Amazon's DRM-free MP3 beta

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Amazon's DRM-free MP3 beta

Post by benheck » Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:22 pm

It's live and I have already tested it. Good selection, great prices, no DRM and plain-jane MP3's.

Unlike their Unbox service, this could really be something, Check it out when you get a chance! Just think - no iTunes, no Media player, just legit downloads and whatever player/portable unit you want!

www.amazon.com

-Ben

PS: I smell podcast topic
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Post by Edutainment » Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:18 pm

Coolness.

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Post by SZF2001 » Thu Feb 14, 2008 12:20 am

Nice. Multiplatform is great, I guess - I won't have to worry about DRM BS with Linux and on other Windows computers I didn't download the song onto (unless it grabs the license or whatever, but lets say your not on the Internet).

Piracy is inevitable, but for all the people who still want to pay for stuff and not want to have to cling onto rights management, this is perfect.
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Post by Negative_Creep » Thu Feb 14, 2008 5:09 am

Are the MP3's 320kbps?

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Post by Sparkfist » Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:27 am

Negative_Creep wrote:Are the MP3's 320kbps?
Yeah I have to say good question, 'cause I was thinking "What quality are they"? If they're 128k, there is something wrong, but knowing Amazon, they should be at least 220k.
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Post by benheck » Thu Feb 14, 2008 12:43 pm

They are 256k.

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Post by bicostp » Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:02 pm

The only real problem I see is selling the DRM-free idea to the labels. They seem fixated on the belief that MP3 = piracy.

Too bad there aren't any prepaid Amazon cards at the store; I don't like credit cards, so iTunes gift cards were a major selling point. iTunes purchases do come with DRM, but it's easy enough to burn and rip a CD-RW. (The way I see it, you would do it if you bought the CD at the store anyway so what's the harm?)

Other than that, I think it's a great idea. 256k/sec is an acceptable compromise between file size and audio quality, and it's nice to do whatever you want with what you purchased. Now they need to think about selling movies in DiVX/XviD format...

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Post by SpongeBuell » Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:02 pm

bicostp wrote:Too bad there aren't any prepaid Amazon cards at the store; I don't like credit cards, so iTunes gift cards were a major selling point.
Have you ever looked into getting a check card? Rather than getting bills, interest, etc. it withdraws from a checking account. You can use it wherever credit cards are taken. I have a Visa check card through Wells Fargo, and use it almost exclusively.
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Post by nightwheel » Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:28 pm

Hmmm, This seems cool.

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Post by tom61 » Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:30 pm

Curious, how much more "live" is this than before? Amazon has had this available for months now, and I've been cashing in Pepsi points for MP3s since the first of this month. (Yeah! My Pepsi addiction finally comes in handy!)
bicostp wrote:The only real problem I see is selling the DRM-free idea to the labels. They seem fixated on the belief that MP3 = piracy.
Not as hard a sell as it used to be. The labels have recognized that Apple's dominance of the portable player market leaves them in a bad position for negotiation of prices.

Too bad there aren't any prepaid Amazon cards at the store; I don't like credit cards, so iTunes gift cards were a major selling point.
Actually, I think I saw some at Wal Greens. Not specific to the MP3 downloads, but all of Amazon.

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Post by jperryss » Thu Feb 14, 2008 4:07 pm

256K is OK, but I'd rather see LAME v0 (which is like 192VBR or 224VBR, I forget). Less bits where they're not needed (=smaller file size) and more bits where they are needed (= better sound quality) anywhere from 32K to 320K based on the needs of each small fragment of the song.

The encoder is AT LEAST as important as how many bits are used to encode. And the EAC/LAME combo is probably the most well-known PROPER way to rip a CD, for good reason.

But people see 256K and say 'That's way better than 192K!'

bicostp wrote: iTunes purchases do come with DRM, but it's easy enough to burn and rip a CD-RW. (The way I see it, you would do it if you bought the CD at the store anyway so what's the harm?)
Because taking an already-compressed copy of a song, burning it as audio and then compressing it again makes it sound like poo. :D If you're starting with a lossless file, it's not as big a deal.

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Post by bicostp » Thu Feb 14, 2008 4:14 pm

jperryss wrote:Because taking an already-compressed copy of a song, burning it as audio and then compressing it again makes it sound like poo. :D If you're starting with a lossless file, it's not as big a deal.
Well, iTunes uses AAC VBR files, most likely around 256k, which would put it at about the same level as the OGG files you mentioned, right? Sure it's not lossless but it's better than a flat bitrate MP3...

And apparently they're selling iTunes Plus songs (same format, no DRM) for $0.99 now.

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Post by jperryss » Thu Feb 14, 2008 6:55 pm

bicostp wrote:Well, iTunes uses AAC VBR files, most likely around 256k, which would put it at about the same level as the OGG files you mentioned, right? Sure it's not lossless but it's better than a flat bitrate MP3...
I think 256VBR is generally good. VBR in general is fantastic IMO, because you get the best of both worlds.

But everything encodes differently. Rip a track with EAC/LAME, then do it again with MusicMatch, and then again with iTunes, and those three files will be different, even if the same bitrate is used.

The reason I mentioned lossless is because you mentioned burning MP3 to CD and ripping back to MP3, which is a no-no. :D Compressing a track twice, or converting from one compressed format to another (MP3 to WMA, etc.) will usually make a track sound terrible, even if higher bitrates and a good encoder are used. But if you're starting out with a lossless file (FLAC, SHTN, lossless AAC or lossless WMA) then it's mostly a non-issue, since theoretically that CD you burn should be near-identical to the original it was ripped from, since it was never compressed and therefore 'no data was removed' from it.

A lot of people keep all their stuff stored, lossless, on their PCs. But while the cost-per-GB of HDDs nowadays makes it easier than ever (320GB for $80!!!) I don't do it because A) My portable player and the CD player in my car both play MP3s, but not any of the lossless formats; B) The difference in sound quality between my original CDs and my own rips done using the EAC/LAME cocktail is indistinguishable to me, except (occasionally) during critical listening on my Sennheisers. Once I get out to the car, where I do 90% of my music listening, it's completely a non-issue.

And C) I like having 10 albums on one disc. :D
And apparently they're selling iTunes Plus songs (same format, no DRM) for $0.99 now.
Good for them. Seriously. I'm not much of an Apple fan, but kudos to Steve Jobs for stepping up. Now others (Amazon, etc) are following suit.

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Post by benheck » Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:23 pm

Right. Competition will help end DRM. Apple has always said the studios, not them, wanted the DRM but I'm sure as a monopoly market leader Apple hasn't always been the most cordial to work with.

All in all it's a good thing. Now I just need a PMP. I'm leaning Zune, except I guess it doesn't sync with Winamp which I swear by. But Winamp doesn't seem to work all that great with iPods either, from what I've seen.

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Post by benol » Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:31 pm

benheck wrote:All in all it's a good thing. Now I just need a PMP. I'm leaning Zune, except I guess it doesn't sync with Winamp which I swear by. But Winamp doesn't seem to work all that great with iPods either, from what I've seen.

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