For those of us that purchase legal MP3s from time to time, I was interested in collecting the quality information for the various sources out there. For those of us a HA, the encoder used and bit rate are a deciding factor where we purchase from. I will add those that I know of and ask others who know of other stores to post what they know so we have a comprehensive guide.

Amazon. I have found 256 CBR unkown encoder, 256 CBR LAME 3.91, 256 CBR Lame 3.97, and VBR 0 LAME 3.97
Beatport. 320 CBR Lame 3.97
Music Pass. 320 CBR, unknown encoder
iTunes. 256 CBR AAC and 128 CBR AAC
Napster ?
Walmart ?
Others ?

My eMusic ones are Lame 3.96, V2.

They sound fine and are cheap as chips.

So far, I've seen...

Rhapsody: 256kbps CBR LAME 3.91
Amazon: V0 LAME 3.97, 256kbps CBR LAME 3.91

which setting is used at the 3.91 encoded ones? -b 256? --alt-preset cbr 256? or what?

Bleep nowadays is LAME 3.96.1 --alt-preset insane (320kbps CBR). Earlier IIRC they were LAME 3.90.3 --alt-preset standard. Of course, they also sell FLAC too.

some good replies. Any other experiences out there?

Well I've bought quite a few albums off of AmieStreet the past few months (*checks stats page* 534 tracks). Everything on there's in MP3, but because the artists upload the MP3s directly themselves the encoders and bitrates used are far from uniform. Their upload guidelines say "Mp3's need to have a sample rate of 44100 khz, and preferably have a bit rate higher than 128 kbps," although in practice I've only noticed one album I've bought so far with bitrates below 192 CBR and that seemed to be a particularly old release. I've seen quite a few iTunes 192 CBR encodes, and also quite a few LAME V0 encodes as well, although the quality of any given release is something of a craps shoot.

I've seen amazon give out 256kbps CBR FhG files on some soft rock (The Carpenters) and pop (Aqua). Sometimes they also give out Lame 3.97 256kbps ABR on soundtrack/musicals (Urinetown).

Maybe they do it based on genre, but that's not super efficient.

Amazon.com:
• LAME 3.91, 256 KBPS. Not in Joint Stereo.
• LAME 3.97, -V0. Properly encoded.
• FhG, 256 KBPS. Don't remember what stereo mode was used.

Downloadpunk.com:
• LAME 3.97, 192 KBPS. Properly encoded, probably encoded with -b 192.
• FhG, 192 KBPS. Not in Joint Stereo.

I've only bought one track online and that was years ago, never gain. However; The few MP3's I've gotten from Amazon.com were using Pepsi Points to get free MP3's. Downloadpunk.com has some free MP3's available, and doesn't require registration to download them, just good luck finding them though as you'll have to sift through a plethora of albums to find a freebie.

Play.com

192 Kbps CBR LAME 3.96. Not in Joint Stereo though, it's like it was ripped by some Napster veterans .
Also some albums are encoded at 320 Kbps CBR aswell.

CD Baby: VBR V2 with LAME 3.96r

Bought a Sony Music Pass CD just to see......(plus it had some hard to find bonus tracks).

320 CBR Lame 3.98. I'm impressed!!!!!

Jamendo (although it is free) Legal Mp3s and Oggs:

MP3s: VBR V2 with LAME 3.96r

The only place I've purchased MP3s is the AmazonMP3 Store. I downloaded two free demo tracks today and checked them in foobar2000 which indicated the following:

• Loudon Wainwright III - Motel Blues - 191kbps - LAME 3.97 MP3 VBR V0
• Trapt - Who's Going Home With You Tonight - 241 kbps - LAME 3.98 MP3 ABR

I buy music from http://www.lavamus.com, I'm not sure if its "legal", well at least in Russia it is. They ask $0.15 per track and the mp3s are usually 320k CBR or preset standard. They have some very hard to find/rare tracks too.