iTunes vs. Zune Marketplace
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Other music related lounges
Forum Name: Tech Talk
Forum Description: Discuss musical instruments, equipment, hi-fi, speakers, vinyl, gadgets,etc.
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=43523
Printed Date: April 27 2024 at 10:29
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: iTunes vs. Zune Marketplace
Posted By: 3.1415926535897
Subject: iTunes vs. Zune Marketplace
Date Posted: November 15 2007 at 17:38
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Which store has the most prog? I use iTunes, and they tend to either not have prog bands at all, or only a limited discography (no early Genesis, for instance). Is Zune any better? I'm happy with my iPod for now, but if I ever look to upgrade this would be a factor in the decision. ------------- Men occasionally stumble on the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened - Winston Churchill |
Replies:
Posted By: explodingjosh
Date Posted: November 15 2007 at 18:33
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Neither!!!!!!! I have a Zune, but I buy everything on CD or vinyl and then rip it to the computer. You realize you're only paying for a bunch of 1's and 0's, right???
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Posted By: explodingjosh
Date Posted: November 15 2007 at 18:34
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Darn.... well I guess technically the same thing could be said about a CD..... but you get the actual tactile CD, booklet with lyrics/information and artwork, also.
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Posted By: Yorkie X
Date Posted: November 15 2007 at 19:04
| for a small code they charge too much which I won't pay. |
Posted By: explodingjosh
Date Posted: November 15 2007 at 19:12
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My opinion on formats of music that you pay for: HDCD>DVD-Audio>SACD>CD>Vinyl>Tape>8 Track Tape>Sheet music>Warped Vinyl>AAC file=mp3 file ...to give you an idea of where I'm coming from  -------------
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Posted By: King Crimson776
Date Posted: November 15 2007 at 20:10
| iTunes doesn't have any KC or Zappa either. And they only have a few PT albums... and they don't have the full Close to the Edge album... and they screwed Dream Theater over. gah. |
Posted By: puma
Date Posted: November 15 2007 at 21:02
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Just buy CDs. They give you a chance to leave your damn house |
Posted By: explodingjosh
Date Posted: November 15 2007 at 22:55
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Posted By: Ghandi 2
Date Posted: November 16 2007 at 00:58
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emusic and napster absolutely sexually assault both. Death to DRM! ------------- "Never forget that the human race with technology is like an alcoholic with a barrel of wine." Sleepytime Gorilla Museum: Because in their hearts, everyone secretly loves the Unabomber. |
Posted By: Tommydouglas
Date Posted: November 16 2007 at 02:01
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I'm a Mac person, so I stick with iTunes. Let's face it, Mac is better in so many ways...but I digress ;). I'm impressed with the growing Insideout catalogue on iTunes--I'm discovering Flower Kings via the iTunes catalogue. I feel a bit better paying 10 bucks for a FK recording on iTunes then paying 20 bucks via Amazon.ca ------------- "I'm not really spiritual, just religious." |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: November 16 2007 at 03:07
... the land of preconceptions?  mp3 and other "lossy" formats come in many different qualities ... if you take mp3 256kbit for example, there have been many listening tests which showed that it was almost impossible to tell them apart from the real source (CD). So this is how I see it: SACD>DVD-Audio>CD>256kbit-mp3>Vinyl>128kbit-mp3>Tape>64kbit-mp3>Warped Vinyl As far as iTunes vs. Zune is concerned: Of course I choose neither ... the Napster Flat Rate is much better suited for people who want to listen to many different albums each month. ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to: 
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explodingjosh wrote:Posted By: ebag7125
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 00:19
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iTunes has a lot of modern prog, but hardly any older stuff ------------- 
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Posted By: Fight Club
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 16:11
Ah but you forgot about FLAC! For those who don't know it's a lossless audio encoder, so you're virtually losing no quality from that of a CD! Only problem is an entire album takes up about 300 MB of space... Also not just bitrates determine the quality of an MP3 file. In all honesty a 128 kbps rip mp3 encoded with Lame would equal about that of a 160 kbps encoded with iTunes. Other things such as bit depth and mode make a difference too. Also if it's a transcode the quality will be lessened greatly! ------------- 
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Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 20:33
Huh? Regardless of whether it's in FLAC or MP3, once you've brought it down to 128 you've permanently lost part of the sound. Converting it back to FLAC simply makes it take up more space, it doesn't improve the sound quality one bit. -------------   |
Posted By: Fight Club
Date Posted: November 30 2007 at 00:22
Lol... I wasn't talking about converting mp3 to FLAC, I meant ripping it to FLAC directly from the CD. MP3 to FLAC would be a transcode which would make the quality significantly worse than it already is. OH i just realized I worded that wrong. I meant encoded with LAME. My bad! -------------
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Posted By: goose
Date Posted: November 30 2007 at 02:59
| Transcoding to FLAC would not make the quality significantly worse than it already is, in any situation, be it from MP3 or WAV! (Unless you're doing something wrong.) |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: November 30 2007 at 03:10
About FLAC: I didn't mention it because its quality is exactly equal to CD ... it's a digital copy. About mp3 encoders: Of course the best available encoder should be used ... LAME is the way to go!  ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
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Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: November 30 2007 at 17:39
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LAME w/ VBR ftw.
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Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: December 01 2007 at 02:32
And on eMusic.com you pay even less ... for high quality mp3s: http://www.emusic.com/browse/l/b/-dbm/a/0-0/1400121863/0.html - http://www.emusic.com/browse/l/b/-dbm/a/0-0/1400121863/0.html http://www.emusic.com/label/Inside-Out-SPV-MP3-Download/121863.html - ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
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Posted By: magnus
Date Posted: December 01 2007 at 09:36
When I ripped http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=5837 - this double album, it took up 1 GB of space. But LAME V0(VBR with an average of ~245 kbps) works well for me, and LAME V2 is good enough for my mp3 player. ------------- The scattered jigsaw of my redemption laid out before my eyes Each piece as amorphous as the other - Each piece in its lack of shape a lie 
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Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: December 01 2007 at 10:11
LAME w/VBR 64-320 joint stereo q=0!  ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
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Posted By: jmcdaniel_ee
Date Posted: December 05 2007 at 13:08
I second the Napster suggestion. $15/month, unlimited downloads. No Zappa or KC, Beatles or Led Zeppelin, but they have a good selection of other stuff. I've downloaded some Anglagard, Can, Magma, Meshuggah, Popol Vuh, Sleepytime Gorilla M, Tangerine Dream, a ton of classic prog, post-rock, extreme metal, etc. And that's not to mention other genres. I can usually find about 75% of new music that I hear about on Napster. Some MP3 players aren't compatable, though, which urks me why the IPod is so popular despite it's incompatability with flat rate unlimited download services.
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