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5-hydroxytryptamine
Average Member
  

 United Kingdom
200 posts Joined: Apr, 2004
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Posted - 2004/09/09 : 13:30:55
I have to say I was *very* disappointed to find that IMO Download only offer tracks as WMA files. I could understand MP3, but WMA?!? why!! WMA sounds terrible, and you can't play them on anything other than Windows (without illegally using the decoder DLLs without a license) and generally offer no advantage. And especially as these are paid-for downloads, if I was paying to download a tune I would expect impeccable quality which WMA just can't offer... if you ask me they should be using a lossless codec like FLAC so that you can burn CDs (for DJing) identical to the originals. I think I'll be sticking to vinyl for now :(
~~ DJ Serotonin live every Saturday from 1pm on http://www.hardcoreregime.co.uk/ ~~
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pacman
Advanced Member
    

 Australia
1,132 posts Joined: Sep, 2001
190 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2004/09/09 : 14:41:42
^^ thanks for that info :)
i hope it has something to this effect on the site, i'd hate to pay for wma downloads.
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If Yoda so Smart in Force Is, Why Words in Right Order he Put Not?
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__________________________________________
If Yoda so Smart in Force Is, Why Words in Right Order he Put Not?
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Seany
Advanced Member
    

 United Kingdom
1,908 posts Joined: Aug, 2002
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Posted - 2004/09/09 : 15:20:32
Afaik WMA is better than Mp3? ..Well anyway I've bought quite a couple tune's and had to put them onto CD and rip them back just to play them in Traktor. :\ I think they said they will get MP3 but are just using Wma atm for legal reason's.
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silver
Admin
    

 Japan
12,579 posts Joined: Feb, 2001
894 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2004/09/09 : 15:22:22
Where does it say WMA is worse than MP3? It's much better for the bitrate actually. Depending on the license you can burn the track to CD for your CD-J.
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it's all hardcore.
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Underloop
Advanced Member
    

 United Kingdom
3,895 posts Joined: Mar, 2002
91 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2004/09/09 : 15:56:44
Its the old "my formats better than your format" argument lol well, heres my 2 cents, for what its worth lol.....
192kbps WMA doesn't sound as clear as 192kbps mp3 imo. However, there is nothing at all "bad-sounding" about WMA, and I have bought, and will continue to buy, WMA off IMODownload..... it would be nice to see mp3 format though, and having the whole licence thing tied to one computer is a pain as I have to download on my uni PC (studio PC isn't on the net).
Other than that I am really loving the whole IMO setup at the mo.
Matthew aka DJ Underloop
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"We don't stop playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop playing."
- George Bernard Shaw
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whispering
Moderator
    

 Finland
8,453 posts Joined: Nov, 2002
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Posted - 2004/09/09 : 16:15:14
quote: Originally posted by silver:
Depending on the license you can burn the track to CD for your CD-J.
In Finland:
"Law requires You to get a license, if you want to copy recorded music (for instance cd's) for other than private, personal use."
http://www.gramex.fi/cgi-bin/iisi3.pl?cid=www2&mid=310&sid=170 __________________________________________ Firefly "Still Flying"
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Samination
Advanced Member
    

 Sweden
13,241 posts Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2004/09/09 : 16:15:48
I can't use my tracks to mix, because I use a MP3-software (well sue me), so i have to go into abit illegal way just to use them to mix :/
*insert a line here... WTBH?*
Grind me Hardcore!
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/ ---------------------------------------------
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bulby_g
Advanced Member
    

 United Kingdom
7,205 posts Joined: Apr, 2004
430 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2004/09/09 : 16:31:41
Never downloaded anything, record collecting is great I love it, you can get your girlfriend back for making you stand round in clothes shops for starters.
There is just something about vinyl though the stack of plactic in the corner of your room feels like an achievement.
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Edited by - bulby_g on 2004/09/09 16:37:39 |
djpeggy
Senior Member
   

 United Kingdom
294 posts Joined: Dec, 2003
171 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2004/09/09 : 18:28:41
I'm definately impressed by the whole setup of Imo Download. I'm not really concerned about the format too much as long as I can burn them to audio CD.
DJ Peggy
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DJ Peggy
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Menion
Average Member
  

 Sweden
237 posts Joined: Sep, 2002
68 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2004/09/09 : 21:49:47
I've been all over the IMOdownload site and topics at ush, but I still can't find in what bitrate the wma files are, are they trying to hide it or what?
The only ones doing this right at the moment is quosh, mp3's encoded with lame at the -all setting. Selling an mp3 at 192kbps is like selling a flawed product, hell 192kbps isn't better than the illegal ways to get mp3's, and they want to compete with that?
Now if they sell WMA-lossless I'd be happy to buy all my tracks from IMOdownload, so why aren't they? I have a big (well sorta) pocket and I'm willing to spend my money, but they do not want to make money? Bah....!
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5-hydroxytryptamine
Average Member
  

 United Kingdom
200 posts Joined: Apr, 2004
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Posted - 2004/09/10 : 00:50:22
quote: Originally posted by silver:
Where does it say WMA is worse than MP3? It's much better for the bitrate actually. Depending on the license you can burn the track to CD for your CD-J.
It says so in my post :P
WMA does better than MP3 at low bitrates, that's about it, at high bitrates it's just full of encoding artifacts, also the high and low end of the sound spectrum is boosted, which doesn't actually add anything acoustically but tricks the untrained ear into thinking it sounds better. It also boosts the volume slightly which achieves the same effect. Basically WMA uses pretty third-rate psychoacoustic modelling and then covers it up with a number of "tricks" which make it sound better on cheap equipment (i.e. - computer speakers) and to people who don't pay too much attention to sound quality. It's adequate for casual users to rip their CDs for convenient listening on their PCs but is nowhere near up to hi-fi standard. Play any WMA on a high end system (hi-fi separates - amp and speakers), then play the original CD, trust me you will hear the difference!
Apologies for ranting everyone, I didn't intend to :)
~~ DJ Serotonin live every Saturday from 1pm on http://www.hardcoreregime.co.uk/ ~~
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~~ DJ Serotonin live every Saturday from 1pm on http://www.hardcoreregime.co.uk/ ~~
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tklown
Advanced Member
    

 United States
512 posts Joined: Nov, 2003
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Posted - 2004/09/10 : 02:02:49
I just burn them to cd-rw and rip them to mp3, wma is annoying and I don't like the short delay when you start playing the track or jump around through the track
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silver
Admin
    

 Japan
12,579 posts Joined: Feb, 2001
894 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2004/09/10 : 04:04:22
You buy the downloads because it's the right thing to do.
Why does everyone bitch about everything new? Nothing wrong with WMA sound quaility at any bitrate...
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it's all hardcore.
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Sean Apollo
Advanced Member
    

 United States
1,687 posts Joined: Jul, 2003
143 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2004/09/10 : 04:10:15
IM very glas the are WMA. Now its hard for people to do anything bad. Its good for hardcore.
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http://djseanapollo.tripod.com Sean Apollo Rave n' Beats USA http://www.happyhardcore.com
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- Sean Apollo
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Comet
Advanced Member
    

 United States
1,544 posts Joined: Aug, 2002
745 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2004/09/10 : 05:26:02
I don't like WMA because of the hassle. At one point, I wasn't able to write them onto CD because it said protected. ALSO, now that I have a new computer, I just wasted a ton of money on those because I can't move them over...
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5-hydroxytryptamine
Average Member
  

 United Kingdom
200 posts Joined: Apr, 2004
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Posted - 2004/09/10 : 11:15:50
quote: Originally posted by DJApollo:
IM very glas the are WMA. Now its hard for people to do anything bad. Its good for hardcore.
Burn them to CD and re-rip, or use any number of freely available tools to strip the DRM. It's not hard at all. And if you think that WMA sounds fine, then you need a new sound system and/or ears :)
I suppose these downloads might be worth paying about £1 a track for at the most. The thing is they cost about 60% of what a vinyl or a CD would cost you, and for nearly the same cost you don't get half the benefits i.e. a permanent copy of the music on a durable piece of media, with a nice sleeve, cover art, and basically a nice physical object that you can look after and looks good in your collection.
quote:
Why does everyone bitch about everything new?
I'm not bitching because it's new, I'm all in favour of paid-for downloads, but this, I believe is a bad implementation of it. All it's doing is making them more money because costs are lowered, there's no real benefit to the customers.
~~ DJ Serotonin live every Saturday from 1pm on http://www.hardcoreregime.co.uk/ ~~
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~~ DJ Serotonin live every Saturday from 1pm on http://www.hardcoreregime.co.uk/ ~~
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