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No, they are definitely not the only store. As timing would have it, I just got a notice from Discogs that "Record Store Day(s)" is coming up, an annual celebration/recognition for brick-and-mortar vinyl shops. Here is an interesting link to database with more than 10,000 of them around the world. You can drill down on the map to find one(s) near you:
CDs are obsolete or rapidly becoming so. Cars do not have CD players. It is difficult to even find a computer that comes with a player. When I bought a computer recently I had to buy a separate player so I could download some older programs that I have on CDs or use the computer to play movies on DVDs. About 12 years ago I started to organize all my music CDs into storage sleeves. I realized I was wasting my time. Instead I just ripped 200 CDs and threw them away. It is quick and easy to organize and find individual CDs or even individual songs and the file was under 50 gigs.
Anyone who thinks the original CDs are of better quality can do a Google search and will find the ripping quality needed so that even an audiophile cannot tell a difference. The same is true when digitizing music on vinyl. There are a few snobs that claim vinyl is better but studies show otherwise. In any case the vast majority of old records are not worth much. Years ago I was downsizing and wanted to get rid of my collection. A small local store was selling records for $1 and more for those few pristine and rare records. Of course they were paying much less to anyone who wanted to sell. I just gave some away and the majority no one wanted and they went to the landfill.
We recently bought a turntable so we could listen to our old vinyl collection. Digital is very convenient, especially when jogging or in the car, but at home there is just something special about the sound of a record. Maybe you had to experience it back in the day to appreciate it.
I did experience back in the day. I doubt the average person would hear a distinction in sound when a digital track is played on a quality speaker.
You're throwing around a lot of things that might not be an apples to apples comparison. As for the digital v.s. vinyl debate, the most important thing to consider is your own listening, your own ears, and your own system. That's all that matters. Certainly not some website that tells you mp3 or other digital format is "better" than vinyl. Would you tell someone that drives a vintage car that they are crazy for doing so, because a new Tesla Model S P90D is "better"? It's sort of the same experience for many. Some prefer the sound of vinyl, and likely that format beats mp3, but you've used the "digital" label, which could encompass many other formats besides mp3 (FLAC and ALAC being more common).
As for some of the other questions on the thread, if you want to play your CD music that you legally own in your car and your car doesn't have a CD player, yes, you can rip that music to a digital format. I'd recommend you rip to a lossless (best quality) file, such as FLAC or ALAC, and then transfer to a portable device or phone that can plug into your car system. Exact Audio Copy is a free software that works good for this purpose. I predict a resurgence of CD's just as we saw a resurgence of vinyl. Probably won't happen tomorrow.
Another possibility for donating older CD collections if you want to downsize is your local library. Many have CD collections or friends groups that offer book/media sales as fundraisers.
Yes don't throw those records out, sell them. Plenty of audiophiles still use phonographs. CDs, the same.
But know this: It's tempting to rip them all to a digital format, hey I do that to for convenience. But MP3's are compressed music and, unless you copy over at a very high bitrate (taking more memory), or use a lossless format such as FLAC or WAV, you are getting inferior music quality. Of course, on a basic sound systems or smartphone headphone play it might not matter. Strangely (and sadly) enough, today's music production and studio mixing is compensating for the limited quality and compression of MP3 streaming usage by balancing out the highs and lows, much as they did for car AM radio airplay in the 60s.
But when I want to listen to music, REALLY listen to music, I break out the records and/or CDs.
As for the digital v.s. vinyl debate, the most important thing to consider is your own listening, your own ears, and your own system. That's all that matters......
Some prefer the sound of vinyl, and likely that format beats mp3........
Many of us have opinions and preferences that are not supported by fact. It is easy to find studies which show that even the most avid audiophiles cannot tell a difference when the ripping is done at an appropriate rate.
CDs are “license keys”. As storage gets cheaper, I’ll migrate from AAC to FLAC on my iPhone.
I totally purged vinyl out of my life in 1986. I was an early adopter of CDs. I had a Sony CD player in the dash of the car I bought in October 1986 and swapped out my turntable for a CD player at the same time. I sold my vinyl collection.
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