Where do you get your music?

[vilasman]

up until now , my md collection has been made up of Cd's that i have copied.

I now have DSL so getting info across the net is no problem for me. In the past I have Kazaa'd a few songs but now this is 2 full of viruses and 2 illegal. But the one thing i remember about those songs was they didnt sound very good.

What r the best places on the net to buy music downloads, are there any at leas semi legal places to snarf music and what is the best format to record in? I have a MZ-R90 right now but i am in the market for my next MD.

Can you still get a CD player with optical out?

By the by, I run live sound for PA, I have pretty good ears... part of the reason I got the MD, when the still cost $500 was to record what i did sound wize

[iceeedtea]

The best place to obtain music is still from CDs. Although more costly than the alternatives [downloading from the iTMS, Napster 2.0, etc.], you are likely to have less restrictions on the files and greater quality than the lower-bitrate, 'optimized' downloads for sale.

However, if you decide to buy music from the iTMS, you'll have a somewhat more complex time transfering music to your MD. Since you lack a NetMD unit, you'll need to record via optical; thus, you shall either have to burn the tracks to a CD in standard 'AudioCD' format [via iTunes, if you buy from the iTMS], and record in real-time from a source equipped from 'optical-out'. Yes, there are PDCPs out on the market today which are equipped with this feature; however, you could always use a DVD player's [if you have one] instead and save money. Or, check to see if your computer already comes equipped with an optical-out in the back, whether on the soundcard of on the board itself.

Then again, transfering this way results in a loss of audio quality: .m4p -> (decompress to) 'AudioCD'/PCM -> (recompress to) ATRAC.

'The best place to buy legal music online': There is none, in my opinion. However, what you should consider, is that Apple's iTMS is less restrictive with its files than Napster is.

If you really want to just be able to download audio files from the internet and transfer them to MD, you may want to wait a few months until the release of Hi-MD in the states and purchase a Hi-MD unit; at which point, Sony's Connect music service will be online and functional. Connect -> Hi-MD, in one step.