I've returned to buying physical media. Its really awesome. Things I like dont just dissapear anymore. And the 10 movies or so I watch per year is cheaper than a subscription service.
[1]: https://www.discogs.com/master/1701108-Spectral-Lore-Mare-Co...
*edit: I forgot what year it is
You can own DRM free digital files and have all of the same advantages, plus also enjoy the ease of use of digital.
The only problem is there is no legal way of obtaining DRM free digital copies of movies or tv shows. For music you have Bandcamp and (I think) iTunes.
I think that depends on where you are. Maybe someone will correct me, but I was under the impression that here in the US you can "format-shift" a DVD or BD you legally own by ripping it to an unencrypted format so you can watch it on your tablet or what-have-you. Isn't that the legal leg iTunes stood on (before ITMS) for ripping CDs to listen to on your computer or iPod?
There's also still a chunk of blurays that it just won't rip because they're too sophisticated, although shocking few releases seem to be releasing those. (Must be a lot more expensive to make them.) You also run the risk that if you're not careful about what you put in your drive, you can have the latest Bluray disk revoke your drive simply by it spinning up and doing the initial read before you even ask for anything, from what I gather. I'm not sure if this is a current risk, but it's always changing.
I've also found there's some confusion about what constitutes a 'track number'. DVD only has one, Bluray seems to have two. Most releases keep both in sync, but not all of them. The STTNG Blurays were a bit tricky to get the right shows off in the right order.
You can make backups... with the encryption intact. But breaking DRM is essentially always illegal for any purpose, thanks to the wonderful DMCA. And that's before getting into EULAs that more and more frequently deny you ownership over what you bought, only a "temporary, revocable, non-transferable license to play this format on licensed devices in specific circumstances" or similar.
Libraries (and the free-if-you-have-a-participating-library-card Kanopy streaming service) exist, too.
I think the value here _really_ depends on your usage patterns. For you, it sounds like individual discs make a ton of sense. But, many people watch more movies than that (during the height of lockdown, we were watching 1-2 movies _daily_), so streaming services made the most sense. Sure, it's annoying that movies come and go, but the price is certainly right.
Once size won't fit all here, so it's definitely great that discs are still an option. I'm glad it works for you!
I usually prefer CDs from the 80s, before they were "remastered", dynamically compressed, etc.
How do you feel about more recent re-masters where they have been more sensitive to over-compression and in some cases re-re-mastered to address the appalling re-masters? I have some issue with re-masters that attempt to fix problems with the source material. I'm not a huge fan of artists tinkering with the original material, adding elements that got lost in the mix due to overdubs/noise, were not technically possible, or just re-mixing for their taste. At least Taylor Swift is up-front about re-recording her albums.
My gut is that music recorded/mastered to tape is going to sound 'as intended' on vinyl and everything recorded digitally (the old DDD label on CDs) targeted CD. I have nothing scientific to back that up though.
I don't trust them enough to risk spending money on more re-masters. I always go for the original.
Interestingly, I've grown to dislike music that is too perfectly produced. I like that the singing isn't perfect, there's some background noise picked up by the mikes, etc.
For example, listen to some of the Jefferson Airplane albums from the 60s. Those albums would never be produced today, because the band is a bit of a mess. The harmonies are out of sync, the pitch is imperfect, the timing erratic, everything is off kilter. But that rawness is, strangely enough, what makes the albums so endearing and a treasure. It's like the band has come by your house and is just having fun in your living room.
So much better than the antiseptically perfect modern productions, along with that awful ubiquitous autotuning. Barf. C'mon, dare to have a sour note here and there.
Eminem's very early music feels amateurish, you can hear various audio issues. But it's some of its best work.
Now, anyone who makes an album can make something. That sounds absolutely spotless with about $2,000 worth of gear. Something's lost, there's something nice about hearing a mistake someone makes, but they don't have enough money to rerecord it so it stays on the record.
Rarely when I make my own music, I'll just leave some of the problems in there.
https://youtu.be/KLjvfqnD0ws is one that has been digitally cleaned up but prefer listening to the messy version sometimes
See "The Wrecking Crew" documentary.
Even for "Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass" there was no "Tijuana Brass". Herb was a session musician and decided he'd try making his own album. It was such a hit he had to go round up some brass players so he could tour.
This was eventually fixed and proper CD masters started to become common in the early 90's.
Another thing to consider is the natural aging of our ears. Even without abuse high frequency sensitivity degrades as we get older. Those 80's CD's probably don't sound as harsh to someone 40+ today as they did back then.
The only issue I have run into is using really cheap CD players. Some of the earliest CD's were manufactured using sub-optimal material and manufacturing processes and have always had a very slight warp to them even from the day I bought them. The really cheap CD players most notably Wonnie have trouble compensating for this.