Collecting music. Records, CDs, and MP3s (WMAs) iTunes

First, could you please visit my Ebay store, Dolphin's Treasure Trove by looking up my username
Dolphin1959 or do an advanced search and search for my seller name or my store name.
I have lots of CDs available there..books too..at various time other things also.  Great deals there on everything I sell..generally the lowest
prices on the  internet when you include my shipping charges.  I never gouge for shipping.  I always hated that as an Ebay buyer so I refuse
to do it as a seller.  I charge only actual shipping charges, the cost of the envelope and a little for gas and my time standing in line.  Since
I try to get out everything extremely quickly..my shipping charges are really really great, usually as low as you will find on Ebay. At any rate,
combined with my shipping charges, my total prices are low.  You might be lucky and find some other seller who sells for less, but this is
very rare--believe me.  Onward to this guide. Thanks.

Over the past 50 years, we have certainly seen different ways to buy music.  At one time it was LONG PLAY RECORDS!! which were not even
recorded in stereo.  Than it was records recorded in stereo..meaning having a separate channel on each speaker.
  (True stereo is also is not also possible with MP3s,
WMAs, or the format that iTunes uses..something is definitely lost compared to a CD. that is why you have only one output on the portable media player you have)  .  For portability,
one had 8-tracks and cassettes.  See an 8-track lately?  Probably not..  CDs obliterated the market for 8-tracks but cassette players have been so widespread that people still are selling lots of cassette tapes.  Cassettes have their problem of course..mostly that they break.

When CDs were invented..of course..the record was supposed to fall by the wayside.  This sort of happened for awhile..but then people discovered two things.  Records have wonderful and collectible artwork..and records actually had better sound quality than most CDS if they were never scratched. The problem with records is that they did scratch easily, and if you enjoyed bouncing around in your living room to the sound of your record player, a record could easily get scratched.  A long time ago people said this was B.S.--that records did not have better sound quality than CDs, but over time it has become accepted. Records recorded as analog..meaning continuously..and CDs were recorded digitally..meaning in packets..these packets left something out. Some CDs, however, were exceptional for one reason or another.  Later on the super-audio CD and more lately DVD-audio  was invented to overcome the shortcomings of regular CDs and to try to match the fidelity of an unscratched record.  These were not real popular for a long time, but they are more so now, ironically in an age when it is harder and harder to find CDs to buy locally at any retail outlet. Record now outsell CDs are hard-to-find physical music-only  retail stores something like 20:1, believe it or not.  Also, now they have devices that can turn a record collection into an MP3 collection..this has also  brought back the popularity of records. 

I am not sure if and why BluRay DVD will be adopted, when DVD audio would not also be adapted..of course, the art work is missing, compared to a record, which is a problem. However, this is more for a collector than someone who just wants to listen to high-fidelity music that he or she can buy at a good and reasonable price.    Perhaps one day I may sell DVD-audio or something like this..I think you only need a regular DVD player for this as it can hold a lot more information than a CD..I think about 5 or 6 times as much..enough to get the same high fidelity as an analog record without the risk of scratching it with a needle. or forcing you to listen to the whole record including that one awful song or performance on the record. 

  The reason?  MP3s..which are compressed music files that people buy per song..do not even have the sound quality of a CD.  Some people just do not realize this at all and probably do not care either  The sound is certainly acceptable. and some MP3s seemed to have been compressed in way that sound better than others.But a CD is a step up in sound quality compared to an MP3, and so many people do not even realize this.

However, it is rather ironic to see adapters to play MP3 files from an MP3 player on a high-end stereo.  MP3s are just not going to have a real high fidelity..they are compressed files after all, and once again..they are not in stereo..and certainly never can take advantage of that surround sound system you might have.  You can put almost any CD in most DVD players and get a pretty good sound from a surround stereo system.  And sometimes CDs are even recorded in Digital Dolby, although this can be rare to find.  The sound can be wonderful.

Compression technology used in MP3s, WMAS, ITune music files and the like, makes them easy to send over the internet and load into a very portable MP3 player..which is a great thing.  After all, most portable CD players that I have ever used eat up batteries rather quickly..and if something shocks you physically your CD can become ruined, when you drop it.  CDs can become scratched, just like records, and some people apparently think CDs cannot get scratched or something.  Sometimes, unlike records, slight scratches can be removed, but deep scratches can ruin a CD the same way it ruins a record.  But it is like downloading video files..most are not going to look great on most tvs, and might look absolutely terrible on an HD tv, especially a large one. This is what you are also losing simply by buying portable media files over buying the original CD--you are definitely losing a lot of sound quality.  It might depend on what kind of music you listen to.  Most classical and jazz aficionados want very high fidelity.  For rap fans, it might be not that important, as they want to listen to the lyrics or words..great rap is really poetry..the music.if there is any..is just a background. 

   However, one also has to look at the long term cost of the various formats.  With a CD or record, one can often buy an entire CD quite cheaply (for example at my EBay store--HINT, HINT), and convert the entire CD to MP3 files to load in your MP3 player.  The advantage of this is that if you lose the file..for one reason or another..you can just make a new set of MP3s from the CD .  Whoever heard of lost files on a computer?  Yeah right.  Also, sometimes it is actually much cheaper to buy a CD than a set of the entire MP3s. Certainly if you are looking just for one song..it can be cheaper just to buy that one MP3..if you can fact find it.  Lots of CDs have never been converted to any type of downloadable format whatsoever..and you can only find them on CD.  I hear a lot from buyers they bought a CD because it had a particular song.  This was what MP3 files were designed to avoid..when you have to buy an entire album for just one song on it.  But that is often just for the most popular records, even now.  Otherwise you might as well buy the CD.

I have bought both Queen CDs and records over the years, and was surprised to find other songs that I really liked..that actually had a renewal in popularity for various reasons..such as Bohemian Rhapsody.  I could say the same things for jazz and classical CDs and records I have bought and even other genres..R&B, rap, crossover country, and lots of others. 

    Unfortunately, with the closing of Tower Records and many other places that sell CDs, one has to search for CDs online, since now even in big cities, often it is difficult to find anything but the most popular CDs.  I am certainly not against MP3 files at all..they allow so many ways to share among musicians..how an instrument sounds, for example n..but really you only get a hint..because an MP3 again is a compressed audio file (which is what you get on a CD).  And you cannot go backwards..you cannot convert an MP3 file to a decompressed audio file to get that original sound quality. 
Eventually, as I said, compression technology should increase to allow higher fidelity from an MP3 but we are not there yet..and it might just take to darn long to download. If you have ever tried to download a non-MP3 audio file..you will know it can take a long time, even at standard (at least for the U.S) high cable download sppsed.

An unscratched record probably has the best sound quality of all..but one has to look at this carefully..records can break and are certainly easy to scratch. The artwork is often wonderful.  Super-audio CDs and especially DVD-audio DVDS  are probably about the equivalent, but most CDs were not made to this and you need a something that can play this type of format to get that high fidelity CD or for the latter simply a good DVD player..but you might need something more special.   

   CDs really have a lot of advantages over the other formats.. in terms of long-term cost, storage, and non-breakability.  I make MP3s from my CDs..and if I sell my CDs, I delete the MP3s..this is the right thing to do.
I walk my dog to the beach a lot..I used to take an CD player..and great..sand would get in a CD sometimes..wonderful..sand is not going to ruin an MP3..there is nothing to ruin really..it is a compressed file that is stored on some type of electronic storage device. 

  Of course, there are also other types of compressed files, the type used by Itunes and WMAS being the main two others.And it is great of course to upload a bunch of MP3s that you have made from your CDS  all into a portable storage device..you do not have to lug a bunch of CDs around.  But at home it is really great to listen to that original CD on the stereo..it is going to sound way better than any MP3 can ever sound. CDs, after are all, are record in stereo..and great pains are made to do this..with a separate channel of sound for each speaker..some are even recorded with a surround system in mind..none of this is possible with any portable downloadable media file at least yet.  And, of course, CD audio is not compressed..so you are not squeezing something out of the CD as you do when you have any type of music media file..at least for now with current download and computer technology.  . 

    CDs really do not take up that much space, at least compared to records.  So there are a lot of advantages to buying CDS..cost, portability, and longevity, and much higher fidelity than any MP3, WMA, or iTune music file.   It is highly unfortunate that is is so hard to find CDs anywhere now but online.  However..there are lots of places to get them online..and certain sellers (HINT, HINT) guarantee their CDs to play perfectly and will ship them almost anywhere,.  Certainly not as easy as just downloading an MP3.but also CDs do have certain advantages over compressed music file formats.

  My prices for CDs are generally the lowest on the internet, when you include shipping.  I charge less for shipping on Ebay then I do anywhere else.  No Ebay buyer wants to have excessive shipping charges.  I might charge a little more for the CDs, but the total cost is much less than I charge for any other internet marketplace where I sell CDs.  Some of the CDs I sell for only 99 cents..which is the lowest price that Ebay allows for fixed pricing as far as I know.  I might make 50 cents to 1.00 per CD at this price, which certainly really is not worth the time and effort I put in for every CD..I think I might even make less than minimum wage in almost any state..but at least it is something. 

I also, of course, do have other CDs at a higher price.  If anyone is interested in buying records, especially rare ones, could you let me know.
I can buy lots of records, but I am not actually sure what people are willing to buy..except maybe rare unscratched and collectible records
of certain kinds, even jazz..and I have a hard time selling jazz CDs, at least compared to RAP.  Although I love jazz myself, the interest, at least in buying jazz CDs does not seem very strong. 

However, my hope is by doing this I will  have a lot of repeat customers over the years. 


  Thanks.

Dolphin 1959
Dolphin's Treasure Trove
More used  CDS will be listed over Thanksgiving weekend and even some new ones..the latter which are very offbeat and mostly rap and the like.