Posted by FatKat on 02/01/08 19:10

> No, I'm not a leech, I'm sharing lots of files!  If it's available, I always
> look for the highest bitrate, I prefer 320kbps, but some material just isn't
> available with this bitrate.  After reading a little, I'm convinced that
> what I'm seeing are indeed fakes, 'cause there's so many of them and lot's
> with a 320 bitrate.  I don't seem to have any problems with more obscure
> songs/artists, so in my mind, that's another reason that these files must be
> fake.
>
> Thanks for your suggestions.

What are you downloading the songs for - to play on your stereo, or
through your computer or portable player? If it's the last, then
going 320 is probably overkill - though I'm not an audiophile so as
they say in Wikipedia, that statement is subject to debate to be
discussed elsewhere. Also, high BR are irrelevant if the original
copy or the software is low-quality. Before I discovered P2P, I got
most of my music on the websites of people who had those songs - since
a fair number were not well known, and with the idea of downloadable
music still new to me, I DL'd the first copy I found of the wanted
songs (that was back in '02). That began to change when I discovered
P2P. After getting the songs I couldn't find before, I began
replacing the low-BR MP3 files I already had with what I thought were
better quality versions, only to find that sound quality wasn't
better, and in at least one case was noticeably worse (over
headphones!). It was like I was back in 1987, hashing out some mix-
tapes either from cassettes, the radio or some 45's. I think we've
gotten worse headaches from our understimating the pitfalls of digital
media than from the RIAA.

NP: Liz Phair - Supernova

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