Yes I still collect cds.
Are there any in the Taipei area? I’ve only ran into one so far.
How about vinyl?
Which one did you run into?
Is there still one on the 4th or 5th floor of the Xinyi eslite building? I haven’t been up there in a few years - which I suppose hints at the viability of CD stores these days.
EDIT: it looks like they’ve got music and books together on the 3rd floor now. Part of me feels a bit guilty about my Kindle reader and Spotify subscription.
https://www.eslitecorp.com/eslite/branch.jsp?id=190&site_id=eslite_en&page_no=1
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I remember seeing them in Ximen, where they have all these food stalls, near the place where they sell shaved ice for over 100nt. It’s in an alley over there. They sold CD and vinyl.
A lot of CD shops closed up because of Spotify and Pirate Bay.
Collecting is great.
But if you play CDs, only question is why? There are various high-resolution audio formats with higher-than-CD quality.
There are multiple lossless audio containers, and of course mp3. Frankly, I’ve never understood people’s objection to mp3, since it was designed to retain what is in the audible human hearing range, but to each his own. All these are more portable, easier to store and search. You don’t have to worry about scratches on the CD, or carrying CDs around.
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That’s not the only thing, CD coating disintegrates over many years.
" What causes CD rot?
Generally speaking, disc rot occurs due to chemical reactions with the reflective layer of the disc , ultraviolet light damage, scratches that expose the delicate and corrosive layer to environmental factors, or the deterioration of manufacturing materials."
Even my oldest CDs (ca. 1985) still play like new. I’m also a fan of physical media because the songs can’t disappear into the bit bucket.
I’ve seen CD/DVD/Blu-Ray stores in the Guanghua Market Area. There are a couple in Lane 12, Xinsheng S. Rd. Sec. 1.
Are 五大唱片 (Five Music) or Rose Records still upstairs between the McDonald’s and Wellcome on Zhongxiao E. Rd., on the triangular plaza east of Sogo?
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you should realize that physical media made in the older days often used higher quality media and so they last longer. For example floppy disks. In the old days (70s and 80s) they were made of high quality materials and they still work to this day. However anything made after 1998 is poor quality as floppy disks declined and prices came down. They often go bad after a few months.
Also pressed CD lasts longer than recorded CD. That’s because pressed CD were injection molded with the information already on it while recordable CD uses dyes which the burner etches to record the information on it. That dye breaks down over time and renders the disk unreadable.
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New or second hand?
Try behind the Shinkong Mitsukoshi at Main Station. Both new and 3nd hand stores there.
but …
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I didn’t know there was a pressed CD
But CD is going the way of the dinosaur slowly.
Good thing blue ray players can play dvd and cd (I think).
Question: my dvd don’t play on the full screen on my big tv. But do blue ray disks play on the full screen ? What’s the point of blue ray?
Haven’t tried it myself
Having floppy disks present the problem of finding a floppy disk reader
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The CD you buy of albums are pressed. They make a glass master, and then a cast of that master is made out of metal. That metal is then put into an injection molding machine and the information on the disc is molded onto the plastic. Then it gets the silver coating and the label is printed. They’re completely different from recordable CD or DVD.
Those last a lot longer than recordable CD/DVD because they do not depend on dyes not going bad on you.
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I used to visit a CD shop near Taipei Main Station, but I have no idea if it’s still there. I hope it is.
With regards to the usefulness of buying CDs - after getting rid of my smartphone and Spotify subscription, I wanted to build up a collection of high-quality digital music. I found that buying CDs and manually converting them was cheaper than using websites like HD Tracks, in many cases considerably more so. So I still have a reason to buy CDs.
Not sure it was awhile back. Maybe Daan area.
Oh for sure. MP3s are way more logical and I do use MP3s a lot. Actually that’s all I use right now. Got a massive cd collection at home but didn’t want to start buying here till recently when I decided to stay longer.
I like cds because I enjoy having something tangible that I can hold.
I like the feeling of ownership. I also like the cover art as well.
Also, the act of listening to music on cds is different for me. With MP3s I find myself jumping through songs all over the place sometimes without finishing the songs. Also a lot of repeats. CDs let me slow down and listen to full length albums easier and hear the back tracks.
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Thanks for all the feedback I’m gonna try to check some of these places out. Not sure what to expect or the actual music selection they’ll have but that’s also part of the fun for me about CDs is the hunt for them and finding hidden gems when browsing.
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Do you still find them on Amazon ?
Yes.