I've got my hundreds of CDs in a storage locker, but recently brought out a box to update my digital versions. Here's what I'm doing with my music, iTunes and my iPod.
My latest thing is to encode my whole collection in two formats. I'm recording my master database of music in the Apple Lossless format. That should hold me for a while and I'm putting all that music on my 200 gig internal hard drive on my PowerMac G5. That gives me plenty of room. If need be, I can always relocate the iTunes Music folder to my even bigger external drives (500 gb and 320gb).
Now that we are living in a world where music is best played digitally for the convenience if nothing else, it makes sense to copy all my CDs to digital in the highest possible quality and then file away my CDs in a dry storage locker somewhere for future reference.
I've got one of my three big boxes of CDs in my home office right now. That's where my PowerMac resides and that is where I can listen to music with 4 Klipsch speakers surrounding me and a subwoofer at my feet under the desk. Apple Lossless encoding is as fast as lower quality encoding and that is fast on a G5 2ghz machine. When I first encoded my CDs about 6 years ago, I encoded them at a bit rate of 160 or 192 so I could fit a lot of music on a small MP3 player.
I'm not quite ready to go Apple Lossless on my iPod. My current in-ear headphones are fairly basic Sony's (the cost about $50) so I doubt I could detect much difference between lossless and 256 AAC. On my iPod, I'm dialing in AAC at a 256 bit rate with VBR (variable bit-rate). That's almost twice the size of the 128 AAC format. And that's OK. I've got a 30 gig iPod and it can handle that. And, I'm not trying to put every single song I own on my iPod. I am looking to eventually upgrade to an 80 gig iPod one of these days but I really like the slim 30 gig and it's only about half full right now.
That said, I want to have the highest possible quality on my iPod and on my hard drives. My iPod music collection resides on my MacBook which has a 120 gig drive. I upgraded from the 80 just recently and now have room for both my work and the best albums from my music collection.
Unlike some people, I like to record albums in their entirety. Even if I only like 2 or 3 songs. It's partly because it is an archive. It's the original context. And, you never know, someone I know might refer me to one or more of the cuts I never took to and they'll be there when I need them. A lot of really good music takes several listens to really appreciate and sometimes, I quit early on an album and only discover the most accessible tracks. Some of the less accessible gems are still awaiting my discovery in my music collection.
I had no idea that encoding with Apple Lossless would feel so great. I certainly love my music enough to want it in the best condition possible. So I guess that's it. I'm re-appreciating my music while I'm re-encoding it. There are some good songs. Like Still the Same by Bob Seger, for example. I'm going to be whiling away some time with my collection and I'll be enjoying it. Re-encoding is an excuse to hang out and listen to my collection.
One last thing before I go. Even though I like the instant gratification of the iTunes music store, I often choose to buy a CD. I like knowing that I've got a really high quality recording that isn't copy-protected. I can share it with my friend if I want. And I can encode it at a VERY high quality. After encoding with Lossless, the 128 AAC quality I get from the iTunes store seems OK but not great. Instant gratification, but not as satisfying in the long run.
If only the record companies and artists could get what they need without the user having to be so limited in the quality of recordings that are available digitally. I would love for an iTunes download to have full album cover art, liner notes and lyrics. Meanwhile, I'll compromise and take the CDs and burn them. I'm glad iTunes 7 has the two new formats and displays bigger cover art. That really works for me.
OK. Back to work (play). I've got two more big boxes of CDs to go...