Just bought another 3TB-Harddisk (a bargain).

That sums up to around 16 TB for me atm, of course all drives fully stuffed.

Audioz is a rather small part of my collection, there is music and movies and games and software as well..

Downloading at home and at work 24/7, parallel, full speed. *yes*

I get nervous when I'm not around a computer for half an hour to check my RSS feeds for new stuff.

Downloading since around 1994 (before the Internet, we kids used to exchange tons of 5,14 floppy discs with C64 games on the school yard of course...)

As a six year old kid I taped music from the radio with a cheap mono tape recorder, with the built-in microphone...

 

How much do you guys pay for HD's and stuff??? Is it even worth it?

 

@obsessed
Quote: "Usually people say that only the people who're crazy themselves end up being psychiatrists. Don't know if the same applies to psychologists."

Yes, up to a certain degree, definitely. It does not only apply to psychologists. For every profession you need a certain mental dysfunction to practice.

Quote: "However, after studying so much about the human brain, the brain chemistry of addictions and the molecular mechanisms behind them it's not easy to accept that you're an addict of some sort yourself. Diagnosing addictiong is almost the same as trying to draw a line in water, though. When does a highly intensive hobby become an addiction or a compulsion?"

As long as you follow your bliss, it´s a hobby. If you don´t feel well with it anymore, but can´t stop it by free will, it has compulsive character.

@Kookaboo
Are you an upload addict?
No, honestly: your own encouragement for both AudioZ and AudioSEX is on such a high (and very much appreciated) level.....do you yourself have time left for making music?

 

Thanks Obsessed *yes* What a very interesting thread!

I think everyone surfing the internet is becoming more or less afflicted by the Digital Hoarder Syndrome. Millions of people collect "likes" and "friends" in Facebook or Twitter, others are collecting software: audio, video, image processing, whatever...

I found that following (faithfully) some simple rules might help lot - at least it works for me.

1. Be more physical. I'm taking long walks, practice Tai Chi, play the guitar at least 2 hours a day
2. Do music. Compose, mix, master, finish any piece I've started by a set deadline as if my life depends on it (no cheating).
3. Listen to music. Carefully. My own trying to spot errors or parts that need improvement and music by artists I respect and learn from.

These 3 simple rules helped me a lot to fight the downloader addiction. I don't know if they'd work for everyone. But it helps a lot to find creative ways to stay away from your computer for some hours. My 2 cents.


All the best.

 

Well, you get 3TB for the price of one Sylenth roughly (I paid 111 Euro) ...decide what's worth more... :dancing:

But I guess it's a rather cheap addiction, compared to coke or smoking weed the whole day... *yes*

 

It's not about using, it's about collecting.

Can some rich guy 'use' a residence with 20 bedrooms? Or a collection of 20 cars? What about collecting stamps? For use? *no*

 

So many thought, I like that!
Music, like everything else, is a political gesture. Those who produce only by an eteral inspiration do not have long live, maybe its why so many musicians only do good things in the early their days.
In my degree of composition (I had a piano too) I basically work with integral serial music (six long years), and i ask how many done that? Its a waste of time? maybe, but I learn what I want and the problems of this non-popular music. But it opened my mind for sure.
I used to play 10-12 hours per day, seven days a week ever, then I became sick. I started to collect libraries, but I always try to edit, crop and compare. So I have 18tb in my system (more thatn a half for backup + videos + projects). Its big, of course and I do not use all, but I listen all of my loops and always delete what I listen. Big kontakt libd all becames so tiny with ncw and more with almost all going to trash. A great part I downloaded and not tested, but this is for a future porpouse (Sometimes I need so especific things to finish a project..). The great decision is to create a criteria of what is really different or new. Its VERY hard for me mantain on diks a dance/rap lib because it is a style that its very easy to do (no offence).
Synths on kontakt? What a waste! Nowadays My only interes itss VSTis and or exotic ethnic libs.
Another thing thats is time comsuming its to learn how to works keyswicths and ccs to mimic a real instrument like banjo or sitar.
So, no I do not expend much time downlonding but what I download usually give me a lot of works, but much less work than a vinyl, old cassete or searching a god album in the old stores. Its a process, and open my mind, and I like it.
Conciouness from a process its all that have a worth/meaning for me. Sure we have amateurs that do not believe in study, but in the other hand we have purist that believe that he only worth is thay can playing. Like everything else the equilibrium, the tao, the way of middle is the best for the ones who intend to evolve. Who whant to open the mind?
Hugs from Brazil!

 

I can relate to your addiction. I like downloading but i love making music more. Hope you find some peace of mind.

 

*no* NO, not addicted. I like it to share + still find time to compose!
It's like this:
When i crawl in the www i often find some very interesting stuff, then i quickly
think about all the folks out there....not knowing those stuff so i decide to share
it. Well, sometimes people don't like my posts, others like them very much.
But my motivation is not dependent on people's tastes.

What i really don't like is having to upload heavy stuff,
that's very time consuming and stressing!
Also i don't have time to test Releases in all formats before publication.
My MAC is not the newest....

 

Excellent point, however there is a difference between collecting and hoarding. Hoarders have difficulties getting rid of useless things. He has to delete useless stuff to make room for new stuff. Well, why waste time downloading useless stuff that you are just going to end up deleting? What was the point? Do stamp collectors destroy their unwanted stamps? Do car collectors demolish their unwanted cars? No, each and every item in their collection is very important to them.

You yourself admit to having an addiction. Come one now, 16 TB of storage and you are still buying more hardrives? Someone need to have an intervention for you.

Anyways, this discussion has really opened up my eyes. Thank you to Obsessed for having the courage to share your thoughts. To those that can admit they have a problem, I hope you can find some useful information here and seek professional help if you really need it. And to those still in denial, I hope one day you can open your eyes.

 

a few questions:
1 can u use the software u download or do u just hope that every new release doest the work for u?
2 r u aware that the first record was recorded far before the invention of software
3 don t u think that maybe it s not that tools that u own that restricted your creativity but your incapacity to gather together your ideas because of a lack of skill,competence,know how?
i tested a lot of software and tere was a time i had my computer full of shit,then i realized i didn t need some stuff,but i had to check it out to know it.
it can happen that in the beginning whan u start to make music with the pc,u quit because u don t know where to start,all those scary programs with their complicated layouts,,it s normal,but if after the initial enthusiasm u just wait for a new release to do something....well....u won t go anywhere

 

this is a serious topic. i was also in the same boat until i watched Alex the kid on pensados place. the guy only uses only logic stock plugins and kontakt. thats it! he also makes music on his laptop and no hardware. this whole hoarding thing isnt just digital. i shared a studio with a guy that had 19 synths!!!! he never used them at all but every year he would feel the need to get a new one.

i think the main thing is to decide whether you need something or you just want it.

 

It's not about harddrive space or physical stuffs. It's about enjoying your life.
You download a lot because you like new sounds and whatever : good for you.
You buy some cars or piano or house or whatever... good for you as well.

Will these make you better sounding, driving, ... : NOPE
Pilots don't have so many cars, pianists usually have one or two pianos, producers (living with their money) usually have few stuffs.
The big problems is when an habit (doing weed, drinking too much beers, downloading stuffs, chatting/FB/twitter/sms/...) is impeaching you from doing your stuffs.
the excitement you get when running a new software, video game, having a notification is an adrenaline that some people get with alcohol, cocaine, or whatever... imho it's addictive, period.
And it's not a problem. Until the addiction get invasive (upon your workflow in this situation)

Don't freak out, no need for a psychiatrist, it's much easier than quitting cocaine, weed, or some other stuffs. Just don't do stuffs that hurt you or make you feel sad.
About Saint & Kookaboo : they provide the "drugs" but they won't force or harass anyone into downloading. (When I stopped weed, I had this problem : it's really hard to stop, and when your ex-dealer txts you everyday even though you did tell them you were quitting... it's freaky).

 

I also download a lot of films and other stuff, dont think i am sick though. Just most of its total bollocks and gets deleted. I used to be obsessional about making music but i knew it would wear of and lately i struggle to motivate myself. The internet in general is a distraction as i am totally addicted lol.

 

i mostly just collect kontakt libraries and plugins from a few developers i really like. my 400gb kontakt collection obviously took a long time to download, but i wasn't sitting there staring at the progress bar. i was doing other things. u can easily make music and download at the same time. it sounds like the OP is addicted to web surfing.