Presto Classical - anyone else had problems?

[Dave2002]

... agreed. But then - sometimes the Quest for the Almost Unavailable becomes entrancing in its own right. The joy when I have - finally - tracked down the Very Rare Almost Unobtainable CD (from some obscure source... )

PS -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Virtuoso-Recorder-Amsterdam-Stardust-Quartet/dp/B00000E2XQ

or

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Italian-Recorder-Amsterdam-Stardust-1991-11-12/dp/B01K8L1LIU

.

Thanks - I had one already, but the other fills a gap, I think.

I don't quite share MickyD's enthusiasm for chasing down CDs because the suppliers are forcing almost everything onto streaming. Ebay sometimes works.
I suppose one way - which I wasn't intending to test here, but we clearly have an example - is to put a request for anything really obscure into these parts and see what others can find.

Thanks again, for checking this one.

[MickyD]

Well, yes, it is always a thrill to find long sought-after CDs, but don't get me wrong, Dave, I would much rather they were still readily available!

As I mentioned in a previous post yesterday, the Naive Vivaldi cycle is a case in point - they have only reached two thirds of the way through the series but already some of the earlier releases are impossible to find on CD, or if you do find one via Amazon, they are at sky-high prices. I don't understand it from the marketing point of view, unless as you say, they are forcing everyone to stream. It seems a pity when this series is so beautifully presented in its physical form.

[richardfinegold]

Never had a faulty CD?

I can honestly say that I have never had a problem with a CD

[Old Grumpy]

Had the occasional CD "skipping", this could of course be the reader and not the CD itself. One CD I ripped onto a PC for personal use had all the track listings in Japanese - though the insert was in English.

[gurnemanz]

Never had a faulty CD?

I think only one of my many CDs is faulty: Teldec Tchaikovsky Str Quartets twofer with Borodin Qtt. One of the the discs actually physically partially split from the centre outwards as I removed it from the case's central hub. The split went about a centimetre into the playing section. Some of those hubs grip the disc quite tightly and a small amount of bending is needed as you remove the disc. This pressure must have been enough to damage it. The usual fault with those hubs is that they don't grip firmly enough or the tiny gripping teeth get snapped off.

I attempted to repair the disc with great technical prowess - sticking a bit of sellotape over the crack on the non-playing side. It didn't play on my CD player but actually did play on my CDR recorder/player, which must have better error compensation.

[Maclintick]

I've not had any issues with Presto, although virtually all my purchases have been downloads. CDs I have found to be 99.9 % problem-free, with one exception that I encountered in the big EMI RVW/Boult box the other day, which skipped continually in the finale of the 'Pastoral'. I'd bought it years ago, so no possibility of a return, but it ripped in perfectly, however, so no real hardship. Error-correction is a thing of wonder.

[Dave2002]

I attempted to repair the disc with great technical prowess - sticking a bit of sellotape over the crack on the non-playing side. It didn't play on my CD player but actually did play on my CDR recorder/player, which must have better error compensation.

Wow - really surprised that this worked at all - well done! Even quite severe scratches can be cleaned up well enough to be able to make a digital copy, but I wouldn’t fancy the chances for a split.

[gurnemanz]

Wow - really surprised that this worked at all - well done! Even quite severe scratches can be cleaned up well enough to be able to make a digital copy, but I wouldn’t fancy the chances for a split.

Just checked. I hadn't tried the disc for a few years and, sure enough, it didn't play! I had left myself a note inside saying "Plays on CDR" so I must have got it to play at least once. Managed to play Track 2 the famous Andante cantabile.

[silvestrione]

I ordered from Presto the latest Benjamin Grosvenor CD late yesterday morning, and it's just been delivered!

[Jonathan]

I never used to have any bother ordering from them however, recently I've ordered 2 pieces of sheet music and have twice received messages saying the delivery has been delayed - so full marks for communication! It took a few weeks but all the music did arrive but I was puzzled by the delay.

[akiralx]

The problem of missing parts from downloads and streaming is by no means restricted to Presto. I have encountered several such problems on QOBUZ, some of which are dealt with satisfactorily, and some of which are not. In general, they appear to be down to a lack of quality control on the files they are sent by the recording companies.

Yes, I noticed that Presto's download of Plasson's EMI Saint-Saens Organ Symphony actually had two movements duplicated (i.e. one was missing), and the same error was replicated on other sites so the error was presumably EMI/Warner's. I ended up getting the CD from eBay but I generally prefer hirez downloads.

[Mal]

The problem of missing parts from downloads and streaming is by no means restricted to Presto. I have encountered several such problems on QOBUZ, some of which are dealt with satisfactorily, and some of which are not. In general, they appear to be down to a lack of quality control on the files they are sent by the recording companies.

Haven't encountered any "missing parts" problems with Spotify in the last few months, when I've been a frequent user. Might be worth comparing their entry with QOBUZs, that might help determine if it's a supplier problem or a platform problem. Maybe Spotify, being "the biggest", would get more complaints and might fix things quicker?

[richardfinegold]

Ever since they went to a paid streaming service the “free app” part of their service stopped working. When I try to access it I get requests to pay for a streaming service

[jonfan]

For physical cds I suggest Europadisc; usually quicker and much cheaper.

[kindofblue]

For physical cds I suggest Europadisc; usually quicker and much cheaper.

And of course they're based in Nottingham, which has got to be a good thing.