# Compact Discs - keep them or ditch them **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 13, 2022, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480 "2022-12-13T19:58:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2022, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/101 "2022-12-17T23:15:27Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I kinda sorta had a decent system with iTunes for a long time, but since Apple shut down that program, I’ve been at a loss. I don’t understand this. I use ITunes every day. I get CDs from the library, upload them to ITunes, download them to my Ipod. Or just listen to them on my computer. I also just recently downloaded ITunes to my laptop and it works just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2022, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/102 "2022-12-18T06:53:29Z")
Yeah, I was a puzzled by that too but I decided to let it go by since my initial issue was trying to figure out what to do with my CDs (and I’ve decided to keep most to them for now). Still use iTunes as well. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2022, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/103 "2022-12-18T17:24:05Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > A nearby music store sells all used CDs for one dollar. I’m not even sure they take them anymore, even for free. That’s how flooded the market is from people burning and dumping their CDs. I remember this exact conversation about vinyl some years ago. Nobody would buy it. Everyone I knew threw their old pink floyd, beatles, the who, queen, zappa etc away. Because they threw it away, the remaining copies gained value. Baseball card collections were thrown away in their thousands by mothers “decluttering”. The ones remaining grew in value. My mother threw away my old model rocket catalogs from the '70s because they were worthless garbage. You can get them on ebay now for $25 a pop if you’re lucky. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/104 "2022-12-19T13:48:23Z")
Another excellent argument for not throwing away your CDs, even if you have them all copied to secure hard drives in a pristine format. Fill a box or two and stash them in the crawlspace if you must. I pruned our collection before we moved a few years ago and gave away a CD I never liked and that my wife hadn’t played in years. She recently spotted it in a used music store and bought it again. We joke that it’s the same CD and the local economy might have cratered if it weren’t for our contribution. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/105 "2022-12-19T22:36:00Z")
So, color me embarrassed and vaguely baffled. It turns out that while Apple did in fact abandon iTunes for iOS and mac platforms, it still exists for Windows. I guess I misunderstood when they made the shift to “Music” for Apple platforms, and since my phone is an iphone, it broke my typical use case, which was managing playlists and files on my computer, and then using my phone as a listening device. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/106 "2022-12-19T22:58:14Z")
Isn’t “Music” just the music portion of the old “iTunes”? I just got a new Mac and upgraded my OS and software, and Music on the new machine looks exactly like iTunes on the old one. I guess I haven’t really played with it, yet. Did they break the play lists?! ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/107 "2022-12-20T16:48:38Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Did they break the play lists?! Mine still work. But no guarantee that this will continue. Meanwhile, I still have my physical CD’s. I encourage everyone to throw them away - I’m looking forward to selling my copies 20 years from now to nostalgic collectors. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/108 "2022-12-20T16:59:25Z")
I had hundreds. HUNDREDS. I gave away some of the better ones to friends and family, or the thrift store (I thought anyone browsing in there should find something better than ‘20 Christian Hymns by the Goober Sisters of Moline, Il.’ or 'Generic ‘Kids Songs’ by Nobody). That left the problem of how to dispose of dozens of ‘burned’ or blank CDs. I listed them on the ‘Buy Nothing’ FB page in my area and got several responses right away. I gave them to a guy who said he did art projects with CDs. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/109 "2022-12-21T18:29:54Z")
> [@salinqmind1](#): > > I gave them to a guy who said he did art projects with CDs. Reminds me of the CD art installation they have at the children’s museum in Phoenix (2000 CDs total): [https://scontent-ord5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.18172-8/1658233\_10152145375027169\_2497631510192056306\_o.jpg?\_nc\_cat=105&ccb=1-7&\_nc\_sid=19026a&\_nc\_ohc=yBgKKT86QHwAX-b9qU4&\_nc\_ht=scontent-ord5-1.xx&oh=00\_AfArvbVRDKh3g9KCYQqeXtK9IuU8WXicW5Uqn6w4rgyjHA&oe=63CAD2F3](https://scontent-ord5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.18172-8/1658233_10152145375027169_2497631510192056306_o.jpg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=19026a&_nc_ohc=yBgKKT86QHwAX-b9qU4&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-1.xx&oh=00_AfArvbVRDKh3g9KCYQqeXtK9IuU8WXicW5Uqn6w4rgyjHA&oe=63CAD2F3) Who knows. I’m sure somebody will find them interesting in 20 years or so. I don’t think the supply will be so rare as for them to have any substantial worth. (There will always the “Honus Wagners” of CDs, I’m sure.) ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/110 "2022-12-21T19:49:03Z")
Remember when AOL was sending out CDs to anyone and everyone years ago? To get people to watch and then think, ‘this AOL sounds great, I’m signing up!’ And in the early 2000’s there was a campaign to collect a million AOL discs and return them to the company in Virginia and dump them on the lawn 🤣…I wonder if that ever happened ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/111 "2022-12-21T23:48:42Z")
> [@salinqmind1](#): > > Remember when AOL was sending out CDs to anyone and everyone years ago? To get people to watch and then think, ‘this AOL sounds great, I’m signing up!’ “To get people to watch”? The CDs contained the AOL software. They weren’t a marketing technique (though the way they were distributed may have been); they were necessary for people to be able to get online. (And IIRC, before CDs, the AOL software was distributed on floppy discs. Which at least could be re-used.) ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/112 "2022-12-22T04:46:47Z")
OK OK! I was just bringing up the subject! YES, YES the CDs had the software, YES they served a purpose. That doesn’t mean there were not countless AOL CD’s everywhere. Jeesus. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2022, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/113 "2022-12-24T19:47:55Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > If you give it away, of course there’s something free about it: it’s free to the person you give it to. Well, true. But @Mama_Zappa was referring specifically to the person who bought and resold the CD, ripping an electronic copy on the way. That person paid nearly full freight for their copy. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/114 "2022-12-25T16:10:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Reminds me of the CD art installation they have at the children’s museum in Phoenix (2000 CDs total): Hah - we actually made a Christmas wreath with CDs - mostly old AOL CDs but a few others we had that were either homemade CD-ROMs that we no longer needed, or some other promotional things. We made a circle of them (using a spare as a temporary center to force the shape and diameter to be correct, then put another circle on top of that, offset by a half CD (basically, two 6-CD circles), then hot-glued the two layers to make a pretty stable circle. Then we hung the whole thing (minus the spaceholding center CD) with a ribbon through the middle of one of the CDs. It was actually quite festive-looking. Pretty sure it’s somewhere in the basement. Getting back to the original purpose of the thread: this is certainly something you could do with any CDs you have ripped and don’t care to keep in a playable manner. The things are so durable, it’s even possible you could rip the construct apart and play them in the future, but I wouldn’t count on it. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/115 "2023-01-05T16:28:15Z")
A Toronto newspaper article claims the price of vinyl records will increase by thirty percent next month. It still amazes me this is what is keeping mall music businesses afloat. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/116 "2023-01-11T15:20:23Z")
I used to think mp3s (at 320KBs) were a satisfactory choice for listening in the car. I spent a few weeks ripping all my CDs to that format and putting albums on thumb drive. Then I accidentally discovered my vehicle’s sound system could handle wav files because a friend of mine mixed in a folder of wavs among some mp3s he wanted my opinion on. For the hell of it I reripped one of my favorites in that format and did a side by side in the car. Holy crap, the difference was startling and it’s not like I’m some audio expert. The wav was clearly superior. So I reripped my collection into wavs and haven’t looked back. I still buy an occasional physical CD but it gets immediately ripped to wav for car use. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/117 "2023-01-11T15:24:48Z")
That’s really weird. At that 320 setting, it should be nigh indistinguishable. I start having a hard time telling the difference at 192, and 256 is exactly the same as a WAV to me. (Assuming 44k sample rate, 16bit depth.) I wonder if your car stereo just doesn’t decode them well (though I don’t know if that’s a thing or not.) Or maybe just my ears suck (even though music and sound is one of my big things.) ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/118 "2023-01-11T15:28:28Z")
I find it hard to believe that the stereo has trouble decoding mp3. In fact when I bought the car I was told the stereo supported mp3 and that it didn’t support wav or flac. Naturally since my wav support discovery I next checked flac but those files go unrecognized. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/119 "2023-01-11T15:32:40Z")
Yeah, like I said, I don’t know how that works. I would guess the decoding is standardized, so it should not make a difference, but I’ve done the test maybe 15-20 years ago on my home audio system, as well as studio headphones, and damned if I can discern any difference once you get to 256. This doesn’t mean you don’t – your ears may be much sharper. I did play in a touring rock band for a short spell, so maybe my frequency response isn’t good, as I never wore ear plugs. ETA: It looks like my assumption is incorrect, and different encoders and decoders can produce quite different results. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480/120 "2023-01-11T15:45:19Z")
I do not know what is keeping them afloat, but at the record store recently new releases were selling for around $25–$30 on vinyl; don’t remember what it was on CD. They are not giving them away. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compact-discs-keep-them-or-ditch-them/976480.md?page=7)