Need some MP3 help.

[GTAHVIT]

I'm sure you all can help me.

I am so @#$%@#$%@#$%'n sick of itunes. I'm getting ready to purchase an mp3 player and I want to know which music downloading software I should consider. Not torrents or anything like that. legit stuff.

Thanks guys and gals,

[glazr69]

i highly recommend getting a zune pass. 15 bucks a month for all the music you can download. its really good if you buy music often; its the price of a cd per month. a zune mp3 player is also a good player that costs substantially less than an ipod, and is only outperformed by the ipod touch.

yea get a zune and the zune pass for your downloads.

[Justin]

The problem with the zune pass is that if you stop paying or something like that all of the music is now gone, and because it's subscription based music, it's DRMed to hell, and as such you can only use that music on a Zune.

Also, Zunes are NOT less expensive than iPods. You can get an 80 gig Zune, but you're paying the exact same price for the exact same storage.

Also, Zunes aren't going to work on a Mac if you use one, or for that matter Linux. If you're a Windows user I've heard that the Zune software is actually pretty user-friendly, but that it's pretty similar to iTunes, and everyone I know that hates iTunes also hates the Zune software.

Honestly, I'd hate to say it, but IMO iTunes is the best solution for purchasing music right now. Biggest library, most songs are DRM free now, and 256kbps AAC (and because they're DRM free you can convert them VERY, VERY easily. Like, select them in iTunes and click "convert", easily.) A lot of older songs are also 10-20 cents cheaper now.

Other options are Wal-Mart, but you can only buy "clean" versions of songs. There's also Amazon.

Edit: I'm not sure if Janus still works this way (Microsoft's DRM scheme for Zunes), but if I remember correctly it used to be that you had to sync it every so many days or the Zune would automatically delete all of your music, regardless of whether it was purchased, subscription, or from a CD. I could be wrong on that, or it may have changed, but I remember that Janus was by far the most hated DRM platform for a while.

[Croathlete]

I exclusively use Pandora. I've used it to a point where it has learned exactly what music I like. I've set up stations for different genres and even for different artists. Every once in a while I give a song a thumbs up or thumbs down and it does the rest. I haven't listened to MP3's on my computer in ages. Oh yea, and it's free. Give it a try. I've gotten many people hooked on it. It's also a once of the most downloaded Iphone applications.

http://www.pandora.com

[PQ]

I would try iTunes









I've used several different ones. iTunes is the best for me. I only have an iPhone and it works great bacause I can have ALL of my stuff in there. It can suck at times but I geuss it's what you commonly do and how you use it.

[UCF w00t]

With Zune you can also purchase songs DRM free in MP3 format whereas ALL of iTunes is AAC (not as friendly).

The Zune pass allows you to get unlimited songs for $14.95/month but as soon as you cancel, all those songs will stop working. BUT in addition to that you get 10 songs per month that will be DRM free and yours forever. Also, WMA (which only like 10% of the zune catalog is in) is supported on lots of MP3 players, just not iPods.

I believe individual songs are about the same price in both and most are DRM free in both so you can use both and figure out which one you like better. I, for one, cannot stand the iTunes software and I really like the latest Zune software. It really has some cool features like MixView that lets you see related songs/artists and just looks cool.

[Milk 1027]

Originally Posted by Justin

The problem with the zune pass is that if you stop paying or something like that all of the music is now gone, and because it's subscription based music, it's DRMed to hell, and as such you can only use that music on a Zune.

Also, Zunes are NOT less expensive than iPods. You can get an 80 gig Zune, but you're paying the exact same price for the exact same storage.

Also, Zunes aren't going to work on a Mac if you use one, or for that matter Linux. If you're a Windows user I've heard that the Zune software is actually pretty user-friendly, but that it's pretty similar to iTunes, and everyone I know that hates iTunes also hates the Zune software.

Honestly, I'd hate to say it, but IMO iTunes is the best solution for purchasing music right now. Biggest library, most songs are DRM free now, and 256kbps AAC (and because they're DRM free you can convert them VERY, VERY easily. Like, select them in iTunes and click "convert", easily.) A lot of older songs are also 10-20 cents cheaper now.

Other options are Wal-Mart, but you can only buy "clean" versions of songs. There's also Amazon.

Edit: I'm not sure if Janus still works this way (Microsoft's DRM scheme for Zunes), but if I remember correctly it used to be that you had to sync it every so many days or the Zune would automatically delete all of your music, regardless of whether it was purchased, subscription, or from a CD. I could be wrong on that, or it may have changed, but I remember that Janus was by far the most hated DRM platform for a while.

BS.
I did comparisons on both Zune and ipod. Zune is a couple of dollars cheaper thatn the ipod.
Plus you don't have to get the zune pass. If you buy songs through microsoft points you can keep the music for as long as you want. It's about 800 Microsoft points per album which is equivalent to about $10 dollars or you can buy the song individually for about 79 Microsoft Points.

I've had the Zune for over a tear and have had no major problems except for the usuall update glitches, but you shouldn't have problems with the new versions. I've never used Zune pass and have kept all the song I have bought from there.

The Zune library has just a big library as itunes in the music department, but is lacking in the video department.
and converting is not an issue.
The only problem is playing copyrighted files on a different program that doesn't own the file.