Bargains

[Bryn]

Re. the missing pdf, may I suggest you advise QOBUZ of this by email. They are quite happy to communicate in English. Looks like an oversight to me. I got the pdf with my WAVs.

[Dave2002]

Re. the missing pdf, may I suggest you advise QOBUZ of this by email. They are quite happy to communicate in English. Looks like an oversight to me. I got the pdf with my WAVs.

Thanks for the suggestion. As far as I could see it didn't come down in the ZIP file - not got some strange name has it?

I'll probably do as you suggest - and if that fails I know where to come/go!

[Stanfordian]

There is a very comprehensive, if somewhat negative, review among the customer offerings at amazon.co.uk. Tintagel is the name to look for.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mariss-Janso...nsons+rco+live

Hiya Bryn,

I think the limited edition box set 'Mariss-Jansons live - Radio-Recordings - 1990-2014 Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra' it's quite stunning with a real consistency of excellent performances. Not a single dud in the set. Arguably the world's finest conducter and the world's finest orchestra. Yes, they have left in the applause.

[Bryn]

Hiya Bryn,

I think the limited edition box set 'Mariss-Jansons live - Radio-Recordings - 1990-2014 Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra' it's quite stunning with a real consistency of excellent performances. Not a single dud in the set. Arguably the world's finest conducter and the world's finest orchestra. Yes, they have left in the applause.

I have not had time to listen to much of it as yet, but what I have sampled has not disappointed in the least. Just sorry that, having opted for the low priced lossless download, I miss out on the Mahler 4 due to it being a DVD. Shame the audio was not extracted and made part of the download.

[Dave2002]

I have not had time to listen to much of it as yet, but what I have sampled has not disappointed in the least. Just sorry that, having opted for the low priced lossless download, I miss out on the Mahler 4 due to it being a DVD. Shame the audio was not extracted and made part of the download.

Yes, but against that you have about £60 "saved" to spend on other things - if you wish. Anyway, like me you've probably got a dozen Mahler 4s already. The one in my car is also Concertgebouw - Mengelberg + Jo VIncent - from a charity shop. I didn't even find the Rachmaninov 2 as bad as the finnicky reviewer suggested - though s/he may be right. I didn't notice the cuts s/he mentions, but that doesn't mean s/he was wrong - I still enjoyed it.

[Bryn]

Yes, but against that you have about £60 "saved" to spend on other things - if you wish. Anyway, like me you've probably got a dozen Mahler 4s already. The one in my car is also Concertgebouw - Mengelberg + Jo VIncent - from a charity shop. I didn't even find the Rachmaninov 2 as bad as the finnicky reviewer suggested - though s/he may be right. I didn't notice the cuts s/he mentions, but that doesn't mean s/he was wrong - I still enjoyed it.

There is this, however. which may or may not be the performance on the DVD but has the same soloist.

[alycidon]

I'm on holiday in Southern Scotland and popped into a junk shop in Selkirk. Came out with three CDs at £1.00 each - two were second-hand, but the third was unused and still cellophane wrapped.

It was the Deutsche Gramophon Pergolesi Stabat Mater, so I call that a bargain.

[robk]

I downloaded the Jansons set today. It fills in some gaps in my library which justifies the modest cost. I used the FLAC option as individual files not the ZIP and the PDF file is present. I found that the title tag sometimes contains multiple descriptions of the track separated by a colon - took a while to tidy that up. Enjoying the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra at the moment.

[Bryn]

Further to http://www.for3.org/forums/showthrea...156#post509156 , there is a real bargain among the QOBUZ Feldman downloads. Rohan de Saram and Marianne Schroeder's 2 disc recordings of Patterns in a Chromatic Field (a little over 105 minutes) costs just £7.99 for the lossless 44.1/16 option. Alternatively, amazon.co.uk have mp3 downloads for £3.96. The discs, if you can find them, tend to cost a great deal more.

[Dave2002]

Further to http://www.for3.org/forums/showthrea...156#post509156 , there is a real bargain among the QOBUZ Feldman downloads. Rohan de Saram and Marianne Schroeder's 2 disc recordings of Patterns in a Chromatic Field (a little over 105 minutes) costs just £7.99 for the lossless 44.1/16 option. Alternatively, amazon.co.uk have mp3 downloads for £3.96. The discs, if you can find them, tend to cost a great deal more.

That piece is available in Apple Music and also in Spotify.
Search for "Rohan de Saram", or here is the Spotify link - https://open.spotify.com/track/4QyvHvcxilK0YbQvL0o1r9

[Bryn]

That piece is available in Apple Music and also in Spotify.
Search for "Rohan de Saram", or here is the Spotify link - https://open.spotify.com/track/4QyvHvcxilK0YbQvL0o1r9

What data rate is that? I read that even Spotify Premium often only offers 160kbps. If that is the case, it's not really comparable to what is on offer from QOBUZ, or even amazon.co.uk.

[Dave2002]

What data rate is that? I read that even Spotify Premium often only offers 160kbps. If that is the case, it's not really comparable to what is on offer from QOBUZ, or even amazon.co.uk.

Several issues there. I don't know what the data rates actually are in either Apple or Spotify, though "advertised" rates are I think supposed to be about 256 and 320. I have experience of several of these streaming systems - including also Deezer, the Sony one, and Napster. In the past some of the low bit rate ones didn't sound good, but TBH it's often not the bit rate which seems to be the problem, but other factors - probably poor transfers or poor compression. A lot will also depend on the playback equipment, and whether one has "golden" ears.

I wasn't actually suggesting that anyone who really cares about sound quality should not buy the Qobuz or Amazon downloads, but trying to point out that (a) if one wishes to make an acquaintance with the music without rushing to purchase then that is possible and (b) some may find the streaming services perfectly acceptable for their purposes or enjoyment. I doubt that better sound quality is going to persuade too many people if they discover they really don't like the music anyway - having spent even just a few pounds doing the download.

[teamsaint]

this bargain MP3 download of Requiems does actually look like its the whole lot ( 16 CDs worth) for £7.99.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Requiem-Ockeghem-Purcell-Cherubini-Schumann/dp/B0141OZ2SA/ref=sr_1_47?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1443393289&sr=1-47&keywords=box+set

and here's a shed load of second hand Mozart for £30.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mozart-Complete-Works-CD_Rom-libretti/dp/B000A0HFZS/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1443393520&sr=1-4&keywords=mozart+box

[Stunsworth]

What data rate is that? I read that even Spotify Premium often only offers 160kbps. If that is the case, it's not really comparable to what is on offer from QOBUZ, or even amazon.co.uk.

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.

[Cockney Sparrow]

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.

And, to add another, for Google Play Music All access (£10/month) - Per Google:
Google Play Music streaming quality (bit rate) depends on the speed of your Internet connection. If you have a faster connection, you can play music at up to 320Kbps.

For Naxos Music library - the rate via my Local Library sub is said to be 64kbs but it doesn't sound evidently deficient to me ( I do wonder how that is - I don't like speech recordings (off Radio 4, for example) at rates much less than 128kbs. If you take out an individual subscription the rate is stated to be 128kbs.