[jbloudg20]

I am looking to subscribe with an online service butI am confused and a little overwhelmed.

Here is what I am looking for:
~192 bit rate
~One monthly fee
~Ability to transfer to my zen micro
~ability to burn cds
~unlimited downloads

I have looked at Yahoo, and they seem to fir the bill, but I cannot determine if I am able to burn CDs (I just downloaded it today)

Would Rhapsody suit me better?

Help my head-fi bretheren!

 

[davidd]

you can only burn cd's if you purchase the actual tracks from yahoo for 79 cents each or whatever. the monthly price is just for renting music

 

[bwu]

Sounds like eMusic is what you're looking for - MP3s encoded in VBR, decent quality, unlimited usage once you download (ie no DRM of any kind) so you can burn, transfer to MP3 players, etc. Flat monthly fee, $10-$20 depending on how many downloads you want to have per month ($10 allows you to download 40 songs per month, for instance). Pretty solid selection, especially for those into indie- and avant-rock. When Tzadik put nearly 400 of their albums on eMusic, that convinced me to sign up...

 

[astaireboy]

I currently subscribe to:

Yahoo Music (subscribed)
Virgin Music (currently on 1 month trial)
Napster (currently on 3 month trial)

My impressions:

Yahoo: First one I signed up for. Good selection of music, but can be difficult to find/explore music. Music is encoded at 192 Kb/s WMA and can easily be transferred to a Zen Touch (what I have). Soudn quality is very good. Have not purchased tracks yet, because I haven't found a need to burn discs... just carry them with me. Don't like the software engine. $60/year. Worth the price of admission...

Virgin Music: Subscribed because of the hopes of finding some obscure 80's buried in the extensive Virgin Music collection. Selection is VERY similar to Yahoo Music (except for a few extras it seems). The catogories are great to work with. Classical! With Classical music! What a surprise... neither Yahoo or Napster offer that. Music is encoded at 128 Kb/s WMA (which some say is equivalent to 192 Kb/s MP3, but I'm not the best to say). Regardless, the sound is still quite good listening through the Zen/HD650. Software is fun to explore with, though I have issues with the amount of system resources it takes up (when I quit in the middle of downloads, it takes up to 250 Megs of memory and slows everything down). Very easy to transfer to Zen Touch. $7.99/month.

Napster: By far, the best overall selection, but classical and musicals are lacking (they combine them in classical, along with vocals... very bad). Music is encoded at 192 Kb/s WMA. Sound is great. Maybe the best? Not sure... Software is fun to navigate through... lots of interesting connections, recommendations. Found Iva Bittova (whom I saw in 1990 in a small museum) through a roundabout search for David Sylvian. Exploration is the best part! Like the basic software the best of the three services, but as I mentioned, very irritate by the lack of categorization. One plus: the new release section is updated regularly AND you can search by "independant labels". A plus when looking up everything that Napster carries under the 4AD Label

$14.99/month

Which ones to keep? Well, I have Yahoo Music for 8 more months, so that's a given. Will probably let Virgin go, though the price is right. Napster... I have 6 more weeks with the free trial. I'll have to wait and see. There is a lot of good music on there!

Next up: need to test Rhapsody and see how it compares. Worried that the software will be as irritating as Real!

 

[jbloudg20]

I'm about to check out Rhapsody...

I though Napster was 128kb/sec? If its 192 ill definately check it out again.

 

[astaireboy]

I've got about 30 albums downloaded from Napster and just spot checked each one. One was 128 Kb/S and the rest were 192. Maybe they upgraded along the way?