have one of my decks set up, and really nice speakers i’ve had since the late 90s. my vinyl collection is a bunch of nostalgic stuff i stole from my dad after he got rid of his record player, some stuff my friend gave me when he gave up vinyl, plus maybe 5 more records i bought myself along the way. i don’t listen to records often.

i’m glad i still have a cd player in my car, and still have all my favorite 90s music on cd’s.

i’ve never in my life referred to records as vinyls. i think that’s a pretty weird thing to say.

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kacey3@reddit

Apple Music. 100%

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ave427@reddit

Pandora, Hoopla (public library app) and sometimes the Radio Garden app (radio stations from all over the world)

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WHowe1@reddit

What little bit, I get to listen to, is over the car radio. While driving to/from work.

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No_Consideration_339@reddit

Spotify and Sirius XM. And some good noise cancelling headphones.

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165interbond@reddit

Hence here I’ve got Pandora and Spotify. They are great while driving. Sitting at home with a glass of Bourbon, nothing beats 70s era vinyl

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kahllerdady@reddit

I listen to records and CDs and do not stream music. I also have an iPod with most of my CDs ripped to it. I listen to the radio to find new music or music podcasts like Rockin' the Suburbs who feature new music episodes very often.

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Upbeat-Sandwich3891@reddit

Spotify, SiriusXM, and….vinyl!!!

As others said, those pops and crackles that come from old vinyl is part of the listening experience.

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thebluelunarmonkey@reddit

We grew up with vinyl, 8 track, cassette, CD, then digital in our 20s

Never got into vinyl.

Still get CDs and rip them. I typically send audio to my home receiver via PC, media player, or stream because the house shaking subs make the 400CD changer skip like a mother. Except during nesting season because of bluebird box attached to the house and can use the changer at low volumes. Vinyl would have the same skipping issue

Last year I did a complete CD remaster to lossless audio. Took forever.

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kenderson73@reddit

All my music is on my phone. I still have a ton of CDs, but I've also gotten rid of a few hundred over the years. I buy my music off of Amazon or bandcamp. I've been through everything though, 8 track, records, tapes, and CDs.

I don't like the idea of having any subscription, I have a lot of music that's just not out there, or some times they remove stuff.

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tdawg-1551@reddit

We have a 25 and30 year old and they love the vinals. I don't get it, but whatever. It's so much easier to stream what you want to hear. I don't really care or notice the difference in sound quality. Kind of like TV. As long as it it is HD, I don't care. I don't need the 10K ultra HD 80 inch TV with high quality sound.

I've never been a big music guy. I just flip through local radio in the car and that's it. Don't listen much outside of that. I did find out we had a premium Spotify account so I set something up there and created some different playlists of things I like to put on in the car. At least that way, my 20-30 minutes in the car I know I'll hear something I like.

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-carolinagirl69-@reddit

The radio or Spotify.