Soulseek for Windows

Used Soulseek for Windows?

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Editors’ Review

Download.com staffFebruary 29, 2024

Though it's mostly easy to use and boasts a couple of extras, Soulseek's shaky performance makes it a strictly average file-sharing option. The interface isn't beautiful, but it does provide large clear icons for performing actions such as searching for files, sharing folders, and creating a wish list. In some cases, we immediately were able to begin looking for results, but in others, we had problems connecting.

When we were able to undertake successful searches, we found many files were unavailable. Search speeds also were below average, although the inclusion of a chat-room feature is a nice touch. Since it is free, P2P fans might take Soulseek for a spin, but they'll probably also want to keep another few file-sharing clients at their disposal.

What’s new in version 157-ns-13e

Version 157 NS 13e includes Search engine exploit.

Soulseek for Windows

Used Soulseek for Windows?

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Full Specifications

GENERAL

Release: November 4, 2009

Latest update: February 29, 2024

Version: 157-ns-13e

OPERATING SYSTEMS

Platform: Windows

Operating System

Windows 95
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows NT
Windows 98
Windows ME
Windows 10

Additional Requirements: None

POPULARITY

Total Downloads: 2,902,078

Downloads Last Week: 3

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Last Updated

User Reviews

3.9/5

329 User Votes

Soulseek works excellently. Many music file sources.
jandownloadsMarch 23, 2017
Pros
The thing that I like about soulseek is the large number of results that come up for a particular song, especially songs going back to the 1970's. You can open up multiple search windows. Suprisingly, I did not encounter any malware/adware or unwanted 3rd party software.
Cons
The console is very cluttered and there are alot of tabs/buttons that are not neccessary to download songs. Soulseek seems to only find music files and I have not been able to pull up results for movie files or photos. An important con is that Soulseek does not have an internal player to preview or play music files. You have to open the download file on your computer and play them with your own player.
Summary
If you're looking for a replacement for Ares, then Soulseek is perfect for music downloads. I have not found any false music files. There are a large number of results for specific songs.
10+ years using slsk, still the best
chris:fDecember 23, 2014
Pros
- As mentioned before, displays bitrates in the search results. I absolutely hate downloading an album and finding it's a mishmash of files pieced together from different sources, and slsk at least gives a fighting chance of avoiding this. - I rarely don't find what I'm looking for. My tastes range from punk, psychadelic, prog, metal, soul, synthpop, goth, etc., and I can find obscurities from basically all of the various genres and subgenres of music that I'm interested in at any given moment. - Great community. I'm not particularly "social" when it comes to file-sharing, but it's nice to see a lot of the same users that have been around since when I first joined up back in 2003.
Cons
- Apparently the installer comes bundled with adware/toolbars, etc. I'm so used to that with free software that I didn't even notice, at this point it's just a reflex to untick those boxes. It's not hard to opt out when you run the installer, and tbh, if you're using file-sharing software and taking on all the potential risks that entails, you should be savvy enough to not get caught up by ask.com or whatever else may be trying to install itself. In a perfect world we wouldn't have to deal with these things, but it's not and we do.
Summary
I personally think the "new" version of slsk is an improvement over the old version. Nobody likes when familiar software changes, and of course it still isn't perfect and there have been some growing pains, but for example the old version used to temporarily freeze up on me if a search yielded a large number of results, and this appears to have been dealt with now. With streaming and clouds and torrents and such having become the standard, I'm really happy, though not surprised, that slsk has stood the test of time.
Don't waste your time on this failed re-structuring.
gardenman13December 20, 2014
Pros
I used the former version until my hard drive fried. All my music files were saved and migrated, with most of the files ripped from disc or downloaded from Soulseek unchanged. BUT many were missing, duplicated (up to 3X), and all the most-recent Soulseek downloads before failure were gone. MY OWN original music which I burned from CD-Rs is now unplayable and requests a licensing download which I cannot obtain with the current parameters. Some CDS which I had ripped but sold later are now requesting the license- thus I do not have the music anymore). Along with this the old version of Soulseek was gone with the fried hard drive as well as my Soulseek user ID and settings. The only version available is the new one which I downloaded. Talk about crap. The template sucks and is fully unreadable. Impossible to navigate. Files are no longer available which were available before. To top it all off I donated $ again, then the whole application quit working and is no longer viable on my PC.
Cons
It's garbage. The old version was simple, easy to navigate once you figured it out, was easy to read and easy to view the songs one wanted and the users which had them and were open to sharing. Now it's a horrible mishmash of deep subfolders (I guess, like the other reviewer above mentioned), too small type, switched-around parameters and basic screwing with a template that didn't require screwing with. I'm seeking a new file-sharing service. I do not recommend SoulSeek to anyone as I used to consistently do. If anyone knows a better service that was similar to SoulSeek, please inform me.
Summary
A Soulseek users poll even showed that 2/3 of users wish the previous version was still available.
Viruses galore
ClovenhoofSeptember 28, 2014
Pros
- Access to an amazing breadth of material - easy to use interface, though not as easy as previous versions
Cons
- with the program comes two dozen or so adware and malware programs. Some of them are extremely difficult to remove, and they are very intrusive. - program seems to have removed a couple of useful features from previous versions - seems to have made retrieval of files more difficult by adding a layer of unwanted subdirectories to the destination folder where files are saved
Summary
I've used so many previous versions of Soulseek that I never thought there would be a problem. I just clicked through all the "next" buttons without reading, and now I'm paying the price. I've spent days purging all these unwanted programs from my PC, and there are a few I just can't get rid of. My bad. Live and learn.
Simple and Effective
dk2401October 29, 2012
Pros
Downloading is easy and without fuss. Just does the jobs reliably.
Cons
Doesn't look cool.
Summary
pure and simple
jcf300April 1, 2012
Pros
Simple to use. Plentiful sources.
Cons
Just that the software is an older format, but that's what makes it simple.
Summary
It's an older, yet simple, format. It reminds me of my Napster days. It's a small download file and I've found more older music I've been looking for and I'm thrilled. Definitely not a memory/hard drive hog.
Perfect in it's simplicity
cpcmoparMarch 14, 2012
Pros
-Safe -No spy-ware, ad-ware, etc. -Rare, underground, hard to find music -Easy to download entire albums with one click
Cons
-None that I can think of
Summary
I've been using Soulseek since 2003. I was first turned onto it by a buddy of mine in college who is a computer programmer. Since then it's been the only file-sharing service I trust. I've never had a problem finding a track or an artist; even really obscure ones or even local bands. I'm constantly amazed at how many people with great taste in music are on Soulseek keeping it running. I love the UI. Elegant in it's simplicity. The look of it hasn't changed in 10 years and I'd say that's a good thing. I've never had a problem with download speeds or it crashing on me. Highly recommend!
Soulseek 4Lyfe!!!
leaderclearsthelunarAugust 24, 2011
Pros
Extensive Live, Rare, Out-of-Print collection of music from all genres. Chat feature to get recommendations and stuff. Ability to browse other peoples' collections and d/l directly from them. No Spyware, Adware or ads.
Cons
Absolutely none.
Summary
I've been using Soulseek for about 10 years. If you're looking to download the new Justin Bieber album in about 3 minutes... stick with UTorrent. HOWEVER - If you're looking to download a Stiff Little Fingers bootleg, or a Palace EP, or a Billie Holliday record (yes, "record" - ripped from vinyl), or some German Dubstep, or some Norwegian Black Metal or some Appalachian yodeling music, or... whatever other obscure type of situation you might happen to be into, then Soulseek is for you. If you're a musician, it's also a great way to share your recordings with others. I'm sure you can find that Justin Bieber album, too. If you really want to do that to yourself, I mean. Seriously - Soulseek has a slight learning curve and the occasional technological quirk, but these only add to it's charm. <3
one of the best software ive seen yet , thank you.
ricks1949May 24, 2011
Pros
awsome....
Cons
sometimes you have to wait too long for action.
Summary
Worth dealing with the occasional quirks.
the_sheep_look_upMarch 30, 2011
Pros
Displays bitrates in search results; only rarely do I not find what I'm looking for.
Cons
Temporary freezes when search returns a lot of results, reported bitrates are occasionally wrong, overall performance somewhat clunky.
Summary
I've been using Soulseek since 2004. Mostly I use it to find and share rare, out-of-print music, and only very rarely have I come up empty-handed from a search. The fact that bitrates are reported during searches and browsing is great, although every once in a while they're not completely accurate. Aside from that, the only problem I've had with the program is that it tends to freeze up if a search returns more than a few hundred results, rendering my machine useless for a minute or two. I haven't really felt the need to use any other program for sharing since I discovered Soulseek. In the seven years I've been using it I've only had a few problems with other users. There are of course the occasional leechers as well as a few ban-happy users, but that's to be expected with as many people as are using the network. You will need to wait in queues from time to time, and yes, they can be long, but I don't really think it's fair to complain about waiting for free music. As far as speed goes, I've never gotten much more than 150kbps up or down, but for music files I think that's more than adequate. I'm only moderately computer-literate, but I never had any problems setting up or configuring slsk, it's simply a matter of setting up port-forwarding and designating share and download folders. I consider Soulseek absolutely indispensible, and despite its quirks and somewhat clunky performance, it's the only program of its kind that I bother with.

Developer’s Description

Search for and share MP3s and other files.