I listen to music exclusively now from mp3 format played from either my PC or from my iaudio x5.

Me too, though I can't deny MP3s are so bloody handy. Use Sony mp3 when out and about and CDs at home on a fairly standard hi-fi with surprisingly good sound.

I would have to completely disagree by the way that you can't properly listen to music when on the go. There are certain situations that just require music, and those places and situations enhance the music and vice versa. For example, I was walking to my friends house just before christmas, kinda late kinda dark and very quiet, and it started raining really heavily, it was cool. And then the perfect song came on my MP3 player (don't ask me to remember what) and the effect was incredible.

I also find that when I'm just walking along a route that I have to walk every day, I can just switch off and listen directly to whatever's playing in a totally different way to usual.

I route my PCs audio output through an 80s Pioneer HiFi. My soundcard is an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 so it has proper stereo phono outputs (seperate left and right channels. Best of both worlds.

Ally - does concentrating on music make it better? Does it always heighten your appreciation for a track? I find for some bizzarre reason that listening to music in different contexts brings out things I hadn't noticed before, or that some music I hadn't quite got before suddenly makes sense. It's like if you keep listening with your conscious mind, you don't give the subconscious a chance. Donal Dineen used to always maintain that his show was best listened to as a soundtrack to a long late night car journey.

agreed binokular... sometimes you need to let certain types of music wash over you... certainly, i do not always give my full attention to listening to every lyric... however, i like getting the most out of the music and i find i can't do that on the bus or walking along the road... i most definitely do have music on in those circumstances but i choose certain types of music and it is always albums i feel less precious about (i.e. ones i don't have a loving connection with)...

...but i agree with your point... it can be like reading a very literate novel... sometimes you need to let some understanding pass you by and get with the ebb and flow of the author's writing style...

Yeah, I do this aswell. Some albums Ive listened to so much, that I have to ration them. On the rare occasion I do play them (like Hunky Dory over the weekend f'rinstance) its definitely one of those sit down and absorb situations. Letting the mind wander is a waste.

Other stuff gets played all the time though.

actually, i should have read your post properly... i also know what you mean about different contexts bringing out different things in the music... it's all emotionally connected, isn't it?...

...maybe it's just because i'm listening to a fair bit of free-folk and minimalist stuff at the moment that i'm making my point... if i put that on whilst in the gym, i'd only catch the odd few sounds every other minute...

so, if you want to listen to pixies on the bus, fair enough.... but try listening to systems/layers by rachel's and you're well and truly f**ked

I keep my music as mp3's on an external hard drive that I take to work with me and home on weekends. For listening in the car I burn cds. I do most of my listening in the car---I commute for at least 2 hours a day.