Mix Tapes vs. Mix CDs---FIGHT!

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both have their merits, i'll grant. both are appropriate for different places and in different times. but which do you prefer, and why? is it an issue of one format being more pure than another? perhaps for reasons of effort? ease of compiling?

what say you?

― janni (janni), Monday, 10 February 2003 21:30 (twenty-three years ago)

MixCD cons:
can skip songs easily
can't put part of a song on it (sucks if you want to put a song on that has 12 minutes of silence after it)
MixCD pros: can skip songs easily

― Oops (Oops), Monday, 10 February 2003 21:34 (twenty-three years ago)

you can get one of those mp3 splitters though, they're free to download

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 10 February 2003 21:36 (twenty-three years ago)

mix tapes all the way. cds may be better soundwise, but they don't have that special feel tapes have. i've been called a luddite, but i don't care. :)

― cecilia, Monday, 10 February 2003 21:42 (twenty-three years ago)

I wrote about this in my column:

Mix CDs are not the same as Mix Tapes. The latter, which thrived in dorm-rooms, car stereos and the hands of lovestruck boys with dreams of requited love, are lovable, homely things. Mix Tapes exist wholly in this world - slowly degrading with every play, with idiosyncratic hisses, confused volume levels, manual fade-outs and two sides which both end too early. Mix Tapes are made by the seat of the pants, they encourage the maker to truly pay attention, they contain gleeful winks and ten-second commercial breaks. Sure, Mix CDs can do this too, but those that do are simply failed analogues (pun intended) - Mix Tapes are their own medium, different and bizarre. They are homemade chocolate-chip cookies - lovingly prepared, bruised and imperfect.

A well-made Mix CD, on the other hand, is the cookie prepared by master bakers. Not some erudite, macadamia-nut novelty, but just a delicious, eyes-roll-back-in-your-head cookie - made with care, precision, and a wondrous, secret spice. Mix Tapes are affectionate, smudged sketches from friends; Mix CDs are works of Art.

― Sean@tangmonkey (Sean M), Monday, 10 February 2003 21:46 (twenty-three years ago)

I like the randomness of mixtapes: you can pick one up, put it in, and be surprised at which song you'll hear and yet still stay in the flow of the mix (as opposed to hitting random on a cd player)

― Oops (Oops), Monday, 10 February 2003 21:48 (twenty-three years ago)

My main problem with mix CDs is that you can't hear the songs whilst they're being recorded.

― Evan (Evan), Monday, 10 February 2003 22:19 (twenty-three years ago)

i agree with the "mix cds are works of art"... if i'm making a mix cd for someone, it tends to take me 3-5 weeks or more (listening to the full mix every day).

cds can feel just as warm as mix tapes -- all about the cover art!

― dan rukas, Tuesday, 11 February 2003 00:58 (twenty-three years ago)

based solely on this puiece of shit article, I will take the side of mix-CDs

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 01:35 (twenty-three years ago)

that's piece, duh

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 01:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Audio fidelity is the hobgoblin of little minds.

― Cheeses K. Reist, Tuesday, 11 February 2003 03:56 (twenty-three years ago)

aww, that washington post article was lovely.

― keith (keithmcl), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 04:10 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't even have a tape player anymore, so CD's win!

― paul cox (paul cox), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 04:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Tapes, mainly because of what Evan said. Also, a large portion of my collection is on vinyl, and I can't utilize that.

― Vic Funk, Tuesday, 11 February 2003 13:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Minidiscs still rule, even though they never caught on. You can change the track order and replace tracks as much as you'd like. And you can't fuck one up.

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 13:35 (twenty-three years ago)

unfortunately i have learned that yes, you can. but they're still great

― minna (minna), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 13:37 (twenty-three years ago)

if sony packed every md player with an in-car kit they would do so much better

― zemko (bob), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 13:39 (twenty-three years ago)

i mean i say sony, any company i mean

― zemko (bob), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 13:40 (twenty-three years ago)

anyway LP4 minidiscs ROOOOL!! 5 hours o' mixtape

― zemko (bob), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 13:41 (twenty-three years ago)

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