LebGeeks

Kareem

Member

Do you still store / archive digital audio and video ?

Not sure if I'm clear enough but I've been into a debate lately and I would like you to answer the below questions; I'd love to see what other think.

- Do you still download and save music on your HDD or it's pure streaming right now and why.

-  Assuming you're into movies, do you still buy DVDs ? if yes, do rip and collect ?

I've been surprised that  many people watch and forget, they have no interest in watching the same movie again one day.

Many people defend streaming blindly but they tend to forget that not everything is available for our region.

On the other hand, why would I keep 48 GB of Friend's Episodes when I can just Netflix it anytime I want.

Xsever

Member

Re: Do you still store / archive digital audio and video ?

All my music, movies, and series are saved on my HDD and I stream them to my TV and devices using Flex so I can watch anything whenever I want. This also helps me keep my music library up-to-date and organized so that I can easily update my iPod which I use in my car since it has the iPod integration kit.

I prefer to have the actual files on my HDD versus in the cloud because we live in Lebanon and the internet is not the best and sometimes we might have no electricity.

chosen2k

Member

Re: Do you still store / archive digital audio and video ?

I don't stream music, I download high quality files, store on my phone & delete when not needed.
I stream movies & series. With the extremely rare purchase of DVD. I do not rip & store/collect.
Additionally, lately I found myself digitally downloading PS4 games. It's better than actually go to the shop and it's cheaper than most retailers.
IMO with streaming everything is easier WITHOUT the need of any additional setup (like flex etc...), you do not have to actually move your ass to change discs, etc...
About availability, I have good streaming "alternatives" that generally have everything available.

Why make all the effort to rip, get the right subtitles and the correct thumbnail put them in the folder and label them just to grow a library where most if not all movies will only be watched once or twice at most.
^ I know existing software take care of all this but there's still some tweaking you do manually don't you? like add the date at the start of the folder so your OCD is satisfied.

Hybrid

Member

Re: Do you still store / archive digital audio and video ?

I used to store them, but everything can be found online nowadays, I just deleted a bunch of music and videos couple of months ago. Now a 1TB HDD sounds like a hell lot of storage space to me

xazbrat

Member

Re: Do you still store / archive digital audio and video ?

My music is streamed almost 100%.  As for videos, movies and TV shows (all in HD) are stored on HDD--you simply cant stream HD movies and TV shows on a 2 mbps connection.  I put the hard disk on a shared drive where the whole house has access.  I am still looking for a better solutions--mine is more utilitarian than elegant.  I do stream some anime and other stuff where the quality isn't as important to me, but no way am I watching movies like Avengers, Spiderman or many animated movies on crappy streams--it doesn't make what you are watching at all enjoyable.

Whenever the speed gets upgraded in my area, will get Netflix, but until then, am going this route unless something better comes along.  As for DVD and CD's, not even a consideration any more.  They are becoming like the VHS and cassette tapes of the generation before them.

Last edited by xazbrat (February 5 2019)

Draguen

Member

Re: Do you still store / archive digital audio and video ?

I stream most of what i watch / listen except for unavailable content, in which case i go back to my old habits of torrenting.
However whenever i have a movie night or a family member asks me for a TV show / film, i always torrent it in high quality + subs since you can't expect your friends to have a good internet connection and/or a way of to stream on a dumb TV that are usually here since 10+ years.

Also, Netflix has a tendency to be 1 year late on series, for exemple Brooklyn 99 season 5 was just released despite the season 6 airing worldwide at the moment, in which case torrenting is my friend.

Last edited by Draguen (February 5 2019)

AVOlio

Member

Re: Do you still store / archive digital audio and video ?

Nowadays I am streaming everything I watch, especially on Netflix. (sometimes I download on mobile app and then delete them when I watch them.)

Before, I used to download every movie I wanted to watch, and store them, as well as download every episode of every series I want to watch and store them on the HDD also. I still have a Huge library of movies and series on the drive, but I stopped doing it unless the content is not available in Netflix.

As for music, Im not really into downloading or listening to music.
The only time I listen to music is when I'm in the car through the radio stations.
Which are totally crap to be honest and they're filling my head with pretty stupid and idiotic content that I just can't get them out of my mind, and even sometimes giving me trouble in sleeping because that same shittg music keeps mumbling back in my brain.

So an off topic request :
Can anyone suggest some actual useful things to listen to in the car while stuck in traffic??

Elied

Member

Re: Do you still store / archive digital audio and video ?

Nowadays I am streaming everything I watch, especially on Netflix. (sometimes I download on mobile app and then delete them when I watch them.)

Before, I used to download every movie I wanted to watch, and store them, as well as download every episode of every series I want to watch and store them on the HDD also. I still have a Huge library of movies and series on the drive, but I stopped doing it unless the content is not available in Netflix.

As for music, Im not really into downloading or listening to music.
The only time I listen to music is when I'm in the car through the radio stations.
Which are totally crap to be honest and they're filling my head with pretty stupid and idiotic content that I just can't get them out of my mind, and even sometimes giving me trouble in sleeping because that same shittg music keeps mumbling back in my brain.

So an off topic request :
Can anyone suggest some actual useful things to listen to in the car while stuck in traffic??

I usually enjoy podcasts while driving. Depending on which ones you listen to they can be very informative and entertaining. Other things I've known people to do is listen to audiobooks, I prefer podcasts because I can usually finish the episode on a single trip, unlike a book which would be hours of listening.

Draguen

Member

Re: Do you still store / archive digital audio and video ?

So an off topic request :
Can anyone suggest some actual useful things to listen to in the car while stuck in traffic??

Freakonomics podcast is actually amazing. once you start podcasting, you usually don't go back.

Kareem

Member

Re: Do you still store / archive digital audio and video ?

Seems like almost everyone here prefers internet streaming unless they have insufficient bandwidth / quota.

So if it's the case, why is Plex so popular?

rolf

Member

Re: Do you still store / archive digital audio and video ?

I do collect and keep things that I like on my external hard drive, it cases where:
- I like it
- It is difficult to find online
- it could be taken down
- I can download it or already have

I also have a few old MP3 DVDs

However the majority of watching and listening are streamed.

It's the same thing on my phone, although I keep a few MP3s just in case 4G stops working for some reason.

I gemerally don't buy DVD anymore because of:
- Cost or originals
- Convenience of online
- I avoid piracy
- If I throw them away after watching, I would be generating plastic waste
- If I keep them, they will take up space and generate clutter

If a movie is very special to me, then I might buy the DVD and keep it.

Can anyone suggest some actual useful things to listen to in the car while stuck in traffic??

I use Soundcloud when I go running. The quality of the experience has gone down a lot lately, and I think they are bankrupt, but it still works good enough. You can also find language courses in there.

Of course there is youtube as well but it wastes too much battery and bandwidth.

Last edited by rolf (February 6 2019)

duke-of-bytes

Member

Re: Do you still store / archive digital audio and video ?

my 16 bay netstor thunderbolt storage is almost full .. i'm just worried about data corruption
i do not pay for any media unless i have it on a physical media ( i still keep copies of my favorite albums on cds and vinyl )

Locha

Member

Re: Do you still store / archive digital audio and video ?

Which softwares are you using so far to rip old audio CDs and movie DVDs?

Kareem

Member

Re: Do you still store / archive digital audio and video ?

Which softwares are you using so far to rip old audio CDs and movie DVDs?

MakeMkv for DVDs as for AudioCD there are many, make sure you it's a FLAC encoder.