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Archive-name: music/mp3/newsgroups-faq
Posting-Frequency: monthly - weekly to alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d
Last-modified: September 14, 2003
URL: http://www.mp3-faq.org/
Copyright: (c) 1999 by [EMAIL PROTECTED], (c) 2000-2003 by FAQ-Man
(Note: all follow-ups to this post will show up in
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d, [the absm.* discussion group] NOT in the group
where you find it posted. If you post a follow-up, go to the discussion
group to see any responses to your post.)
The faq is located at http://www.mp3-faq.org/ or at
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/music/mp3/newsgroups-faq/
------------------------------------------------------------------------:
:
: The Official FAQ for alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.*
:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The FAQ Quick Review Guide
A Quick Reference For Working Within The a.b.s.m.* Newsgroups
Help make these groups better and more useful for everyone.
Follow these easy steps. Thanks!
1 - Limit your posts to 75 megabytes per 24 hours.
2 - Use a high quality encoder.
3 - Make good use of a 0-file and include all pertinent info.
4 - Use meaningful subject headers that are not too long. Avoid using
more than 80 characters!
5 - Check your MP3s before posting them.
6 - Test post in test groups.
7 - Post from 472500 to 315000 bytes per segment (7500 to 5000 lines
uuencoded/segment) for best propagation.
8 - Crosspost into the appropriate decade group (if you know it).
9 - Don't post binaries in the discussion or request groups and vice
versa.
10 - Enjoy the music!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
- [1] GENERAL INFORMATION -
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1.0]What is an "MP3"?
MP3 is another name for a layer-3 mpeg. It is a sound compression
format that can create near CD-quality sound files while maintaining
a small file size. For more technical information on the MP3 format
see [9.2]
[1.1]What newsgroups does this FAQ apply to?
This FAQ covers the entire alt.binaries.sounds.mp3 hierarchy and
includes, but is not restricted to, the following:
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3 - The Binary posting group (also known as
the "main" group). This group is for the posting of binary sound
files that are in the MP3 format. This group is NOT for the posting
of text, requests, or ftp site announcements. The exceptions are:
postings of this document, FAQ tips, zero-files (a.k.a. (0/x)), and
brief follow-ups as needed to alert posters to problems or to urge
them towards these guidelines. Other non-musical exceptions are
cover art/insert scans, and .nfo files. Players, encoders, and other
sound utilities should be posted in the appropriate group:
alt.binaries.sounds.utilities.
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d - This is the discussion group for the
a.b.s.mp3 hierarchy. This is one of two non-binary groups of the
hierarchy. Binaries are strictly forbidden in this group. DO NOT
post any binaries in the "d" (discussion) group. This group is for
the discussion of MP3s, MP3 technology and other MP3 related topics.
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.requests - This is the request group of the
hierarchy. It is *not* a binaries group and mp3 files should not be
posted there. This group is intended to contain only requests and
request follow-ups alerting the requestor that their request has
been filled.
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.19xxs - Also known as the decade groups.
These are groups that are similar to the main group (a.b.s.mp3) but
are ONLY for the posting of sounds from a specific decade as
indicated by the group name. The same exceptions for posting of
non-binaries apply to decades that apply to main. The groups are:
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1950s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1960s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1970s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1980s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1990s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.2000s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.<music-type> - The "genre" groups. These
are groups that have been created to contain a specific type of MP3
posting. You may or may not have access to these groups, but some
are being used more and more so they deserve comment here. The
names of the groups should be pretty self-explanatory.
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.beatles
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.bootlegs
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.country
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.jazz
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.latin
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.zappa
NOTES: For songs that were recorded before 1950 there exists a group
called alt.binaries.sounds.78rpm-era It is "for the posting of
binary files from the beginning of recorded sound to the end of the
age of 78 records in the late fifties." Appropriate MP3s are
welcome there.
Although the alt.binaries.sounds.country.mp3 group is *not* part of
the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3 hierarchy, and therefore not bound by
its FAQ or Charter, it is available on a number of news servers and
deserves a mention here.
While there *is* a country group available in the a.b.s.m*
hierarchy, at the time of this writing it is not as active or
readily available as the alt.binaries.sounds.country.mp3 group is.
There are also a large number of other alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.*
groups that may or not be available to your on your news server/ISP.
[1.2]Dividing the groups into genres would be a good idea. How come
there aren't groups like a.b.s.m.funk, or a.b.s.m.rock-and-roll?
There *are* groups like those. In fact, not only is there
a.b.s.m.rock, but there's also a.b.s.m.rock.full-album,
a.b.s.m.alternative-rock, a.b.s.m.classic-rock, a.b.s.m.heavy-metal
and even a.b.s.m.metal.full-albums.
It seems like every week there is a request that a new MP3 binary
group be created for a specific genre of music that would be posted
there.
There are a couple of reasons why this *isn't* the great idea that
it may appear to be. But despite those reasons and attempts to
discourage new mp3 groups, there has been rampant mp3 newsgroup
creation.
FALLACY : "If you build it, they will come"
Just because you decide a new mp3 group is needed does NOT mean that
anybody will ever use the group. If it is poorly thought out, poorly
executed, or redundant, the odds of your group succeeding are slim
at best.
There are currently more than SEVENTY-SEVEN groups in the
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.* hierarchy, and over ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY
FOUR mp3 groups on all of Usenet. How many of them do you have
access to? How many of them are used for MP3s at all?
A big problem with a number of the 'genre' groups is that they are
duplicates of already existing groups. Where should you post
Dangerous Toys entire album of Hellacious Acres? Does it go in
a.b.s.m.complete_cd, a.b.s.m.complete-cd, a.b.s.m.full_alblum,
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.rock.full-album or
a.b.s.m.metal.full-albums? And doesn't it also belong in a.b.s.mp3,
a.b.s.m.1980s, a.b.s.m.1980s;, a.b.s.m.heavy-metal, a.b.s.m.rock,
and a.b.s.m.rock.full-album? That's ELEVEN groups where those mp3s
would be on-topic.
Another major problem is that 'genres' of music are subjective and
people legitimately disagree on what genre any given song would fall
into. One person insists that Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby.mp3 should
go in the R & B group while another insists it should go in RAP.
How do you determine the difference between "metal" and "hard rock"?
Take a look at Winamp's ID3-Tag genre list, it's a great example of
a lot of different ways to describe the same music. One person's
"Booty Bass" is another person's "House" is another person's "Hip
Hop."
Also, would your new group even get used? There are thousands of
binary groups, and a large number of those are nothing more than
spam traps. A lot of them aren't even carried by most ISPs. The
decade groups (the ones that are even used at all) are *still*
unavailable on some news servers. Right now a.b.s.mp3 is the largest
newsgroup by volume. Do you think that many news admins want to add
*another* MP3 binary group?
The list below is a sample of mp3 groups that already exist, but
many are hardly used and most are not widely propagated. This does
not mean that your server does not carry them, only that many
servers do not.
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1980s.venice-beach
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.alternative-rock
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.black-gospel
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.bluegrass-and-rockabilly
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.blues
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.books
Alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.bootlegs
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.brazilian
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.brazillian
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.christian
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.classic-rock
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.complete-cd
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.country
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.emmylou
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.full_alblums
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.gothic
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.gothic-industrial
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.heavy-metal
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indian.bhangra
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indian.movies
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indian.movies.old
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indian.pop
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indian.remixes
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indian.requests
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indie
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.karaoke
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.kcuf
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.latin
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.m
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.metal.full-albumsalt.binaries.sounds.mp3.minneapolis
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.native-african-folk-music
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.newcleus
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.ninja
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.ninja.music
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.pop
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.rap-hiphop
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.rap-hiphop.full-albums
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.rap-hiphop.mixtapes
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.reggae
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.rock.full-album
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.rock
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.singing-cowboy
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.sound-effects
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.speeches
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.spoken-word
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.themes
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.tramaine-hawkins
alt.binaries.sounds.1940s.mp3
alt.binaries.sounds.1950s.mp3
alt.binaries.sounds.1960s.mp3
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1980s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1990s
alt.binaires.sounds.mp3.1970
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1980
alt.binaires.sounds.mp3.1990
Alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1970s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1980's
(this is not a comprehensive list - it is not updated often)
Most of these groups all have very low mp3 traffic and some may not
have *ever* had any mp3s posted to them at all. And even if you
subscribe to a standalone news server that *does* carry these
groups, posting to most of them is pointless because they are
carried by so few servers.
You should also keep in mind that there are many forms of audio
compression currently available that are similar to MP3. If you
create an exclusively MP3-based group, then posts of MP4s, AAC, VQF
or RA files are off-topic. Getting more and more specific with
newsgroup creation is not always a good idea.
All in all, while creating the new group of your choice (so you
don't have to search through the main group to find something that
*you* like) may seem like a good idea, the odds of it truly being
successful on it's own are probably pretty small. In fact, it's
likely that it already has been created and just isn't widely
propagated or used.
[1.3]How can I create a new a.b.s.mp3.* newsgroup?
Before you decide to just go ahead and create your group du-jour,
you should see if a group already exists that covers what you're
looking for. It's very likely that a group already exists that
meets your 'needs' and mp3 might not even be in the group's name.
For example, there was no need to create an MP3-specific classical
group. The newsgroup alt.binaries.sounds.music.classical is a group
that already exists and is properly used for MP3 posting. Another
example is alt.binaries.sounds.78rpm-era; it is a group that carries
binary sound files of all formats from the beginning of recorded
sound to the end of the age of 78 records in the late fifties.
If you are unaware of such a group that would fit your needs and
cannot locate one, ask in alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d for some help.
If you *insist* on creating a new newsgroup, please go about it in
the correct manner.
There is a proper way to create an alt.* newsgroup and have it be
successful, i.e., be accepted as a valid newsgroup by ISPs and news
servers. What you DON'T want to do is to just go create the new
group because *you* think it's needed.
If you really feel that there is a need for an additional a.b.s.m.*
newsgroup, mention it in alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d for discussion
and PLEASE read the appropriate FAQs. THEN when you take your
suggestion to alt.config LISTEN TO WHAT PEOPLE THERE HAVE TO SAY.
Just because people may disagree with your new group suggestion does
NOT make those people wrong. You may or may not get a lot of
suggestions from the followers of alt.config as to the creation of
your new group, but you should not dismiss those suggestions out of
hand. The people who follow alt.config probably know much more
than you do about the creation of new alt.* newsgroups.
[1.4]What are these groups all about?
They are about the posting of high quality MP3-compressed sound
files. If you post here, please keep that in mind.
[1.5]What about the other MP3 groups that I see? Does this FAQ apply
to them too?
There are a number of MP3 groups, some of which are unused (except
for spam-posting). The above mentioned groups are the primary
groups that this FAQ deals with. This does not mean that the
information within this FAQ is not relevant and applicable to other
groups, only that it is not this FAQ's intent. This FAQ has been
voted on and applies to all groups in the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.*
hierarchy.
[1.6]Anything else I should know about this FAQ before I continue
on?
There are many software applications and utilities involved in the
playing, encoding, decoding, posting, and retrieving of MP3s. This
FAQ is not meant to be a primer for the use of your particular
software. If it was to take into account every piece of popular
software and its inner-workings or tricks, this FAQ would rapidly
become bloated and unreadable. So, for the most part, this FAQ does
not deal with specific software issues. The exceptions are those
that either relate to "frequently asked questions" in the discussion
group, or other helpful tips that might not be readily found
elsewhere. Look in the Specific Software Sub-FAQs (S.S.Ss)
accommodate software issues that relate to the a.b.s.mp3 hierarchy
or in the Tips Section for some detailed discussions of
commonly-asked questions not covered in the FAQ proper.
With all newsgroups it is a common and recommended practice to
"lurk." This means that you follow the newsgroup, watching and
learning, before you begin posting. Posting is NOT required. There
is no "ratio" or required "trading" in the a.b.s.mp3 newsgroups.
Leeching is completely acceptable. If you are new to Usenet, or to
binary newsgroups in particular, there are a number of basic FAQs
that may help you:
http://abmefaq.net <== a MUST read. Basics of Usenet and binary
newsgroups. Take a look.
http://www.geocities.com/tick1845/bin_help.htm The Definitive Answer
to Downloading and Viewing alt.binaries <== If you have questions
about how to get the MP3 files from the newsgroup down to your
personal computer, look here for help.
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/primer/part1/ A Primer on How to
Work With the Usenet Community
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/what-is/part1/ What is Usenet?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
- [2] REQUESTING MP3s -
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2.0]I heard this really great song on the radio today and I want
the MP3. How do I get it?
The most obvious answer is to request it in the
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.requests group and then hope that some kind
soul will upload it for you. But before you do that, there are a
couple other things you can try.
First of all you should pull headers in the main group and the
appropriate decade group. Your song might already by posted. The
second thing that you can do is to see if the MP3 is already
available elsewhere, like the WWW or an FTP site.
There are a number of MP3 search engines available on the World Wide
Web, and as the a.b.s.m.* groups continue to grow, and as more and
more people are requesting songs, using these search engines might
be a quicker method for you to find the MP3 that you're looking for.
This is especially true if you're looking for a popular song or
current hit. It can also be a very frustrating experience as
thousands of other people try to access the same download site at
the same time.
There are certain songs that are requested all the time in the MP3
groups. These songs are popular, and because of that fact, they are
available via the WWW search engines. For Example, the song "Lady
In Red" by Chris DeBurgh appears over *one hundred times* on just
ONE MP3 search engine, and Fastball's "The Way" garnered over TWO
Hundred hits. See Sections [7.0] and [9.6] of this FAQ for more
info on finding MP3s on the WWW.
[2.1]I really want a song to get posted in the MP3 groups. How do I
request it?
Please post your request (REQ) in alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.requests.
Posting Requests in the binary group is particularly frowned upon,
and these requests are likely to be ignored. The binary groups
(every group EXCEPT the 'd' group and the .requests group) are
specifically intended to carry only binary posts (i.e., the MP3s
themselves) and not requests. The exception to this is a
"zero-file" included with the binary itself, which sometimes will
include a request along within it.
A typical request might look like this:
REQ: Song Title [decade] - Artist - Other Info - Thanks
The addition of the [decade] or year of release allows those who use
the 'decade' groups to quickly search the .requests group for
requests that they might be able to fill. "Other Info" would include
a specific album version or other pertinent information. And the
"Thanks" is, of course, up to the discretion of the poster. This is
just a suggestion, but a standard REQ format would make the reading
easier and allow sorting by Subject, which would provide an
alphabetical listing of all requested songs.
[2.2]I've come up with about 100 songs that I want. I guess I
should post a separate request for each one, right?
Whoa now, wait one second. Nobody likes to see a REQ-Flood filling
up the group. It makes you appear greedy and is just generally
annoying. And when you're asking for something from somebody, it's
best to avoid being greedy and annoying.
[2.3]So how do I get ALL the songs that I want?
Why don't you pick the 5 songs that you particularly want and
request those. If/when they get posted, then you can request the
next 5, and so on. Don't forget that ripping, encoding and posting
songs is a time consuming process, so try not to be too greedy.
Another option is to put your request list in the body of the
message. The downside to this is that it's easier to quickly read
the subject header. But if you're someone who posts a lot of files
for other people, it's likely that people will go through the
process of reading your post and will probably try to help you.
[2.4]I want to make sure that people see my requests so I'm going to
post them five times each. People will notice me then, right?
People will notice you, but not in a good light. Posting the same
message multiple times could be called spamming, and it annoys
people. See the note in [2.2] about asking people for something
while simultaneously annoying them. The combination is not
advantageous to you.
[2.5]I posted my requests and nobody filled them. Why? And what
can I do about it?
It's possible that nobody has the songs you're requesting. It's
also possible that the songs you requested was JUST posted, and
people don't want to repost it right away.
What can you do about it? Wait a week and post your requests again.
It takes time for people to rip/encode and upload songs; give them
a chance to get to you. There are a lot of people requesting songs
all the time. Don't forget, beggars can't be choosers.
You can also use an MP3 search engine. If your request is a popular
song, it's pretty likely that somebody has already made an MP3 out
of it, and it may be readily available via the World Wide Web. See
Sections [2.0] and [7] in this FAQ
[2.6]I know how to make my requests now, but I can't find
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.requests. How am I supposed to post to the
"requests" group if it doesn't exist?
It does exist, but maybe your news server doesn't carry it. First
thing to do is to confirm that you can't access it through your ISP.
[2.7]How can I confirm that my news server carries the "requests"
group?
The first thing to do is make sure you have an updated list of all
the newsgroups that your server provides. If you're using Agent,
this is accomplished by going to Online|Refresh Groups List -or-
Online|Get New Groups
After you have successfully retrieved all of the groups that your
server carries, do a search for "alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.requests"
(not including the quotes). If you find it, then subscribe to it,
pull headers, and you're good to go.
[2.8]The requests group isn't on my news server! I TOLD you that it
doesn't exist! Now what do I do?
Okay, maybe it doesn't exist on your news server. Have you tried
getting your ISP/news server to carry it? Send a polite e-mail to
them explaining that in your effort to respect Usenet etiquette, you
feel that the requests group (alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.requests)
should be carried by them. It was properly proposed in alt.config
without a single dissenting comment. They already carry the mp3
binary group, and the addition of a non-binary/request group will
not substantially affect their news server's performance.
Another option WAS www.deja.com. Google (who bought them) promises
web access to Usenet, (including alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.requests?)
Unfortunately, although you can post a request there, it will be
hard to see someone post a heads up or a comment about a request
because Google will hide all posts with x-no-archive=yes in the
header (a common practice in absm.*). Be sure to state where you
would like responders to post, and then you will have to look there
to see if anyone did.
[2.9]How do I access the requests group with Deja or RemarQ?
Alas, RemarQ and Deja are no more. They were purchased by Supernews
and Google, and there are no remarQ archives. Google has made Deja
archives available, but there is still no free access to Usenet from
Google as there was from Deja.com.
[2.10]I'm trying to remain anonymous, but when I signed up, my web
service needed to know my e-mail address. If I post a request that
way, won't people be able to find my real e-mail address?
This FAQ doesn't cover web-based posting services, but you can
always go to one of the other free email services and get a new
e-mail address. Try www.hotmail.com, www.operamail.com, or
www.yahoo.com.
[2.11]If I get a new e-mail address, people won't recognize my
name/nym and I won't get the files I request. Isn't there ANY other
way to get the requests group?
Yes, you should try to get your ISP/news server to carry the group.
Send a polite e-mail to them explaining that in your effort to
respect Usenet etiquette, you feel that the requests group,
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.requests, should be carried by them. It was
properly proposed in alt.config without a single dissenting comment.
They already carry the binary group, and the addition of a
non-binary/request group will not substantially affect their news
server's performance.
[2.12]I made my request and I think it got posted, but with all the
spam in the binary group I can't find a thing. I thought I heard
about some filter that people are using. What is it?
Some newsreader software will allow you to use filters which can
make the newsgroup more readable. A filter commonly being used in
these groups filters out any post with fewer than 100 lines IF it
does not contain any of the following (0/#), nfo, txt, image, scan,
or "0 of". Just remember that filters are not infallible, and if
you use them there is the possibility that you'll miss something
that you wanted to see.
[2.13]Yadda-yadda-yadda… Just give me the spam filter for Agent!
The Agent filter is found at
http://www.mp3-faq.org/tips/agenttips.html#spam.
A spam filter for Outlook Express is available on the Outlook
Express Sub-FAQ: http://www.mp3-faq.org/tips/oe5subfaq.html.
[2.14]Where is this "d" group or "discussion group" that everybody
talks about? I can't find it on my news server.
The discussion group is alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d. If you can't
find it, you should refer back to Sections [2.6], [2.7], and [2.9].
The topics and suggestions covered in those sections also apply to
the discussion group. If, for some reason, your ISP or news server
carries some of the a.b.s.m.* groups but NOT the discussion group,
you should contact them and request that they carry it.
[2.15]I thought that all requests were supposed to go into the
requests group. If that's true, why are there requests in the
discussion group?
There are still some people who don't receive the a.b.s.m.requests
group, or who are unaware of its existence. Therefore they continue
to post their requests into the discussion group. If you use Agent,
you can filter out everything with the word "req" in it
(http://www.mp3-faq.org/tips/agenttips.html#req and the
discussion group becomes much easier to read. Do not use this
filter in the binary groups. You won't see responses to requests.
A number of people are refusing to fill requests that are posted in
the discussion group in an attempt to encourage the use of the
proper group, a.b.s.m.requests. Also, if you *are* filling a
request that appears in the discussion group, you can suggest to the
requestor that his/her request posts would be better served if they
appeared in the correct group.
[2.16]I want help identifying a song. Can I post a snippet to the
discussion group or .requests?
Please don't. Post a sample to alt.binaries.test or
alt.binaries.misc. Then come to the discussion group and ask people
to go listen to it and help you identify it. Make sure you identify
your sample post by subject title or Message ID so folks can find
it. When you get the name of the song, ask for it in the .requests
group as usual. Following these steps will keep binaries out of the
text-only discussion and .requests groups.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
- [3] MAKING MP3s -
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[3.0]I want to give something back to this group. How do I make an
MP3?
Making MP3s from scratch involves a couple of steps. The first is
acquiring the sound file and the second is encoding the file into
MP3 format.
[3.1]How do I get the music from my CD-ROM onto my computer?
The preferred method of making MP3s is to do it from a digital
source (CD) and capture it digitally (Digital Audio Extraction:
DAE). This process is also known as "ripping".
The first thing is to determine if your CD-ROM supports DAE.
NOTE: Unless you specifically state otherwise, those who download
your MP3 will automatically assume that it was digitally extracted
from a CD. If your music source is a tape or vinyl record or
something OTHER than a CD -OR- your capture process includes the
use of a sound card or other non-digital methods, you really
should inform people in your Subject line or in the zero-file of
your binary post. If you do not do this, people will definitely
let you know that you should have.
[3.2]How do I determine if my CD-ROM supports digital audio
extraction (DAE)?
Some software packages will test your system for you. If you have
Easy CD Creator, go to Tools|System Tests|Audio Extraction and run
the test.
You can also check the list at: http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq05.html.
[3.3]I know my CD-ROM does DAE, but I'm having strange problems and
I can't get it to work right. What do I do?
You may be having compatibility problems with a specific piece of
software.
Check: http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq05.html to see if there are any
software issues with your particular CD-ROM drive.
[3.4]My CD-ROM supports DAE; what do I use to rip audio tracks?
There are many different software choices, and each has its pros and
cons. Some will encode as you rip the audio, some work better with
SCSI drives, etc. Rippers of choice are EAC, AudioGrabber and
CDex; there are many others.
For more information go to: http://software.mp3.com/software/ and
click the links at the left for your operating system or platform.
They also highlight only a few, so click the "complete list of..."
for a more detailed listing
[3.5]Can I encode an MP3 straight off of the CD?
Yes, if you have MP3 Compressor or MP3 Producer installed, you can
copy a track straight to into an MP3 with windac32. Go to the menu
'DAC', then to 'select wave format' and choose Fraunhofer IIS MPEG
Layer-3 Codec (professional).
The 'MPEG Encoder' (a.k.a. SoloH encoder) also allows MP3 encoding
straight from the CD if you have a SCSI CD-ROM.
AudioGrabber works with either SCSI or IDE CD-ROMs and can use its
internal codec or BladeEnc's dll to create MP3s, as well as send
command line instructions to an external encoder like MP3Enc31 or
L3enc.
MusicMatch Jukebox and other all-in-one rippers/encoders are
enjoying more popularity, but some find the quality of their
encoders to be inferior to others. MusicMatch Jukebox 4.4 started
using a Fraunhofer CODEC which can produce good results when used in
HQ mode. You have to trust your own ears. More on this later.
[3.6]I've ripped the audio track but the .wav file is messed up. It
seems jittery and has pops or skips. Why?
Just because your CD-ROM is a 24x doesn't mean that it can
necessarily rip audio at that speed. Frequently jitter problems are
directly related to the speed at which you're ripping audio. Set
your software to a slower speed and try again.
Some software packages, such as WinDAC, have a jitter-correction
option that may help.
Or you may just be having a software compatibility problem. Some
ripping software doesn't work well with certain CD-ROM drives. Try
using a different piece of software. For more info on specific
drives and software that works with them, go to:
http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq05.html.
Also, don't forget the Help files that come with your software.
Spending some time reading the manual can solve a world of
difficulties.
[3.7]I don't like the way the song sounds on the CD because I like
more bass. Should I adjust the equalization (EQ) on the .wav file
before making it into an MP3 and uploading it?
Please don't. People generally want to hear an MP3 that is as close
to the original CD as possible. Even though you may feel that
something helpful (like normalizing the songs) will make them
better, that decision should be left to the final recipient. If
they want to tweak their MP3s, they can do it themselves. If you
*have* tweaked or adjusted the song before you encoded it, please
make that information known when you post it. See Section [4.9] and
[4.10] for more information.
There is also some information at
http://www.digido.com/cdmastering.html regarding the use of
normalization. Normalizing can be useful in specific situations for
certain tasks. However, it is NOT recommended that you normalize
songs before uploading them into the newsgroups. People are looking
for compressed versions of specific pieces of audio, and not for
your 'adjusted' version.
[3.8]I've ripped the track to my hard drive. Anything I should do
before I turn it into an MP3?
Yes. Listen to all of your files first. Before you encode the file
into an MP3 and possibly upload a problematic MP3, make sure your
source file is clean and doesn't have any jitter, skipping,
distortion or unwanted noise.
[3.9]I've listened to all my uncompressed files and they sound
great, now how do I make them into MP3s?
There are a number of different programs that encode MP3s, and each
has different features. There are also different codecs which
provide varying results. Some software comes with its own codec,
and others require you to already have a codec installed on your
computer.
More information on encoding software can be found in Sections
[3.10], [3.11] and at http://www.mp3.com/software/encodersrest.html
[3.10]I've heard that not all encoders/codecs give equal quality
results. Which encoder/codec is best?
There is NO single correct answer to this question. This is the
'Holy Grail' of MP3 creation, but the fact is that there is not one
single MP3 encoder that is perfect 100% of the time.
There are certain encoders that are generally considered 'good' and
there are encoders that are generally considered 'not-good.' In the
end, only trial-and-error will let you know which encoder works the
best for any particular song.
Do your own testing. Listen to your MP3s before uploading them. If
you hear flanging or 'swooshies,' try an encoder that DOESN'T
utilize Joint-Stereo. Joint-Stereo has been a major culprit in
creating unacceptable MP3s. See [3.17] for more info on flanging.
There are a couple WWW sites that do encoder comparisons.
http://kempelen.inf.bme.hu/~dancsi/USE!/ - Has animated
encoder comparisons. Also rates encoders based on a number of
factors.
http://www.pcavtech.com/play-rec/summary/index.htm - Not
exclusively an MP3 site, but does compare some encoders. (this site
is live, but the page was not functioning when last checked)
NOTE: Some people will rank MP3 encoders based on their speed or
extra features (ability to rip and encode, automatic ID3 tags etc.)
but in the a.b.s.m.* groups, audio-quality is more important than
speed or features. When you hear or read information regarding "the
best encoder" you should try to determine what factors are being
taken into consideration.
The quest for the 'perfect encoder' seems to be never ending. It
seems that certain encoders are better suited for certain types of
music and not so much for other types. There is also a subjective
aspect that will become quickly obvious as soon as you post your
question in a.b.s.mp3.d. Check out the Encoders page in the
Tips section where we will be collecting (subjective) reviews of
various encoders: http://www.mp3-faq.org/tips/encoders.html.
The bottom line? Use your ears and do some testing. A good set of
headphones can give you information that a set of computer speakers
won't. And if you don't have the time for that, then ask around in
a.b.s.m.d and see what the consensus du jour appears to be, but
ALWAYS listen to your MP3s before uploading them.
Check out the Tips section for some brief descriptions of encoders
and players.
[3.11]Enough tap dancing around the answer, just tell me WHAT
ENCODER IS THE BEST?
Okay, okay, you've come to the FAQ for an answer, so here is an
answer. In no particular order, the encoders of choice are Blade,
http://bladeenc.mp3.no/, an older version of the Fraunhofer codec
L3enc version 2.0 (capable of true-stereo encodes) and the newer
versions of Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 Encoder (v3.1 - external
CODEC mp3enc31 and v1.263 - internal CODEC - look for these in
alt.binaries.sounds.utilities), and the free MusicMatch Jukebox
which uses an excellent Fraunhofer CODEC. Start with these, give
others a try, and let your own ears be the judge.
[3.12]What is HQ? Should I use it?
Using the HQ setting means that the encoder determines the best
encoding based on *all* parts of the file, while non-HQ determines
its "best encoding" by testing part of the file.
Not all encoders have an HQ option. But if your encoder does allow
for High Quality encoding, you should use it.
[3.13]Winamp tells me that .wav files are 176kbps. Why don't we
just encode at THAT bitrate and get .wav quality MP3s?
What Winamp is *really* telling you is that your .wav file is
recorded at 178kiloBYTESps and not kilo-bits per second.
This has caused a fair amount of confusion in the past. When you
digitally extract a stereo song from a CD, there are 176,400 BYTES
for each second of music. That's 176.4 kBYTES per second . Noting
the fact that there are 8 BITS in each BYTE, you arrive at a BITrate
of 1,411,200 bits a second, or approximately 1411kbps. Remember how
a 128kbps mp3 should be ~1/12th the size of the original .wav? Well
1/11th of 1411kbps is ~128kbps.
[3.14]Should mono material get encoded at the same bitrate as stereo
material?
No. Mono originals only require HALF of the bitrate of a stereo
recording to get the same quality. If you encode your Stereo MP3s at
128kbps, then the comparable Mono file would only need 64kbps.
For material with little high frequency content and waves with a
22050 sample rate, 64k is recommended. Some spoken word material
with no special background effects can be recorded at a low bitrate
without suffering loss of quality. Experiment with Joint Stereo,
Mono, and VBR to get a good encode with a small resulting file size.
Bottom line: do not waste server space or force long download times
by recording at too high a bitrate if the source material does not
need it, but do not destroy quality either.
[3.15]Who listens to mono any more? Shouldn't I just encode my mono
songs in stereo?
No. If the original recording was in MONO, it should stay that way.
[3.16]What's the Difference between Stereo, Joint-Stereo and
Dual-Channel?
Joint-Stereo - This method of encoding combines duplicate (or
"perceptually similar") information from the Right and Left channels
in an effort to most efficiently compress the file. This way the
duplicate information is only encoded *once* instead of twice (one
time for each channel) and allows for more bits to be allocated to
the other non-duplicate information.
Dual-Channel - Two independent channels. This method keeps the
Right and Left channel information completely separate. The
downside is that if there is very little information on the Left
channel, there is some "waste" of available bits that could be used
by a very busy Right channel.
Stereo - Stereo does *not* combine similar information in the manner
of Joint-Stereo, but it *does* use available or "leftover" bits from
one channel to store information from the other channel if
necessary. So it provides a compromise of the previous methods.
Separate Right and Left Channels along with a somewhat efficient
usage of the available bits.
No matter which type of encoding you use, please remember to listen
to your files before uploading them.
[3.17]I've made some MP3s with Joint-Stereo and I think they sound
fine, but I'm not sure my $20 computer speakers are very accurate.
Is there a better way to tell if my Joint-Stereo MP3s are flanging?
One way is to enable your soundcard's '3D Enhanced Stereo' option if
your soundcard has it. This will frequently cause any flanging to
become VERY noticeable. If you can hear the 'swooshies' or other
artifacting, try a different encoder or encoding your MP3s in Stereo
instead of Joint-Stereo. Visit
http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/Articles/Flanging/
for a sample of what flanging sounds like.
[3.18]My MP3s sound good except there is a little POP at the very
beginning of the song. What can I do about that?
First of all listen to the file a couple times. Sometimes your MP3
player will make a sound that isn't necessarily in your MP3. If the
pop *is* there, then you have a couple options for removing it.
One option was suggested by the author of SoloH and requires a
Hex-Editor. What you do is open up the MP3 file into a hex editor
and remove the first frame of the file. This is approximately 418
bytes of information and runs from the first FFFB to the next FFFB.
This can be done more than once if more than one frame needs to be
removed.
Still another software option is a program called MP3Trim. It
allows you to trim your MP3 from the beginning or the end in
increments of approximately 3/100ths of a second. MP3Trim is
available at: www.logiccell.com/~mp3trim/
[3.19]What is VBR? What is Audio Catalyst? Should I be using them?
VBR stands for Variable Bit Rate. VBR means that every frame of an
MP3 doesn't have to be encoded at the same bitrate. Using VBR
encoding in MP3s allow for certain frames to be encoded at a higher
bitrate than the surrounding frames. The concept is great because
it can keep the overall file size low while allocating extra space
for parts of a song that might need the extra bits, or at least this
is the theory. The reality is that VBR encodes are often larger
than a constant bit rate (CBR) encode at 128 kps. At the time of
this FAQ revision there a few encoders that have implemented VBR:
Xing's AudioCatalyst, MusicMatch Jukebox, Real Jukebox, etc. The
feelings about VBR encoded songs are varied and extreme. Some
people like them and others don't.
NOTE: Not all MP3 Players support VBR encoded files. If you use VBR
to encode your files, make sure you specify "VBR" in your Subject
header.
The bottom-line with VBR? YMMV (Your mileage may vary).
[3.20]My CD-ROM doesn't do DAE but I can sample the audio via my
sound card. Should I do that?
The general consensus is "no" due to the amount of noise that gets
introduced into the file by that process. You may not initially
even hear the noise due to your computer fan, the quality of your
speakers, etc., but inexpensive sound cards, in conjunction with
your computer itself, introduce noise into the files. However, if
it's something that's unavailable anywhere else, or the requestor
doesn't mind, then just make sure you make a note of the ripping
technique in the Subject Line of your post.
[3.21]I don't have a CD-ROM in my computer, but I do have a CD
player in my stereo; can I just hook that up to my sound card and
sample it that way?
Non DAE MP3s are generally discouraged, but it is possible to do it
with your equipment. You'll want to connect the aux-out or line-out
of your CD-player to the line-in of your sound card. If you're
sampling a stereo source, make sure you're using a stereo cable.
Before sampling the song, you'll want to check the levels so you
don't create a file with a lot of distortion. You may have software
that came with your sound card that will allow you to do this;
Creative Labs SoundO'LE wave recorder is one example.
You also want to be sure you're using the line inputs and not the
microphone inputs. The impedance is different, and if you use the
mic inputs, your files will very likely be distorted. It is
possible to create files using the mic-inputs, but no matter which
you do use make sure you monitor the sound levels. People don't
like distorted MP3s.
There have also been reports of a signal that is too low. If this
is the case you may have to add your amplifier into the mix; going
from your CD player, to the amp, to the sound card. This of course
adds even more noise into the file and will result in a less than
optimum mp3. The best signal-to-noise ratio will be achieved if you
record the music at a high level, but not so high that it distorts
or clips. Don't let the levels go into the red. An application
like Cool Edit or Sound Forge will prove to be very helpful during
this process.
[3.22]I have some tapes that I want to post as MP3s. How can I do
that?
MP3s originating from cassettes are GREATLY discouraged, but it can
be done. See the previous Q and A for the setup. Also note that
because of the way that tapes stretch slightly the use of
Joint-Stereo will often produce low-quality MP3s. Using an encoder
with Dual-Channel or Stereo encoding options may greatly improve the
quality of your MP3.
[3.23]I made an MP3 from a tape and it sounds TERRIBLE! No, I mean
a lot worse than the .wav file did. Why?
Try using Layer-II Mpeg (.mp2) encoding instead of MP3. Apparently
this creates a better sound file from certain analog sources. A
reminder that this is the FAQ for a.b.s.mp3, a group for the posting
of MP3s, not other formats. Also, because of the way that tapes
stretch slightly through use, using Joint-Stereo will often produce
low-quality MP3s. Using an encoder with Dual-Channel or Stereo
encoding options may greatly improve the quality of your MP3.
For an excellent tutorial on recording tapes for conversion to MP3,
please see the Tips section on Cassette Techniques:
http://www.mp3-faq.org/tips/cepcass.htm .
[3.24]I'm making some MP3s from a vinyl source. Is there any easy
way to make my files sound better?
Easy way? No. When making MP3s from vinyl sources even more time
and effort are usually required to get the best sounding MP3
possible. There are some posters who do a fantastic job at making
MP3s from vinyl sources, and they take their time and make sure
they're done right before posting their files.
There are some 'de-hissing' 'de-clicking' pieces of software, but
you should still double and triple check your .wavs before encoding
them. Some of the software works better than others, and really the
only way to be sure that all of the pops and crackles are taken care
of is to do it manually. By using a program like Sound Forge
(http://www.soundforge.com/), or other .wav editing programs, you
can look at the actual waveform and locate the pops and clicks.
From there you can manually 'edit' them out.
The general consensus on making good MP3s out of your vinyl
comes down to this:
It all starts with your hardware. The better the hardware, the
better the resulting .wav. A good turntable, cartridge, sound card
and pre-amp will ALL boost your quality by leaps and bounds. There
was even a suggestion to play your worn vinyl wet.
When it comes to software any good .wav editing program will do to
capture the .wav. DartPro (www.tracertek.com), Clean
(www.steinberg.net), or CoolEdit (www.syntrillium.com) should do a
fine job. One thing you have to do is take some time setting your
recording level though. If it's too high you'll end up clipping,
and if it's too low the noise level will be too loud. Take your time
and find the level that's "just right".
When it comes to cleaning up your .wav the key is to take it easy on
noise-reduction. More is not necessarily better, and if used too
emphatically it can really destroy any good sound in your .wav.
DartPro has some nice options like its ability to take a
"noiseprint" of an unwanted noise and remove it throughout your
recording. And one nice thing about Steinberg's Clean is that it
will let you play the .wav file though the noise reduction *before*
you commit to it. That way you can see if the de-hissing/sound
quality trade off is worth it. Listen to your files through a good
set of headphones.
If it's your first time, post one or two songs in alt.binaries.test.
Then post a heads-up in alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d to ask what
people think of your files. You should be able to get some good
feedback that might help you with your MP3 creation.
For more information and tips on transferring your LPs to your hard
drive, see the LP to CDR page at:
http://www.delback.co.uk/lp-cdr.htm. See also the tips section.
[3.25]Can I edit my MP3s directly without having to decode them into
.wav files first?
Yes, to a certain extent, you can. There are some programs that
will allow you to cut, paste, and otherwise manipulate the MP3 files
directly. Some of these are:
MP3Cutter - Available from http://home.hccnet.nl/p.luijer/ lets you
chop and paste MP3 files without first converting them to .wav
(which would result in a loss of quality).
MP3Trim, available at: http://www.logiccell.com/~mp3trim/ allows you
to trim the beginning or end of your MP3.
Also, Cool Edit and Cool Edit Pro from www.syntrillium.com will
allow you to edit MP3s with the use of a plug-in; however, it will
save it as a .wav unless you have a compatible encoding codec
installed. You would still be doing the equivalent of extracting to
.wav, editing and re-encoding the extracted wav, and the quality of
your MP3 may well suffer.
[3.26]I've made my MP3s and it's time to name them. Is there a
naming standard? What information should I include in the name?
There is a saying that one man's garbage is another man's treasure.
Even though most people would like there to be a naming convention,
there are far too many different versions of what is the best. The
general consensus is that the full title of the song and the name of
the artist should be included. A number of people would also like
the album title, some want the track number, and others want the
year and the genre of music.
Also keep in mind that non-Windows platforms, especially Mac, do not
have the same long filename features that Windows users are
accustomed to. You may find sorting the newsgroup by Author a good
way to keep files posted by Mac users in more organized fashion.
There is no right answer, but LEAST put the band name and the title
of the song in the name of the file. And USE MP3 ID3 TAGS. That
way everybody has all of the information necessary to rename their
MP3s as they wish. See Section [3.28] for more info on ID3 Tags.
[3.27]I don't like the way other people name their MP3s, and now I
have a whole directory filled with MP3s that I want to rename. Is
there an easy way to do this?
There are a large number of file renaming utilities available. Go
to http://software.mp3.com/software/ and click the links at the
left for your operating system or platform. They also highlight
only a few, so click the "complete list of..." for a more detailed
listing. You can also use the WWW to your advantage and do a search.
[3.28]What are MP3 ID3 tags? Should I bother with them?
Use them, use them, use them! The MP3 format allows for the addition
of certain information within the MP3 file itself. The ID3v1
standard includes info fields for the Title (Song name), Artist,
Album, Year, Genre and even a place for Comments. With ID3v1.1 a
Track Number field was added. The creator of ID3v1.1 is the author
of MP3ext, an ID tagger available at:
http://www.mutschler.de/mp3ext/ .
ID taggers are a great way to add information to the MP3 without
putting it into the actual name of the file. It is highly suggested
that you use the tags and insert all of the information for each
MP3. Frequently people end up with MP3s that they like, but they
know very little about it beyond what the file is named. Some of
the files that start in a.b.s.m.* actually travel around the world
via FTP sites and WWW pages, and the file names get changed all the
time. By using the ID Tags, the name of the Artist, the Song and
the Album that it came from, all remain intact no matter what the
actual filename is. Make sure this information is accurate! The
CDDB, for example, is far from perfect, so do not blindly trust it
if your ripper fills in the ID Tags. Check anything questionable.
Of special note is the "year" field in the ID Tag. The year should
be the year the track was originally released, not the year the song
was reissued on CD. This is especially troublesome on re-releases,
"Best of...", or compilation CDs. Along these same lines, it is not
very useful for all your ID Tags to say that the track is performed
by "Various Artists". Make sure your software does not
automatically fill in the blanks with useless information.
The bottom line is that the tags help people, and adding them during
the MP3 creation process is the easiest time to do it. If you've
just ripped a song from a CD, all the relevant information is there
at your fingertips. You know what album it came from, who the
artist is, and what year the song was recorded.
You can add ID Tags directly with most MP3 players, like Winamp.
But there are also a number of utilities to help you easily add the
information, and some of the encoder programs will even do it
automatically. For more info and software downloads see
http://www.mp3.com/software/utilities.html.
Note that mp3ext is free - and good. http://www.mutschler.de/mp3ext/ .
All kinds of information regarding the ID3 Tag, its history and its
future can be found at http://www.id3.org/ including information
about the new ID3v2 'standard' which allows you to include up to
256MB of song lyrics, CDDB information and even pictures.
[3.29]Cool, I've IDed all of my MP3s and I'm ready to post. Is
there anything else I should know?
Yeah, a couple things. First of all, please listen to your files.
Are there any pops in them? Do they cut off before the song is
over? Secondly, see the "Posting MP3 files" section of this FAQ
(Section 4: faq4.html).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
- [4] POSTING MP3s -
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A quick reference to posting is the best way to begin this
discussion. The rest of this page is long and detailed because it
needs to be. Please read it all.
Limit your posts to 75 megabytes per 24 hours.
Make good use of your 0/x file and include all pertinent info.
Use meaningful subject headers that are not too long. Avoid using
more than 80 characters!
Test post in test groups. Test again after every reinstall.
Post from 472500 to 315000 bytes per segment (7500 to 5000 lines
uuencoded/segment) for best propagation.
Crosspost into the appropriate decade and genre group.
Alert the requestor if you are responding to a request.
Wait 5 days before reposting.
Cancel your "oops" if you do mess up.
Cover scans are cool, but a Zip or Rar rarely is, and other
non-MP3 binaries are not at all cool.
[4.0]Where should I post my MP3s?
You should post your MP3s to the main MP3 binary group
(alt.binaries.sounds.mp3) with a crosspost to the appropriate
"decade" group and to the appropriate "genre" group.
Web sites like www.allmusic.com have search engines that can help
you determine the year when the song was originally recorded.
NOTE: If you don't know when the song was recorded and you
can't/don't want to find out, you should err on the side of caution
and avoid posting it in any of the decade groups. Please DO NOT post
your MP3 into any random decade; a song recorded in 1994 is
OFF-TOPIC in the 1970's newsgroup.
Also note that you should post into the decade that the song was
originally released. If the song originally came out in the 1970s,
but was re-released (unaltered by the original artist) in 1998, the
1970s decade is correct, not 1990s. If you are posting compilations
or "best of" albums that span decades, don't crosspost to a decade
group. Stick with the main group and the appropriate genre group.
Also, the "genre" groups are by far the *least* propagated groups.
If you crosspost to them, you allow some people to more easily find
songs from a particular group or genre, but if you chose to ONLY
post to those groups *without* crossposting to the main and decade
groups, you are automatically eliminating the majority of possible
downloaders.
Please post ALL MP3s to the main group. Do not post into the
"genre" groups WITHOUT a crosspost to the main and "decade" groups.
[4.1]What are the "decade" groups?
The decade groups are:
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1950s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1960s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1970s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1980s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1990s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.2000s
[4.2]What about the "other" decade groups?
There were some groups created with an improper hierarchy format.
They don't exist on most servers and, even where they do exist, they
get little or no MP3 traffic.
[4.3]What are the "genre" groups?
Some of the genre groups are, but are not limited to:
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.beatles
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.bootlegs
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.blues
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.brazilian
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.christian
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.comedy
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.country
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.dance
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.french
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.heavy-metal
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.jazz
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.latin
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.zappa
There are currently more than 100 groups in the a.b.s.m.* hierarchy
and unfortunately more are created all the time. Most of the groups
are unavailable on most ISPs. For more information on the groups,
see Section [1]
[4.4]Why should I crosspost the files? Doesn't that eat up
bandwidth and disk space?
No, crossposting does not eat up bandwidth or disk space.
Crossposting DOES NOT mean making your post TWICE. It means that
you include both newsgroups in the "Newsgroups:" header of your
post. Each news server will only carry one copy of your post, but
it will provide two separate "pointers" to that file.
[4.5]HOW do I crosspost?
When crossposting the format is:
first.news.group,second.news.group
There is NO space between the group names and the comma. There are
some news servers that won't accept a crosspost if you include
spaces. If you're having trouble crossposting with Peck's Power
Post or Agent, this may be the problem.
[4.6]My news server doesn't carry certain groups, so I can't
crosspost to them. Can I?
You probably can. When you crosspost, the information in your
"newsgroups" header propagates to the other servers along with your
post. As long as your server carries at least ONE of the groups
listed in the header, and you make that valid group the first in
your newsgroups listing, it should accept your post and propagate it
(and all of the header information) on to other servers. If other
servers carry those groups, then pointers to your post will appear
in all the specified newsgroups.
[4.7]People read both the main group AND the decade groups. Is
there a way to avoid seeing the same posts twice?
If you're using Agent (versions .99g or later), this can be solved
by going to Group | Default Properties | Crossposts and checking the
box that says, "Enable Crosspost Checking"
Now when you pull headers in all six groups, you will see only one
occurrence of each message.
[4.8]Don't some ISPs cancel your message if it's crossposted?
Certain ISPs may have filters set up to disregard messages
crossposted to five or more groups. However, crossposting is a
generally acceptable activity if it is warranted, and in this case
it is only to 2 or 3 groups. ISPs have typically accepted posts
made to no more than three groups.
However:
Certain ISPs may have filters set up to disregard messages
crossposted to five or more groups or to groups not carried on
their news server. Crossposting is a generally acceptable activity
if done sensibly and to no more than 2 or 3 groups. Please be
aware that as of this writing, two commercial news servers are not
accepting / propagating posts made to
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.complete_cd. You risk having your post
not being seen by anyone using these providers if you crosspost to
absm.complete_cd.
[4.9]What should I put in the subject header of my post?
You should include the name of the song, the artist, and the bitrate
it was encoded at. If you're filling a request, include the
requestor's name in the subject, preceded with an "ATTN:", to help
that person locate the post.
NOTE: Keep in mind that some newsreader software, like Forte's
Agent, adds the name of the file to the end of the subject line. If
the name of the MP3 file already *includes* the name of the song and
the artist, there is no reason to type them in manually as this
information will be added automatically.
REMEMBER: If you include every possible suggestion in this
paragraph, your subject could end up looking like a paragraph.
Whatever you put in the subject header, keep the total length around
70 characters or some people will not be able to read it all.
If you have done anything that would be considered unconventional,
you might want to include that in the subject header, and you
definitely want to mention it in the 0-file [4.10].
Did the file originate on tape? Put that information in the Subject
line. Was it sampled at a low bitrate? Let people know. Was it
encoded using VBR? Tell people that fact. If you don't make people
aware of these things *before* they download your files, they may
become angry. The minor insertion of the word "Vinyl", "Tape" or
"VBR" in the subject header can make all the difference in the world.
Some songs have been recorded by many different artists, or even
many times by the original artist. If you are posting a version
that you *know* is not the original, you should make note of that in
the subject header too. There are many people who are only
interested in the original-artist/original-recording of a song. The
addition of the words "Re-Recording" in the header will alert those
who are only interested in original recordings.
Like the MP3 naming convention difficulties, there are many opinions
of what should and shouldn't be included in subject headers. The
suggestions here are to prevent people from downloading something
that they did not expect. Don't forget that there are many people
who are still using 28.8 modems and downloading multiple MP3 files
is a time consuming process for them.
NOTE: The use of fractions in your Subject header can cause
problems with some newsreaders. Putting any kind of numbers in
brackets [ ], braces { }, and parentheses ( ) results in havoc for
some newsreaders (they can't reassemble the parts). Let your
newsreader only put numbers and dividers in your subject line.
For example: if you put "Here are Ten Cool Songs (1/10)" (mean cool
song #1 of 10 cool songs) into your Subject line, the (1/10) will
likely cause problems, especially after your newsreader appends your
Subject with "CoolSong1.mp3 (1/7)". Most newsreaders would never be
able to read a subject like Here are Ten Cool Songs (1/10) -
CoolSong1.mp3 (1/7).
Using fancy high ASCII and odd characters in your subject line can
also cause problems. There are some newsreaders that simply won't
see your posts.
Please be aware of the length of your subject headers and try to
keep them under 70 characters. As you type your Subject header, try
to abbreviate things. "128" conveys just about as much information
as "This was encoded at 128kbps" does.
It's really not difficult to keep your Subject header manageable
while still getting the important information across. Here is an
example of a *very* informative Subject header that uses only 55
characters:
Example:
[Metal]ATTN: c.y.a. Tape-128S DeathTrolls - Bang You All To Hell.mp3
The accompanying zero-file would let everybody know that the song
came off of the soundtrack to Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, that it
was track #8 and that the encoder used was SoloH in true Stereo.
The "S" after 128 indicates that it was encoded in stereo, and
[Metal] indicates the genre. While these two things don't *have* to
be in the Subject header, this example shows how they *can* be
included and *still* result in a Subject that is under 70
ers.
[4.10]What about the zero-file (0/x)?
A zero-file is a simple text entry in the body of your post to which
the binary then gets attached. Most newsreaders will create it if
you simply compose a text post and then include the binary as an
attachment. The zero-file will then be part zero of the total
number of parts and the first part of the binary will be part one,
etc. The zero-file should contain ANY and ALL pertinent information
about the post. You should include information about how the files
were created, what software was used, what album the song was taken
from and possibly a full track listing (if it's a full CD rip.)
You might also want to mention other files you could post and any
requests that you might have. In the zero-file, the more
information you give, the better.
If you're using Outlook Express, see the Outlook Express Sub-FAQ for
more information. If your newsreader does not automatically create
a zero-file, see your software's help file.
A common practice in other hierarchies that is often used in the
absm.* hierarchy is to include an .nfo file to describe the post
rather than or in addition to a zero- file. An .nfo file is just a
.txt file that has been given an .nfo extension to denote that it
contains iNFOrmation about the posting. Open an .nfo file with any
text editor. If you use Windows and know how, you can associate the
.nfo extension with your favorite editor. At least one newsreader
makes it hard for you to read the 0/x file, so those who use it
would prefer .nfo. Some servers are configured to strip .txt files
out of binary groups, so making the extension .nfo is a good idea.
[4.11]When I'm filling requests I found in the .requests group, how
should I alert the requestor?
PLEASE post a follow-up to the request WITHOUT changing the Subject
header. If you add anything to the Subject header like "I'm posting
your song NOW", your follow-up post won't necessarily be seen by the
requestor because the subject change will start a new thread, not
just show up as a follow-up to the requestor's original thread. The
a.b.s.m.requests group gets even more posts than the discussion
group, so it's very easy to overlook a single post in there.
By posting a follow-up post informing the requestor that you are
filling their request, you not only let that person know that they
should keep an eye out for the post, but you also let OTHER people
know that they shouldn't bother trying to fill the request
themselves.
So when you're filling a request, please post a follow-up message to
the original request. In the BODY of that follow-up, inform the
person that you are going to fill the request, and in which group(s)
they can expect to find your post.
[4.12]Some of my files aren't appearing on some other news servers.
Why is that?
There are a number of things that could cause this. Short of
getting a new ISP or complaining to your present ISP about poor
propagation, you can't do anything about most of the problems, but
one thing that has seemed to improve propagation is adjusting your
segment size. See Section [4.13]
[4.13]How many lines per segment should I use when I post?
Try setting your segment size to something between 460K and 300K
(between 7500 and 5000 lines uuencoded). The higher setting is
usually fine, but if downloaders are consistently complaining about
your posts being incomplete, reduce your segment sizes a bit more.
These settings are for uuencoding *only*, not for yEnc. Consult your
documentation for segment size setting with yEnc posting clients.
*Don't* use a setting below 300K. It will create far too many
headers which puts a strain on news servers. If your ISP kills
binaries larger than 300K, it means they don't want large binaries
on their server, so you should subscribe to a pay news service. You
should not put a strain on all other servers by trying to propagate
a binary that your ISP is trying to prevent.
Instructions on setting segment size in Agent are found here now.
If you're using Outlook Express, see the Outlook Express Sub-FAQ for
instructions.
[4.14]How do I post multiple MP3s at once?
By making multiple posts. Do *not* attach multiple files to *one*
single post. If you post like this, you can easily end up with a
single post that has over 100 parts, and it makes it difficult for
anybody to retrieve a single MP3 from your post without downloading
the ENTIRE post. A post that won't be downloaded is a waste of
server space.
[4.15]I noticed that people are following up my MP3 posts with
questions/salutations/requests/etc. in the binary group. I thought
the binary group was only for binaries. Is there anything I can do
to discourage this?
One thing that you should do is to set your "follow-up" header to
point back to alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d A lot of the time, the
people are merely trying to "Follow-up Usenet Message" and ending up
with a non-binary post in the binary group. If you change your
follow-up header to the discussion group, the discussion is easily
re-routed to the proper forum.
With Agent, this is accomplished by going to Group | Properties |
Post and typing alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d into the "Followup-To:"
field.
You can also make a note in your zero-file (0/x) to post any
questions in the discussion group with a subject header including:
"ATTN:<Your Name>."
[4.16]Should I answer the questions posted to me in the binary
group?
That is something that you must decide for yourself. But, if you're
interested in keeping the binary groups clean and manageable, you
might avoid posting non-binaries there yourself.
If you encourage posting discussions in the discussion group, and
*discourage* discussions in the binary group, you're helping to keep
these groups clean and organized.
[4.17]I'm trying to post, but my server keeps timing out or I get
disconnected in the middle of my post. Is there any way to resume
my post in the middle or do I have to start over?
There are some software packages that will allow you to resume your
post if you use a PC compatible. Microsoft's Outlook Express will
do this. And for those who use a newsreader that doesn't let you
resume a binary post, there are two programs that will be of great
help. One is the venerable Peck's Power Post. The other is
Power-Post 2000 by Chris Morse, a program that has become very
popular in a very short period of time. You can download Peck's
(and Power-Post and other programs) at our downloads page. For
Peck's download the file called PPP06b.zip. Power-Post 2000 is
found at http://www.cosmicwolf.com. If you have problems accessing
this site, we are providing a mirror at the site above that offers
Peck's with Chris' permission. Download three files to get
Power-Post 2000: PowerPost_v13b25.zip (the version number will
change as it is updated). If it doesn't work you need to download
two support files - mfc42.zip and 401comupd.exe (these are updated
.dlls for your system).
[4.18]Darn it, I had to restart my MP3 upload 5 times last night and
now there are all kinds of little pieces cluttering up the
newsgroup. Is there anything that I can do to clean it up?
Yes. Cancel your unfinished posts. Most newsreaders will allow you
to easily cancel your own posts. Read the help file. The unusable
pieces of your post do nothing but consume space on the news server
and you should cancel them. For more on canceling posts see Section
[4.19] [4.20] and [4.21].
[4.19]Whoops! I posted an MP3 to the discussion/requests group.
What should I do?
You should not only post a brief apology to the discussion group,
but you should also cancel the post. Most newsreaders will allow
you to easily cancel your own posts. Read the help file. Clean up
your mess and free up the server space. Most news servers allocate
different amounts of space for the binary groups than they do for
the non-binary groups, so stop hogging all of the non-binary space
with your misplaced binary.
Don't forget that most MP3s will be broken into multiple parts by
your newsreader. This means that there is not just *one* post to
cancel, but *many*. Although your binary may appear to be one file,
you may need to split it into all of its separate parts to cancel it
all.
If you are using Forte's Agent or Free Agent newsreaders, you should
read the detailed instructions in the Tips section on canceling.
If you're using Outlook Express, check out the Outlook Express
Sub-FAQ.
For other newsreaders, check out the Cancel FAQ at
http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/faqs/cancel.html
[4.20]Why is everybody yelling at me? I *can't* cancel my
misplaced/incomplete posts because my news server doesn't accept
cancel messages.
People are yelling at you because you *can* (and should) still
cancel your posts. It doesn't matter whether your server will
cancel the messages or not. Even if the messages aren't cancelled
on your server, you can cancel them on all the other servers by
issuing your cancel. Not all servers honor cancels, but all accept
and propagate cancels. For more information on how to cancel see
Section [4.19].
[4.21]I didn't realize that my posts had screwed up while I was
asleep. Is it too late for me to cancel them?
No. It's never too late. Anything you can do to clean up your mess
is appreciated. Better late than never. For more information on
how to cancel see Section [4.19]
[4.22]Somebody posted the same file that I posted; should I cancel
their post?
NO! NO-NO-NO! You should NEVER cancel someone else's post. It is
a severe breech of netiquette and will often result in your ISP
canceling your service. NEVER CANCEL ANYBODY'S POSTS BUT YOUR OWN!
[4.23]I'm posting my MP3s. Should I make an announcement to
a.b.s.m.d?
Maybe. If you are filling a request, you should alert the person
who requested it by posting a follow-up to the request stating that
you are going to upload the requested file (see Section [4.11]), but
this should be done in the requests group.
If you are planning on doing a post that you know will be of
interest to a certain number of people who follow a.b.s.m.d, you
might want to make an announcement before you post. This will give
people a chance to prepare for downloading multiple songs.
[4.24]I know that the other large binary groups have a daily posting
limit or cap. Is there any limit to how many files I should post in
one day?
*Yes* there is a daily posting cap. Please don't post everything
you have all at once just because you can.
* * no more than 75 megabytes of files within any 24 hour period * *
This means that in any 24-hours, no single poster's account should
upload more than 75 megabytes worth of files into any and all of the
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.* groups. That is not a cap on posting to
any one group, that is a cap on the total amount posted daily to any
and all of the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3 groups.
The posting limit is not an attempt to restrict *what* is being
posted, only *how much*.
Flooding the groups pushes other posts off servers. Don't flood
these groups.
Why is there a 75 MB posting cap here?
To help ensure that the widest variety of music is available to the
largest number of people for the longest period of time.
How does the 75 MB cap help achieve this goal?
It is the considerate thing to do. It takes into consideration both
the medium and the people who use it. The cap is there for several
reasons:
a) a cap slows the ever-increasing burden that the binary groups put
on servers world wide;
b) it is an amount that a person on dialup (or someone on a server
with crappy retention) can download before it all starts to expire,
c) that is the limit the members of this hierarchy voted to adopt,
about one CD per day at 160 kps, maybe even at 192 kps;
d) there is just no hurry.
Even with the 75 MB cap, the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.* hierarchy
(absm.*) is the largest hierarchy by volume. With more and more ISPs
dropping the binary groups, self-restraint should be applied to keep
even more ISPs from dropping these groups. It is our best hope for
keeping the MP3 groups alive on as many providers for as long as
possible.
Can I post 75 MB before midnight and then another 75 MB right after
midnight? Can I post 75 MB in one group and then 75 MB in another?
No to both. Let's be specific. The cap means:
* * no more than 75meg worth of files within any 24 hour period * *
This means that in any 24-hours, no single account should upload
more than 75 megabytes worth of files into the
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.* groups. That is not a cap on posting to
any one group, that is a cap on the total amount posted daily to any
and all of the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3 groups. When you get ready to
post your MP3s, put them in a directory or folder all by themselves
and look at the total amount in that directory. If it exceeds 75 MB,
just create another subdirectory called Day2 or somesuch. Post over
two days. Very simple to keep track of.
Are you saying that posting too much is what is wrong with
retention?
Yes. Keep in mind how Usenet works. It is very different from
Napster. Providers configure their news servers with a fixed amount
of space for text and for binaries. This storage is always full.
Different providers apportion this space different ways, but
everyone has some storage limit. When posts no longer fit on the
drives, the oldest stuff expires. First in, first out (FIFO). The
more that gets posted, the faster the material expires. The posts
simply disappear, whether you got around to downloading them or not.
Retention is measured in hours on some ISPs, and that’s bad.
(NOTE: One extremely bad situation is created when someone posts
binaries to a text group. A large binary will push the equivalent of
a large binary off the binary spool, but a binary in a text group
scolls *thousands* of text posts off servers. Be very careful not to
crosspost requests between text and binary groups or respond to such
requests. That's a primary way accidents happen.)
Why don’t ISPs just get better feeds and servers or buy more drives?
Adding hard drive space and news feeds is incredibly expensive. Some
providers are finding it more economically feasible to just drop the
groups rather than to try to keep up with the flood tide. You may
think that, because consumer hard drive costs are so cheap now, that
adding drive space is a simple way to keep up, but it is simply not
true on Usenet. Even ISPs that have gone out and spent a million
dollars or more on new equipment now find that their retention is
right back where it started because of the ever-increasing amount of
material posted. These ISPs can’t justify going out and spending
another million on a service that a minority of their customers use
and they don’t even charge extra for.
Why not just sign up for a pay service?
Why? Retention was good until broadband posters started dumping
hundreds of megabytes onto the servers without consideration for the
medium or one’s fellow users. Usenet was never really designed to
post binaries. It works, but very inefficiently, and the hardware
and software both suffer greatly from too much of a load. The
encoding of a binary to store it on Usenet adds 40%, so 75 MB of
uuencoded MP3s is much larger on your newsserver's drives. Even the
pay services are having trouble keeping up. Pay service retention is
trending downward, and increased costs are causing their prices to
spiral upward.
But what if I'm just filling requests?
Even when filling requests. Just because you're filling requests,
you need to abide by the posting cap. 75 megabytes of requested
songs occupy the exact same amount of server space that 75 megabytes
of NON-requested songs.
But people think I’m great when I’m posting a lot. What's wrong with
that?
Even more people will be unhappy if you flood. Respect on Usenet is
not measured or earned by flaunting the size of your music
collection or your number of posts. Your posts are no more important
than anyone else's. Flooding pushes other material off the server
that people are trying to get. If you post way over the cap your ISP
may receive complaints. Nobody needs that. Being in too much a hurry
is just not worth it. Usenet is a one-to-many medium. It is not the
right place to trade files with some other single user. Use FTP or
peer-to-peer (Napster replacements), not Usenet, for that.
The posting limit is not an attempt to restrict *what* is being
posted, just how much. If you spread your posts out (especially with
a full CD), even people with limited online time, slow modems or
short-retention news servers will be able to download most of the
MP3s they want without repost after repost after repost.
When somebody decides to post a huge amount of data very quickly,
everyone suffers. Server retention time drops across the board, and
some servers end up with posts disappearing within hours of being
posted.
Please don't kill the goose that has been laying the golden eggs.
[4.25]I heard that I'm only allowed to post MP3s if they've been
requested; is that true?
No, that's not true. One of the great things about the MP3 group is
that people are exposed to, or reminded of, songs that they would
never request. But since Usenet is particularly flooded these days,
and random hard drive dumps into the binary groups don't help
anybody. In fact, there are certain people who focus on only
posting MP3s if they have been requested.
If you want to share your MP3s, you should. But wouldn't you like
to post something that people actually want? If you
indiscriminately fill the group with unknown songs, it's very
possible that people won't take the time to download them. If you
take a look at the requests group, you might see that somebody has
requested one of the mp3s that you were thinking about posting. Or
maybe you have a song that is of the same genre as a requested song,
or a little known song by a member of a popular band. By posting a
'heads up' to the requestor maybe you can turn somebody onto a song
that they never knew that they wanted.
[4.26]I see an MP3 request that I can fill. What should I do?
The first thing that you should do is to see if the request has
already been filled. Multiple simultaneous postings of the same MP3
are a terrible waste and it happens far too frequently.
The second thing that you should do is to alert the requestor and
the rest of the group that you're going to fill the request. This
not only lets the requestor know to be on the lookout, but it also
will help prevent multiple posts of the same song. See Section
[4.11] for more about this.
Then you post it to the binary group and the appropriate decade
group.
[4.27]I just posted a bunch of MP3s but some were incomplete on a
couple of news servers. Should I just keep re-posting until
everybody gets them?
No. There is a standard repost rule of a 5 to 7 day waiting period
that applies to the MP3 groups. The group alt.binaries.sounds.mp3
consistently tops the charts for the highest volume of posts. There
is no reason to push that level any higher.
NOTE: This repost rule does NOT mean that you should repost all
files in 5 to 7 days. This means that you should not repost the
same MP3s any *sooner* than 5 to 7 days. And make sure you alert
people as to when they are being posted so they won't miss them
again.
As a contributor to the MP3 groups, you might want to check
alt.binaires.sounds.mp3.requests during the week following your
post. It is possible that people will be looking for a song here or
there. Check the requests group for these "fill-ins".
The MP3 groups are very visible right now to system admins and use
of server space is a hot topic. Controlling your reposts
(especially of full CD rips) helps us all in the end.
[4.28]But people keep requesting the same songs. What do I tell
them?
Reply to their requests with a message that tells them when you plan
on reposting it, that's part of what the .requests group is for.
Since the expire times in the non-binary groups are sometimes longer
than in the binary groups, your reply will alert any other people
who might come looking for those songs in the following days. This
will help prevent the constant reposting of the current pop hit.
[4.29]I can never get the songs that I want. Either they scroll off
of my news server, or I have to wait for a repost, or they never
show up at all. What can I do?
Usenet was never intended to carry large numbers of binary files,
and there are always difficulties. If completeness or retention is
your main problem, you might want to invest in a stand-alone pay
news server. More information can be found in Section [9.7].
Or you can try making other arrangements for your MP3s. Make
friends in the group. Arrange for your songs via e-mail, ftp or
ICQ. At a certain point, there is no reason to waste global
bandwidth and server space on a single file that only one person
can't get.
[4.30]Is there a standard format for encoding binaries for posting
to Usenet?
There are a number of different ways to encode binaries for Usenet.
The standard is uuencoded (UUE). Every newsreader available can
decode a UUE encoded post, whereas BinHex and Mime are not as
widespread. Also UUE encoding allows for MP3 "previewing". UUE is
a Usenet standard and will make your posts available to the largest
number of people. Also, contrary to rumors, Mime encoding does not
result in smaller posts. Even though Mime encodes have fewer lines,
the size remains the same because each line is longer than a UUE
encoded post.
[4.31]I've got some album cover scans for the MP3s that I just
uploaded. Can I post them in the MP3 binary group?
Sure. Even though they are not MP3 files it is acceptable to post
accompanying album scans along with the songs. You may also want to
crosspost them to alt.binaries.pictures.cd-covers. If you are
posting scans only, not accompanying an MP3 posting, that is the
only place you should post them.
[4.32]Should I zip (arj, rar, jar, gzip etc) my files before
uploading?
In general, no. Compression is pretty useless for MP3s because
they're already compressed. There are occasions, due to posting
difficulties, when people will break their MP3s into distinct
sections using one of these formats. But for the most part you'll
just post them as MP3s. You can also use Peck's Power Post or
Power-Post 2000 to continue an interrupted upload or to repost only
certain sections. Peck's is the best and easiest solution for
reposting a missing segment, but it can be done with Agent (see the
Tip). It is easy in Gravity: "pull up the Outbox screen and you'll
see each part. Take the part you want to repost back to editing, and
send it out again." (thanks to Checkmate © for this tip.)
An exception to the recommendation not to zip MP3s is for those rare
musical works that have extended periods of silence in them. Such
MP3s will benefit from being zipped, and will actually propagate
better. If you suspect your MP3 will benefit in this way, zip it and
compare sizes. If it is significantly smaller zipped, post it that
way and explain your reasoning in your 0/x file.
Also, keep in mind that people use many different operating systems
so if you *do* decide to break up your post using something OTHER
than a newsreader, you should make sure that both Mac and Windows
users can reassemble your post. You should also include information
in the 0/x file to help them if necessary. And if you chose to use
rar, be sure to use "no compression" and don't make it a
self-extracting archive. That way the MP3s can still be 'sampled'
by downloading a single part.
[4.33]I've got a new shareware MP3 player/encoder/decoder, should I
share it with the group?
Yes and no. Is it available on the WWW or ftp? If so, post a
message in a.b.s.m.d that includes the WWW/ftp address. If it is
not available via the WWW or ftp, and it is a sound utility, post it
to the appropriate group: alt.binaries.sounds.utilities and post an
announcement in the discussion group to let people know.
There is no group in the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.* hierarchy that is
appropriate for the posting of MP3 players/encoders/decoders or
utilities. Please only post to the appropriate groups.
[4.34]What are the "test" groups and who should use them?
You should use them if you're new to binary posting, are using a
newsreader that you are unfamiliar with or if you have changed your
settings. The test groups (alt.test and alt.binaries.test) are
intended for posting tests without disrupting the normal activity in
other newsgroups. They are there so you can work out the wrinkles
of posting *before* you do it in the MP3 groups or any other group.
The test groups are also a great place for you to test your
canceling methods. After you do a test post, try canceling it; you
never know when you might want that knowledge at your fingertips.
Information about canceling your posts can be found in Section
[4.19].
Everybody makes mistakes; wouldn't you rather make yours in a test
group?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
- [5] RETRIEVING MP3s FROM USENET -
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[5.0]Where are all the MP3s that people are talking about?
It all depends on where you have been looking. If you are currently
searching in alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.requests (the request group) or
in alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d (the discussion group), you are simply
looking in the wrong newsgroups. Refer to Sections [1] and [4] of
this FAQ for more information.
If you *are* looking in the correct groups, but you are confused
because you're seeing something like:
begin 644 song.mp3
M_^,@[EMAIL PROTECTED]&49(`ORFY([EMAIL PROTECTED](`0/`870($800LF%LV
MD*!0Q#+GJA`*$"/5$"#)S4%;:@H),7;4!,V4!`,1(VZ1MJ($$4$
[EMAIL PROTECTED](P7,&[EMAIL PROTECTED]".,F12W!K&0O
M^6%L`H"[EMAIL PROTECTED])@KC<8`*`6"&__\>$CSQ89S/___
M__\QIAD]V'Y[F?_____,CP1Z0P_,`15NZFM,K/_C(,0'&`%>WG`
M$`'(V'M[#,I7=P_A%"]RS>DX&G\F]G)')1L7(S9144)!=&(MTD#
M9^:4U;BVVM#4]<TX4*H-VYR<_S^[EM@,9__I____[O1_\7S^4W@
MQ`(3P4;-Y<[EMAIL PROTECTED],1]D0C]1]O^2VO_$`!`75=9#L`<4;&
MFUZ$`H$AU^XN#<@PH$#.#[/_[*[1.+6=\R]JW]7&NS3!0H+%6GX
M(`!.Z9OJ#MA!.MS_XR#$#A-`ON96*`1`Z_R&\A';J'"H^H[BHB`
[EMAIL PROTECTED]()LN%M(A881:[EMAIL PROTECTED]<;>@M=0J@
MT"FF7SPC##=!P;_5']%+[C'<ZVD%74WRP?_C(,0<$X"2UA='$`5
M*05K$;KG^E9&@"B(.BB,J)?UN56`2<]N'#CY`M#0-5N'+MS:XU(
M&F",]-=_ST%0B/2K_-J'&SN?X+230Y"2SG'H).`Z1C)/5XPX[!<
MPV)X*9AH`+%O_EYQZF!2'[_\NFIL7EL7?_\G##&3#B)H\2<2/_0
M/FIPGEQ&K5___122HHHF"-5$Q?____]!.7C(NS)(ZBLP-E>K___
M____________XR#$$0```ELAP```_______________________
M___________________________________________________
M_____________________________U1!1TAI(0`````````````
M`````````````%-U8VME<@````````````````````````````N
N+BX@>65T+BXN`````````````````#$Y.3EW=W<N;7`S+69<F<@
//"[EMAIL PROTECTED]&EG(&ET(0````$<
end
then you'll need to go back to Section [1.6] and read some of the
FAQs linked there.
[5.1]I know *where* to look for the MP3s, but I can't find any
complete MP3 files.
Well, if you are using your newsreader correctly, the problem is
probably your ISP or, more specifically, your news server. If you
consistently see incomplete files, your news server is probably not
receiving all of the parts that are necessary to get a complete
file.
The solution? Either find a new ISP or look into an additional
pay-news server. Information on ISPs can be found at
http://thelist.internet.com/
Information on news servers in particular can be found in
alt.binaries.news-server-comparison and alt.internet.newservers or
at Yahoo's Usenet server page.
Some popular pay-newsservers are Altopia, Giganews, Newscene,
Newsguy, Easynews and Airnews. See Section [9.7] of this FAQ for
more info.
[5.2]Frequently I only see the last part of any post, like only
(12/12) and not any of the first 11 parts. Why is that?
This can happen if your news server, or another news server up the
pipe from yours, is filtering out based on segment-size.
The FAQ recommends that you set your segment size to something
between 5000 and 7500 lines or about 1/3 Meg to 1/2 Meg (see Section
[4.13]) There are some ISPs that will filter out and not accept any
posts that are larger than that. If you frequently see files posted
and the only part that is available is the last one (which is
inherently the smallest of the parts), it is possible that the other
parts are being filtered out. You can either request that the
poster changes their segment size, or try and find a different news
server that doesn't have this particular problem.
[5.3]I see an MP3 of a song I *think* I like, but I'm not sure. Is
there any way that I can sample the song without downloading the
entire file?
Yes. One way is to just download the first part of the file (which
may require that you split the file into its separate sections),
decode it using your newsreader or a third party decoder, and play
it with your MP3 player. Winamp will give you an error, but play
the file anyway.
Check the Tips section for detailed instructions on using Agent to
sample before downloading:
http://www.mp3-faq.org/tips/agenttips.html#sample .
[5.4]I'm using Outlook Express and it's not automatically decoding
the MP3 files. How do I get the files?
First download all parts, they will be listed as (1/5), (2/5),
(3/5), etc. Right click on the highlighted parts click "Combine &
Decode." Another window will pop up. Use the up & down buttons to
put all the parts in their proper order. Click OK. When the file
comes up - click on "file" then click on Save Attachments.
More tips for using Outlook Express can be found in the Outlook
Express Sub-FAQ:
http://www.mp3-faq.org/tips/oe5subfaq.html .
[5.5]I'm using AOL and it's really difficult for me to get the MP3
files. Everything in the binary groups is a mess and out of order.
Any advice?
Apparently you can use AOL's "Filegrabber" to only display binary
files that are complete. AOL's newsreader can then automatically
download and decode the file. You can accomplish this by selecting
the newsgroup (e.g. a.b.s.m), clicking on Preferences, and checking
the box that says "Show only complete binary files which AOL can
download and decode. Hide text files."
There are times when AOL's software won't recognize that all of the
parts are there. In these cases you may have to manually download
each separate part and combine/decode them yourself.
For more information on uploading/downloading newsgroup binaries on
AOL, check out the AOL Newsgroup FAQ at:
http://members.aol.com/RGordon202/faqpt3.html
[5.6]ARGH! I don't like downloading with AOL's news software; can't
I use Agent to get the files?
Yes and no. You can't use any external newsreader to access AOL's
news server. On the other hand, you *can* subscribe to a
stand-alone pay news server and use Agent, or any other newsreader,
through your AOL internet connection. See Sections [5.1] and [9.7]
for more information about pay news servers.
[5.7]It drives me crazy when the saved file attachment isn't named
the same as the subject title! What to do?
If you are using Free Agent or Agent you have a solution at hand.
Go to Groups | Default Properties on the main menu. Click on the
Receive Files tab and check the box that says "Use the message
subject for name of first attachment in message." This will save
you a lot of time renaming later.
[5.8]I can't use Agent at work. How can I download binaries with
Netscape?
You have to save each part (number them!) with a .uue extension. It
is a two-step process. After downloading, use Winzip to combine and
convert from multipart .uue format to .mp3. Quite a pain, but it
can be done.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
- [6] PLAYING MP3s ON YOUR HOME CD PLAYER -
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[6.0]I've got all these great MP3s and a CD-recorder; is there any
way that I can play these songs on my home CD player?
Yes and No. You can't play MP3s (in that format) on a regular CD
player. What you can do, however, is to change the MP3s back into
.wav files and burn them as an audio CD (redbook) format. You, of
course, lose the size compression that you get with the MP3 format
and will only be able to burn 73 to 74 minutes of music.
[6.1]So there's no way to just play my MP3s on a CD player, a
Walkman or anything like that?
The technology is changing almost daily in this area. There are now
MP3 Walkman-style players, built-in dashboard MP3 players for your
car, mini-players that have headphones and port in to your home and
car stereo AND your computer, and on and on. More info on current
technology is at http://www.mp3.com/hardware/.
[6.2]How do I make a normal music CD from these MP3 files?
Most burner software will want you to first decompress your MP3
files into .wav files before creating an audio CD with your burner.
With some newer software you can burn an audio CD without the
intermediate step of creating a .wav file. Software packages that
do direct MP3 to CD-R are: Nero, Roxio Easy CD Creator, WinOnCD,
and AudioCD MP3 Studio (shareware).
[6.3]How do I decompress my MP3s into .wav files for burning a CD?
A number of software packages will do this, and are often referred
to as "decoders". A good free one can be found at
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/. You can look for "players" or "all in
one packages" at http://software.mp3.com/software/. Click the
links at the left for your operating system or platform. They also
highlight only a few, so click the "complete list of..." for a more
detailed listing.
(NOTE: Not all players will decode MP3s into .wav files; read the
individual descriptions for more details).
[6.4]How do I use Winamp to make .wav files?
For whatever reason the creators of Winamp change its decoding
function relatively frequently. Therefore, the following
information may not be precisely accurate for the version of Winamp
that you have, but it should be similar.
Start Winamp and hit Ctrl+P. This should open Win Amp's
"Preferences" window. Now select the "Audio I/O" tab. Go down to
the "Output Plug-ins" section and select "Nullsoft Disk Writer
Plug-In"
Now when you "Play" your MP3 files, they will actually be converted
to .wav files. (this information refers specifically to Winamp
version 2.09).
DON'T forget to put your settings back to normal. You need to
select an output of Nullsoft WaveOut Plug-In to be able to hear MP3s
in Winamp again.
NOTE: If you use the EQ provided with Winamp, you might want to
disable the EQ *before* decoding the songs to .wav. If you decode
with the EQ enabled, the resulting .wav is NOT a clean decode of the
MP3. It is a decode that has been EQed by your EQ settings.
Perhaps this is what sounds best to you on your computer speakers,
but if you're going to burn the resulting .wav to a CD for playing
on a normal CD-Player, you might be disappointed by the 'tweaked'
results.
[6.5]Is WinAMP the only/best decoder?
No and no. WinAMP is very popular as a decoder because of its popularity
as a player, but the links in [6.3] will take you to some other
decoders. When www.mp3bench.com was active it listed some interesting
information about decoders and their bitrates. While WinAMP will decode
at 32 or 64 bits, NAD decodes at 110 bits and reportedly delivers the
highest quality .wav output. Download NAD093 at:
http://www.mp3-faq.org/downloads/downloads.htm. CoolPlayer is a popular
freeware option for decoding: http://coolplayer.sourceforge.net/.
In 1998 NAD's developer made The Christmas Naddy (son of NAD) available,
and Denziel (future NAD) was promised to be available soon thereafter.
Also at http://www.mp3-faq.org/downloads/downloads.htm if you want to
play with it.
[6.6]I've got my .wav files; how do I burn a CD?
That question is beyond the scope and relevancy of this FAQ. The
first thing that you should do is read the instructions or the help
files for your CD-R software. You can also try the newsgroups:
comp.publish.cdrom.hardware, alt.comp.periphs.cdr or alt.cdrom.
There is also some information available on the WWW. There is a
good CD-R FAQ at: http://www.fadden.com/cdrfaq/ and the
comp.publish.cdrom FAQ is available at:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/cdrom/cd-ble/part1/faq.html
[6.7]I burned a CD and there are pops between each track; what
gives?
You should burn your music CDs disk-at-once, not track-at-once.
Most popular CD-burning software offer this option. Take a look
under preferences or options or consult the help file for your
particular software package.
[6.8]I was trying to record a live music CD, but there are pauses
between each track. What can I do?
You should burn your music CDs disk-at-once, not track-at-once.
Most popular CD-burning software offer this option. Take a look
under preferences or options, or consult the help file for your
particular software package. When you burn a music CD
track-at-once, a 2-second gap is inserted between each track.
Also, apparently when you take a .wav file --> mp3 --> .wav file,
there is a bit of silence inserted at the beginning of the final
.wav that wasn't present in the original .wav. In order to make a
truly seamless series of songs, some manipulation of the .wav files
is necessary. Many audio software packages, like CoolEdit and
SoundForge, will allow you to delete the silence.
In addition, MP3Cutter is a Win9x/NT program that allows you to chop
up (and paste parts of) your MP3s without having to decode them to
.wav. It is available at: http://home.hccnet.nl/p.luijer/.
Some people just combine every track into one large .wav file before
burning it to their CD. However, if you do this you will have to
edit your cuesheet to reflect a distinction between one song and the
next.
[6.9]What is the best software to use if I want to decode and/or
burn a CD?
Best is subjective; take a look at the LINKS section of this FAQ for
sites that might help.
[6.10]I heard that you could buy CDs that hold more than 74 minutes
of music. Where can I get those?
You should check the CD-Rom newsgroups for updated information, but
there is information (including where to purchase 80-minute cds)
available at: http://www.cdmediaworld.com/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
- [7] MP3s and THE WORLD WIDE WEB -
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[7.0]Where are the best places on the web to find MP3s?
This FAQ really only covers the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.* Usenet
hierarchy and not the entire Internet. However, there are a number
of Web based search engines that can help you in your search for
MP3s, and you may even want to check them *before* you request a
song. Many times when a new album or single comes out there is a
flood of requests, posts and reposts of the same song over and over.
Almost *always* these songs are also available on ftp sites.
Some MP3 search engines are available at:
http://mp3search.lycos.com/ and http://oth.net/ In addition,
www.mp3now.com has a list of the top 20 MP3 search engines.
You can also use some of the standard search engines such as
www.yahoo.com or www.excite.com to search for the MP3 you're
looking for, or even to search for other MP3 Search Pages.
There is also software like "MP3 Fiend" and "Abe's MP3 Finder" that
are available at www.download.com, www.tucows.com, and www.mp3.com,
which will search the Internet for the MP3s you are looking for.
[7.1]I downloaded some MP3s from the web and they're all screwy.
What's up?
You may need a program like Uncook, Phix or Detox to repair your
files. They are available at: http://software.mp3.com/software/
(select the utilities for your OS).
[7.2]I downloaded some cool songs from this web site that I found;
should I upload them?
Has somebody requested those songs? If so, you should post an
announcement in a.b.s.mp3.requests informing the requestor of the
location of the songs.
Sometimes the MP3 files that you find on the World Wide Web are not
up to the quality of those that are ripped and encoded by members of
the a.b.s.mp3 newsgroups. If they are readily and freely available
on the Web, there isn't usually a reason to post them to Usenet.
[7.3]I used to use this cool thing called Agent-MP3. I cant find
the place where I got it. Where is it?
Agent-MP3 is apparently gone. Agent-MP3 was merely another way to
look at your own newsgroups on your own ISP's server. It could not
do more for you than you could do with any decent news reader. The
link to the site is dead: http://www.agent-mp3.com/.
[7.4]What about Napster?
Napster has been a very popular new way to acquire MP3s. The demise
of Napster has brought a lot of new blood to the MP3 hierarchy (with
a lot of habits that do not work well on Usenet).
Napster has often had MP3s of distinctly inferior quality. Please
listen to all MP3s before uploading to this hierarchy.
There is a very disturbing phenomenon since Napster and similar
file-sharing services have become very popular. As MP3s are being
traded at an astounding rate, some files of very poor quality are
being shared by more and more people. Many bad MP3s with pops,
clicks, blips, jingles, gaps, blasts of noise, etc. are being posted
to absm.*. No matter where you get your MP3s, please listen to all
files with a critical ear before reposting to absm.*. If a file is
audibly flawed with objectionable artifacts, please do not post it.
A high bitrate does not automatically equate to high quality.
If a track is rare, and a requester wants it anyway, be sure to be
very clear in your subject title, 0/x, and/or .nfo file that the
file is imperfect or encoded at a lower than usual bitrate so that
subscribers can choose whether or not they wish to download the
file. Just stating NMR (Not
My Rip) is not sufficient warning. If you feel you must upload,
please do not upload without warning potential downloaders.
Lurk, leech, listen, and learn. Figure out what this place is all
about before going wild. It is a different community with different
standards.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
- [8] HARDWARE and SOFTWARE CHOICES -
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[8.0]What CD-ROM should I buy?
That all depends on your system and/or your bank account, but for
making MP3s a CD-ROM that does DAE (digital audio extraction) is a
must.
The speed of DAE is not always related to the speed of your CD-ROM
(i.e., just because your 24x is faster than my 8x DOESN'T mean that
either one does DAE any faster than 1x)
So how do you find out how your new drive is going to do DAE? Go
to: http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq05.html.
NOTE: That is a reader-supported WWW page so if you can send your
info to the author, it will make the page just that much better for
the next person who refers to it.
[8.1]What CD-ripping / MP3 encoding / MP3 decoding software should I
use?
Go to a.b.s.m.d, http://www.mp3-converter.com/decoders/,
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/, or www.mp3.com for some information on
this. But keep in mind that there is no 100% "right answer". When
looking for an encoder, opinions of what's "best" vary person to
person. When looking for a CD-Ripper you might have problems with a
piece of software that somebody else loves, all depending on your
particular hardware setup. Follow the discussion group
(alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d) and you'll see what particular products
work best for most people, what the newest software is and what
products just plain stink.
For more information on encoders see Sections [3.10] and [3.11] of
this FAQ.
[8.2]What .wav file software should I use?
Two popular audio manipulation packages are Cool Edit and Sound
Forge. Information on these programs can be found at:
http://www.syntrillium.com/ and http://www.sonicfoundry.com/
respectively. These are just two out of MANY different software
packages but are the most commonly used.
[8.3]Do I need a special soundcard to play MP3s?
Most decent quality soundcards will play MP3s well. However, if you
only have an old 8-bit sound card, you may have trouble playing
16-bit MP3s.
[8.4]What is the best soundcard?
That is far beyond the realm of this FAQ, but info can be found in
the comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard.* hierarchy.
Also, http://www.rockpark.com/soundcards/ has detailed technical
comparisons of some sound cards.
[8.5]How do I do XXXX with this cool piece of software called YYYY?
This FAQ covers the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.* newsgroups. It is not
intended to be a primer on every piece of software that you may use
to make, listen to, change, post or in any other way affect these
files. The Internet is a vast resource, and many other very fine
FAQs are available for your perusal. Use the search engines to your
benefit.
[8.6]Some of my MP3s play louder than others. Is there a way to set
the volume levels so I don't have to change it for every song?
What you are looking for is something to normalize your MP3
playback. There is a WinAMP plugin called AudioStocker Pro that will
do this for you. It is available from
http://users.one.se/liket/mp3stock/
[8.7]What other cool software is there that will enhance my MP3
enjoyment?
Well, beyond those listed prior to this, some useful utilities are:
Catalogers/Databases: to keep track of your growing MP3
collection;
ID Taggers: to automate or simplify setting your ID Tags;
File Renamers: to simplify your personal renaming tasks;
and even MP3 alarm clocks.
Many of these are available at
http://software.mp3.com/software/ or
http://dailymp3.com/otherutil.html and can also be located on
shareware download sites such as www.tucows.com and
www.shareware.com You can also find these by using standard WWW
search engines such as www.yahoo.com or www.lycos.com
[8.8] How can I convert from one bitrate to another? Or from Real
Audio to MP3? Or from/to another format?
These are certainly Frequently Asked Questions:
One of the best all-around conversion utilities is dBpowerAMP Music
Convertor (dMC) found at http://admin.dbpoweramp.com/ . Hard to
beat, and the price is impossible to beat. It's free. It does
.wav, .mp3, Windows Media, and Ogg Vorbis.
Some folks have a need to capture and encode Real Audio files to
MP3. The best information on this process is found at:
http://www.musiclivesonline.com/how_to/04_22_2001.html.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
- [9] LINKS -
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[9.0] --- OTHER HELPFUL FAQs ---
http://abmefaq.net
The FAQ for the alt.binaries.multimedia.erotica newsgroups - It contains
a *wealth* of information about the use of binary newsgroups in general.
A MUST READ if you have questions about downloading, anonymity, posting
and netiquette.
http://www.netins.net/showcase/phdss/mp3/mp3_faqs.htm
Other MP3 FAQs - This is a very good page full of helpful links to other
MP3 FAQs and MP3-related information. [they will list our FAQ in their
next revision]
http://pages.prodigy.net/michael_santovec/decode.htm
Decoding Internet Attachments - A detailed page covering all types of
binary attachments on the internet
http://www.geocities.com/tick1845/bin_help.htm
Guide for Usenet binary attachments - A good set of basics for those who
are new to Usenet binary groups.
http://www.fadden.com/cdrfaq/
The Compact Disc Recordable FAQ - originally developed as a Usenet
newsgroup FAQ
http://www.webliminal.com/Lrn-web05.html Usenet: Reading and Writing the
News.
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/cdrom/cd-recordable/part1/faq.html
The FAQ for the comp.publish.cdrom newsgroups - current CD Recordable
Usenet newsgroup FAQ
http://www.eyrie.org/%7Eeagle/writing/rant.html
A Rant About Usenet - What Usenet is really about.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[9.1] --- GENERAL INFO and SOFTWARE ---
http://www.mp3.com
MP3.com - Lots of MP3 related software, information and free .mp3 files
from unknown bands.
http://www.dailymp3.com
Daily MP3 - Lots of MP3 related software and also news about MP3s
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[9.2] --- TECHNICAL INFO ---
http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq05.html
CD-ROM digital audio extraction information - information, software, and
survey
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/mp3/chapter/ch02.html
How MP3 Works: Inside the Codec - excellent chapter from a book by Scot
Hacker
http://www.iis.fhg.de/amm/techinf/layer3/index.html
Technical MP3 info from the Fraunhofer Institute - Very good and clearly
written
http://mpeg.telecomitalialab.com/
The Moving Picture Experts Group home page - MPEG standards 1 through 7
http://www.mp3-faq.org/tips/mp3struct.htm
MP3 File Structure - From SoloH help file.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[9.3] --- MUSICAL REFERENCE ---
http://www.allmusic.com/index.html
The All Music Guide - Great search tool for songs/albums/artist names and
info
http://www.cddb.com/
The CD Database - A searchable database of album information that can be
used by some software to automatically name your files
http://www.ubl.com
The Ultimate Band List - A searchable database of bands and artists and
their Official web sites
http://www.lyrics.com
Lyrics.com - A database of song lyrics
http://www.icestorm.net/sharp/lyrics.html
Joe's Lyrics - NEW! Excellent links to other lyric pages
http://www.kissthisguy.com/
The Archive of Misheard Lyrics - Fun stuff :)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[9.4] --- NEWSREADER SOFTWARE INFO ---
http://www.forteinc.com
Agent and Free Agent newsreaders - Forte, Inc.
http://www.lisp.com.au/~michael/guides/agent/index.html
Installing and using Free Agent - good guide
http://www.mp3-faq.org/downloads/downloads.htm
Peck's Power Post - allows you to repost individual segments
http://www.cosmicwolf.com/
Power-Post 2000 - currently the best posting utility, allows you to
repost individual segments (we also have this program on the FAQ Mirror
site. Download it and two other files: mfc42.zip and 401comupd.exe if
you get it from us at http://www.mp3-faq.org/downloads/downloads.htm.
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[9.5] --- MP3 SOFTWARE FOR NON WINDOWS MACHINES ---
http://www.mp3-faq.org/tips/PMacSubFAQ.html
The PowerMac Sub-FAQ - the definitive word on the Mac
http://www.pure-mac.com/mp3.html
Pure Mac MP3 Utilities Archive - lots of links
http://www.macorchard.com/
The Mac Orchard - Macintosh Internet applications (including newsreaders)
http://www.raum.com/mpeg/
Mac MPEG Audio News - now includes Version 1.8 of the Encoder Quality
Comparison
http://software.mp3.com/software/featured/macintosh/player/
MP3 software for Macintosh users - Link to the Mac section of MP3.com
http://software.mp3.com/software/featured/unix/player/
MP3 software for Unix/Linux - Link to the Unix/Linux section of MP3.com
http://pan.rebelbase.com/ - Pan newsreader for Unix/Linux
http://newspost.unixcab.org/ - Newspost Usenet binary autoposter for
Unix/Linux
http://www.gnome.org/softwaremap/projects/Gnewspost - Gnewspost an open
source Gnome front-end to Newspost
http://www.semeniuk.net/linux/knewspost/ - Knewspost - KDE front end for
Newspost
ftp://ftp.elf.stuba.sk/pub/pc/sound/dosamp08.zip -
http://mpxplay.tripod.com/
DOS-based MP3 Players - DOSAmp and MPXPlay.
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[9.6] --- MP3 SEARCH ENGINES AND UTILITIES ---
http://www.mp3now.com
Lists the top 20 MP3 search engines - MP3NOW.COM
http://music.lycos.com/downloads/
Fast MP3 Search - Lycos Search Engine
http://oth.net/
Oth Net MP3 search engine - Another popular search engine
Shareware MP3 software including Search programs - www.download.com,
www.tucows.com, and www.mp3.com
http://dailymp3.com/main.html
DAILYMP3.COM - Good General MP3 Info, Software and Utilities (also mirror
at DAILYMP3.ORG)
http://www.mp3-faq.org/tips/ftp.html
FTP - A Brief Tutorial for those who desperately want to try FTP.
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[9.7] --- STAND-ALONE NEWS SERVERS ---
Airnews - (http://www.airnews.net/)
Altopia - (http://www.altopia.com/)
Easynews - (http://www.easynews.com)
Giganews - (http://www.giganews.com/)
Newscene - (http://www.newscene.com/)
Newsfeeds -