Antagony

Most music downloaders get their material from P2P networks. This is very sad. My points:

1.) Quality - I'd venture to say that about 75-80% of MP3s found on P2P networks are ripped at 128kbps CBR. Folks, this is horrible quality. If you think this quality is acceptable then you are likely listening through poor speakers or simply don't have much of a musical ear. I'm not even going to get into how awful an audio CD made off 128kbps MP3s sounds.

Sure, you will come across some 192kbps scene rips on P2P networks. Oh yeah, those are also CBR. VBR is just better. I don't know why those scene rippers still use CBR.

Also, when you *do* happen to find those higher quality MP3s, completing an album at the same quality is next to impossible. This melts into my next point.

2.) 10,000 Different Rips - This is probably more important that point #1. When you're collecting all the songs for an album, you're probably getting files from at least 3 different rips. So what does that mean? Inconsistency. Since different people rip it from different computers, you get different bitrates, different volume levels. People use different encoders and people use different rippers. Tracks that are supposed to fade into the next rarely line up due to time discrepancies.

Solutions?

Personally I do all of my music downloading via a network of private FTPs. I love it. It's a group of about 20 FTPs, and enough people contribute that I can usually find anything I want in a matter of minutes (using an FTP database we have). Then, if something we want isn't on any of the FTPs, we can request it on a message board and it's usually up within a day. Ah, the beauty of a community.

And actually, I use to do some considerable music downloading on DirectConnect. Sure, it's P2P, but it has an advantage. Firstly, that of finding a good hub. Secondly, you're much more likely to find a consistent rip by finding one track off the album and then browsing that user's files.

What was this all about?

I don't know exactly. I'm bored at work. I just get annoyed and perturbed when people brag about all the music they download. Then you look at it, and it's a mound of steaming crap. No organization, low quality. Why do people even brag about it? Why draw attention to yourself? They possess this air of "I am so smart at computers! I can even change my background in Windows98!"

</rant>

Also, IHOP has some delicious pancakes called "Harvest Grain n' Nut Pancakes". I highly suggest them.

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rubicon

You make a great point about MP3 rips. Even more reason to stay legit and actually buy the copyrighted content that people are distributing through P2P networks.

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SiN

hihiii

Antagony, you've said perfectly what i've thought but never had the balls to say..
(er, no balls on me actually )

n e ways...i agree. totally.

getting mp3s from p2p is hm, only good for the occasional single track...
...but since i collect mostly albums..i go elsewhere

FTP's are a good source, if one has axx to such things.

and one of my favorite sources for good mp3 albums is IRC.
i like to get albums from 'release groups' whenever possible, IRC is good for that.

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mpedrummer2

I'm with you on the quality thing...I have a degree in Music Production and Engineering (they give degrees in such things) and they just piss me off...the Frauenhoufer Codec isn't too bad, but some of the others are just sad...

I always thought Ogg Vorbis was a better choice, but apparently the world has disagreed with me...what were they thinking? Disagreeing with me??

LOL

MPEDrummer

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Jesus Pimp

I don't even notice a difference in sound quality between 128kbps, 192kbps, or higher though I don't blindly download mp3s. I always go for the highest bit rates anyway. I don't even bother converting my mp3s that I download to cds. They go straight to my winPod.

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The_Dude

i'm not much into quality, i'm happy w/ 64kbps

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Realizm

Where do you come off thinking VBR is better than CBR?


As I understand, VBR = Variable Bit Rate, and CBR = Constant bit Rate. Now. Variable bit rate means than some of the not so busy (for lack of knowing audio shit) parts of an audio file are given a smaller bit rate while the more important parts and kept at a high quality.

Now, a person with a musical ear and need for quality should want ALL parts of a song to be at the high bit rate, shouldn't they?

This is just my two cents.. I'm for CBR, all the way.

nash

Thanks for the IHOP suggestion.

Where do you get private FTP sites? I used to be a dump for a group but the day before I quit (i.e., school ended) they deleted all my mp3s (~30 gigs or so) and left me with a bunch of movies, porn, and a lot of tv series and dramas.

My collection consists of some albums I saved from the dump site but the rest are just mixed stuff. It's difficult to find certain genres of music if the audience isn't computer savvy. For example, are there any groups concentrating on ripping country music? I haven't found any yet...

Quality-wise I'll settle for 192kbps CBR but I'd prefer stuff above that.

Spungfoo

I'd say any p2p besides Direct Conncect++ sucks ass. I've never downloaded stuff off newsgroups or FTP's, but I don't know of any sites like that nor know anyone that does...

As for DC++, at least for the hubs I hang out in, people are very concerned about quality - I rarely have downloaded anything that was less than 192 kbps, and they're extremely dilligent about kicking people with fake files. It can be a lot slower than the others, but it's way more reliable. When I rip my own CD's, I always rip them into at least 192 VBR. The ability to browse people's file lists is a major advantage though, that way you definitely know if you're getting the whole album.

silenced

its the exact opposite, with variable, it uses more bitrates at time in which it is more important, ie silence it might stay around 130, and then if the song gradually beings it starts giving more and more bitrates to that section. VBR isn't bad, but it should be kept for just MPEG2 in my opinion.

thats like asking where to get warez, so its best not to ask.

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longjohns

so not the exact opposite, then.

shakran

you have to keep in mind though (I have a degree in audio/video production as well) that the vast majority of consumer sound systems will make it impossible to tell the difference between a mediocre quality mp3 and a good quality one. Most consumer systems just aren't set up to reproduce sound accurately. In fact, the ones I'm seeing on shelves lately seem to emphasize blinky lights rather than sound quality. I've never seen so many useless light displays on a stereo before (graphic EQ's have been replaced with animations of diving dolphins. WTF?) And while you're being hypnotized by the shiny stuff, you fail to notice that the sound is ALL bass (and badly distorted bass at that) with a bit of mids and crap for high. With this kind of garbage showing up in most homes and cars, you don't need good quality recordings because the stereos can't reproduce it anyway!

Mister B

Soulseek at www.slsk.org

Albums are very easy to download and usually at 192kbps. It's the only thing I use anymore.

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Realizm

Silenced> What you said is exactly as I described what VBR is.

Now, I don't understand how VBR can be better. VBR is what people use if they want to constrain file size while having an illusion of having a high quality mp3. If you're taking this chunk of a song, and this chunk of a song, and putting it down to 130 kbps while keeping the rest at 192kbps, you are degrading the quality of the song.

CBR, while the larger file size, keeps it All high quality (or the quality you have chosen).

arch13

Actually, and strangly, i've found that in the early morning hours eastern time, a couple people with a good collection of country come online on Kazza with 300+ bitrate country songs. I suspect their dumps for irc being farmed out. Never stopped me from grabbing albums though.
Then again, i usually buy country albums and leave downloading to the "songs of the minute".

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silenced

Variable means you give it a range to do, usually 128-256, so the softer/silent sections get the lower grade, while the other section get pumped up to 256, they don't strech it out, thats why you rip it, so it will rip the extra bitrates it need.

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crashoverride

i would say everythink on p2p are junk. the movies are some cheap that are just 200mb big.