Would an Audiofile really download music?

I don't see why not if it is in a lossless format like FLAC or Shorten. The reason is you can get great music that you can't get in a store. The only way to get it is to download it. Here is a site that has great music that is free and legal.

I use Windows medial player (on my Macintosh) along with QuickTime to review music I'm interested in buying.

While searching through LP's or tapes at Audiogon and Ebay, I'll have another browser page open at AMG and the artist located via their search.

I read the reviews to see how the album rates, when it was released, who played on each cut, and listen to a few free samples.

This procedure has saved me from buying some dogs and prompted me to experiment when I was uncertain.

For those not familiar, here's a link:

AMG

Why don't you go to Amazon and listen to their sample cuts? What do you do with the mp3 file when you're done? I'm just wondering if anyone is going to the dark side or if someday we will be forced to?

First, thank you for the link Albert. Now in regard to the question. Being an audiophile is separate from my love of music. In the days of Napster, I downloaded quite a bit of oldies that I was unable to find for purchase or didn't care about purchasing more than the single song. I wouldn't download pieces that I wanted for serious listening. I view the interest in vinyl and what seems to be an increased availablity as a sign that there will always be good quality recordings in different formats for critical listening for those who want them.

Sure. It's just another tool to discover new music. You do seek out new music, right? ;-) (wink, wink)

It's the most efficient way I've found to discover music I might like but would otherwise never hear. Another excellent source for at least some types of music is emusic.com.

It's subscription based and inexpensive, provides samples, and delivers regular mp3's so that you're not limited to any particular playback device.

I download songs - listen a few times - and then erase. The amazon samples don't play the whole song and since there is an easy alternative, why not use it.

If there is something I really like. I'll get the CD.

Can an audiophile own an MP3 player? I can't really work out with a 70 lb tube amp on my back. My ipod doesn't burn me either.

My system (Verity, Cary, ARC, Oracle, etc.) now accounts for less than 5% of my listening. 95% comes off the i-pod in the car, on the deck, etc. Lifestyle changes (wife and child) make extended trips to the listening room a rare event. Sadly, and happily, i tunes has supplied the bulk of my new music. You lose something, you gain something.

I've listened to a few samples of music. I'm not really sure that they reveal what the analog record would sound like.

I can get on the internet, get to Audiogon, and post. That's my extent to my internet savvy. Where do I find out about downloading? How do I go about doing it? What do I need?

Matchstikman, I don't download AND... I don't WANT too! I just wondered why someone would want a recording with half the information than a CD. Then listen to it on tinny speakers. My money is spent on LP's
There has been some good info here. Thanks all.

BTW Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed?

Champtree, someone posted that they use downloads to quickly check out music they are not sure about. That would be what I would do; download a few things, see if I like it and then buy the CD somewhere. I don't know how much money I have blown on music that I ended up not liking, even after reading all the reviews and tasting some samples from Amazon. Can you say Wilco?

I was thinking the same thing Matchstick, I used the internet to listen to partial tracks from the group, "Queens Of The Stone Age" so I could figure out which album my favorite cut was on.

Granted this tells me nothing about the quality of the LP I just ordered but at least I know it's the right material. Pretty nice option, considering it's free.

Dowloading music is GOOD. Compression is BAD.

Not all music (live) is available in commercially sold formats. How else would you get the music except for downloading?

I would rather do without.

If you prefer live concerts where the performers aren't under the constraints of record companies and your cd's are not filled with a bunch of lousy songs then you might prefer to download legal concerts recorded in uncompressed flac format from a legal download p2p site. Just my opinion..

Sure. There's a lot of music that is only available as downloads from the internet. For example, the best song I've heard in the last couple of years, the anthemic "This Is Destiny Calling" by the UK punk band Johnny Panic, can only be had as an MP3 (from Marshall guitar amps' website, no less). Yeah it's not a high fidelity recording but my life would be a little bit diminished if I had never heard the song. Great music with bad sound beats great sounding bad music any day.