Nerds: School Me

[olds]

I don't want to buy CDs any more. Is there a legit source for very high quality downloads? What format?

 

[brianmanahan]

amazon, 256kpbs MP3. not quite lossless or 320kpbs, but pretty darn good - much better than itunes 128kbps crap. and usually cheaper.

... or are you considering something like "lp45s" to be very high quality?

 

[olds]

I looked at Amazon. I don't see where they list the format (other than mp3) or quality.

 

[brianmanahan]

hmm, well i have bought a few hundred mp3s from there are they have all been 256k

 

[IronWing]

amazon, 256kpbs MP3. not quite lossless or 320kpbs, but pretty darn good - much better than itunes 128kbps crap. and usually cheaper.

... or are you considering something like "lp45s" to be very high quality?

iTunes has been 256ish for years. Both use variable rate compression so neither is strictly 256.

Neither is as good as CDs ripped to lossless compression, sorry. For music that really matters, get the CD and convert it yourself.

 

[Ichinisan]

You're not going to like this...






...iTunes.

Actually, I love buying CDs from thrift stores and eBay. I use iTunes Match for $25/year. Matches versions that exist in the iTunes store and uploads the ones that don't match to my iCloud account. All my iDevices and PCs have access to my entire library of ripped CDs.

 

[olds]

Maybe that's the standard on Amazon.
I have a bunch of "Master" Cds that I've ripped but I'd rather just buy the digital download.

 

[olds]

You're not going to like this...






...iTunes.

LOL

Not happening.

 

[ViRGE]

amazon, 256kpbs MP3. not quite lossless or 320kpbs, but pretty darn good - much better than itunes 128kbps crap. and usually cheaper.

iTunes has been 256kbps for several years now. And it's AAC rather than MP3, so technically it's of higher quality (not that very many people can tell the difference).

Neither is as good as CDs ripped to lossless compression, sorry. For music that really matters, get the CD and convert it yourself.

Best answer right there.

 

[brianmanahan]

their compatibility with non-apple devices sucks though, because it is non existant

i converted all my itunes stuff to mp3s years ago and never looked back

 

[ViRGE]

their compatibility with non-apple devices sucks though, because it is non existant

i converted all my itunes stuff to mp3s years ago and never looked back

Granted, not everything that plays MP3 plays AAC. But what has been made in the last 8 years (since 2005) that can't handle AAC?

 

[darkxshade]

Hey grandpa, hasn't your hearing gone already, what does quality matter?

 

[olds]

Hey grandpa, hasn't your hearing gone already, what does quality matter?

How do you think I lost it?

 

[EvilYoda]

No one's mentioned hdtracks.com yet...?

Depending on what you're looking for, they don't carry a large catalog but if what you want is "very high quality" then 192/24 & 96/24 should probably do the trick.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Vinyl.

 

[arrfep]

Neil Young is supposed to have/debut something like that; a service offering d/ls of audiophile quality tracks. Dunno the name and am to lazy to google it but try that.

Edit: "Pono." And still a work-in-progress. Might be something to keep your eye on though.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Amazon's 256kbps is pretty close to CD quality. Even at 192kbps there's very little music where I can tell it's lossy instead of lossless.

I use lossless FLAC encoding for my music jukebox, but that's partly because space is cheap, and it lets me re-encode to the lossy format and bitrate of my choice for portal devices like my iPod 120GB.

FYI, if you buy CDs from Amazon, many (not all) now include the MP3 version too ("AutoRip"). You can download the MP3s instantly before the CD arrives, and also stream them with their cloud player. The streaming works great on my Kindle Fire.

To be clear, you can buy albums as either just MP3 format, or as CD format which may include autorip. If you don't care about getting the physical CD then always compare prices since often (not always) the MP3 version is cheaper.

 

[gevorg]

No one's mentioned hdtracks.com yet...?

Depending on what you're looking for, they don't carry a large catalog but if what you want is "very high quality" then 192/24 & 96/24 should probably do the trick.

:thumbsup:

 

[videogames101]

mp3 v0 sucks, i mean, it's hard to tell audibily, but technically it just loses so much data

(compared to the PCM you get on a cd)

(and don't even compare it to HD tracks)

 

[The Boston Dangler]

asks for "very high quality", response is "mp3"

sad sad sad

 

[ViRGE]

asks for "very high quality", response is "mp3"

sad sad sad

Well what else are we supposed to say? The major labels don't sell the bulk of their wares in FLAC (or other lossless format) on any digital distribution service.

 

[WelshBloke]

... if you buy CDs from Amazon, many (not all) now include the MP3 version too ("AutoRip"). You can download the MP3s instantly before the CD arrives, and also stream them with their cloud player. The streaming works great on my Kindle Fire.

To be clear, you can buy albums as either just MP3 format, or as CD format which may include autorip. If you don't care about getting the physical CD then always compare prices since often (not always) the MP3 version is cheaper.

That.

Order CD from amazon, get best of both worlds. High quality download immediately and CD in the post later.

 

[shortylickens]

asks for "very high quality", response is "mp3"

sad sad sad

WAV is too damn big.

 

[Rakehellion]

iTunes has been 256ish for years. Both use variable rate compression so neither is strictly 256.

iTunes is AAC, not MP3, so it should be higher quality.

 

[Tiamat]

WAV is too damn big.

How so? Hard drives are in the terabytes!

Honestly, OP, I buy CDs and rip them to wav for computer or headphone use. Otherwise, I use the CD in my stereo's cd player. I've had to many instances of downloading mp3 files only for them to develop some sort of audible pop, crack, or other defect; or simply get corrupted.

The level of quality is related to your end use. If used with inexpensive headphones or ear buds in a casual setting, or in typical car scenarios, or background music, you can get away with pretty low quality like 256 kbps mp3 or even 128. Amazon is pretty decent for this if you don't want to use iTunes (can't blame ya).