Music is important to me. It’s not quite an obsession, and I’m not a scholar by any means, but music occupies a significant part of my life.<\/p>\n
When I work at my computer or write at my desk, I like to listen to music. It’s in the background, blocking all those other sounds that distract me. Music is my “white noise” while I work on projects.<\/p>\n
Sound quality matters to me.<\/p>\n
Recently, I reimported my favorite CDs into iTunes because, back in the day, 128kbps was what my hard drive could hold, and I skipped so-so tracks back then. But, the tracks sounded tinny to me with better headphones, earbuds, or via the home stereo. At 256kbps I can’t tell the difference between the CD with these tracks with headphones. Maybe it is my age, but I doubt anyone could tell the difference unless sitting in a silent room.<\/p>\n
I opted against ALAC \/ AIFF for now because of space. Yes, I have that many CDs and I’m not always connected to the interwebs. If we someday buy a RAID system, I’ll migrate my music library to lossless files formats. Even then, I’d only reimport the music I listen to on a regular basis, as I come across discs that I liked a lot.<\/p>\n
Completeness matters, too. I don\u2019t like gaps and holes in my music library, not even if an album by a favorite band was only okay. There’s something about missing a CD that bothers me, like missing a book from a series. Bands and musicians evolve; if you’re missing one album, you’re missing part of the complete story of that musical evolution.<\/p>\n
My Collection.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n My tastes are not that unique for someone born in the late 1960s. Being raised during the 1970s, I appreciate what might have been the most varied period popular music. Give me the Beatles, Stones, Grateful Dead, and Pink Floyd. I also appreciate surf rock, with the guitars and drums. There’s a uniformity even researchers have identified within 1980s pop that lacks the complexity the previous three decades. Yet, I admit that 80s pop with its synthesizers and drum machines is comfortably familiar. The New Wave<\/strong>\u00a0and Post-Punk sounds of The Smiths, The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Police\u2026 everyone knows the 1980s KROQ playlist.<\/p>\n Celtic, classical, jazz, techno, pop, and metal \u2014 I own a bit of everything.<\/p>\n Music reminds of people, places, and events in our lives. Each CD I own means something, a connection that compelled me to add to my collection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Music is important to me. It’s not quite an obsession, and I’m not a scholar by any means, but music occupies a significant part of my life. When I work at my computer or write at my desk, I like to listen to music. It’s in the background, blocking all…<\/p>\n