Bargains

[richardfinegold]

rfg

I hadn't realised thqt you didn't already have the Mercury 1 box set. Like you I didn't bite the first time round, but here in the UK it did come round a 2nd time maybe a year ago. There are some really nice things in box 1 - I was less sure of box 2, though I succumbed eventually.

i was more interested in the second box because of the Paray items, but the first box does seem to have the better collection. Wonderful sounding recordings.

[Don Petter]

I've bought a handful of CDs since Amazon started their 'Auto-Rip' which immediately puts an mp3 version onto your Cloud Player site, and I'm finding this tends to dampen the pleasure of the new items somewhat.

By the time the actual CD arrives I tend to have dipped into the mp3 files and listened to at least some of the content, albeit only through the PC extension speakers, so the excitement of opening and hearing the new acquisition for the first time is lessened.

How do others use the new facility? Perhaps I should be more disciplined.

[hafod]

How do others use the new facility? Perhaps I should be more disciplined.

I ignore it.

[Dave2002]

By the time the actual CD arrives I tend to have dipped into the mp3 files and listened to at least some of the content, albeit only through the PC extension speakers, so the excitement of opening and hearing the new acquisition for the first time is lessened.

How do others use the new facility? Perhaps I should be more disciplined.

I have only a few CDs bought this way. If there's a chance to get the CD cheaper - maybe from a market place seller - I'd perhaps take it, though if there's not much in it I'd go for the Amazon version with Autorip. It is possible sometimes to save £4 or so per CD by not buying with the Autorip option.

I can't say I worry about this much. If the price is right I'm very happy to be able to listen right away, and since it also works via an iPad that can be useful for mobile use too. I have to remember to download, so as to cope with areas where streaming is not really an option, because of unavailable hotspots and intermittent 3G service. Of course I always hope that the sound quality will be better from the CD, otherwise I might simply buy sometimes cheaper downloads. If I use one of my laptops at home I can now easily feed the sound via an optical cable to my DAC, and thence to my amp and speakers, and the sound quality can be good enough. Almost instant gratification!

[muzzer]

I have the membran Nielsen set. Have never really got into Nielsen but this set is a complete barg at a tenner for ten discs - all relatively new recordings. Any boarders with views on Nielsen?

[Beef Oven!]

I've bought a handful of CDs since Amazon started their 'Auto-Rip' which immediately puts an mp3 version onto your Cloud Player site, and I'm finding this tends to dampen the pleasure of the new items somewhat.

By the time the actual CD arrives I tend to have dipped into the mp3 files and listened to at least some of the content, albeit only through the PC extension speakers, so the excitement of opening and hearing the new acquisition for the first time is lessened.

How do others use the new facility? Perhaps I should be more disciplined.

I try to buy downloads to save space, but when the download is dearer and the CD comes with autorip, it makes sense to buy the CD. When the CD comes, it's a total anti-climax and a good number of my purchases are still in the shrink-wrap because I've already palyed the music over in autorip.

I need to do what haford does, and ignore autorip

[mathias broucek]

I have the membran Nielsen set. Have never really got into Nielsen but this set is a complete barg at a tenner for ten discs - all relatively new recordings. Any boarders with views on Nielsen?

I enjoyed the Membran set. The Blomstedt/San Francisco recordings of the symphonies are better still but you can't knock Membran at the price.

If you want to explore further, the string quartets are quite nice.

[hafod]

I need to do what haford does, and ignore autorip

In fairness I should enlarge on that. I did not ask for autorip (which, imv, is a cynical attempt to get more punters into downloading by offering a 'freebie'), and therefore I lose nothing by ignoring it. To be honest there are also practical reasons. My much loved Creek amplifier is almost 25 years old and I am completely attuned to the sound it produces. There is therefore the physical problem of getting the content of the download from my laptop into the hifi system. I am also a believer in 'if it ain't broke then don't fix it' and accordingly I am loathe to replace it (or worse, clutter up my study with another box of tricks).

Next, as a fully paid-up member of the Hunter Davies fan club, I am equally loathe to spend money on something I neither need nor want especially if it is prompted by the marketing ploy of a tax-dodging multinational.

Finally, as I sit in my study/music room almost completely lined with groaning shelves full to the brim with CDs and LPs, I know where everything (well, almost everything) is. I can put my hand on it (and the booklet) without having to look at a screen to try to find what I want (and probably fail). There is also a very pleasing feeling to be had looking around at these shelves and their contents which reminds me of the Anthony Powell title, 'Books Do Furnish a Room'. That cannot be said for downloads or ebooks.

All this being so it becomes easy to ignore the 'autorip' facility.

HOWEVER, somebody told me that I should be able to download 'autorip' onto a memory stick and use that in the USB port of my car stereo. I have no idea whether this is true but rather doubt it because it would involve no additional expenditure. Perhaps someone could kindly enlighten me.

[muzzer]

Thanks for the tip MB.

Hafod if you click the autorip option it i think gives you the choice of where to store it on your 'puter and once it's on there you can copy it onto a stick. I similarly can't conceive of downloads as occupying real space and time, and therefore can't really relate, though I have plenty. Books do indeed furnish a room. Or a house, even......

[teamsaint]

the best use i have found for auto rip so far is that everything i have bought from the tax dodgers in the past is automatically on Cloud, and therefore on my kindle, which might be handy when travelling, or whatever.

I use the kindle for surfing etc NOT for buying stuff from them, BTW.

[Dave2002]

I
HOWEVER, somebody told me that I should be able to download 'autorip' onto a memory stick and use that in the USB port of my car stereo. I have no idea whether this is true but rather doubt it because it would involve no additional expenditure. Perhaps someone could kindly enlighten me.

You certainly should be able to download the MP3s and use them in other devices, such as a USB stick inserted into a suitable player. If your car stereo supports this it should work.

Re "tax dodgers", I'm getting a bit tired of this. Amazon are not perfect, and recently there have been concerns about the way they treat their staff. In one sense the term "tax dodgers" might be correct, as perhaps they should pay more, but in terms of whether they pay what is required I believe it is the case that they do. If HMRC haven't done a better deal, surely the responsibility lies with them as much as Amazon.

[Sir Velo]

I have the membran Nielsen set. Have never really got into Nielsen but this set is a complete barg at a tenner for ten discs - all relatively new recordings. Any boarders with views on Nielsen?

Some views on Nielsen here. The thread got a bit heated over the relative merits of the Gilbert set against the Blomstedt inter alia but is well worth reading for all that.

[teamsaint]

You certainly should be able to download the MP3s and use them in other devices, such as a USB stick inserted into a suitable player. If your car stereo supports this it should work.

Re "tax dodgers", I'm getting a bit tired of this. Amazon are not perfect, and recently there have been concerns about the way they treat their staff. In one sense the term "tax dodgers" might be correct, as perhaps they should pay more, but in terms of whether they pay what is required I believe it is the case that they do. If HMRC haven't done a better deal, surely the responsibility lies with them as much as Amazon.

this conversation is probably for somewhere else, but IMO part of the problem is to do with power and power relationships.
Amazon have the money and power to cut deals, employ ultra smart accountants, and play governments off against each other.

Other legitimate, efficient and honest businesses don't have that clout, and suffer a competitive disadvantage as a result.
A race to the bottom is surely something to be avoided?

[hafod]

Amazon can afford to largely set it's own rules. That is what big business generally does - self first and self for ever after for as long as they can get away with it with the occassional token gesture milked by their publicity machine for all its worth. As suggested above, HMRC is not blameless. As an organization the latter also behaves rather like big business - one rule heavily enforced to the letter for the small fry and deals for the big fish - pure hypocracy.

Sorry to go off topic. Herewith a bargain (of sorts) by way of apology.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Symphonies-Box-22cd-Bohm/dp/B00BK40R1M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387490299&sr=8-1&keywords=B00BK40R1M

[Dave2002]

Other legitimate, efficient and honest businesses don't have that clout, and suffer a competitive disadvantage as a result.
A race to the bottom is surely something to be avoided?

By the rules of the game surely Amazon is honest. You appear not to like the rules.

Actually neither do I, but what would you replace the current "system" with?