allofmp3 music store...?

drummer · Post by **drummer** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 1:10 am

Someone here suggested allofmp3 as being a 'good' music store. But when I checked, they do not post what their prices are, only saying that you must first post "a balance" with them ahead of time... I will not sign up with any outfit without first knowing what their charges are; does anyone here use allofmp3, and can tell me what their pricing is like?
Thanks,
drummer

Teknojnky · Post by **Teknojnky** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 1:49 am

I've been using allofmp3.com for a few months now, you pay 2 cents per megabyte.

Yes you have to pre-pay so you have a balance, then you d/l and it subtracts from your balance as you download.

The best things about allofmp3 is that YOU get to CHOOSE what encoding TYPE and BITRATE that YOU want to use.

Obviously, the larger/higher quality the files you download, the more it will cost per song/album.

For reference, I always get 192k CBR lame encoded files. Albums are typically 1.5 to 2 dollars each, songs anywhere from .01 to .08 cents.

I use their all of mp3 explorer, it makes it much easier to download and you can setup a file mask similar to MM however you want your filenames.

trixmoto · Post by **trixmoto** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 5:33 am

Off topic? I'm checking out the site though, thanks!

Post by **Lowlander** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 10:19 am

Remember that the RIAA considers this outfit illegal. So far Russian authorities have been unsuccessful in closing it down.
But its the best deal out there.

drummer · Post by **drummer** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 10:40 am

Teknojnky wrote:I've been using allofmp3.com for a few months now, you pay 2 cents per megabyte.

Yes you have to pre-pay so you have a balance, then you d/l and it subtracts from your balance as you download.

The best things about allofmp3 is that YOU get to CHOOSE what encoding TYPE and BITRATE that YOU want to use.

Obviously, the larger/higher quality the files you download, the more it will cost per song/album.

For reference, I always get 192k CBR lame encoded files. Albums are typically 1.5 to 2 dollars each, songs anywhere from .01 to .08 cents.

I use their all of mp3 explorer, it makes it much easier to download and you can setup a file mask similar to MM however you want your filenames.

So, some say they're illegal, while their site says they're legal... ??
Given this, and with the situation in Russia right now, do you trust this outfit with the credit/debit card number you need to prepay them with?
Also, what's the advantage of "192k CBR lame", what is it, and can it be easily converted to be written onto CDs and MP3 players? (It's all just numbers to me...)

drummer

Post by **Lowlander** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 10:45 am

192kbps is the bitrate at which the song is encoded. The higher the number the better. In mp3 it can go up to 320kbps. But many people can't hear the difference above 192kbps. Also the higher the bitrate the bigger the filesize (MB).

CBR means constant bitrate, the other option is VBR which is variable bitrate. VBR will result in smaller files (MB) but at the same quality.

Lame is considered the best encoder available so it should result in the best quality mp3.

Post by **Lowlander** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 10:46 am

192kbps is the bitrate at which the song is encoded. The higher the number the better. In mp3 it can go up to 320kbps. But many people can't hear the difference above 192kbps. Also the higher the bitrate the bigger the filesize (MB).

CBR means constant bitrate, the other option is VBR which is variable bitrate. VBR will result in smaller files (MB) but at the same quality.

Lame is considered the best encoder available so it should result in the best quality mp3.

Teknojnky · Post by **Teknojnky** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 10:48 am

I was very nervous at first, however I havent had any problem in the few months I've used them.

I did however use a creditcard that was nearly maxed out, that way if it got mischarged or hacked that they couldn't get much out of it.

As far as the encoding types/numbers, you may want to read up some @ http://www.mediamonkey.com/mp3-ogg-wma-audio-faq.htm and possibly google search as there is lots of information on various encodings.

trixmoto · Post by **trixmoto** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 4:37 am

I've had a very successful first 24 hours with them. And they can't use my credit card because I have a Barclaycard which uses the Barclaycard secure Verisign system which means that before the transaction goes though I have to type in a password. This is done on a Barclay site so Allofmp3 never get to see it. The fact that Allofmp3 support this system means that are good and I trust them with my details.

Plus, loads of great music! A great way to fill all the holes in my music collection.

gibot · Post by **gibot** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 8:56 pm

just wanna let you guys know that I've been using AllofMP3 for more than 6 months now, and have spent about $80.
No problem at all, great site, love everything about it.

MaFt · Post by **MaFt** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 6:39 am

i used the 'voucher' option and paid via paypal for that. put in the voucher code at allofmp3 and got an extra 10% so for $10 i got $11 credit.

i always go for 160k cbr lame-encoded mp3's. 160 is totally fine for me. costs usually about $0.97 for an album depending on length

do a google regarding the legality. no one, to my knowledge, has been in trouble for using it so in my eyes it's legit.

put it this way: it's the equivalent of buying a cd in russia and bringing it back to your own country for personal use. if that's illegal to do where you live then it's illegal to use allofmp3.com. whether the product you buy is a digital file or a physical cd makes no difference so long as your country's laws state whether or not you can import recorded music from russia for your own personal use. basically, don't file share them cos then it's not for personal use but if you can buy legitimate recordings for this kind of money i don't think many people would be giving them away...

MaFt

Teknojnky · Post by **Teknojnky** » Tue May 23, 2006 4:28 pm

A couple of recent, interesting articles about allofmp3.com and emusic.com music downloads...

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050307-4675.html

http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/emusic.ars/1

MaFt · Post by **MaFt** » Wed May 24, 2006 3:06 am

Teknojnky wrote: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050307-4675.html

the allofmp3.com one is from july 2005... hardly recent...

Teknojnky · Post by **Teknojnky** » Wed May 24, 2006 3:48 am

Whoops!

MaFt · Post by **MaFt** » Wed May 24, 2006 5:13 am

Teknojnky wrote:Whoops!

still interesting though!