[stangjunky77]

just curious to know if anyone is using it yet im thinking about switchin from napster to go just becuase yahoo is only 5 bucks per month (w/ year subscribtion)
a few question i have:
how is the selection- are most downloads included or do you have to pay?

how fast are download times (of course w/ high speed connection)?

how stable is it? r you getting a lot of license error messages?

is there anyway to keep your napster collection if its in WMP with out having license issues?

do they have a forum?

Any other + or - that you wanna share.

thanks.

 

[Latexxx]

Here are some notes. I haven't used neither of the services so this information might have something wrong.

- You can keep tracks bought from Napster but not files which have been on-the-goed
- Yahoo uses wma @ 192 kbps, Napster wma @ 128 kbps

 

[mkozlows]

You can check out the selection yourself -- the Yahoo Music Engine (which is their client software) is a free download, so you can browse around, and you only need to pay if you decide you want to download some of the music.

Selection is reasonable, but with noticeable holes. Some CDs aren't there, some are there except for the tracks you want to listen to, and there's absolutely no classical music at all.

 

[TomRemixed]

well switchin from napster is a pain in the butt becauser I just switched to Rhapsody believe me Napster to go doesn't have a good selection of music no Metallica or AC/DC and so on

Yahoo is said to be a hastle to sync and get music from.

 

[acklee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stangjunky77 how is the selection- are most downloads included or do you have to pay?

Selection is surprisingly good, especially considering that I prefer independent/small label music. It's not comprehensive (what all-you-can-eat product is?), but considering that it's less than half the cost of a CD a month, I'm pretty satisfied. Some relatively obscure stuff I've downloaded: two early Andrew Bird albums, the American Analog Set remix EP, the remix/b-side disc of the Beth Orton compilation, new Blonde Redhead, older Sleater-Kinney, new Starflyer 59, new Deerhoof...

Quote:

Originally Posted by stangjunky77 how fast are download times (of course w/ high speed connection)?

I'm getting about 125-150 kB/s on my DSL line, so a 4.5 MB file takes around 30 sec.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stangjunky77 how stable is it? r you getting a lot of license error messages?

It's pretty stable. I did run into some flakiness with the licenses when a file download glitch occurs (maybe 5% of the time). To fix it, you just have to delete the music file and try again.

 

[mkozlows]

Download speed: We have a 5 Mbps cable connection, and it was maxed out when downloading, so their server appears to be able to give whatever you can take.

 

[notderrick]

My download speed is fairly quick, but so far I've only see it get 1 song at a time . (Napster gets many) There may be a setting for it, but I haven't found it. In addition, there appears to be no sync option for multiple computers: the songs I download at work need to be downloaded manually at home. That being said, I love it. The selection works well with my tastes (Rock, Modern Rock, Indie, etc.) and the quality of the music is very good. I was ready to commit $9.99 to napster, but now I'm definitely going with yahoo (and probably buying a player that is janus capable). It will be interesting to see how they handle updates and bugs with the software though. IMHO, the napster software it much better, but the differences in price and quality are more than worth giving yahoo a try.

Derrick

 

[TomRemixed]

well I gotta tell you I looked at the selection and for 5 dollars it's a steal but it's worth the 15 bucks for rhapsody since it has so much more than just different albums
the playlist selcetion is amazing.

 

[DJ Mauler]

when you dl music do you digital copies on your comp...

because with Sonys music service using Sonic Stage i can only listen to the music thru sonic stage i dont have a music file that i can move around and stuff.

 

[mkozlows]

DJ: Yes, you have actual copies on your computer that you can use in conjunction with any PlaysForSure device.

 

[MDDrew]

it is real slow transferring with yahoo music engine to the zen micro i sugguest using wmp10, yahoo is going like 2 songs a minute if that fast

 

[horizon]

I use it now, with a Zen Micro... good stuff.

 

[MDDrew]

Quote:

Originally Posted by horizon I use it now, with a Zen Micro... good stuff.

how fast is your download to the zen

 

[stangjunky77]

well i signed up a few hours ago and so i far it seems that even with the unlimited eveything im searching for cost 79 cents. perhaps its just been my luck. but on napster i find it pretty rear that the tracks or albums are buy only. anybody else wanna chime in on their experiences.

i guess i have six more days to be impressed or perhaps just luckier on my music desires.

 

[iKem]

I'm impressed with Yahoo Unlimited after spending several hours with it. After installing it, I imported all of my five star songs from iTunes and gave them a four star rating in YME. I really wished Yahoo would have used the five star system and that it was easier to transfer ratings between programs. Anyway I think this gave Yahoo a good idea of my musical taste because I next tried the "My Station" in LaunchCast radio and I liked/loved 9 out of 10 songs and immediately added them to "My Music".

I also love the "Create a Playlist of Similar Artists" feature with some of my favorite artists. It's amazing to see how diverse a playlist it can create from a library of a million tunes. Using these two features, I've discovered several artists that I really like in only a few hours. I've gotten way more than $5 of value in only two days!

I've also found a huge number of karaoke tracks, a good selection of comedy, and William Shatner!

Some things I don't like:
- The transfer to device seems slow in YME. So far I think I prefer using WMP to play the protected songs, create playlists, and transfer to device.
- WMP uses yet another five star rating system?!?! Argh, I hate having to rate music in three different systems!
- YME is definitely Beta software and a little buggy.
- YME does not have smart/auto playlists built-in and the plug-in isn't all that great

I hope YME gets a lot better and incorporates the better aspects of WMP like five star ratings, smart playlists, and better device transfer. I still prefer iTunes for its simplicity.