Seeking music file download suggestions

I'm seeking quality music file download suggestions. In other words, something approaching CD quality recordings. I hear that 24 bit 320khz MP3 is pretty much CD quality, but I'm on a learning curve as to file formats and sampling rates and all that.

Please, lets not quibble about copyright infringements and such similar things, I financially support musicians as much as possible. I just lost my entire CD collection, and I don't want to waist money buying some things that I don't end up wanting. I mostly know what I want from rock and roll, but I've got a lot to learn about the blues.

I've heard prices go from a dollar per song from places like Walmarts, down to free unlimited file transfers. Some have unlimited downloads but tack on a monthly fee. I'm wanting to create a comprehensive blues and rock and roll collection for my PC and eventual MP3 player. I am very poor and just lost my job, so I'm presently only interested in the least expensive options, then later I can always buy the artist's CD's as funds become available.

QUESTION
Have you used any such unlimited or free file download sites/programs? If so, please explain what you did or did not like about it.

Thanks in advance for helpful suggestions!

First off, as I've seen in a previous thread of this nature, we can't recommend softwares/sharewares that are for the most part, for the purpose of illegally "pirating" music as this site can't be seen to be promoting that...and any attempt to do so will be prolly be deleted by a mod. They're just covering their own collective ass from legal issues. Obviously we can all recommend the legal sites and subscription services. However I'm not that familiar with either type anyway, but just thought I'd get the thread started correctly.

Note: My newest musical interest has been Opeth (Swedish metal band). And for blues, I'm a huge fan of ZZ Top...so I recommend the ZZ Top 6 Pack (their 1st six albums). I found it for like $20 at a used cd store...alot of the deeper cuts not really heard on the radio have become my fav's: Arrested for Driving While Blind, Blue Jean Blues, Asleep in the Desert, and Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings to name a few. Of course there's some "hits" included as well.

The best you'll get out of MP3's is 320kbps, however it's still gonna sound compressed compared to a CD. The only way you'll get CD quality is with .wav or .aiff files.
If you're just playing them through an iPod or whatever, you probably won't notice tho.

Look up bittorrent.

if you want cd quality, buy from the itunes store. seriously.


as far as mp3 goes, for me to beable to start to not notice a difference, it has to be 320kbps but it's very noticable when you A/B it with the actual cd.

you could try like napster or rhapsody, both of which I believe have a monthly fee, but unlimited downloads... so you could spend $20 for the first month, and dowload hundreds of songs, then cancel the subscription and still have the songs... all completely legally.

Music quality is a simple issue. If you want cd quality music go buy the cd.

I’m not sure I understand your reasoning (or if you implied any), especially in the light of this discussion about music downloads (of course, assuming only legal downloads). Please reconsider. CD's don't just somehow have music on them, they are written on the CD's in a file format. Individual music files exist equally well on a CD or PC, regardless if you might want to save some money and download somewhat less than “CD quality” music files (which is fine by me), there is no reason to assume
that in order to get CD quality music, (you need to) buy the CD.

Also, it’s possible to record lower than CD quality music to CD, as some (novice) recordings would demonstrate.

With the same apparent ease, I “could” say, if you want CD quality music, (you need to) buy the individual music file downloads. That way you can buy exactly what you want to hear, and at the same time, stop paying for songs that you don’t like. Of course, everyone knows which is (1)less expensive, and in some ways, (2)more convenient (esp. if you have an internet PC).

As for myself, I probably wouldn’t mind if the sound quality was “somewhat less” than CD quality. So simply “Getting a CD” doesn’t settle the issue.

Since were on the topic of music sound quality. Doesn’t the frequency range have something to do with that? Consider the various PC frequency range specifications, whether software or hardware. I think it’s common for them to say from 20-20,000hz. I’ve seen it (or similar values) on headphones and some software if I remember correctly. So apparently if there’s one weak link in the signal chain, the sound will be reduced to that lowest level in order to fit through the effective “frequency range” bottleneck.

Anyway, if that is the case, one guy who does a lot of work in DJ’ing and such, told me that MP3 320 is the same as an uncompressed file, except that both frequency range extremes have been cut down to the range that the human ear can hear. Now I’m not sure what that range actually is, but if it’s close to 20-20k, then I might assume that the highest quality MP3 320kpbs would be an acceptable or reasonably high quality recording, but in a much smaller file size than an uncompressed WAV/PCM, etc. Maybe I’m wrong about that, but that seems like one feasible option.

Also, I hear that some sites offer higher grade (better than MP3 320) media files. Although I haven’t checked out very many, most sites seemed to offer a premium service for higher quality files at an upgrade price.

Originally Posted by: 1WayI don't want to waist money buying some things that I don't end up wanting.

Paying for good music is never a waste.

Try Rhapsody

For the price ya pay it's worth it.
And you're not ripping off all us players who've spent months and years recording the songs.

Originally Posted by: R. ShackleferdFirst off, as I've seen in a previous thread of this nature, we can't recommend softwares/sharewares that are for the most part, for the purpose of illegally "pirating" music as this site can't be seen to be promoting that...and any attempt to do so will be prolly be deleted by a mod. They're just covering their own collective ass from legal issues. Obviously we can all recommend the legal sites and subscription services. However I'm not that familiar with either type anyway, but just thought I'd get the thread started correctly.

Note: My newest musical interest has been Opeth (Swedish metal band). And for blues, I'm a huge fan of ZZ Top...so I recommend the ZZ Top 6 Pack (their 1st six albums). I found it for like $20 at a used cd store...alot of the deeper cuts not really heard on the radio have become my fav's: Arrested for Driving While Blind, Blue Jean Blues, Asleep in the Desert, and Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings to name a few. Of course there's some "hits" included as well.

If you like Opeth, get their "Still Life", "Damnation" and "Blackwater Park". I would also suggest checking outthe band Porcupine tree too, since everybody who likes one seems to like the other.

Just my opinions.

About sound quality.

MP3's come in different 'kbps'. From very low quality (32) up to 'best quality' (320). No matter what quality you get, it's still a compressed version of the original CD file. A song on CD for instance will take up at least 50MB of space. Where the same song in the best MP3 quality would take up about 10MB. So regardless of whether you can personally hear it or not, there is always going to be a quality loss. Most people playing music through iPods or cheap stereo systems probably won't notice. But put the music through something like a Luxman system with Polk Audio speakers and MP3's sound awful compared to the CD's every time.
Most of the online stores are selling MP3's at either 192 kbps, or 256 kbps.
The free sites are usually streaming MP3's at anything from 56kbps and up.
So... if you say you can't tell the difference, that's fine... either you don't have good enough quality equipment or your ears are not developed enough to tell the difference. But anybody who's spent years listening to audiophile quality LP's and CD's can instantly tell when it's an MP3.



About file stealing.

Every time you illegally download a song, you're affecting the quality of music in coming years. (hard concept to get your head around but hey...)
No matter what argument you want to put forward about record companies ripping people off etc etc... the end result is, the less money the industry makes from selling music, the less money they have to put back into it in the future.
So instead of bands who would take years to record a detailed album of amazing sonic quality, you'll get younger bands with inexperienced players making CD's as fast as possible in the studio so that the record company can save money.
The less the industry makes, the worse the end result will be.
As the industry continues to lose money in future, the less likely they are to sign new talent or take a chance on new bands.
It's also less likely that they'll take a chance on something new.
They'll stick with the formula that works... generic tunes that are A.M. radio friendly.

use itunes.