ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
With now the Essence already and the coming of ’Moment’, It looks that the end of an era is in sight.
Music and movies become available online, and as broadband Internet connections became faster and faster, films and television programmes could be downloaded in minutes and music albums even quicker – in seconds. Now, even the most expensive audio systems to be used at home are being sold without CD players.
Cloud storage become cheaper, streaming audio services as Spotify, Deezer are became part of the B&O outfit and more to follow. So, should CDs be eradicated forever, simply because the Internet and digital tools have overtaken our attention spans with their lightning-fast, nearly invisible, conveniently portable ways? EVENTUALLY the CD format will go away, next year, or years down the road.
It’s slowly getting time to have a good think about a decent and reliable storage for our collection of music and video files. A storage system that also could be used with the new technical approach from B&O.
I turned an old computer with Windows 2008 R2 server software into a networked 8 TB backup, and streaming machine. Ripped my huge collection of cd’s and personal video’s and stream those to my system. But I still do not feel completely at ease, the thing is, there is no one single best way to backup tons of data.
My questions/concern are:
Would you prefer to do it my way or do you have better ideas? Desirable herein is an idea of long duration. It makes no sense to propagate a NAS with virtually 4TB storage capacity, if you have not enough space to perform a backup on it.
Or would you trust in the near future only to music and video streaming services in HD quality.
Or would you trying to preserve on your collection of CD’s, Vinyl, DVD’s or whatever media, with the risk that it's all lost to media deterioration.
Or would you trust your expensive paid media to some cloud backup service as per example ‘Amazon’.
Am I brainsick now, insane, or reacting to soon on the coming B&O digital revolution. Nous verrons bien où, quand et qui.
"Believe nothing you read and only half of what you see, let your ears tell you the truth."
Yes, I agree. And this is the primary reason I recently bought a BS9000 MIII, a BC9300, and Im keeping my Beocord 6500 and beogram 5000. All these are from BnO's "movement and magic" era.
They"ll be sought after relics when streaming does take over. Even my BS5 is a keeper here.
Mark my words.
B
This is an interesting one! For music, i've lived through vinyl, cassette, DAT, MiniDisc, CD etc.
I have all of my music in my iTunes library. In the majority of cases, i've bought each download from iTunes. The beauty of that is that if I delete a track, I can always go in my account and re-load it again free of charge. I keep everything on my MacBook and back up every 10 days to a LaCie Porsche hard drive.
I've started buying all of my HD films from iTunes now. Again, I can redownload if I need to. I really don't miss DVD at all - sticking discs half way through a movie is not nice :)
I'd never go back, I don't miss CDs at all. Yes my Technics CD players were top notch but my B&O Century was an absolute horror at playing CDs and it totally put me off. I love having my playlists on my iPhone and iPad MINI were ever I am in the world along with my HD films and surfing videos.
However, when I talk to young crowds 18-21 years old, they don't even download, they just use Spotify. Same with movies - just stream - they basically don't think that they should pay for music and films! Very different to when I was that age a few years ago!
There were rumours of iTunes offering hi res music downloads but really apart from you guys on sites like this, there seems to be very little demand for it - at present!
But certainly with downloads, I think that it's a very exciting era and generation of music! I love being able to hear a track instantly that maybe i've spent years trying to find and it travels with me - i'm not stuck to listening at home which is certainly not really where I listen to music - for me, in my car Audi A3 with the new 14 speakers BANG&OLUFSEN, running to the gym, working out at the gym and travelling to South Africa, Aus and LA to see my clients!
As it is now I will be 40 years of age in august 2014. I still view music formats and a computer format as 2 seperate different things.
I don't mind the sound of the old mediums or the space they take.
Having all my music on hard drive some where does not sound like something I would be to into be using. I am a member of forum where I can find all kinds of music for playing. I just dont get into it that much.
I have 2 setups from B&O serviced by Dillen 6500 in 2013 and 6000 in 2008 with additional B&O units here and there if I need them. As it is nobody cares of a 6500 or 6000 system these days and so I use them. The 6000 units were dead anyway.
As for hard discs I find them to be reliable to a point but no cdr's lasts long and the technology of pc components change even for hard drives so that you need a type as the old type connection is not the current fashion. So I have 2 old drives from my last pc build in 2008. How to connect those? Sorry the mainboard now takes something else.
Or when the smart new android phone/multi pc or whatever dies. Sorry your content is lost. I got 2 older Xperia phones now dead for ever and hardly used one of them. Now I got the Z2 the latest flagship. Amazing but how long will it last? Really? Only time will tell. In 2 years its outdated or something else. In 2 years I might get new belts in the Beocord 5500 for the first time in its life. Yes cassette does sound better than phone based music.
We got to change with the times?
Yes I hear you but I think back to the early to mid '90s when vinyl was no where in the stores only cds like take it or leave it! If you want the latest by your favorite artist it is on cd only!
Now people can't wait for the cd to go away.
Now movies is different but still I am not a movie buff. Again only few I think are classics and worth having a copy of somehow. That is why I think even vhs has one alternative and that is to se how the movie is for a cheap price. Then you can decide if it should be blue ray or whatever. It is more if I can get it then its fine.
In the end I keep my B&O running and use it. That was the way it was meant to be. With Dillen to do service when needed and the internet to find the music in whatever format then I could not ask for more. This time I am just not going to change because of the latest high tech trends no need.
Sure whatever float your boat and your experience is different than mine so respect to you for your decisions. I do question paying any money for storage space like that. Would a hard drive not be cheaper in the long run?
Dom
2x BeoSystem 3, BeoSystem 5000, BeoSystem 6500, 2x BeoMaster 7000, 2 pair of BeoLab Penta mk2, AV 7000, Beolab 4000, BeoSound 4000, Playmaker, BeoLab 2500, S-45, S-45.2, RL-140, CX-50, C-75, 3x CX-100, 3x MCL2 link rooms, 3x Beolab 2000, M3, P2, Earset, A8 earphones, A3, 2x 4001 relay, H3, H3 ANC, H6, 2014 Audi S5 with B&O sound, and ambio
A bit like DMarci I had kept my CDs but matched then to iTunes so that I have the convenience of "anywhere" access that Paul W talked about.
I am not sure I trust anyone, however I am sure Apple will outlast me - however they may morph over time and at some point my "backed up" music might become inaccessible.
So at the moment I have most of my music protected as follows:
a) on the original CD
b) ripped into iTunes on my MacMini
c) backed up from my MacMini on to my Time Capsule
d) synchronised to my iTunes Match account in the cloud
Not everything gets matched - some items are not in the iTunes catalogue - and I suspect the matching is not 110% perfect.
For items that are not matched I retain another copy on my MacBook - so that when I am travelling I have those in addition to those in the iCloud !
I was going to capture my DVDs and BRs but I have given up as the process is so much longer than a simple CF rip !
BeoNut since '75
'The (so-called) Digital Revolution' started long ago.
B&O has been supporting 'non physical media digital music' for years. Think BeoMaster/BeoSound5 or even the 'BeoPlayer' software, which was created 15 years ago. In fact B&O were some of the pioneers.
Seems that many B&O users don't realize that - and still have a tendency to 'only physical media'.
But - as with anything - in this world, the past, the present and the future exist perfectly together.
Some focus more on the past, some more on the future etc.
But for most people it is a mix depending on their possibilities, preferences of how to 'use' music as part of their live...and so on.
I see no problem in either.
If you have your music 'all digital' on a harddrive, there are lots of backup possibilities (you just have to care for it - which often seems to be the problem). And it surely can be very convenient to handle your media that way...if you use the right hard- and software/app's.
If you like the tactile feeling of a physical dics - no problem in that. There still are lots of good (B&O) CD players to have. I am sure, that we will be able to buy the dics for years to come. And vinyls seems to have a revival nowadays.
If you are more into 'consuming' music/movies, the music/film services are perfect!
Find your own mix!
It changes all the time, if you are a curious of what the future brings.
I am still looking for mine
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
They are definitely making products for the future - not for the past.
Might not be right for everybody, but that is the only way to survive for a company like B&O nowadays..
Fortunately - as it ever has been - it is possible to make 'your own setup' with a combination of old and new B&O stuff. That is one of the brilliant things about B&O.
The only format I have ever kept is Vinyl - it still sounds great and is a joy to use, everything else I have in iTunes can access via the cloud anywhere and on my iPhone, iPad, Macbook and two Apple TV's. I think apple are a safe bet so have started buying films in iTunes that I really want to keep. In fact the Apple stuff paired upto by B&O kit pretty much is enough for me.
Millemissen: They are definitely making products for the future - not for the past. Might not be right for everybody, but that is the only way to survive for a company like B&O nowadays.. Fortunately - as it ever has been - it is possible to make 'your own setup' with a combination of old and new B&O stuff. That is one of the brilliant things about B&O. MM
I agree, they are focusing on the future, and the old media will slip into more and more of a niche market. Sony is big enough that they can continue to build, say, one cassette deck, but even they it seems have dumped that product line completely last I searched a catalog. A smaller company like B&O has no hope. Tiny companies can service niche markets as their reason for existence, big companies can afford to keep a small number of products that seldom sell if they want to be thought of as full range, in-between companies not so much.
I want B&O to succeed because they are the only company i know of that does what they do, and that is concentrate on design and aesthetics in addition to performance.
I have a combination of old and new, Playmaker, BS9000, Beogram 3000. I admit I just about never listen to the CD player even though I have all my CDs. Part of this is they are disorganized and hard to find what you want, which is why I went to iTunes in the first place. So except for new CDs I haven't ripped yet, or friends bringing music over, the CD never gets used. I occasionally go into fits of nostalgia and dig out my LPs, more often than I do with CDs by far. I keep the BS9000 because it's a work of art, and I also like being able to use the Beo4 to adjust tone and loudness from my listening seat. If it went away I could exist essentially the same with only the Playmaker, or an Essence.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
Jeff: I have a combination of old and new, Playmaker, BS9000, Beogram 3000. I admit I just about never listen to the CD player even though I have all my CDs. Part of this is they are disorganized and hard to find what you want, which is why I went to iTunes in the first place. So except for new CDs I haven't ripped yet, or friends bringing music over, the CD never gets used. I occasionally go into fits of nostalgia and dig out my LPs, more often than I do with CDs by far. I keep the BS9000 because it's a work of art, and I also like being able to use the Beo4 to adjust tone and loudness from my listening seat. If it went away I could exist essentially the same with only the Playmaker, or an Essence.
I too have all my CDs nearby however I never open their storage cartoons -- one plan is to recreate my CD shelving and store my top xxx favourite CDs there for ready access -- but that project is about a year away.
Interestingly I actually used the BeoSound 4 this weekend ... to access the SD card in it which is sort of a favourite playlist from years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Perhaps I should shrink some CDs on to individual SD cards with postage stamp sized covers
oddly enough since posting this, I have had streaming problems with BBC Radio - so, maybe the old and new technologies should exist side by side!
MM is correct. Digital media has been with us for a long time. I started ripping CDs in 1994. At first I thought it was just fun but quickly realized that with care digital files could last a lifetime. I now have a 6 TB thunderbolt external drive. I do downloads and rip earlier media like vinyl and cassettes in high resolution. Most of the time when I hear of someone's disk failure and the complaint their music is lost forever, they usually don't have a backup or have been using a low quality cheap drive.
I was reviewing my downloaded iTunes videos and found I had 177 movies. These movies are not taking space on some shelf or stored in some box.. I look forward to the day that all music and video is sold as a digital download. Books and magazines are going the same way.
Jeff:I want B&O to succeed because they are the only company i know of that does what they do, and that is concentrate on design and aesthetics in addition to performance.
With you on this one Jeff :)
B&O products are V1-32, BS2, H95, E8 and an Essence remote.11-46 now replaced with Sony A90J 65”, Sony HT-A9, Sony UBP-X800M2 and Sony SRS-NS7.
ajames: oddly enough since posting this, I have had streaming problems with BBC Radio - so, maybe the old and new technologies should exist side by side!
Personally I do find cloud storage as the only solution not a safe haven for my collection. And it is certainly not a good idea in case of iTunes Match, if a contract between Apple and a record label expires your music can disappear from the iCloud library.
Another cloud storage provider? What if its going out of business, or suddenly closing down.
I been maybe old thinking, for if I buy music for my hard earn money, I want my music still in physically possess and put it on my own datacenter at home and make the necessary backups of it.
As a second solution I 'maybe' put it in the cloud. However, as past events have shown, this does not necessarily protect you from snooping.
After I started to listen more and more to music from a 'music service' (in my case WiMP - because it is lossless in the HiFi-version), I did not stop buying music.
But what I buy changed!
Now I go for Special Editions (often with extras like a DVD-making of...) and for music on BluRay (Pure Audio...) etc. And - of cource - the kind of stuff you can't get through a 'music service'.
Same money - well, maybe more - but much, much more music to listen to/to explore than before.
I don't have to possess every album, I want to listen to - not even as a file on my NAS.
we tend to forget there is more to design than designing.
I have often experienced that the sleeve notes weren't enough for me, when I listened to an album.
I always have my iPad at hand, even if I listen to a CD/an album.
Millemissen: I have often experienced that the sleeve notes weren't enough for me, when I listened to an album. I always have my iPad at hand, even if I listen to a CD/an album. MM
I do that myself, but more for movies than music, though I have done it with music. If I'm looking for something to watch, or have started watching a movie and want more info I hit up the net, very useful to have an ipad o other tablet right next to your chair for such things.
I never would store any private things (music, photos, files, documents, etc.) somewhere at a cloud provider.
What do they do with my data?
I do have a private cloud at home, where i can access all information from any device. But i don't use access from the internet. Never! My data is my data is my data.
So using all those streaming crap (Spotify, Napster, etc.) gives me only the possibility to listen to music. But it is not my music. What if i change to another provider? What happens to my playlists? Gone. What a shame. And only two providers offer high sound quality.
pweber: I never would store any private things (music, photos, files, documents, etc.) somewhere at a cloud provider. What do they do with my data? I do have a private cloud at home, where i can access all information from any device. But i don't use access from the internet. Never! My data is my data is my data. So using all those streaming crap (Spotify, Napster, etc.) gives me only the possibility to listen to music. But it is not my music. What if i change to another provider? What happens to my playlists? Gone. What a shame. And only two providers offer high sound quality.
+1