Kinda of a Newbie ,needs advice

[david68]

Well I found this site about 6 months ago. Well to say the least it has become an addiction. So with that thank you all for all you effort of the great music you have shared.

So now I have a couple of hundred data dvd's.I just purchased a Seagate 500 GB external HD.I plan on backing up my files to that .I will still have everything on DVD to. Has anyone had any problems with seagate products?

Now I have noticed that many people post and ask you not to convert to MP3. I was wondring why.Does it decrease the quality.

Also I was thinking of byeing the Ipod that has the biggest storage. Will they play FLAC and other formats.If not what would you suggest?

Finally,,,I have had pretty good luck with my DVD's. I burn and then store them. However I have read in the forums that they do make a difference. I dont buy the cheapest.But what brands would you all suggest.

Once again thanks for you help. Any suggestions will be much appreaciated.

:wave::wave::wave:

[U2Lynne]

Converting to mp3 definitely decreases the quality. The audio files you download here - flac, shn, ape - are *lossless* audio files. Whereas mp3 are lossy. In order to make the files small, they get rid of a bunch of the sound they figure people won't miss much. And, you probably won't miss it listening to the stuff on your iPod. But, you will definitely miss it when listening to your shows on a home stereo system. What you really don't want to do is convert to mp3 and then share those files. You should keep all your downloaded flac/shn/ape files saved on whatever media you choose and then if you want to share the show with someone, share those original files.

iPods will not play flac. There is a third party application you can install on your iPod called Rockbox and if you install that, then you may play flac files. iPods will play wav/aiff files which are what you convert to when you decompress the flac files.

[david68]

WOW...Ok thanks for you help..I have burnt everything on its its orginal format.Thanks for your help.:wave::wave:

[jamroom]

External hard drives. For every online (justified) complaint about a hdd failing, there will be hundreds of people happily storing stuff without any problems. Seagate is one of the bigger names in hdds, so I'm sure you have made a good choice.

blank media - I'm sure there must be a couple of threads on the subject on here if you do a search. A lot of folks swear by Taiyo Yuden discs as one of the best.

As Lynne pointed out, when dealing with live shows, mp3 should be for personal use only - please trade the original format. You cannot replace the lost data when changing back from mp3 to wav, which a few unscrupulous folks do. Thankfully, lossy shows get picked up quickly if seeded on here.

[dorrcoq]

Nice ratio:wtf:

[david68]

RAtio ????? What do you mean ?

[U2Lynne]

RAtio ????? What do you mean ?
Your ratio:
117.36 GB/16.33 GB/0.14
That is about 118GB that you have downloaded and only 16GB you have uploaded. That gives you a ratio of 0.14. You should strive to give back as much as you take, which would be a ratio of 1.0.

[Five]

Also I was thinking of byeing the Ipod that has the biggest storage. Will they play FLAC and other formats.If not what would you suggest?
rockbox.org works great :thumbsup

almost all except the very most recent models are supported. you can just put your dowloads on your iPod and play them back, no iTunes or similar necessary.

[dorrcoq]

RAtio ????? What do you mean ?

Yeah, denial works:disbelief

[david68]

Ratio..Sorry.I will improve.Is it normal to get like 3 and 6 kbs uploade.Because it seems like it downloads faster than it shares.I t may be my connection to.NOW I HAVE GUILT :(