Bargains

[johnb]

Spotify Premium is 320k. Apple Music is 256k, but a supposedly more efficient codec so similar quality. Qobuz, which I subscribe to, is either 320k MP3, or FLAC lossless. I subscribe to the lossless service.

Just a word of caution about Spotify. It used to be the case that less than half their catalogue was actually available as 320 kbps, so people would be paying for Premium but, at times, streaming 160 kbps believing it was 320 kbps. There was no indication of this on the Spotify website and the only way to tell was if you used a utility on your computer that gave the internet kbps being used. However, Spotify then made a major effort to make 320 kbps available for the majority of its albums.

These days Spotify probably does stream all albums as 320 kbps but I no longer subscribe it its Premium account so I can't test it. It is just something to be aware of - just because a company says it streams at a certain bit rate doesn't necessarily mean that it does so on 100% of the albums.

(Oh and another thing about Spotify - make sure you switch off the dreadful volume normalisation which used to be on by default.)

[Bryn]

QOBUZ are currently offering the new Rachel Podger double album of Biber's Rosary Sonatas in Hi Res (up to 192/24) to UK registered users for £8.59. Apparfently, despite being situated in the home counties of England, my IP address is registered as being in France by QOBUZ. Thus, when I tried to purchase the download at that price, what I was presented with the considerably higher price of €13.59. A series of email exchanges with QOBUZ has eventually resulted in thier saying they are unable to change my account from being France based to UK based until the end of my current subscription, and thus the UK offer with they emailed me with is not actually availlable to me. However, they have made the download available to me free of charge as a gesture of goodwill. Best of luck to those hoping to take advantage of the current UK reduced price. It will only remain available for the next 11 days.

http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/biber-rosary-sonatas-rachel-podger-marcin-swiatkiewicz-david-miller-jonathan-manson/0723385373155

[Bryn]

Anyone fancy mp3 downloads of the complete Haydn string quartets for £7.99 (or an even more amazing $2.99 over The Pond?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Haydn-Complete-String-Quartets-VoxMegaBox/dp/B00YS60H6E/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1443639018&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=Haydn%3A+Complete+String+Quartets

http://www.amazon.com/Haydn-Complete-Quartets-VoxMegaBox-Edition/dp/B00YRDOGKQ/ref=pd_sim_340_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=03ZJYQ0AABDJWC6HE6WZ&dpID=51XYkrFCbeL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_

[Stunsworth]

Ok, there's a but of qualification to this, but...

If you have a Qobuz France Sublime account you can get the complete Warners Itzhak Perlman edition - 25 CDs worth - in high resolution 24/96 recordings - for 40 Euros...

http://www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/album/the-complete-warner-recordings-1972-1980-itzhak-perlman/0825646050741?qref=dpa

Downloading as I speak.

[Bryn]

Ok, there's a but of qualification to this, but...

If you have a Qobuz France Sublime account you can get the complete Warners Itzhak Perlman edition - 25 CDs worth - in high resolution 24/96 recordings - for 40 Euros...

http://www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/album/the-complete-warner-recordings-1972-1980-itzhak-perlman/0825646050741?qref=dpa

Downloading as I speak.

Better be quick if you want to take advantage. The offer only has one day to go before it ends.

[Dave2002]

Anyone fancy mp3 downloads of the complete Haydn string quartets for £7.99 (or an even more amazing $2.99 over The Pond?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Haydn-Complete-String-Quartets-VoxMegaBox/dp/B00YS60H6E/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1443639018&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=Haydn%3A+Complete+String+Quartets

http://www.amazon.com/Haydn-Complete...0_SR160%2C160_

For anyone able to access the "over the pond" digital music site this is a very good deal. I'm less sure in the UK, but I'm biased because I have the Allegri quartet download set as an Autorip to go with the CDs. Also, the Dekany Quartet can be found playing Haydn on streaming sites, such as Apple Music.

I've not heard of the Dekany Quartet before, and can't find much about them.

For anyone who hasn't already got a set of Haydn quartets I'd say go for it. The performances (sampled from streaming sites) are definitely beguiling, so - even if you have a Haydn set already.

A few more mp3s - Taneyev Quartet playing Schubert quartets for £4.99 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Str...artet+Schubert Seems to have good reviews. [can be sampled on Apple Music - and probably other streaming sites such as https://open.spotify.com/track/6CqpBAgFOMCBBN6CLfgtTm

This is also available on iTunes for £5.99, for anyone who prefers Apple formats. This really does seem to be a good buy in either mp3 (amazon - £4.99 UK/$4.49 US) or aac formats.

Big Haydn box with older Vanguard recordings - some very good ones - £7.99 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Big-Haydn-Bo...=Big+Haydn+box

Big Haydn Symphonies box - similar - but concentrating on symphonies - £9.99 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Big-Haydn-Sy...=Big+Haydn+box Includes some performances which might be difficult to get any other way now - such as David Blum's recordings and also the lively performances by Janigro. This is only 99 Cents for US buyers at the .com site!

Big Mahler box - as above - mostly symphonies played by the Utah SO conducted by Abravanel - £8.99 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Big-Mahler-B...Big+Mahler+box This is not such a great deal unless anyone really wants Abravanel's performances, as it's quite easy to get very good Mahler performances/recordings on CD or downloads now for rather low prices.

Several of the mp3s are currently very cheap on the US amazon.com site, and there are additional collections probably not available in the UK - e.g Big Schumann box.

[MickyD]

Here's a great bargain for those who don't have Carmignola's Sony recordings...wonderful performances, 7 CDs for such a low price.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00TQNMCGC/ref=pd_luc_rh_sbs_02_03_t_img_lh?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

[Beef Oven!]

Here's a great bargain for those who don't have Carmignola's Sony recordings...wonderful performances, 7 CDs for such a low price.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00TQNMCG...ing=UTF8&psc=1

I saw that A little while back, but it duplicates too many of the recordings that I bought last year

[MickyD]

Me too, Beefy - I just want the Locatelli disc, which seems to be available very cheaply. Nonetheless, the box is a remarkable bargain.

[Stanfordian]

Here's a great bargain for those who don't have Carmignola's Sony recordings...wonderful performances, 7 CDs for such a low price.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00TQNMCG...ing=UTF8&psc=1

Hiya MickyD,

You are so right. I'm a great admirer of Carmignola and have seen him perform twice with the Dresden Festival Orchestra. For lovers of period instruments these recordings are top-drawer.

[Beef Oven!]

Me too, Beefy - I just want the Locatelli disc, which seems to be available very cheaply. Nonetheless, the box is a remarkable bargain.

Remarkable indeed, as we have remarked!

Warner Classics are dishing out many sets of remarkable value. Let's hope Tippett's 'Mask of Time' is soon.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Warner Classics are dishing out many sets of remarkable value. Let's hope Tippett's 'Mask of Time' is soon.

It'll probably be included in a 20 CD boxed set - with the other 18 already in your collection!


(This evening's "little ray of sunshine" was brought to you today by ferneyFun.co)

[Stunsworth]

The Complete Shostakovich symphonies by Petrenko and the Liverpool Phil on Naxos for under a tenner as a download from Qobuz...

http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/shostakovich-the-complete-symphonies-vasily-petrenko-royal-liverpool-philharmonic-orchestra/0730099111140

[Beef Oven!]

It'll probably be included in a 20 CD boxed set - with the other 18 already in your collection

(This evening's "little ray of sunshine" was brought to you today by ferneyFun.co)

[Bryn]

The Complete Shostakovich symphonies by Petrenko and the Liverpool Phil on Naxos for under a tenner as a download from Qobuz...

http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/sho.../0730099111140

Slightly cheaper (£9.23, even after Paypal's less than competitive exchange rate) if paid for in Euros via the French version of the site.

The pdf of the booklet is a bit of a pain, The first scan offers pages 28 and 29, followed by 30 and 27 ... .