Soulseek

[Jason95888]

I just heard about this new client and it seems to be pretty cool, but i cant beleive i haven't heard of it before. Has anyone got any info on it e.g. has it made its own protocol, features etc

[d.crowley]

I was VERY surprised to see how little attention Soulseek is getting in common forums like Zeropaid, Slyck etc., because in my opinion it is - by far - the best mp3 sharing community...

A couple of standard features include:

- auto-resume
- remotely queuing songs
- chatrooms
- contact lists
- user-specific file-browsing
- etc. etc.

But what it makes it my personal favorite are these reasons:

1.) The variety of available music is - compared to Gnutella networks, FastTrack etc. - incredible. At least what concerns electronical music, but other communities are currently growing very fast... If you miss AG's availability of "unpopular" music, Soulseek is the place.

2.) It's magnificent to download whole albums with one click, thanks to most users sorting and naming their MP3s wisely.

3.) It's more than just anonymous filesharing - it's a community! Lots of old AG groups are re-forming (via chatrooms), and you get easily in touch with interesting people, suggestions, discussions etc.

Problem is, that at the moment the network is flooded by new users and you have to wait for lots of files (queue). But still, it shows SO much potential... Zeropaid should do a little special / interview / something to introduce this to the masses.

[dverma75]

can you post the link

[d.crowley]

http://www.soulseek.org

[method77]

soulseek and winmx are the best progs to find mp3s. All you have to do to compare the programs is to find a rare group and search for it. The more results the better the program. I mean a really rare song or group. I compared all the available file sharing programs. (I mean it!)... As for the features I think all the programs are similar but the point is to find the song you are looking for. In my opinion (since AG is dead) it's Soulseek and WinMX with the openap servers.

[Jason95888]

The content is very good for a program that has hardly any attention, i dont know if it rivals Blubster becasue i cant ghet Blubster to work, its better than most mp3 programs though, i highly reccommend it for mp3 users.

One question, is it decentralised??

[PatientSaint]

I've Used Soulseek and winmx for a while now i like both for a while. I would agree Soulseek is prolly the best community around now although since winmx 3+ has come out i been using it lot. As for why it has been rarely mentioned. I'l lsay because it is more focused around the more electronic Music scene and that still remains pretty underground. I think most of the people on it would rather it stay that way. I like it though

[TC75580]

I've never used it but it looks like it's worth checking out!

[d.crowley]

Please. :-) WinMX and the whole Gnutella / FastTrack community can't compare to Soulseek, in my opinion... Their only advantage is the higher amount of users and the better availability of mainstream music - as long as you're only looking for your daily dosis of Britney or whatever Top100-music you're interested in, you're fine with KaZaa, WinMX etc. Or, if you're looking for non-MP3-content.

But as soon as you start getting interested in some alternative electronical music - stuff that ain't as popular as Aphex Twin -japanese breakbeat, austrian triphop, techstep d&b etc., you're gonna start loving Soulseek...

Blubster is looking good - gonna wait for the full release of 2.0 and watch out for their further development...

[PatientSaint]

Originally posted by d.crowley
Their only advantage is the higher amount of users and the better availability of mainstream music - as long as you're only looking for your daily dosis of Britney or whatever Top100-music you're interested in, you're fine with KaZaa, WinMX etc.

True, but with Winmx i have found some rarer acts like one in my state. Winmx in my little humble opinion is great for MP3s and if you're into the top 100's or whatever ANY half decent client will be good for that. As i said it's good for electronic music and for exploration of different sounds. It's prolly one of the truest communities since Napster fell and AG. :)