apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I have a space for music only if you count the instruments I have lying around my living room. But otherwise... no... everything else is on my computer these days.

I have a long, low dresser in my living room that houses my very large collection of CDs:

http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/022008annatour/anna30

I still have my component stereo system from my highschool years and it still works great although I use it less for my music collection and more now for my TV and DVD player. I do occaisionally use the stereo tuner for FM, but the CD and tape deck not so much. Instead I have an airport express connected to stream music from my laptop through my tuner. Believe it or not, I use the turn table more than the CD player now that most of my music is on my computer. I still have vinyl I listen to occaisionally. The biggest change for me has been losing the huge floor speakers I used to have in favor of small wall mounted bose speakers. They have better sound quality and I think my downstairs neighbors appreciate not having their ceiling vibrate! Plus they aren't so obtrusive in my space.

I do. I have stereo equipment in my main room: a preamp, a CD player, and a turntable. I use the preamp to drive headphones because I live in a tiny apartment with crummy acoustics and touchy neighbors. I have a very large CD collection, in jewel cases, on shelves. I am okay with listening to compressed audio files when I'm on the go, but at home, I want better sound quality. I would love to have a home with a dedicated listening room with perfect acoustics.

Agree with the last two posters. I've got a component system hooked up with TV, CD/DVD, tape deck, & a turntable. The mp3s don't offer the same quality as CD tracks, so the CDs aren't going anywhere. Neither is my vinyl. You can have my vintage vinyl copy of Never Mind the Bollocks when I'm dead. Until then, the vinyl stays, man.

I work with college students. They no longer buy CDs...they just download onto their laptops and Ipods. I don't think I could ever give up the hard copy. I love the artwork and liner notes too much.

I'm with you nazrd, plus as JefferyK said, the sound quality is so much better with CDs. I hate the dynamic range compression being applied to music these days because of mp3s, so my entire media cabinet is dedicated to music.

I have a component audio system and AirTunes housed in a black Copenhagen cabinet from R&B, which holds most of my CDs in the drawers (the LPs are stored elsewhere). Either side is flanked by big floor speakers, and the space over the cabinet where the TV is "supposed" to go is occupied by a big piece of art. If you're a music lover, you need the dynamic range, placement, and feel of a real compenent system. Computer speakers don't cut it.

But yeah, while I have a dedicated music space, I don't understand the point of a dedicated TV space! TV mostly sucks, and pretty much any show I "need" to watch I can get from iTunes. And my basic opinion is that movies are what my computer is for. :)

So much for f*cking simplicity.

I have sinned against the AT bible.

(Smooth Organ Music Cue)
Brethren, I must confess I have committed the ultimate sin of clutter and have desecrated the holy outbox. In spite of the good service my tube tv gave, I gave it the boot and bought a flat screen LCD tv. (Congregational Gasp) and I gave away my un-up-converting dvd player... (Fainting Gasp) buying a media tank and vanishing dvds, cds, and all them d's off my living room. Even though that really cleared up a LOT of room, I was stuck with the tv's default speakers, which lemmetellya, SUCKED A**! So now had to get a surround sound 5 speaker, 1 subwoofer system, which takes MUCH more space than the tv, dvd and discs all together. Mind you, I can hook up the computer to it, I guess making it... better, but nonetheless, the whole "de-cluttering by buying" thing didn't go that well. I tried going the computer speaker route, not even close to doable without re-wiring the tv. lol So yeah, better experience overall, but too pricey.

My point really is this: Nowadays, there's really not a true space for Music, Movies, Television, or in some cases Powerpoint Presentations... Really it's all a Multimedia Center and if that's the case EVERYONE has one, some with digital media, anolog... Tube tvs, Projectors, just different versions and pricetags. Anything less than that, you have a plank and a carving tool, anything more and you really want a music studio. Most of all of us real normal humans are in between.

As far as the mp3 thing, BULLSH*T nobody can recognize the difference between cd and a decently ripped mp3. The difference you might find is either because the system playing both is different or because they used a bad encoder. CDs and MP3s are BOTH digital and they both suck to a point. (mainly because of how much they mess with the waves to make it louder nowadays) Vinyl... completely different story; but let's be honest, a lot of it has to be from sentimental reasons as there is some music that you wouldn't hear even if it was carved in the vinyl by it's inventor with his bare hands.

We have an entire room dedicated to music, as my husband is a musician. The music room houses his instruments, recording equipment, record player and records, and serves as a classroom of sorts for teaching guitar lessons.

We also have ipods and lots of songs on our laptop, though I still prefer to put them on CD so I can listen to them in the car.

I still have stereo components (5 Disk CD player, 5 Disc DC/DVD player, VCR, Receiver/Amp, etc) and a drawer full of CD's - but I rarely use them...
...I've downloaded most of my music to the laptop via iTunes which I have connected wirelessly to the Cable Modem and Stereo via Apple Airport Express: I turn on the reciever and play the music to speakers spread all over the apartment from the laptop.

we have a studio that is half music for me and half graphic design for my wife.
so, yeah, about 100 square feet solely for music.

Screw it! Suffer for sound, I say!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spins_lps/206912326

While I understand the convenience and anti-clutter-ness of having all your music on an Ipod or computer rather than on CDs or albums, and of listening to music over very small speakers rather than big ones that take up a lot more space (and cost more), you give up a lot of musical nuance when you do either.

I listened to an original CD and an a high quality .mp3 version of the same orchestral album over the weekend, trying to see if I could hear any difference. I have to admit that the difference was subtle, even when using very good headphones. But they were very different if you listened closely: the .mp3 did not have nearly the same sparkle as the CD and various instruments did not sound as good in .mp3 as they did on CD.

I had to conclude, sadly, that most people would never notice any difference. Especially when listening to pop, rock, or reggae. I think you'd only notice it if you have really good speakers or headphones and listened to classical or jazz. And even then, it may be something that is more subconscious than conscious. Sort of like the difference between having fake and real flowers in your house.

I think it is important to preserve the nuance in music. Just like I prefer real plants. I think we lose something when we take the short cuts of .mp3s and fake plants. But I can understand the allure of both as they are both a lot easier than the real thing.

In a small space, it's a blessing for me to have music on my computer, iPod, and iPod speaker. I was so happy to get rid of even the CD binder! For me, it's all about the music, not the accoutrements.

I still technically "have" a typical cd/cassette stereo component system... it is in the closet and has to go, eventually - it's gigantic and ugly, and have had recent trouble with the cd carousel being a jerk, it plays just fine otherwise. I have a turntable and a vintage LP rack with LPs on it, but could never get it going with the modern ubiquitous system (needs some amplification). Although I don't listen to my cassettes anymore, some of them are very dear mix tapes, and I'd be sad if I couldn't hear them anymore. All my cds and tapes are in the closet. Some of them I keep to remind me what I need to replace in my library, which is going slow. I buy cds that I want, no download for me.

Mainly my goal is to build a stereo on my terms. I would love to listen to music on miraculously clear and small speakers, and everything I need to be able to hear what I want is hooked up and doesn't resemble either some grotesque stereo-monster of the future 1980s retro, or wood-grain case like some old-timey radio as big as a mini-fridge to "blend in." Ideally, slim, fairly nondescript components that work, and fit on whatever shelving I think would be appropriate. No such need for an "entertainment center," per se (and I spent my toddler years looking at a black and white tv that was an actual piece of furniture with legs, shortly overlapped chronologically by a "stereo console" of the 8-track era that took up a whole wall of the living room and wasn't really made of wood that persisted until my late teens). I don't need the digital to read out HELLO when I turn on the power and be some all-in-one that has one thing I don't need and lacks something else I'd rather be able to hook up but can't.

I guess my issues are yes I want specific musical components, but am decidedly against the decorative intent of some Industrial Designers' visions to make those components and furniture named to house them purposely "aesthetic," it's just sort of compulsory ugly of the home.

My husband is a producer/composer/DJ so he has set-up a mini studio in our second bedroom. At the end of summer, we will be converting our garage into a studio and guest house (for the artists he works late nights with) so I will get that room back! Right now it is filled w/ 2 sets of turntables, 4 computers, a mixing board, racks, and a large collection of records.

Surprisingly, we have no other means to listen to music in the house besides his studio. I listen to all of my cds in my laptop...and I haven't even set up the iPod nano I got two years ago.

My husband plays in a band (has since he was a teenager, 30-odd years ago). And he's been collecting LP's that entire time, too. I have LP's from my youth, as well - my teen years were before CD's, and that was my highest level of disposable income until, well, pretty much now. So. We have a turntable, and a component system, and two stereos, and an entire shelf to hold the 8 or 10 linear feet of LP's. Plus all the CD's we have acquired since.

We are not CD-phobic, but every time we listen to those well-cared-for LP's, all I can think is "damn! I'm glad we still give space to that old turntable!"

All I have is a small Sharper Image travel clock/radio/CD player and my very minimal 16 CDs of music. I could whittle the CDs down very easily, since I never listen to them, they are just very favorite pieces of music. But I prefer silence to music at home. And I prefer attending the live symphony to listening to recordings anyway.

I have to say, the Sharper Image player does sound quite good to me when I do play it. Of course, I'm not as selective as somebody who needs to have music all the time.

I also have a cheap mp3 player that I've never really gotten the hang of using, which makes me feel like a fossil even though I'm a Gen-Xr. I keep it in my drawer and never think of trying to load music on it, though given my propensity for only keeping what I really love, you'd think it would be just the ticket for me.

I have several hundred of lps, housed in two Ikea Besta units, along with hundreds of cds and a cd player, a tape deck, an amp/receiver, and a turntable, all in my bedroom. (Like others, I had to put my big old A/R speakers out of sight and got smaller speakers to make room for us people.) While I hate them whenever I move, I love lps for several reasons. First, with a good turntable, stylus, and record, you can hear the difference between a record and a cd. That's clear. Second, as others have noted, there is an aesthetic experience with records which involves handling them carefully (and thus valuing them, unlike cds and especially mp3s almost like artifacts), enjoying the liner notes and cover art and history, and taking time to listen to the music, not treating it as background filler. "High Fidelity" got this aspect of records just right. But I have an iPod, too, I have music on my computers; there's definitely something to be said for portability and convenience at times.

I looked for weeks trying to find something for my records that matched my room - ended up settling on this (Target gem :/):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wellthatwasfun/2461838050/in/set-72157604862969017/

Our music is a part of our home and its design--the Jacob shelf by Arhaus will eventually be filled with LPs (but for now alternates with cool objects), plus we have good speakers, a turntable, and a fantastic 70s amp (not even a true receiver) that looks space age--all sitting on a mid-century credenza.
The cds are slowly being weeded out however, as they are uploaded and relegated to the car for road trips. I'm a bit of a luddite, and as I have no appreciable commute I have yet to have need for an ipod.

I have 600 CDs, and am always buying more. I do whittle the number down from time to time, but I will always have them. I store them in a "4x2" Bonde shelve unit from IKEA, in 4 cd drawers. Sadly, these cd drawers are no longer for sale. IKEA sells very little Bonde stuff anymore. I guess I will have to keep an eye out on Craigslist and Ebay.

My stereo is now a 5 speaker / 1 sub-woofer surround sound unit. I have had better, but I live in a condo and really try to be a good neighbor. Besides, the best place to listen to music is in the car cranked up load. Preferably a Mustang with the windows down at night going 75 miles an hour.

I'm in desperate need of something to hold my LPs. The CDs are quitely stored away - out of sight and out of mind - but where to put the LPs???
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liquidstereo/2455223243/

Maybe I'm still living in the past...I have 8-tracks, vinyl, cassette tapes as well as CD's. I have an 8 track area that houses all my players and tapes and another area for my stereo that has a turntable and dual cassette deck. Eventually I want to get an Ikea Expedit wall shelf system to house everything in one place.

My living room is where the major music enjoyment is located and it's a 90's era receiver w/ phono pre stage, an 80's era modest turntable w/ an almost 2 year old Shure cartridge, the nicest sounding cart I've ever had for it provides a nice balanced sound throughout the audible range with no upper mid brightness to mar one's listening experience which is good for those really bright LP's one ended up getting. I still play LP's and 7" 45's, I have a 5 disc Denon CD player that's almost a decade old and a pair of vintage early 70's Sansui floor speakers w/ 12" woofers.

That whole mess has a VCR and DVD recorder connected to it so it also serves as my audio source for TV and DVDs too, in 2 channel stereo no less. The old 21 YO TV is getting the boot for a new 32" LCD model in the next couple of weeks for I prefer viewing my movies on something other than a tiny computer screen.

I prefer buying CD's, LP's and DVD and the experience of handllng them all, inserting them onto/into their respective playback devices and yes, I still have some VHS tapes and cassettes too but have gotten rid of a lot of them over the past 4 years and my one and only remaining full sized cassette deck is part of my digital audio workstation (computer) for transcribing stuff for archival purposes as well as the occasional source for a CD mix I'm making but that's mostly it or for checking out old mix tapes and perhaps recreating from scratch from original sources a new CD version.

I have an MP3 player that's part of my cell phone and I use it on occasion and have a fairly new CD head unit in my truck to replace it's stock factory cassette deck.

As far as sound quality, I find that poorly compressed tracks, be it MP3 or not will tend to be mids heavy, lacking truely deep bass and the very upper end of the high frequencies, in essence, limiting the frequency range to less than the full audible spectrum, which ruins any and all forms of music, rock/pop included. Also, most CD's released in the past 15 years or so, that are of new material, and in some cases, remasters of classic stuff will be more compressed than earlier releases and will have less dynamics than a typical LP recorded 25 years ago. Sad really as if you can look at a waveform of a typical pop CD recorded today, it's heavily compressed, brick-walled and in many cases clipping heavily for a sound that is less than stellar - but loud.

Small speakers, unless paired with a decent sub will generally not do bass full justice and will in my opinion offer less than a stellar experience.

I store my LP's in open storage units in the dining area of my apt and all CD's and other related software on open bookcases in the hall.

I use my PC for editing audio files and for making mix CD's in full CD quality sound so there.

I've never had a space dedicated to music. Just the ipod, and the docking station. You get a pretty decent sound from small speakers these days. In college I just had computer speakers--those had pretty lousy sound quality, but when I wanted to hear all the nuances of classical music, I went to the philharmonic and heard it live. Of course, where I was in school, it was free to students if you sat on the sides, so that was a plus. And even though I'm a starving grad student, I really feel that it'd be more worthwhile to save up free money for the occasional concert ticket than invest in a really high quality sound system that would overpower my tiny studio anyways. But that's me.

Being a DJ, I have (and will likely always continue to have) two Technics turntables and a mixer, connected to two powered studio monitors and a laptop. These sit on top of about 5-600 records and shelves full of cables, headphones, extra cartridges, etc. I refuse to get rid of my equipment, but I have yet to find a place to put it that's visually pleasing.

The real problem is that I simply can't bear to spend the $3000 for the "high end" DJ consoles, as most of them don't have space for the vinyl anyway. Any suggestions?