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Should I buy MP3s from iTunes or CD Baby?

post #1 of 11
3/13/12 at 1:05am
Thread Starter 

I want to buy a CD but too bad I can't find it in record stores in my city. So I have to buy a digital download.

 

Seems like I only have 2 choice of online store where I can buy it, iTunes and CD Baby. CD Baby offers MP3s encoded with Lame standard preset while I don't know about iTunes. In your opinion, where should I buy my music? Don't suggest me to torrent it because I can't find it biggrin.gif

 

I'm avoiding buying a physical copy because it may take up to 40 days for the item to arrive.

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post #2 of 11
3/13/12 at 1:09am
iTunes (~256kbps VBR AAC) is better than LAME --preset standard (~192kbps VBR MP3). It is unlikely (however possible) that you will be able to tell the difference. Both should be transparent in most cases.
Edited by skamp - 3/13/12 at 1:10am
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post #3 of 11
3/13/12 at 1:45am
Thread Starter 

Thanks, I'll just go with higher bitrate then. I wish iTunes offer MP3 or loseless format files...

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post #4 of 11
3/13/12 at 2:02am

Just curious, what is the album you are looking for?

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post #5 of 11
3/13/12 at 4:20am
Thread Starter 

I'm looking for "Ravi" by Jazz Partout. Here's the link to album preview if you want to take a look http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jazzpartout

 

Anyway, are musics purchased in iTunes Store are DRM free? Will I be able to convert it to another format or copy it somewhere else?


Edited by ivantoar - 3/13/12 at 4:24am
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post #6 of 11
3/13/12 at 5:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ivantoar View Post

Anyway, are musics purchased in iTunes Store are DRM free?

Yes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ivantoar View Post

Will I be able to convert it to another format or copy it somewhere else?
Converting lossy to lossy is not recommended. It's like making a photocopy of a photocopy, sound quality will degrade rapidly. You will, however, be able to copy the purchased files anywhere you want.
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post #7 of 11
3/13/12 at 6:17am
Thread Starter 

Quote:

Originally Posted by skamp View Post


Yes.
Converting lossy to lossy is not recommended. It's like making a photocopy of a photocopy, sound quality will degrade rapidly. You will, however, be able to copy the purchased files anywhere you want.


Glad to hear that iTunes is now DRM free. I'm aware of lossy to lossy compression, thanks mate :)

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post #8 of 11
3/13/12 at 10:45am

Personally, I'd go for the physical copy from CD Baby, even with shipping it is only around $23 and I think it will get to you a lot sooner than 40 days as they ship by air. I've used CD Baby for physical CDs in the past and they are good. I would always take the physical CD over a download if there was a choice.

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post #9 of 11
3/13/12 at 11:03am
Thread Starter 

Thanks for sharing your experience. What's the biggest letdown is the shipping cost is half the CD itself (or 7/10 of the full album download cost). I'd love to grab a physical copy but I don't think it will be worth it if I only buy 1 CD. I'll browse what else I'd like to buy, if there's nothing I'll just go with the MP3.

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post #10 of 11
3/13/12 at 4:07pm

Well, the price for the same album on Amazon.co.uk is around £30 UK/$45 US, (although it is currently out of stock) and I've seen it on another site for around $23 + shipping, so I think CD Baby's price is very reasonable. Hopefully you'll find some other CDs.

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post #11 of 11
3/17/12 at 7:01am

If you use CDBaby the artist get's a better share of the price than iTunes.

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