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Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

post #1 of 28
8/11/08 at 8:57am
Thread Starter 
Assuming the files are the same quality [Amazon is 256 or 320kbps for MP3 files].

1. Same price
2. Apple has DRM [Digitally Restricted Media]
3. Amazon has no DRM.

Am I missing something? I will never pay money for DRM files.
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post #2 of 28
8/11/08 at 9:11am

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

Actually, DRM stands for "Digital Rights Management", but I prefer your take on it.
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post #3 of 28
8/11/08 at 9:20am
Thread Starter 

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

Quote:
Originally Posted by nolesrule
Actually, DRM stands for "Digital Rights Management", but I prefer your take on it.
The guys on the HDTV Podcast [www.htguys.com] came up with that and I think it is a more apt acronym.
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post #4 of 28
8/11/08 at 10:10am

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

People like the Itunes "Experience".
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post #5 of 28
8/11/08 at 10:19am

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason L.
Assuming the files are the same quality [Amazon is 256 or 320kbps for MP3 files].

1. Same price
2. Apple has DRM [Digitally Restricted Media]
3. Amazon has no DRM.

Am I missing something? I will never pay money for DRM files.

Answer: Ignorance

I will have to check out Amazon.
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post #6 of 28
8/11/08 at 10:20am

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

I still prefer physical media overall (higher quality, lower cost, physical backup, not tied to a specific computer). But if I'm buying online, I look at both Amazon and iTunes.

But I've seen that:
* iTunes is established with customers already committed to it and used to it. Once people find a store they like, they tend to stay with it.

* iTunes is easier to use. Amazon has done a good job with their website system, but it's still clunky in a way that websites are, and that iTunes isn't.

* iTunes has songs Amazon doesn't.

* iTunes uses AAC, which is generally a more efficient (and higher quality) encoding system than MP3 (or so I understand from scattered reviews of such things).
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post #7 of 28
8/11/08 at 10:59am

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveF

* iTunes uses AAC, which is generally a more efficient (and higher quality) encoding system than MP3 (or so I understand from scattered reviews of such things).
From my observations, when I compare the itunes download to mp3s that I ripped, the itunes songs play back much quieter than the mp3s (192-256kpbs).
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post #8 of 28
8/11/08 at 11:20am

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

Quote:
Originally Posted by drobbins
From my observations, when I compare the itunes download to mp3s that I ripped, the itunes songs play back much quieter than the mp3s (192-256kpbs).

Quieter, schmieter. What really matters is dynamic range.
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post #9 of 28
8/11/08 at 11:42am

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

iTunes also lets you choose where you want your music stored, whereas Amazon's helper program automatically selects the default Windows music folder, which is wrong if you use an external drive.
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post #10 of 28
8/11/08 at 11:50am

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

Unless you have them mixed together. Then it is a pain to adjust the volume up and down all the time. For instance I play my ipod in the car through one of those FM adapters. I guess the power output of the adapter is low, so I have to almost double the volume to hear the ipod at "reasonable" levels. Then when a itunes song comes on, I have to turn up it even more. Then I forget to turn it down before I turn off the car. The next morning after I start the car, I change to a local station and the volume is blasting soo high I scare the daylights out of myself. But at least now I am awake. My last car, with the stock radio, I coulden't turn it up enough to "jam" while driving down the highway. I know most of the issue is the converter, but the lower itune recorded volume also makes it worse.
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post #11 of 28
8/11/08 at 12:07pm

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

I have never tried Amazon. I started buying music from iTunes quite a while ago and have been really pleased with its ease of use. Now my wife just got a iPhone and is able to buy stuff from the iTunes store using it.

I find the iTunes library excellent. Only 2 bands that I can think of are not on it (AC/DC and Led Zepplin). It synchs up to our multiple iPods/iPhone easily.

I would be tempted to buy CDs from stores, but I rarely see them as cheap as on iTunes.

Oh...and I think they have removed DRM from many titles. I think they call it iTunes Plus or something silly like that.
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post #12 of 28
8/11/08 at 12:28pm

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

Quote:
Originally Posted by drobbins
Unless you have them mixed together. Then it is a pain to adjust the volume up and down all the time. For instance I play my ipod in the car through one of those FM adapters. I guess the power output of the adapter is low, so I have to almost double the volume to hear the ipod at "reasonable" levels. Then when a itunes song comes on, I have to turn up it even more. Then I forget to turn it down before I turn off the car. The next morning after I start the car, I change to a local station and the volume is blasting soo high I scare the daylights out of myself. But at least now I am awake. My last car, with the stock radio, I coulden't turn it up enough to "jam" while driving down the highway. I know most of the issue is the converter, but the lower itune recorded volume also makes it worse.
How appropriate-- that's the sort of thing that led to dynamic range compression in the first place. How do the songs sound when played through your stereo?
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post #13 of 28
8/11/08 at 12:44pm

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

When I first bought an ipod, I assumed you had to purchase music through itunes. It wasn't until a friend told me different that I started browsing other places for music. I've still never purchased off of other sites, but mainly that is because I'm familar with the itunes site and I really don't purchase music that often. I mostly go to itunes for podcasts right now.

The last album I purchased through itunes was Legally Blonde the Musical.
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post #14 of 28
8/11/08 at 12:45pm

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

They both sound good. I think the main difference is the ipod output. In the car, I use the outputs along with the charger. With my stereo, I use the headphone output from the laptop or ipod. With the headphone output the ipod volume control works. This allows me to turn up the ipod volume almost all the way and then the volume differences aren't as much. When using the car adapter, the ipod volume control does not do anything.
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post #15 of 28
8/11/08 at 3:24pm

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

Quote:
Originally Posted by drobbins
From my observations, when I compare the itunes download to mp3s that I ripped, the itunes songs play back much quieter than the mp3s (192-256kpbs).
I hear ya. I have normalization differences between my iTunes songs and those ripped from my CDs. It's rather annoying at at times.

For me, the Amazon helper works well, stuffing songs into my iTunes library automatically.

And I've found that iTunes Plus listing is very limited still; many songs I want aren't available DRM-free from iTunes yet.

But the whole thing is very dangerous It's too easy to start buying a song here and a song there for $0.99. Pretty soon, I've spent real money!
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post #16 of 28
8/11/08 at 4:33pm

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

You might want to mess about with Soundcheck.. You need to set it in itunes preferences (playback tab), and activate it on your ipod as well (settings/soundcheck)
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post #17 of 28
8/11/08 at 4:59pm

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

For a true normalizer, and not just dynamic range compression, or a traditional normalizer which just matches the highest volume level found in various songs to each other:

MP3Gain is your friend. If you're an AAC user, like I am, replace the executable with AACGain.

I've always hated the effects of dynamic range compression. And other programs' "normalizing" just matched the loudest sounds between songs, which of course is highly problematic if one song has tremendous dynamic range and the other is overcompressed to heck. The results are poor at best. I've been more than happy with AACGain/MP3Gain's performance. I have over 5000 songs burned from 25 years worth of CD purchases, and AACGain has worked like a champ! I never have to play the volume knob game ever!!!
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post #18 of 28
8/11/08 at 5:29pm

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Will_B
iTunes also lets you choose where you want your music stored, whereas Amazon's helper program automatically selects the default Windows music folder, which is wrong if you use an external drive.
You can choose where Amazon MP3 Downloader saves its download from the "Preferences" window.

I download from iTunes if the song is available in iTunes Plus. Otherwise, I download from Amazon. If I'm buying a whole CD, though, I still go out and get the version I can hold in my hand.
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post #19 of 28
8/11/08 at 6:27pm

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Carlo Medina
MP3Gain is your friend. If you're an AAC user, like I am, replace the executable with AACGain.
What if I use both? (MP3 from Amazon and AAC from iTunes and CD rips) Can I swap between them to get it all done? ... Ok, this requires higher degree to get working on a Mac.
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post #20 of 28
8/12/08 at 10:26am

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

If a song is too soft or loud, you can adjust that in itunes, no need to keep turning the volume up and down.
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post #21 of 28
8/12/08 at 12:23pm

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Lockwood
If a song is too soft or loud, you can adjust that in itunes, no need to keep turning the volume up and down.
It happens in the car, and I forget about it when I'm at the computer sync'ing, and it never gets fixed.
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post #22 of 28
8/13/08 at 11:58pm

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

I buy all my music from Napster. Most of the time, what I'm looking for isn't on iTunes so I don't mess with them.

The last actual CD I bought was Abbey Road. I picked it up for $15 from Target while on a business trip in February. Before that, it's been years since I bought one. The chief reason being, although it may be heralded as one of, if not the best, Beatles albums, I only wanted 4 songs from it and couldn't buy them individually online.
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post #23 of 28
8/14/08 at 5:50pm

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

> It happens in the car, and I forget about it when I'm at the computer sync'ing, and it never gets fixed.

I assume you don't download the songs in the car. What I meant was adjust the volume right after putting them on the ipod.
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post #24 of 28
8/15/08 at 10:06am

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

Why even bother with those. The usenet has everything you could want. And it's free.
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post #25 of 28
8/15/08 at 2:31pm

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

Anything can be free if you steal it. Would you go into a thread about cars and ask why someone would purchase a car from a dealer when they could just hot-wire one, instead?

Some of us like paying for the intellectual property we enjoy.
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post #26 of 28
8/15/08 at 7:53pm

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Lockwood
> It happens in the car, and I forget about it when I'm at the computer sync'ing, and it never gets fixed.

I assume you don't download the songs in the car. What I meant was adjust the volume right after putting them on the ipod.
I'm not quite sure what you mean. I've got a few hundred CDs in iTunes and I'm not sure which ones are unnormalized. I only notice when I'm listening -- typically in the care or mowing the lawn -- and there's no way to make notes of which songs need correction.
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post #27 of 28
8/17/08 at 8:39pm

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott McGillivray
I have never tried Amazon. I started buying music from iTunes quite a while ago and have been really pleased with its ease of use. Now my wife just got a iPhone and is able to buy stuff from the iTunes store using it.

I find the iTunes library excellent. Only 2 bands that I can think of are not on it (AC/DC and Led Zepplin). It synchs up to our multiple iPods/iPhone easily.

Led Zep has been on itunes for awhile now.

I never thought to check amazon for single songs.
is there an advantage if i buy a sonf from amazon over itunes?
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post #28 of 28
8/18/08 at 5:10am

Re: Why do people buy from Itunes instead of Amazon for downloads?

Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyD
I never thought to check amazon for single songs.
is there an advantage if i buy a sonf from amazon over itunes?

Amazon's downloads are in MP3 format, while iTunes uses AAC. MP3's are compatible with more devices/players, but if you use only iPods this probably doesn't matter.
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