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SmashingTheSirens
Junior Member
United Kingdom
126 posts
Joined: Mar, 2013
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 Posted - 2013/10/22 : 16:12:09
I just wanted to get the thoughts of fellow DJ's and downloaders.
It's coming up to that time of the month for me (Payday, not that thing that the ladies get that put them in funny moods!!!). That means time to download another batch of Hardcore tunes. Now my normal route is Beatport or TID and select WAV file and hit download. But I stumbled across a few people saying Amazon MP3 download and thought I'd have a look, and to my surprise most things that are available on Beatport and TID seem to be available on Amazon and at pretty much half the price. Now the only thing I can see that is a little stumbling block is that it only offers MP3 downloads.
Do any of my fellow DJ's (sounds like a Kevin & Perry quote!) have a stigma about MP3, does MP3 lack a noticeable quality that you know of compared to WAV when playing out. I, as a rule of thumb, have always done the WAV thing. But saying that I've never had an issue with an MP3.
So just wanted to know your thoughts?
Cheers :-)
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Edited by - SmashingTheSirens on 2013/10/22 16:13:48 |
latininxtc
Advanced Member
United States
7,307 posts
Joined: Feb, 2006
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Posted - 2013/10/22 : 16:28:28
If you're a dj you should strive to get only 320MP3s or WAV, most preferably WAV. If you aren't a dj, then an amazon mp3, which is 256kbps, should be fine. Try AudioJelly, much cheaper than both beatport and TID, and it has most of everything that Beatport has, except many ppl are going to the beatport 4-week exclusivity route that used to be all the rage with TID.
BTW, TID will have a lot of tracks that both Beatport and AudioJelly will not, so it still factors in with a lot of my own purchases as well.
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djchexmixer
Senior Member
United States
363 posts
Joined: Apr, 2006
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Posted - 2013/10/22 : 16:29:20
Man... can't beat that Amazon 99 cents, though the bit rate isn't as high as beatport/trackitdown, Amazon uses "an average of 256 kilobits per second (kbps)" where as beatport and trackit you get 320...
However, personally I can't tell the difference between an mp3 from Amazon from an mp3 from the other stores. So I tend to go with Amazon when I can, I buy a lot of music, so it helps to save whenever I can. All of Next Gen on mp3 on Amazon... saved me a bundle.
I rarely play at events, so I can't tell you that a wave sounds better than an mp3 on a big loud speaker system. Though I would think you'd be able the tell the most difference between an mp3 encoded at a high bit rate and a wave listening to the song in a quiet room with high end headphones on.
And then there is FLAC encoded. Now there is a winner, smaller than a wave, without the compression loss of an mp3. FLAC is the format I rip CDs to. Thank you Bandcamp for giving us the FLAC option.
Short answer, no, I do not have a stigma against mp3s. I've never had an issue with mp3s either.
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My songs and mixes:
https://soundcloud.com/djchexmixer
Happy Dance Fusion Vol. 2:
https://soundcloud.com/dj-cruelcore-neo/happy-dance-fusion-vol-2
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djDMS
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
10,304 posts
Joined: Feb, 2003
572 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2013/10/22 : 17:30:30
I've played MP3's less than 320kbps at gigs before with no problems at all.
256 doesn't do me any harm, hasn't got me any complaints either :-)
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Taking my time to perfect the beat
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Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,239 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2013/10/22 : 18:20:53
quote:
Originally posted by djDMS:
I've played MP3's less than 320kbps at gigs before with no problems at all.
256 doesn't do me any harm, hasn't got me any complaints either :-)
oh the purist will kill you for that :P
A MP3 with low bitrate can still sound good if it's not mastered to high.
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
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Claxton
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
1,061 posts
Joined: Dec, 2011
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Posted - 2013/10/22 : 19:12:30
I buy wavs if I can usually. I know a lot of people disagree but I think that TID is by far the most superior site. User friendly and logical.
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Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,239 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2013/10/22 : 19:20:26
in my opinion Juno is easier to browse because they store the tracks by release. It makes it alot easier to sort/id the tracks afterwords, which is a horrible job to do on TID (having to look on TID's ID for the track just to find out which track goes first).
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
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Simon
Advanced Member
Belgium
5,001 posts
Joined: Dec, 2001
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Posted - 2013/10/22 : 19:37:21
quote:
Originally posted by djDMS:
I've played MP3's less than 320kbps at gigs before with no problems at all.
256 doesn't do me any harm, hasn't got me any complaints either :-)
This is true, I honestly can't tell the difference. As Samination suggested, I'm sure the purists with their dog-like hearing can point me in the right direction!
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"...The Outsider"
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djDMS
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
10,304 posts
Joined: Feb, 2003
572 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2013/10/22 : 19:40:24
quote:
Originally posted by Samination:
quote:
Originally posted by djDMS:
I've played MP3's less than 320kbps at gigs before with no problems at all.
256 doesn't do me any harm, hasn't got me any complaints either :-)
oh the purist will kill you for that :P
The purist can suck my plums!
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Taking my time to perfect the beat
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Warnman
Advanced Member
Germany
2,677 posts
Joined: Jun, 2010
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Posted - 2013/10/22 : 19:54:54
quote:
Originally posted by djDMS:
quote:
Originally posted by Samination:
quote:
Originally posted by djDMS:
I've played MP3's less than 320kbps at gigs before with no problems at all.
256 doesn't do me any harm, hasn't got me any complaints either :-)
oh the purist will kill you for that :P
The purist can suck my plums!
Where's the f**kin' like-button! 
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Ravers unite!
"Happy Hardcore: Love it... hate it... it's fun!" (Matt Stokes)
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SmashingTheSirens
Junior Member
United Kingdom
126 posts
Joined: Mar, 2013
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Posted - 2013/10/22 : 20:04:30
Thanks guys. I thought this might spark a debate amongst you! Although I'm none the wiser on what to do with so much varied information! All good input non the less. I guess the long and short of it is each to their own. I think I will stick to what I know and that's WAV. Even if it is a little more expensive and takes up more hard drive space!
Cheers again :-)
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Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,239 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2013/10/22 : 20:18:13
only tiem i would use Amazon is to get those more obscure japanese releases that I havent already got on CD.
__________________________________
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
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Cyrax
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
623 posts
Joined: May, 2012
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Posted - 2013/10/22 : 21:03:56
I prefer WAV as I've got some pretty decent monitors at home and I think I can tell the difference although if you put me to the test in a You bet game show type thing I would probably fail !
I use TID most of the time , I've had a few download problems with Beatport
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DJ_FunDaBounce
Advanced Member
Colombia
2,092 posts
Joined: Nov, 2001
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Posted - 2013/10/22 : 22:15:05
.wav and if I need to I'll convert to mp3.
Bandcamp supports 24-bit files (for users that care enough to use the option). With internet speeds increasing all the time it wont be long til others catch on so if anything, aim for the highest quality you can find and THEN bring it down.
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"Fun with a capital F-D-B!"
http://www.brightspeedrecordings.com/
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Dys7
Advanced Member
United States
1,231 posts
Joined: Nov, 2011
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Posted - 2013/10/23 : 03:25:19
quote:
Originally posted by latininxtc:
If you're a dj you should strive to get only 320MP3s or WAV, most preferably WAV. If you aren't a dj, then an amazon mp3, which is 256kbps, should be fine. Try AudioJelly, much cheaper than both beatport and TID, and it has most of everything that Beatport has, except many ppl are going to the beatport 4-week exclusivity route that used to be all the rage with TID.
BTW, TID will have a lot of tracks that both Beatport and AudioJelly will not, so it still factors in with a lot of my own purchases as well.
Afaik Amazon is VBR, not 256.
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The above comment was likely written when I was *literally* 13, so please don't judge me too hard.
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Check out my cheesy fiddlings here:
http://soundcloud.com/dys7dj/
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Future_Shock
Advanced Member
Australia
2,483 posts
Joined: Apr, 2007
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Posted - 2013/10/29 : 14:39:09
Has nothing to do with hearing but the medium you hear it on. Unless you're listening on monitors very unlikely anyone can tell the difference between 320kb/s mp3 and a wav. Had this exact discussion with the head of audio production at my college the other week (been a professional music producer - in an ACTUAL studio not a bedroom studio for over 20 years)
Hell, if your medium is ipod headphones you probably wont tell the difference between a well encoded 128 kb/s mp3 and a 320kb/s mp3
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New Future Shock Hardcore: https://soundcloud.com/futureshockgroup
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