Radiohead - In Rainbows

radiohead money grabbing bastards after all shocker

look who is on the front cover of the NME this week:

http://www.nme.com/images/thums/84_radioheadcovermagbits_01.jpg

I am quite possibly being too optimistic with this though.

I was wondering what iTunes uses. I'm fine with those.

DRM-free on iTunes (and Amazon, I think) is 256kbps. DRM on iTunes is 128, but that's AAC rather than MP3. Probably equivalent to a 160-192kbps MP3.

DRM-free on Bleep is either something like 256 or FLAC (i.e. lossless).

DRM-free on iTunes (and Amazon, I think) is 256kbps. DRM on iTunes is 128

How do you distinguish between the two on iTunes?

i was totally expecting them to offer like, choice of FLAC or LAME VBR V0. durr

It's too bad they couldn't have arranged it so that those who opted for a free download got the lower quality version, while those who paid a bit more would get a higher quality download. Especially for those who paid 8 dollars and up for the download, they should get a 256 or 320kbps download, I think.

The DRM-free high-quality files will be tagged as "itunes plus" and have a little + in a grey box next to them in the pricing field.

xpost

Yeah...I do feel bad for those who paid more than a few bucks to get a poor quality download. 192 is pretty much the bare minimum these days, isn't it? They should have made it clear from the beginning that it was 160.

-- Z S, Tuesday, 9 October 2007 16:51

This is pretty much OTM for me. I'd like to get defensive and suggest that from some sort of "self-preservation" standpoint this makes sense, but no.

I seriously can't believe everyone's getting all worked up over all this! Then again I just muttered in an Idolator comment that really it's just showing how levels of expectation have shifted. This is so much sound and fury over nothing.

Inevitable backlash, I suppose.

160kbps isn't nearly as bad as you guys are making it out to be.

Has everyone received that notification e-mail? I haven't seen anything since my original order confirmation.

Yes it is. I really dislike the sound of an mp3 that's encoded at less than 192... it's a pretty big difference.

xpost

I still think that it's a fucking amazingly great thing that Radiohead is doing - it just smacks of cluelessness in their tech dept.

160 is surprisingly low for a band that is so precious about preserving the integrity of their albums when distributed digitally. Possible reasons:

- server/bandwidth issues which they think aren't worth spending money fixing for how many people will actually care.
- they want to upsell people to the regular CD when it comes out.

ugh, who cares. for all we know these songs were specifically mixed and mastered to sound good as 160 kpbs mp3s.

xxpost, yeah, probably. Never attribute to malice, etc.

<i>ugh, who cares. for all we know these songs were specifically mixed and mastered to sound good as 160 kpbs mp3s.

-- bernard snowy, Tuesday, 9 October 2007 17:36 (5 minutes ago) Link</i>

i don't know if this is possible.

but jeez it's not that big of a deal.

still 256 would have been great.

It's above itunes quality, and it's pretty obvious (given the site crash last week) that server-wise they need to skimp a bit.

It's not above iTunes quality. 160k MP3 is about roughly the same audible quality as the 128k AAC they sell on iTunes.

earlier today: Xfm (London) announced "a world radio exclusive" Radiohead album playback at Midday tomorrow, now NME Radio have usurped them with an 11am playback

the original early-leaked unmastered HAIL TO THE THIEF mp3s sounded better in some cases than the finals.

I only really care about the 160kbps thing because I would have given a buck or two to cover bandwidth and my initial impressions with the assumption that I'll probably end up buying it in another format later to listen to at home. With bleep, or a few other sites, I don't mind paying a bit more since I know I won't really care about buying a physical copy later.

I just bought the new Band of Horses on wax and it came with a digital download - 160k. Lame. Same story with Of Montreal's "Hissing Fauna" a few months back - except it was 128k. Super lame.

GUYS OBVIOUSLY THE ALBUM WAS MEANT TO BE LISTENED TO AT 160KBPS

lol audiofiles

(sic)

audiophiles slam audio files.

Same story with Of Montreal's "Hissing Fauna" a few months back - except it was 128k

hissing mp3s amirite

Final post in the project. Aside from whatever I end up saying about the new one.

TS: Audiophiles vs. Audio Files

Ever since my CD mania began in earnest in college, I’d always found there were discs I liked to set aside which, I knew, I would love. I’d only heard a song or two, maybe, but it was enough for me to guess that I’d really like the album when I finally gave it a full listen. These became my ‘rainy day’ discs, as I called them — something that would be around when the mood finally struck me, something that didn’t need to be heard right that second, but would be something best appreciated when I felt the impulse.

Ned, this is AWESOME -- I'm finishing up college this year, and I've done the same thing (more or less) for as long as I've been obsessive about music, in general. I'd guess there's *at least* couple hundred CDs (out of about 1000 currently owned) on my shelf that I've never listened to in full, some of which I've owned for years and wouldn't dream of selling, but imagine I'll pull out at the right time to enjoy.

So am I pretty much the only one still waiting on the second e-mail (besides the original confirmation)? I'm kinda pissed I gave them money for this if they aren't ever going to send my the follow-up e-mails.

I'm still waiting too but I'm not worried. Happens as does.

audiophiles slam audio files.

funny

hissing mp3s amirite

funnier!

ugh i'm so not looking forward to this thread tomorrow. everyone take a day off, ok?

Jesus, no kidding!

hey, fuck you too, audiofiles was my joke

I'm already lolling at the ratio boosting 320kbps transcodes gullible people will no doubt be downloading tomorrow.

cutty OTM

Maybe we should have a seperate thread for when it's actually arrived? I'm not even going to download it, I'm waiting till my flatmate does and then I'm going to copy it off him - you can't trick me RADIOHEAD! HWAHWAHWA!

It's not above iTunes quality. 160k MP3 is about roughly the same audible quality as the 128k AAC they sell on iTunes.

I had no idea. I have been avoiding buying stuff on iTunes because I thought that it was low-quality. When filesharing, I prefer to get stuff at 192 or up, but if I can't find it at that bitrate, I'm content to do 160.

So am I pretty much the only one still waiting on the second e-mail (besides the original confirmation)? I'm kinda pissed I gave them money for this if they aren't ever going to send my the follow-up e-mails.

It took mine a few hours after the first post about it here- it seems like they're sending them out in batches, not all at once. Perhaps to do with purchase order/priority? In any case, if you haven't gotten yours by the end of today, it might be worth emailing them and doublechecking. They should have your correct contact info if you got the original confirmation. Also be sure and check your spam filter, mine can be pretty finicky about this kind of mass mailout (I use GMail).

I paid nothing earlier today. I got the original order receipt about three hours later and have heard nothing since. I'm guessing they're kinda busy.

I know, let's all phone them and ask them how busy they are.

I hate how the term "morning" is so ambiguous. It could be any time now!

for anyone who appreciates the prog in radiohead, this mp3 quality / multiple format / musical progression discussion *does* feel a lot like beardy dudes sitting around a fire in the 70s discussing King Crimson.