The best software for downloading music

Gary Delligatti · January-5th-2006, 08:51 PM

What software do you all use to download music too. I used to use MusicMatch Jukebox, it had the capability of printing the tracks as i burned the CD. I no longer have access to MusicMatch Jukebox, what do you all reccomend? Media Player is OK, but you can't print the tracks out

HELP

Kevin Bresnahan · January-6th-2006, 06:57 AM

I don't what you're asking. You may be unfamiliar with the terminology. A few things...

When you say "download", do you mean convert your CD to mp3 music files on your PC?

Why would you "lose" Musicmatch? It has a free version on the web. Just download and install it. It works pretty much the same.

If you burn using Musicmatch, it may mess around with the audio. If you want a music CD copied, Musicmatch is not the one to use. However, I know that Micorsoft's Media Player messes with the audio when it burns. Do not use that.

If it's truly music that you are downloading from the web, Musicmatch's service is pretty good. You could also investigate walmart.com They have 88 cent downloads. iTunes sells them for 99 cents each ($9.99 for the album). I don't know if E-music is still around. They used to be the best for Jazz.

Be aware that any of these websites sell compressed audio. If you download these compressed files and uncompress them onto an audio CD, they won't sound as good as a regular CD from the store.

Gary Delligatti · January-6th-2006, 07:22 AM

Thanks Kevin,
I guess I am downloading MP3 files and then burning them to CD. Is Musicmatch a good choice or is their a better choice out there? I guess that is the jist of what i am asking. What are you all using?
Thanks

stonemonkts · January-6th-2006, 07:36 AM

I would recommend you look into emusic.

I use them for downloading tracks/full albums, paying $0.20 per track because I paid for a full year in advance (they give you a 20% discount).
Otherwise you pay $0.25 per track.
They have a great jazz selection, as Kevin said.

Kevin Bresnahan · January-6th-2006, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary Delligatti

Thanks Kevin,
I guess I am downloading MP3 files and then burning them to CD. Is Musicmatch a good choice or is their a better choice out there? I guess that is the jist of what i am asking. What are you all using?
Thanks

If it isn't obvious by my first response to you, I don't download mp3s. First off, I think 25 cents is too much to pay for a compressed audio file. Also, the sound quality just isn't there for my home listening, especially if converted back to .wav from .mp3. I prefer playing .wav files directly off of a factory CD.

I do convert many of my CDs to mp3 for playback at work in the lab, but in such a noisy environment, high fidelity isn't important. When I do convert my CDs to mp3, I've been using Exact Audio Copy lately. I used to use Musicmatch. I rip mp3 files at 190 ave. VBR mode (V 2 mode with the LAME encoder). The resulting files aren't as compressed as 128 kbps mp3s that they sell on-line but they sound very close to CD audio. The only problem with EAC is that it is difficult to use.

I have heard good things about Musicmatch's music service. I have heard good things about Emusic. If I were in the market for mp3s, I'd look at Emusic first. However, I have never used them so I can't speak for the quality of the rips (mp3 files).

iTunes music downloads are a different format than the other on-line services. I would avoid them just for that. They also encrypt digital rights management into the file and some players will not play the file unless it's on the PC that was used to download it.

Kevin

Tanager · January-6th-2006, 08:44 AM

I use MusicMatch's streaming service, since I do a lot of listening at work, and no matter what format the original's in, my laptop's sound card + my not so great headphones are gonna bring the fidelity down to where the deficiencies of the format simply aren't noticeable, IMHO. It's about $5.00/mo., and I get unlimited access to a ton of music in all genres. I used to use eMusic when they had unlimited downloads, b/c at that price, the loss of sound quality incurred when burning to CD format was a cost I could bear. I don't download mp3s anymore - if I want a CD in CD format, I buy it that way, b/c I'm going to be listening either on my main rig or in the car, and in both places, I can hear the difference pretty easily. There are almost no individual songs I want to pay to download without the album from which they came.

I tried Rhapsody's streaming service, but it (a) requires RealAudio, which I do not like installing (waaaaay too much snoopware and other crap) and (b) is a good bit pricier than MusicMatch.

scotpgot · March-7th-2006, 10:04 AM

Do the downloads expire with emusic? (i.e. If you let the subscription expire, do you "lose" all the music you downloaded)

Jonathan Sutton · March-7th-2006, 08:58 PM

Well, along similar lines, I can say that recordings cease being available that once were on emusic. And, should that happen to a recording one has downloaded in the past, one cannot get it back easily as far as I can tell. My examples: Otomo Yoshihide's Anode and Cathode. Fortunately, I still have the recordings that I downloaded. But I am now shown as having downloaded no Otomo stuff at all. (Yet, curiously, his name is still on the list of people I have downloaded things by, simply with a statement of 0 at the side, since I have downloaded nothing that they now have.)

Boris Badenov · March-8th-2006, 10:45 AM

Scott -

The answer to your initial question is no. To clarify, when you leave eMusic, the songs you have downloaded (which are ordinary variable bit rate MP3s with no DRM) stay on your hard drive until you delete them. You can also back them up freely onto audio CDs, MP3 CDs, or the storage medium of your choice. What you lose is the ability to re-download them free if you lose them or they somehow get corrupted. Before you cancel, they remain available for you to re-download if you need to, though sometimes, as Jonathan notes, their rights to a particular album expire so they take it down; in that case, you would not be able to re-download. This happened with a lot (but not all) of the Leo catalogue that they had up.

clinthopson · March-11th-2006, 04:36 PM

I use Musicmatch to load my cds on to my ipod. itunes wanrts to take over my computer which means the we have a battle beween Apple and Microsoft.

Not good.

scotpgot · March-12th-2006, 02:38 PM

I don't know . . . emusic seems to have a good collection, but the new music (latest releases) is lacking. Any other suggestions?

Unfortunately, jazz CDs are rather lacking where I am, and I would like to download full albums.

Tanager · April-6th-2006, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scotpgot

I don't know . . . emusic seems to have a good collection, but the new music (latest releases) is lacking. Any other suggestions?

Unfortunately, jazz CDs are rather lacking where I am, and I would like to download full albums.

I'm not sure I'd agree with your characterization - they seem to have relatively full populations of recent Palmetto/Leo/Omnitone/Pi releases, and at 90 downloads/month, it'd take me a while to burn through all of those, were I so inclined.

RodneyR · April-6th-2006, 12:07 PM

If I am burning CD's I always use Nero. Nero is my favorite program for not only burning CD's (both cdi and mp3's) but also for copying disks. Nero let's you know how much music will fit on your disk so you can use as much available space as you desire.

If I am ripping the disks, I use iTunes and load them into the ipod. iTunes has it's own format but you can choose mp's and you can pick the kb/s. Of course, I like iTunes mostly for the podcast support. I also think it is the best free jukebox available so far.

Rodney R

Detroit Jazzstage

Gary Sisco · April-17th-2006, 09:22 AM

I use Media Player in Windows, after downloading from emusic. If you search around in the various Media Player windows, you'll find that you can adjust the recording quality with a slider. The default setting is for medium quality. You can bump it up to best with the slider and it makes a hell of a big difference in terms of dynamic range and the consequent flatness of sound that many MP3s have. You can also turn off the auto volume levelling, which will also greatly improve the quality of the recording. "Volume levelling" is the equivalent of the limiters used in double deck cassette recorders, boombox style. It creates a flatness of sound that makes you want to turn up the volume all the time, trying to get some life out of the music.