What file sharing programs do you guys use?

[esb9588]

I'm getting really sick of crappy quality tracks on Kazaa and with the RIAA flooding the network with garbage it has become verry difficult to find good copies of songs. I've switched mainly to Win MX which works better, but I am curious if their are any better programs I can use. Thanks.

[M@rK]

*GASP* -dont steal music-
didnt you read the sticker!!!!????
yea, so ignoring that, I use IRC, mmm full albums :D give it a try. and join us on #ipodlounge on the hasmark server!

[esb9588]

What does "mmm full albums" mean? Sorry if I am missing something that should be totally obvious.

[M@rK]

well when you grad files off kazaa theyre all messy, you DL them all tagged differently at different bitrates etc. on IRC you just grab zipped up albums all tagged nicely etc.

[loki102]

i agree, irc or newsgroups are the way to go

[wolfpacker]

I only share bootlegs. For downloading other stuff, iTunes Music Store is
excellent and blazingly fast.

I second usenet newsgroups. Also, for bands that allow taping, you
can find a lot of good shows using FurthurNet (www.furthurnet.org)
and check out www.etree.org.

[Timmy Yak]

Don't tell anyone, but i've been using Soul Seek. It's really good and the file quality is amazing. The files are even tagged correctly.

[esb9588]

Originally posted by wolfpacker
I only share bootlegs. For downloading other stuff, iTunes Music Store is
excellent and blazingly fast.

I may use that when it's available for windows. In the meantime I'll give IRC a try. What software do you guys use? mIRC is supposedly the most popular but it costs $20. Are their any free alternatives?

[Henrik]

I use DC++: http://dcplusplus.sourceforge.net/

[esb9588]

Thanks. I'll check it out

[esb9588]

I downloaded a couple of albums and was pretty impressed, but the bitrates varied and they were not all tagged properly. I had to spend about an hour re-tagging in MC9.

I've been using the Music Madness and Music World hubs. Which ones do you guys use? I couldn't find the iPodlounge section.

Also, what do I use to share files over the news groups? This all seems much harder than it should be since I seem to be the only one who doesn't know this.

Thanks for any info you can give me.

[destined_wind]

Actually, Kazaa is still the best! For me, it's really easy to find songs on Kazaa. Still, my ears suck, I can't tell the difference in bitrates once it passes 192.

[geistwerks]

no p2p network, be it kazaa or even soulseek will have perfect files. soulseek's "files" are really user files, so you might have found a user with impeccable files, and then the next second someone with terrible files, with horrible encoding, etc. it's up to the user to keep their files sorted.

kazaa is the worst place to get files, because most of the users are idiots. the RIAA assault on kazaa users is another reason to stay well away from kazaa.

those mp3 "sites" some of you have mentioned look very fishy. "general ackbar: it's a trap!" a buddy of mine at work is very knowledgeable in networking and all that rot, and has told me (i sorta followed him) on how he could track file sharers. his methods were a lot more advanced than the RIAA's. he also told me how to avoid ever being discovered, but i'm not going to take the risk (it's also very expensive to set up).

bit torrent is a lesser known method of getting files, especially popular ones, but bit torrent is EXTREMELY risky, as if you download, you must also share the exact same file with everyone in the torrent, and all IP addresses are completely visible to anyone with some decent comp skill. that means if the RIAA put metallica's new album on a bit torrent site, they could literally track everyone who downloaded it, and then automatically prosecute them, because they also uploaded it.

soulseek might seem fairly safe, but things are being tracked thru their networks, and the recent "domain problems" seem rather peculiar.

i'm not trying to spook anyone, but be careful, and read the EFF site regularly.

as for me, i've taken my stuff offline, 90% of which was legally acquired, and 80% of which the RIAA prolly doesn't care about. if i do go back online, it will be sharing files which are available on the net for free already (as allowed per copyright holder).

however, i will never buy another cd again. ever. RIAA can rot. (man, i need to shut up now. i'm sorry.)

[DaveL]

Interesting geistwerks :)

I recently discovered Bit Torrent was amazed at how easy it all was (compared to the choppy inconsistant results you get with Kazaa like you mentioned). I immediately downloaded 5 or 6 albums, mainly because they were ones that were leaked early (A Perfect Circle, Muse, Thursday, Unkle).

This past Monday when APC released theirs, i got my legit copy straight away :) (and i'll likely do the same with the others).

Never thought about it from the point of view though that they (RIAA) could easily put something up and then look at the IP's and sue, i bet they would too if they thought of it. :(
Being from the UK, i have less of a concern over these things, but still, it's an interesting and slightly worrying thought. It's making me think twice about using it again.

How long has Bit Torrent been around, and are their any other big sites like suprnova.org?

As i mentioned earlier, i usually rebuy the albums i've downloaded - if i listen to them more than once - as i'm a collector of CDs, and a big lover of music, like most of us on here. And i mainly only go searching for files online if they're old and rare - and only places like the major HMVs in London have them in stock and charge ?16 or ?17 for them, or if i can get an album early before its release - cause i'm so impatient :D

[geistwerks]

Originally posted by DaveL
Interesting geistwerks :)

I recently discovered Bit Torrent was amazed at how easy it all was (compared to the choppy inconsistant results you get with Kazaa like you mentioned). I immediately downloaded 5 or 6 albums, mainly because they were ones that were leaked early (A Perfect Circle, Muse, Thursday, Unkle).

This past Monday when APC released theirs, i got my legit copy straight away :) (and i'll likely do the same with the others).

Never thought about it from the point of view though that they (RIAA) could easily put something up and then look at the IP's and sue, i bet they would too if they thought of it. :(
Being from the UK, i have less of a concern over these things, but still, it's an interesting and slightly worrying thought. It's making me think twice about using it again.

How long has Bit Torrent been around, and are their any other big sites like suprnova.org?

As i mentioned earlier, i usually rebuy the albums i've downloaded - if i listen to them more than once - as i'm a collector of CDs, and a big lover of music, like most of us on here. And i mainly only go searching for files online if they're old and rare - and only places like the major HMVs in London have them in stock and charge ?16 or ?17 for them, or if i can get an album early before its release - cause i'm so impatient :D

bit torrent is probably the BEST and easiest method of file sharing ever. it got it's legitimate start as a linux app, if i am not mistaken. it's a fascinating way of working...the more you upload, the more you download, and the selection is great! let's face it, all the new movies in theaters available for download? television shows available before they've even been aired?

but that one nagging thing, the fact that anyone in the torrent can have their IP revealed makes me VERY wary.

anyway, i have not found a site as any way near as good as suprnova is. there's a little tracker at lickmytaint.com which will connect you to various torrent sites around the world, but none of them come close to the content suprnova does. the other sites are usually "pron" or warez, with one or two albums.

bit torrent: excellent for in demand, popular media. useless for the guys like me that just want to buy stuff from record labels like tresor, chain reaction, kompakt, etc. :(

[geistwerks]

i don't believe this is the appropriate place to ask how to download (pirate) a movie. suprnova.org has a bbs with help files. i suggest you look there.

[kyussmondo]

According to my calculations...downloading a 650 MB movie averaging 30kbps would take slightly over 6 hours. Would anyone wait that long? Or just go out and buy the DVD?

On Kazaa my connection is usually about 23kbps so that probably bring it upto about 7 hours if suprnova is based on the Kazaa P2P.

[IlIlIlIlIl]

Originally posted by geistwerks
bit torrent is probably the BEST and easiest method of file sharing ever. it got it's legitimate start as a linux app, if i am not mistaken. it's a fascinating way of working...the more you upload, the more you download, and the selection is great! let's face it, all the new movies in theaters available for download? television shows available before they've even been aired?

but that one nagging thing, the fact that anyone in the torrent can have their IP revealed makes me VERY wary.

anyway, i have not found a site as any way near as good as suprnova is. there's a little tracker at lickmytaint.com which will connect you to various torrent sites around the world, but none of them come close to the content suprnova does. the other sites are usually "pron" or warez, with one or two albums.

bit torrent: excellent for in demand, popular media. useless for the guys like me that just want to buy stuff from record labels like tresor, chain reaction, kompakt, etc. :(

Bittorrent is VERY good for newer releases, movies, apps, full albums those types of stuff. Whatever is popular on the market, Bittorrent will have it. Older stuff I use Kazaa for music and eMule for movies and apps.

[kaeso_7]

Do any of these work for Macs?

[Aspect]

DC++ is my app of choice :)

[geistwerks]

Originally posted by slashjunior
According to my calculations...downloading a 650 MB movie averaging 30kbps would take slightly over 6 hours. Would anyone wait that long? Or just go out and buy the DVD?

On Kazaa my connection is usually about 23kbps so that probably bring it upto about 7 hours if suprnova is based on the Kazaa P2P.

bit torrent can average 100 kbps for certain files. it's not based on kazaa. it's bit torrent. completely different.

and to answer someone else, bit torrent works for all operating systems.

and again, i state: it is NOT safe. every IP address can be logged.

[m.r.m.]

not completely on topic but, itunes for macs had this function of letting other users browse and listen to your stuff, without downloading it. i?ve not been able to get it running for itunes for windows yet. eustacescrubb had a graphic in his sig, which was a link to his itunes library (only for itunes users). i read somewhere that someone had developed a crack for it, making it able for users to download the files. maybe that?s why it doesn?t work anymore. pity, it would be cool if all the loungers could browse through each others libraries.

[wolfpacker]

m.r.m., this was in iTunes 4.0, but Apple quickly put out a patch when people started publicizing how to copy the music rather than just stream it.

[kyussmondo]

Originally posted by geistwerks
bit torrent can average 100 kbps for certain files. it's not based on kazaa. it's bit torrent. completely different.

and to answer someone else, bit torrent works for all operating systems.

and again, i state: it is NOT safe. every IP address can be logged.

When I am not on Kazaa my connection averages about 25kbps. So I doubt my connection will suddenly fly up to 100kbps... :(

[SftballShorty]

bearshare!