Vote

Sometimes you just have to live with the quality when there is no other way. MP3s are great for getting those hard-to-find tracks. I use it all the time for hard-to-find live music---tracks that you just can't get on CD or vinyl. It's fun.

I'm simply after good music while laboring on my computer. Until someone comes out with a sound card outfitted with 300Bs, it will suffice.

I often download MP3s from CDs I'm interesting in buying, and then buy the CD. It's not bad for over the Internet, but it's nowhere near high-end.

Sound bytes! No, really . . .

No, I'm not interested and I have never tried.

hi-fi?

I only want to say that, in my opinion, it provides very poor sound quality.

No Downloads !!! Use encode and playback on existing music collection --- create data files for playback on PC. Quality is good enough for that use.

While the sound quality does leave a lot to be desired, it still sounds perfectly fine on a typical PC setup, although I continue to laugh when I hear people talk about none or only very slight differences in sound. I by no means have "golden ears," but can pick out the CD version vs. the MP3 version of a given song (even on my el cheapo CD-ROM drive and $100 Labtec speakers) 50 out of 50 times with my eyes closed.

It's not even MD quality, let alone CD quality. Why are so many willing to prop up this format when they refused to give better formats a shot? Just because you can interact that much more with your computer? Big deal.

MP3 is wonderful for background listening while surfing the Web, but unacceptable for critical listening. I would never think of connecting my computer or a Rio device to my hi-fi.

it's number one!!

I'd never use MP3 in my main system, but, paired with the horrific sound of my computer speakers at the office, it's the speakers, not the MP3s, that ruin the sound. MP3 saves me from carting CDs or subjecting myself to some DJ's whims.

I am still trying to determine which PC keyboard key has the best click . . .

Free music that I hear on my PC, so I don't really mind the quality? Why not?

As an audiophile, I use MP3s only for crappy pop music that doesn't require sonic clarity.

After reading about the sonics of MP3 in past issues, I have no interest in such compressed garbage.

I've gotten into the habit of ripping a CD to my harddrive when someone visits, so instead of physically borrowing it I can return it right away and listen for a while and decide if I like it. If I want better quality sound then I can go out and buy the disc. It's great.

digital's not really that good to begin with much less thru a noisy computer and lossy compression schemes.. sounds terrible

The 99% of the music is a bunch of trash from no name talentless bands! Who cares if it gets pirated by some one, it would probably be there only fan.

I loathe the sound quality of 128kbit/s MP3 files, but I do use them to collect bootleg recordings, which are usually of poor source quality anyway. The only reason I use them is the ease of Internet distribution. I don't think they should be considered a high-fidelity medium, and I'm worried that they may become a standard for distribution of music (legitimately) online because of their popularity.

Too much effort and too little musical satisfaction.

At this stage, Internet audio is of such poor quality that it's basically unlistenable. That's the audiophile perspective. Obviously, rabid music fans feel differently about it. Eventually, the quality will be good enough for us elitists, too.

For specific applications, MP3 files can be a useful file format. We have set up a radio-station server based on MP3 files, and for this the format is great! The files are small, and the quality is reasonable for our application. However, for personal use, I do not enjoy them compared to my vinyl playback. However, I have built an MP3 server into my personal rig at home . . .

They're the domain of social malcontents who are completely uninterested in music.

As a computer maniac, I spend day after day working with computers, so I've just sold my hi-fi system and am buying an audio card capable of downloading the MP3 format. Am I getting old?

Why wreck a perfectly stunning high-end audio replay system with junk software?

I've tried it, it's no good. Not until the high end hits computer systems will it compare to the high end stereos.

I wonder if this is why there are so many CD reissues that are putting the emphasis on sound quality. Of course, they neglect to mention that this is the sound quality we should have gotten in the first place . . .

For years people have been ripped off paying for cd's which the majority of the time are poorly recorded to begin with. Once again the computer industry creates an inexpensive useful feature that allows people to enjoy music at a free, high sound quality level. Anyone who is opposed to this format is incredibly myopic and should not speak of anything that matters because they are simply ignorant. especially those audiophiles who buff their old vinyl lps