[Bruno]

Hello guys,
You know, I'm a bit tired. I'm tired of having to check your MP3 files for encoding errors, when YOU should do the job (there are free utilities to do this!).
I'm tired of having to find replacements for my defective tracks, downloading the same tracks from another MP3 shop and getting exactly the same errors at the same points (are you all getting your tracks from the same source?).
You usually give me a refund, but of course money is not the point. Yes, you may say that those encoding errors are barely audible, but they are there. You may say that I pay almost nothing for the tracks, and I get what I pay for. But a little "click" somewhere may spoil the whole listening experience, just like a dead pixel on a monitor, because you know it's there and you just have to pay attention to it!

I'm sure most MP3 shops are paying attention to quality, but I can name at least three of them selling the same defective files. I hope that some of their webmasters will read this...

[chris7]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Hello guys,
You know, I'm a bit tired. I'm tired of having to check your MP3 files for encoding errors, when YOU should do the job (there are free utilities to do this!).
I'm tired of having to find replacements for my defective tracks, downloading the same tracks from another MP3 shop and getting exactly the same errors at the same points (are you all getting your tracks from the same source?).
You usually give me a refund, but of course money is not the point. Yes, you may say that those encoding errors are barely audible, but they are there. You may say that I pay almost nothing for the tracks, and I get what I pay for. But a little "click" somewhere may spoil the whole listening experience, just like a dead pixel on a monitor, because you know it's there and you just have to pay attention to it!

I'm sure most MP3 shops are paying attention to quality, but I can name at least three of them selling the same defective files. I hope that some of their webmasters will read this...

Yes I agree to some extent, there are many more sites jumping on the bandwagon, prices are generally getting cheaper, the downside is the quality is sometimes going down as well. I myself have complained about tracks missing, wrongly named, sound quality is sometimes a let down as well, and as you say, you normally get a refund, but what you really want is what you paid for. Sadly, quality control is not high on the list of most sites, they pile them high and sell them cheap, seems to be about right at the moment, perhaps if we all complain everytime, things may change in time?

[Kalvin Kleenex]

Very good post, Bruno, I totally agree with you. Specially this:

Originally Posted by Bruno

You usually give me a refund, but of course money is not the point. Yes, you may say that those encoding errors are barely audible, but they are there. You may say that I pay almost nothing for the tracks, and I get what I pay for. But a little "click" somewhere may spoil the whole listening experience, just like a dead pixel on a monitor, because you know it's there and you just have to pay attention to it!

This is the difference with sparks. We know that the source is different than the rest of shops, although sparks isn't free of encoding errors neither, and that is, sometimes, a chance to download the same song from other site. The problem is when a song is only avalaible in one of the sites (or the other sites has the same corrupted file).

Kalvin

[vikulenka]

Originally Posted by Kalvin Kleenex

Very good post, Bruno, I totally agree with you. Specially this:



This is the difference with sparks. We know that the source is different than the rest of shops, although sparks isn't free of encoding errors neither, and that is, sometimes, a chance to download the same song from other site. The problem is when a song is only avalaible in one of the sites (or the other sites has the same corrupted file).

Kalvin

Thought i'd highjack a thread. Been a few days since that's taken place!
Kalvin, I'll be in Barcelona from August 30th to September 3rd. Last minute plan I booked yesterday! Can't wait!!

[Nightfly]

Originally Posted by vikulenka

Thought i'd highjack a thread. Been a few days since that's taken place!
Kalvin, I'll be in Barcelona from August 30th to September 3rd. Last minute plan I booked yesterday! Can't wait!!

The above points are well taken and hope they are viewed by those
who can do something about it..


Vik...that's great!
Have a fantastic time and enjoy yourself.

Take care,

[boogiel45]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Hello guys,
You know, I'm a bit tired. I'm tired of having to check your MP3 files for encoding errors, when YOU should do the job (there are free utilities to do this!).
I'm tired of having to find replacements for my defective tracks, downloading the same tracks from another MP3 shop and getting exactly the same errors at the same points (are you all getting your tracks from the same source?).
You usually give me a refund, but of course money is not the point. Yes, you may say that those encoding errors are barely audible, but they are there. You may say that I pay almost nothing for the tracks, and I get what I pay for. But a little "click" somewhere may spoil the whole listening experience, just like a dead pixel on a monitor, because you know it's there and you just have to pay attention to it!

I'm sure most MP3 shops are paying attention to quality, but I can name at least three of them selling the same defective files. I hope that some of their webmasters will read this...

I've found out that one can avoid buying mp3 files with encoding errors by purchasing Cd's or vinyl records. If, you still want to spend $15 to $20 per album.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by boogiel45

I've found out that one can avoid buying mp3 files with encoding errors by purchasing Cd's or vinyl records. If, you still want to spend $15 to $20 per album.

Oh, sure. Or between $20 and $26 for the latest releases (crazy but true!), if you are here in Italy...

[seva]

Originally Posted by boogiel45

I've found out that one can avoid buying mp3 files with encoding errors by purchasing Cd's or vinyl records. If, you still want to spend $15 to $20 per album.

great, problem solved then



Seva

[Nightfly]

Originally Posted by seva

great, problem solved then



Seva

Sounds good to me as well..

[boogiel45]

Originally Posted by Nightfly

Sounds good to me as well..

Sorry but the problem is not solved nor it sounds good. The mp3 stores are getting greedy. They based their business model on the false perception that they have a captive market, and don't see the need to implement quality controls or to develop more efficient decoders. Needless to say, investment on software development is minimal.I haven't seen yet one single sound decoder being developed in Ukrania or Russia and being adopted the by the mp3 sites of these two respective countries.