MP3 quallity

[[JiF]Crash]

Few questions.

1. Is there any programs left out there to snag .mp3's from? I remember back in the day, Napster, Kazza Lite. Anything that works for getting .mp3's from. I want to see if the download quality has gotten any better.
The reason I ask is I was on Amazon.com and other sites and there now selling 99cent each song, lajit mp3s off of albums.

2. Has anyone downloaded mp3s from lajit sites? How is the quality? Is it more realistic to just buy the CD's from the store?

I remember downloading a lot of mp3s in the days and most of them sounded like they were being played through water.

Thanks for any info...

[JiF]Crash

[[JiF]EA]

If you have an ipod, I would just reccomend using itunes. If not, all those sites are pretty much the same. Peer-to-Peer programs such as kazaa, and limewire, just arn't as good as they use to be. Other than that, if you're looking for free music, I would go with torrents.

[[JiF]Sly Gambit]

2. Has anyone downloaded mp3s from lajit sites? How is the quality? Is it more realistic to just buy the CD's from the store?

The MP3 format itself is limited. There is no such thing as a 'lossless' MP3. You will always lose quality from CD rips to MP3s. The ones from legit site like Zon will be as good as MP3s (they are 256 kbps) can be and most people aren't going to be able to tell the difference between that and a lower compression, lossless format. Of course the same is true when you use iTune s(256 kbps AAC/MP4s) but AAC is a better container so if you were an audiophile convinced you can hear the difference you'd use it.

If you are ripping CDs to your computer and don't care about disk space than you shouldn't use either format. If you are concerned about playback devices then go mp3.

[jarhead2531]

I don't know if it is still up, but mp3sparks had great quality downloads for pennies. It was a Russian based site so legality of downloads was in a gray area. Could also use the google (ie., type: "intitle:index.of + mp3 + "metallica" -html -htm -php -asp -txt -pls" ) into google for free mp3's. Hope this helps

[Repeat Offender]

I use limewire to download music. Yes, I get the whole "lossless" thing but hey, you can't beat free.