I know this isn't about ebooks but it seems many of us here are fans of electronic content in general. I've been looking for a new site for downloading music (only legal, of course) and just wondering what your favorites are. I'd like to get away from iTunes.

Thanks,
Alisa

Mine is emusic.com. It is subscription based and offers some interesting stuff you wont find in the stores. It is of course legal.

Are there any good music sites that offer music for download in any sort of lossless format (such as FLAC) without DRM?

Are there any good music sites that offer music for download in any sort of lossless format (such as FLAC) without DRM?

Yeah, but they're not really legal...

Yeah, but they're not really legal...
If I am going to pay for music online, I want all the bits that came on the CD.

Here's a few.
http://www.mindawn.com/
http://www.airlock.be/shape/
http://magnatune.com/
more... (http://flac.sourceforge.net/links.html#music)

http://www.archive.org/audio/etree.php (free legal live recordings)

Thanks, everybody! Looks like I have a lot of stuff to check out.

If I am going to pay for music online, I want all the bits that came on the CD.

You're probably better off buying CDs in that case. I suspect that the files for lossless files are too big for most download services.

What are you playing your downloaded music on? I have a pair of extremely good headphones (Bose "QuietComfort 2" noise cancelling headphones) and, using those on my iPod, I honestly can't tell the difference between 320kbit MP3 files and the CD original. I can if I use my superb HiFi system (which is why I buy CDs) but for "music on the go" there's nothing wrong with high bit-rate MP3s.

I honestly can't tell the difference between 320kbit MP3 files and the CD original.

You must be using the "insane" setting on Lame :)

No, I rip my CDs with iTunes. That allows you to set whatever bit rate you wish.

You must be using the "insane" setting on Lame :)
I've tried the insane setting on LAME and found it turned out to be not all that good.

What are you playing your downloaded music on? I have a pair of extremely good headphones (Bose "QuietComfort 2" noise cancelling headphones) and, using those on my iPod, I honestly can't tell the difference between 320kbit MP3 files and the CD original. I can if I use my superb HiFi system (which is why I buy CDs) but for "music on the go" there's nothing wrong with high bit-rate MP3s.

Are the QC2s really that good? I have heard that they introduce all sorts of effects into the sound due to the Noise Cancelling. I have a pair of Sennheiser PXC200 noise cancellers, and while they are great on a plane or in a noisy room, in a quiet room they make a horrible mess of the sound.

I now use a pair of Shure E4 canalphones with the foam tips and they block out as much background noise as the PXC200s (or the QC2s) but without the electronics between me and the music so it sounds great in a quiet room too.

As for a player I still have a Rio Karma. Lovely device from the folks at Denon & Marantz (who know a little bit about audio). MP3, OGG and Flac supported natively, 5 band parametric EQ, 55mW per channel for high impedence headphones, and a real on the go playlist editor that lets you load, edit and save playlists on the device. Only 20GB though, and the hard disks tend to fail, and replacements are getting rare. That said people are fitting CF cards to them now, so a 32GB CF card will be a nice upgrade once I can afford one...

Are the QC2s really that good? I have heard that they introduce all sorts of effects into the sound due to the Noise Cancelling. I have a pair of Sennheiser PXC200 noise cancellers, and while they are great on a plane or in a noisy room, in a quiet room they make a horrible mess of the sound.


They are superb. Do try them out if you get the chance. If you have an Apple Store nearby, they sell them and (at least in my local one) have them out on demo.