Pristine Audio Streaming Service

[richardfinegold]

I am assuming that most Forumites have an awareness of Pristine Audio. The company restores Historical Performances is run by Andrew Rose, a former sound man for the BBC.
In the review magazines that I read I am usually most intrigued by reviews of PA releases, and had bough a few through the years as downloads and CDs. With money allowed to travel in my bank accounts due to all plans being squashed by the Pandemic I recently bought PA "Digital Music Collection" 1 TB HD with about 1000 albums load, and no DRM strings attached.
Streaming, however, is where the money is, eh? PA now offers a service and despite the redundancy with the aforementioned collection I signed up. There are, apparently around 230 paid subscribers, it is a monthly fee, etc. It cost around twice what I am paying for Qobuz and is much less flexible. Tracks don't load well, it frequently crashes, and I've been asked several times to reenroll. I mean, I''m sure that Andrew Rose has less to spend on Customer Support than Spotify, right? It doesn't work with any streamer that I own (Bluesound Node, Cambridge Audio CXN 60, Melco N100, Apple TV) so I either use it from my phone or I AirPlay it from an iPad to the Cambridge, which since I am not a headphone fan, is the best sonic alternative. The aforementioned DMC HD, which attaches by USB, also would not play from the aforementioned streamers, but does play on my OPPO Universal Disc Player front USB port. So expect to use a computer in the chain for either of these services.
OK, technical issues aside, man there are some real treasures there. I have spent a lot of time with the Backhaus Beethoven Sonatas from the early fifties, and there is also a terrific Brahms PC2 in there as well. I find Backhaus to be a unique voice, I don't always accept his choices, etc but he has a way of playing what is usually regarded as transitional passages with a rhetoric them seem of greater import.
Other notables have been Koussevitsky/Boston in Bartok CFO, a live concert about 6 months after the premiere with stunning virtuosity, many Horenstein items. There is a backload of Toscanini, Cantelli, and various other conducts with the NBC Orchestra to be mined.
Some of it is eyebrow raising. I listened to Mischa Elman play a Vivaldi VC, circa 1932, and it just sounded so foreign, but by the end of the piece was engaged. In the end musicality triumphs, regardless of style, recording techniques, etc

[Dave2002]

Interesting. i wish sites like this https://pristinestreaming.com/app would actually indicate the prices before trying to persuade prospective customers to explore and sign up. The 2 Gbyte hard drive seems to cost around £1000 - or that order anyway.
From what you have written I'm guessing that the cheapest monthly subscription would be at least £10 per month in the UK.

[richardfinegold]

Interesting. i wish sites like this https://pristinestreaming.com/app would actually indicate the prices before trying to persuade prospective customers to explore and sign up. The 2 Gbyte hard drive seems to cost around £1000 - or that order anyway.
From what you have written I'm guessing that the cheapest monthly subscription would be at least £10 per month in the UK.

When I try to log into the site to verify the pricing, it goes to my membership status, so I can't recheck the pricing, but that sounds about right. We are in an era where we know have to pay for everything a la carte. I am paying for my Pristine membership with the money saved from canceling my Spotify subscription, after listening to Joe Rogan antivax stance, about 2 months before Neil Young made that a fashionable thing to do.

A few nights ago my I wanted to watch a movie from 1974, called The Front Page (after reading an article about Billy Wilder). I subscribe to Apple, Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. None of them
carried the flic. My daughter tells me that if I want to see such prehistoric fare that I probably need a "Classic Movie's" streaming app. Oh well I use the Pristine service for several hours a week
so I can tolerate the fee, but they do offer a free trial. Anyway, I thought Forumistas in particular might want to investigate

[richardfinegold]

I’ve been playing the Mravinsky set of the Tchaikovsky Symphonies lately. I had never liked this set previously. A primary reason were the Sonics, with the Orchestra sounding as if it was in a closet, and greatly truncated bass and treble. The second reason was Mravinsky—his nervous anxiety made 4-6 sound like one continuous piece of music. His approach works best in the Fifth but 4&6 could stand a little more sun peaking in.
Pristine mastering solves the first issue. There is now a sensation of space between the instruments and a more natural balance. The remasterings can’t do anything about the Conductor, but in these dark days with Putin attempting to enslave Ukraine I find it morbidly appropriate.

[Bryn]

I’ve been playing the Mravinsky set of the Tchaikovsky Symphonies lately. I had never liked this set previously. A primary reason were the Sonics, with the Orchestra sounding as if it was in a closet, and greatly truncated bass and treble. The second reason was Mravinsky—his nervous anxiety made 4-6 sound like one continuous piece of music. His approach works best in the Fifth but 4&6 could stand a little more sun peaking in.
Pristine mastering solves the first issue. There is now a sensation of space between the instruments and a more natural balance. The remasterings can’t do anything about the Conductor, but in these dark days with Putin attempting to enslave Ukraine I find it morbidly appropriate.

I take it that this is the later stereo set you refer to since the earlier mono set had Sanderling for the 4th. I am surprised that you found the sound of the DG issue consgricted. That may have applied to the mono set, but not the stereo, I feel.

[richardfinegold]

I take it that this is the later stereo set you refer to since the earlier mono set had Sanderling for the 4th. I am surprised that you found the sound of the DG issue consgricted. That may have applied to the mono set, but not the stereo, I feel.

I really think the original recording was awful, although I never heard it in on CD. If you read the review of the Pristine remaster on their website, you will see that this is not an unusual opinion, which is why I suppose that Pristine decided to have a go at it