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Topic: Download good quality files - but where? (amazon, napster, ...) (Read 7119 times) previous topic - next topic
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Download good quality files - but where? (amazon, napster, ...)

I don´t have to tell you, that it´s not always the kbps that tell you the quality of a mp3 file. I am especially takimng about the populat download resources like amazon, napster, musicload, itunes, mp3fiesta (please add some more) and maybe the alternatives like spotify / last.fm (please add some more).

I recorded music from several streaming resources (min. 192 kbps) and it was all messed up crap. i do not mean the talking over the music but the thin, messy quality of the sound.

So, tell me, help me... whos the best?

Download good quality files - but where? (amazon, napster, ...)

Reply #1 –
Quote from: royalsolo on
I don´t have to tell you, that it´s not always the kbps that tell you the quality of a mp3 file. I am especially takimng about the populat download resources like amazon, napster, musicload, itunes, mp3fiesta (please add some more) and maybe the alternatives like spotify / last.fm (please add some more).

I recorded music from several streaming resources (min. 192 kbps) and it was all messed up crap. i do not mean the talking over the music but the thin, messy quality of the sound.

So, tell me, help me... whos the best?


First, streaming is real time, so perhaps limited by that constraint.  Plus, who knows if the music the station is streaming was played from an mp3 then recompressed?

Magnatune has high quality stuff, with lossless (wav or flac) downloads.

Download good quality files - but where? (amazon, napster, ...)

Reply #2 –
Quote from: royalsolo on
I don´t have to tell you, that it´s not always the kbps that tell you the quality of a mp3 file. I am especially takimng about the populat download resources like amazon, napster, musicload, itunes, mp3fiesta (please add some more) and maybe the alternatives like spotify / last.fm (please add some more).

I recorded music from several streaming resources (min. 192 kbps) and it was all messed up crap. i do not mean the talking over the music but the thin, messy quality of the sound.

So, tell me, help me... whos the best?


In addition to magnatunes, hdtracks also sells downloadable lossless files. They sell recordings from BIS, Chesky records, reference recordings, harmonia mundi and others.

Download good quality files - but where? (amazon, napster, ...)

Reply #3 –
I've bought a lot of music from Magnatune mostly because they have some first class early music and each purchase allows the buyer to download all and any of the formats as well as high resolution cover art.  Mostly i was satisfied, however two of the purchases had clear problems, a nasty click on one track in one case and extremely unpleasant high frequency distortion on several tracks in another case.  I found the same was true with each format I tried in those cases (wav. flac, mp3, ogg).  Of course it's impossible to know if the problems exist in their source media or are the result of a ripping or encoding error, and I have occasionally bought regular commercial CDs which have audible defects, and found the same defects when listening to other people's CD of the same album.  Unfortunately despite being a Magnatune customer with a subscription (as opposed to making individual purchases) Magnatune have never done me the courtesy of replying to any communication I've sent them so in the end I simply canceled my subscription. Unlike the customer service mechanism, the payment system works very efficiently.  I believe that US customers of Magnatune can contact them by telephone but if you live outside of the US be aware that if you are unlucky enough to purchase a defective recording, or have any kind of enquiry as far as I can tell, you will be speaking into a void and have no recourse.

On the whole I thought they are good source of high quality audio, and in certain areas their catalogue, in terms of artists and repertoire, is unusually good.  But if I spend money with a company and they routinely and completely ignore me when I raise a question then I stop spending my money, end of story.

I have purchased some mp3 tracks from amazon.co.uk (in fact it cost me nothing as I gained some credit by completing an online survey about purchasing digital media and then some more promotional credit accumulated purchasing regular CDs).  I have absolutely no complaints about the quality of the mp3 files, in fact I was pleasantly surprised.  The album was Soleil de Minuit by Mama Sissoko which I hadn't been able to find new on CD and used prices were ambitious to say the least.  Here's the media info from one of the tracks so you can see for yourself (the only thing I changed was the genre), and it's also worth noting that each track was correctly tagged and cover art was embedded.

Quote
$ mediainfo 01\ -\ Jarabi\ muso.mp3
General
Complete name                    : 01 - Jarabi muso.mp3
Format                          : MPEG Audio
File size                        : 8.61 MiB
Duration                        : 5mn 6s
Overall bit rate                : 235 Kbps
Album                            : Soleil de minuit
Part/Position                    : 1/1 / 1
Part/Total                      : 1
Track name                      : Jarabi muso
Track name/Position              : 01
Performer                        : Mama Sissoko
Accompaniment                    : Mama Sissoko
Publisher                        : Buda Records
Genre                            : African
Recorded date                    : 2001
Writing library                  : LAME3.97
Cover                            : Yes
Cover type                      : Cover (front)
Cover MIME                      : image/jpeg
Comment                          : purchased amazon.uk

Audio
Format                          : MPEG Audio
Format version                  : Version 1
Format profile                  : Layer 3
Duration                        : 5mn 6s
Bit rate mode                    : Variable
Bit rate                        : 235 Kbps
Minimum bit rate                : 32.0 Kbps
Channel(s)                      : 2 channels
Sampling rate                    : 44.1 KHz
Resolution                      : 16 bits
Stream size                      : 8.58 MiB (100%)
Writing library                  : LAME3.97
Encoding settings                : -m j -V 0 -q 3 -lowpass 19.5 --vbr-old -b 32


In contrast Magnatune naming and tagging scheme I found to be inconsistent, and from recollection there were often truncated words, no cover art embedded and on the classical/early music CDs important information such as composer was entirely absent.

I'm not sure I'd ever purchase mp3s if the CD is easily available for a reasonable price but now I've effectively had a free trial I would be happy to buy amazon mp3s when I can't get my hands on a CD.  I notice more and more back catalogue stuff and albums that would traditionally only been available as special imports (and priced accordingly) are often now much more difficult to obtain in CD form while finding legal high quality mp3s is getting a lot easier.

Download good quality files - but where? (amazon, napster, ...)

Reply #4 –
Quote from: royalsolo on
I recorded music from several streaming resources (min. 192 kbps) and it was all messed up crap. i do not mean the talking over the music but the thin, messy quality of the sound.

If by "recorded" you mean decoded and then re-encoded, you probably got expected quality.  If you can actually catch a 192kbps stream, you should be pretty happy with that.  Anyway, with streaming audio try to have reasonable expectations.

Woody

Download good quality files - but where? (amazon, napster, ...)

Reply #5 –
Thansk so far, everyone! Magnatune is really interesting - the amazon mp3 files are - for my expectations - encoded good enough, though its not looseless.

@woody: i used steamripper to "record" the internet radio stations.

Download good quality files - but where? (amazon, napster, ...)

Reply #6 –
Someone has to mention BeatPort. So I guess it's me this time then.

They do 320 kbps CBR MP3s and also  .WAVs for an extra dollar or so. Seem good  quality to me but I'm no expert. They carry digital files for tunes that previously only came out on vinyl as well which is cool. Also you get a free beatmatching media player from NI (of  Traktor fame).  Fully tagged up. Tech support will answer within 2/3 days. Recommended.

Closest competitor I know is Juno. They do Mp3s at a variety of levels inc. 320 kbps, some .WAV and if you send them an extra £2 they send you a CD. Dunno why. Who needs that?

They are not as well set up as Beatport for new, cutting edge club tunes and the like. You have to wait for the tunes to get preped up so maybe they take hem from a master CD. Beatpotrt seems instant.

Neither site has nailed the UI experience at Apple/Spotify levels yet but it's ok.

The ones I have from Beatport used LAME v3.97. Juno LAME v3.96r.

Download good quality files - but where? (amazon, napster, ...)

Reply #7 –
Quote from: DonP on
Magnatune has high quality stuff, with lossless (wav or flac) downloads.

As do some artists on their official websites, although it's often rare to find and I've usually only noticed it for artists that aren't on some big label but instead distribute their own music.

Download good quality files - but where? (amazon, napster, ...)

Reply #8 –
I'm not into contemporary electronic dance music, but I've only heard good things about BeatPort and their lossless downloads, they seem to be the best out there at the moment.

Download good quality files - but where? (amazon, napster, ...)

Reply #9 –
An update on Magnatune customer service:

By chance two days after posting in this thread about why I'd cancelled my Magnatune subscription I received a marketing mail from Magnatune sent to people who had been members in the past but had cancelled or not renewed.  I replied to it and explained why I'd cancelled, and also that I'd be interested in subscribing again if my email prompted a reply this time.  This time I did get a reply, in fact from John Buckman the CEO. He invited me to point out the downloads I'd had issues with and said he'd look into it.  Anyway the result is that I am once again a Magnatune subscriber.  One of the problematic albums was due to poor mastering, beyond the control of the distributor as the recording was made about 10 years ago and while Magnatune is the current distributor it wasn't the producer. Another album he conceded was poorly ripped and he's contacting the original artist to obtain the source material and arranging for it to be done again.  Apparently Magnatune had some issues with their spam filtering which caused customer communications to vanish into the void but this seems to be working OK now.

Download good quality files - but where? (amazon, napster, ...)

Reply #10 –
I wonder what percentage of commercial mp3s are encoded acceptably well? Is it at all close to 100% at most sites? Are there any sites that sell mp3s encoded according to the HA Lame recommendations?
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Download good quality files - but where? (amazon, napster, ...)

Reply #11 –
This site has some high quality files (some with extremely high bit rate!)

iTrax

Download good quality files - but where? (amazon, napster, ...)

Reply #12 –
I have purchased a lot of mp3 tracks from both Amazon and eMusic. Both places encode using Lame.
eMusic used to use Lame V2 (mostly 3.96, some earlier versions of Lame), but has switched to encoding their newer material at V0 (first from Lame 3.96, now nearly all from 3.98.2)
Amazon uses a number of high-bitrate standards, and it can be frustrating not knowing exactly what you're going to get. Lame 3.97 for V0 and for ABR around 245 kbps. Some Lame 3.98b for ABR ~245. Lame 3.91 CBR 256 (strangely enough, for a lot of recent encodes).

Every now and then an album shows up on Amazon or eMusic that is of unknown encoding origin. Audio Identifier says FhG, but that's probably just a default of doesn't-know-exactly where.

And every so often (from both eMusic and Amazon) I've seen albums encoded at high-bitrate mp3 yet with lowpass around 16khz - which means it's very likely the mp3's being sold were themselves ripped from an already lossy source. But both places are usually quick to rectify in such situations. Still, I feel as if I need to check at least one song for spectrum analysis on each album that I buy from eMusic or Amazon.
God kills a kitten every time you encode with CBR 320