[chewy4]

Quote:

use a you tube mp3 converter its simple and FREE....

Pretty sure that's not really legal either given the file you're ripping is copyrighted. At best it's in a gray area and the artists don't like it.
 
Not to mention that you don't know the bitrate of the file on youtube, and you're compressing it a second time which can have ugly effects at low bitrates.

 

[disastermouse]

Also, iTunes for Mac has the ability to use bitperfect - it's on the Mac App Store. I have Fidelia, but its a bit of a PITA to use.

 

[MellonCollie]

Quote:

I was just curious as to where he downloaded from because I use iTunes myself, and I cant believe he said he uses youtube, and laughs about iTunes!!!

WHAT 
 
I was quoting the user above me on the subject (Youtube) Not saying where i download music from
 
Where I download my 320kbps files from is another topic on another forum where I wouldn't get my ass kicked out of for discussing

 

[autoteleology]

Weirdly, ever since I started using a TOTALLY LEGAL NOT PRIVATE NOT TORRENT NOT TRACKER, I've found myself paying for far more music than I did before.

 

[disastermouse]

Spotify has been responsible for more CD purchases than anything I've used. If I love something, I buy and rip it to ALAC.

 

[chewy4]

Nothing wrong with borrowing music IMO, it helps get you acquainted with different bands and can help them out in the long run if you gain interest and buy their albums for yourself. Just shouldn't be a permanent way to get music. Unless it's pop, then who cares.

 

[joseph69]

Quote:

WHAT 
 
I was quoting the user above me on the subject (Youtube) Not saying where i download music from
 
Where I download my 320kbps files from is another topic on another forum where I wouldn't get my ass kicked out of for discussing

Thought you where using that photo to laugh at people using iTunes, sorry!
The youtube comment was below my comment and yours.

 

[Yeti tunes]

If I can't find it on hdtracks (usually not) I just order the cd from amazon, rip to FLAC. I listen to music at work on pandora much to my shagrin because I can't install Spotify. It's helped me discover several artists though.

 

[Shazzam6999]

Quote:

If I can't find it on hdtracks (usually not) I just order the cd from amazon, rip to FLAC. I listen to music at work on pandora much to my shagrin because I can't install Spotify. It's helped me discover several artists though.

Once you get a few hours into a Pandora station it starts to suggest interesting and different bands. I don't use Pandora often but I've found some really good artists by going deep into the Pandora rabbit hole.

 

[semicoln]

HDtracks, CD to FLAC and 320k MP3 otherwise. I pick up CDs from amazon or used at a local place.

 

[NightFlight]

Quote:

 
I'd put the "limitations" down to the way that most CD's are mastered these days.
 
Technically, a CD can sound as good as any analog medium to the human ear, but poor mastering prevents CD's from performing anywhere near their full potential.

 
Unfortunately we really don't give the human ear the credit it deserves when we say that. But I do agree that poor mastering is poor regardless of medium. I'm subjectively stuck in the Vinyl outperforming CD by a large margin camp. SACD has had a good go at it and does well in its own right. HD PCM, ie 96/24 and 192/24 are quite nice and downright palatable. 
 
Don't get me wrong, CDs can really shine if mastered correctly. But I've yet to hear something beat some of the uncompressed Sheffield Lab recordings. Of course, then we come back to the mastering and compression tools that really ruin music. I don't understand the need for compression outside of narrow band mediums like FM.

 

[NightFlight]

Quote:

 
Because it's a huge pain in the butt to convert something to lossy, much less a lot of things to lossy.

 
Because my latest rig (see sig) revealed that MP3 320 is.... junk.  I used to really dig portable music. I loved the freedom to groove eg A.V.B. and walk/jog/workout with my Shure SE530s.  But I gave up that portability in return for what I have now.  I could make it portable, but a video would have to follow that. Titled: An Audiophile goes jogging.

 

[autoteleology]

I don't really like the way vinyl sounds as a format, and it has its clear technological limitations compared to digital (bulk, lack of portability, gradual deterioration).

You would think that a vinyl rip would solve those problems, but unfortunately, in every vinyl rip I have, I can quite clearly hear the surface noise of the vinyl, even on rips that I know to have been recorded on very high-end equipment.

Admittedly, I haven't heard a huge selection of vinyl in my time, but what I have heard has been pretty mediocre.

 

[autoteleology]

I gave up that portability in return for what I have now.  I could make it portable, but a video would have to follow that. Titled: An Audiophile goes jogging.

 
I'm getting a battery that allows me to run my STAX amp without being wired to the wall (in other words, fully portably).

Lambdas on the go FTW

 

[NightFlight]

Quote:

I understand and agree with your point as I've heard way too many poorly mastered CDs, but it's unrelated to what NightFlight said about CD's having a fidelity limitation - suggesting the medium itself is flawed.

Meh - not flawed. Just limited. They can sound great, until you find the same recording on a better medium. Then you realize the actual recording kicks ass.