CD will always outsell vinyl. Period.
The recent vinyl ‘resurgence’ is a lovely, minor fad for the majority. Nothing more than that. All it really represents is an opportunity for the record companies and the artists to make more money from their releases while they can.
Phones are not hifi. They are phones. They are inferior to hifi.
An I’m not getting into a polemic.
If you want to believe that phones are hifi then that’s your right.
I’m Leaving this here as it’s never the twain.
Back to my hifi (not a phone)
Walkmans weren’t hifi and neither were cassette tapes but that’s where a lot of us started. Life is a revolving circle.
He didn’t say that. Most people didn’t have hifi but stuff like this, and a phone with AirPods is way better
As you say, things ‘move on’ and even ‘move around 
Personally, I think it’s a very fertile and exciting time for portable audio, born primarily from the iPod, and now from streaming via 4G/5G.
And there have been improvements over the years. For instance, streaming via AAC from my iPhone 14 Pro to my Sony WH-1000XM3‘s is a far more satisfying audio experience compared to listening to my old Discman via in-ear buds.
Quality is there. You just need to know where to look.
I lived for a while in Brentwood in Essex, there was a wonderful LP shop that stocked everything, he had a 6 month long closing down sale. He was a retired maths teacher from Brentwood School , he was well into his 80’s
He nearly bankrupted me 
Ooh! Love this topic.
I buy my music and am a loyal CD guy. My collection is a solid 2800 discs strong and I am proud to display the embarrassment that some of them might bring! These days, my requirement for physical media forces me to buy some vinyl here and there.
Like many others here, I use streaming services to let Roon introduce me to new music. I don’t “add to library” from Tidal or Qobuz. However, when there is a newer album that I MUST HAVE, and it isn’t available physically, I love the fact that I can go to Qobuz and buy the files. At least then I have them available amongst my other ripped CDs in the event of an internet outage. I believe this is where many of us will end up. Simply buying digital files for our “collection”. Its a sad thought, but better than streaming everything in my opinion.
Which brings me to my only issue with Roon: I really wish I could play my local files even when I dont have an internet connection. Other than that rare issue, I believe it is a nearly perfect audio product. For me anyway.
My dad had a huge collection of both vinyl and CD’s. He got rid of the whole collection after my parents sold their house and started living in a smaller place.
He hosted a Country & Western radio show on the local radio station for nearly 30 years. Now he is retired and happily listening to Internet Radio using my gifted WiiM Mini. He is not even into streaming.
The current average listening quality of music for most people (I’m not talking about HiFi) is much better than it was in the days of the Walkman and basic record players. It’s like photography, which is much better today on smartphones than it was in the days of the Kodak instamatic. The obsessive interest in high and very high quality has always concerned only a very small number of people, nothing has changed.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
One of the most interesting statistics I’ve read recently is that according to this recent study, 50% of vinyl purchasers in the US don’t even own a turntable. Apparently they just treat vinyl albums as collectible objects to own, without ever intending to play them.
You never know, it may be the start of a wonderful journey.
I felt that the first time I heard/read this a few months ago, it was specifically about Taylor Swift fans buying all the versions of everything she releases and hanging on walls etc
Maybe it has now morphed to all vinyl, that’s how news tends to travel these day’s
I hope that the streaming companies that integrate with Roon stay in business even if they have to raise their prices. Streaming with Roon has revolutionized the way that I listen to music. The combination of Roon and streaming services (Qobuz for me) allows me to do the equivalent of checking out a book a the library. I can thoroughly listen to an album one or two times and then be done with it.
My philosophy of purchasing downloads or CD’s is to purchase music to support current musicians. I have no problem in adding a album that was released before the CD era started to my Roon library. I prefer to purchase CD quality or above downloads because I no longer listen to physical media. My LP’s are long gone and all my 600 CD’s are in plastic totes in my basement.
Very well put.
It’s always deeply bothered me how this change took place largely without any real outrage.
I don’t fully trust that streaming services will forever be around as they are today. I have a feeling that there will be fewer services, coalescing together to form a near monopoly where listeners and artists are on the short end of the stick.
That’s why I still collect CDs, vinyl and if need be, purchase FLAC files from Qobuz, Bandcamp, etc.
I also pick up some DSD or WAV music from various places occasionally.
Then I distribute my files among a few PCs, a server and have two separate, offline, off-site backups.
For now, I’ll continue enjoying streaming, but I am prepared to enjoy music the old fashioned way if things change for the worse.
Question for all of you using Qobuz or Tidal — and not that Roon can (yet) take advantage of this — what is the state of track dates on compilation albums? It’s the one thing that I rely on to make creative playlists, and if they are as bad as Qobuz downloads are, then they are totally worthless. Apple downloads - which I sometimes use for one-off single tracks - have gotten pretty good at having original release dates.
Without original release dates on tracks, streaming would be 100% useless to me, and it’s a great thing to have in my own collection of now nearly 47,000 tracks…go local or go home 
Without a streaming service , quite a few Roon features don’t exist like Discography which I do use
I too have a local collection “for that rainy day” but I still keep Tidal for the odd fill in.
Good one. How about “go local or go loco”
–MD
I get that. But I have an AllMusic subscription for $12/yr that I use for that. You are right, though, it can be incredibly useful to have that built in.
