To anyone offering their credit card number to an overseas clearing house, you are a brave soul!
I use iTunes for non-critical listening material and when I'm too lazy to go buy the CD. I find most of their stuff to be quite acceptable. I agree with kcarlile; Apple says that 128kb AAC sounds better than 128kb mp3, and I agree. I have, however, heard a few things on iTunes that sound awful and seem to have been encoded at like 64kb.
How about Linn's online store? I haven't purchased/ downloaded any of their online tracks myself, but all of the Linn recordings I've ever heard from CD have been extremely well done.
Linn Records They offer 320kb MP3's and lossless 16 and 24 bit WMA files (1.2GB for a 65 minute album, muwahaha!!
)that are also DRM-free.
Kinda neat that they give you a choice in what format you desire, IMHO. If you're looking for 'audiophile' quality downloads, I believe they are the one and only place to get them (for the moment).
The downside is that it's only their own artists. So the selection is limited and it's all classical & jazz music.
Realistically, you're not going to find a legal site that allows for mainstream pop/rock mp3 downloads without DRM. Indie stuff, sure. But not mainstream. I just don't think they exist, due to pressure from the RIAA. You're probably going to have to bite the bullet and go with a DRM + downloaded software solution like iTunes, Napster, Urge, Wal-Mart's music store, etc.
