I have an assorted collection of CD rips, digital downloads and files acquired through ahem other means. At home I have a NAS which keeps those files (99% of them are 44.1/16 FLACs, the rest are also FLACs in other resolutions/bit depths). On my own computer I listen to those files through foobar2000 and on my work one (since it’s a bit more limited in what I can install) I use Navidrome and its web player. Hadware-wise I have an ADI-2 DAC FS that powers either an HD 600 or a pair of HS8 speakers. I don’t do any mixing/mastering, but I’ve grown to like neutral-leaning sound. On the go I rely on the same Navidrome instance backing Symfonium running on an Android phone hooked up to a Retro Nano and IE-200. For a very long time I was avoiding Bluetooth, but turns out that this combo, at least with my previous phone, sounds significantly better than the same IEMs hooked directly to the headphone out of the phone (and running a wired DAC was a pain because it was constantly dropping out); my current phone doesn’t have a headphone out at all, and generally, even if there’s a quality loss over Bluetooth, it would be negligeable in the city noise I usually have to listen in, plus it’s cumbersome having a cable attached to my phone when I’m trying to do other stuff with it.

I gave up the idea of having everything offline on the go (although it still is at home); it’s not feasible to have to look for a phone with 1 TB of storage, and with the current one I can set up favourites so that at least a section of my library is cached on the phone and not relying on an Internet connection. Other than that it’s nice to not rely on any external services or subscriptions - everything is my own equipment managed by me.

As for the CDs I have, they’re mostly bought at shows, so hopefully a big chunk of the money goes directly to the artists; I also buy T-shirts and other merch. I also like Bandcamp, especially on Bandcamp Fridays since all the money goes to the artists, but something tells me that they’ve been trying to compensate through shipping rates - shipping a t-shirt and a CD shouldn’t cost more than parts for a complete bike (speaking from experience).

Music-wise, I can’t name one single band, but lately I’ve been into New Model Army (saw them live - they were brilliant), Converge (stoked about the upcoming album), All Them Witches, Tragedy, Aesop Rock.