Just to share my experience at an audio store. With one album, the store has multiple file formats from MP3, WAV, FLAC, DSD, varying bit rate/depth for a consumer to compare.
Imagine a store with thousands of albums and perhaps a couple of versions on some. That would be a lot of music.
For multiple format comparisons there’s an excellent source of free downloads at:-
Not boasting but I have been collecting since 1960 and have more than that. I have the collection available in the car as well and always play back in random mode. It’s great fun to see how long it takes listening to a track before I crack up and find out what it’s called and who by.
How wonderful to be able to pass your collection on to the next generation.
Of course, we are not technically legally allowed to pass our ripped music along to anyone 
You Don't Own the Digital Music You Bought & Reselling it is Illegal - DJBooth We can legally leave our CDs, however! Sigh.
Which is one reason I don’t buy digital downloads 
Still have all the CDs I ripped in boxes in the garage loft.
Here in the US that statement needs the disclaimer: Please disregard this warning if you are wealthy.
All copied from bought albums, vinyl, cassette and cd.
Everything legaly purchased.
Music in all it’s guises to me is total relaxation at the end of the day with my digital collection approaching the 100,000 mark and yes I have listened to most of it and also add about 1000 tracks a week. I have been afflicted with this condition most of my life with a many thousand record collection and 5-6 thousand CD’s growing weekly as OP shops are a great source of new music at affordable prices. I rip CD’s in WAV and digital in Flac mostly with also a large Hi-Rez and growing collection, as yet I have not subscribed to any streaming services but will probably give Quboz a go soon. Buying music is expensive and I have invested a lot but have a system that does it justice so don’t see it as a waste and my grown children are all interested so they can have it when I go as it is a legally owned asset in the end.
ROON allows me to randomly explore music and I have regularly selected an album listened then let ROON takeover the rest of the night and more often than not been pleasantly surprised at the following selections without lifting a finger, brilliant.
Why do you care how big other people’s music collections are? Why start a thread about it? Is this a major dilemma for you? I think there other 1st World issues more worthy of your time.
Because this is my hobby and I like to learn more about others in the hobby, as part of the hobby, every day.
Ha, you are probably correct in a lot of cases. It is a sickness when it affects ones life in a negative sense, however figuring out how to back up or having Roon search and find all the albums I do not see as a problem so big I need therapy. Part of the issue is trying to cull through the albums and version to pick the ones I really want to keep. I have deleted an awful lot by just mass deleting because I know I do not like poor live recordings or those “audiophile” samplers, but when it is deciding between a DCC or Mobile Fidelity remastered recording it is too hard and I cannot delete one of those and that is where I have a large build up is the same recording in different quality versions. I also have a great quality recording but a duplicate that has some bonus tracks but not as good a quality and I cannot delete one. Lastly I have some very popular music that may not be my taste but when I entertain people want to hear that album so I keep it. So yes this could be considered an issue of hording or it could be just a collector of quality music. I pick the second.
I have a difficult time shedding versions as well. Sometimes different versions sound different but not necessarily better…so I keep both. I collected W. German target face CDs for a while. Not all of them sound better, so it is challenging for me to get rid of those inferior masterings in the collection. A problem I find is remembering to delete the files from my HDD when I shed the CD. This can lead to bloat, but as soon as I come across something in Roon that I either got rid of the physical copy or just don’t care for anymore, I snapshot my phone and write DELETE across the image. I do the same for skipping files or errors. It helps go back and clean that stuff up when I get a chance.
I am not sure how you reach that conclusion, unless you not being serious.
The quality of a recording is in the ear of the beholder. Many would say Kempff’s Mono Beethoven sonatas was the best of his 3 or that Schnabel is the best ever, despite the recording quality being seriously substandard, in Schnabel’s case.
Just because some has a lot does not imply they are poor recordings
I still strive to get the best versions on 70’s recordings but alas the original recordings were a bit iffy , listen Dela Vu 50th anniversary edition, does that mean I shouldn’t listen to it ?
“I still routinely hear new songs that I’ve never heard before when I randomize my collection“
This is the reason to collect a bunch of music and/or subscribe to quality streaming service. Hearing new stuff is my goal. I been running on shuffle ever since my first iPod.
Roon is perfect for my style of acquisition and listening.
I’m also a fan of Discover. I have a large collection because I was a music critic at a daily newspaper and needed to be able review compositions that appeared on upcoming concerts.
I think he is either trolling or just talking to talk. The “I don’t mean to insult the people I am about to insult” is a giveaway for me. Whatever. There is no depth or thoughtfulness to his response.
Exactly. Why do I have three versions of Derek & The Dominos Layla album? Because there have been some improvements in transfering it to CD over the years. A remastering of Fleetwood Mac’s “Then Play On” album from a few years ago greatly improved the CD, so now I have two versions. And I enjoy listenting to alternative mixes (e.g., all the recent Beatles and George Harrison remixes). Even if I don’t prefer them to the orginal, they are worth listening to in my opinion. And in 52 years of record collecting (the last 36 years of that being CDs), it all tends to add up.
I had Layla on vinyl for my 21st present 
, then CD then CD remaster …
It still makes a monthly play
These posts always crack me up here. It’s a forum focused on music-library collection and curation software, for goodness sake.
I’d think if one wants more globally conscious content, they might look elsewhere.
