A (hopeful) beginner's guide to downloading

[rauschwerk]

Very enthusiastic for downloads for a few years, largely due to the attractions of hi-res i.e. 24/96/48/44.1 etc. Find it hard to understand why classical music lovers who happily bought CDs for years accepted a downgrade to MP3... hate them ...

Yes, Jayne, but we all know what an exceptionally particular listener you are! Reading that the Achilles heel of mp3 encoding is transients, I went to The Classical Shop and did a lossless download of a harpsichord recital, which entitled me to a free 320k mp3 version. My ears are pretty good (except for age-related high frequency loss) and, to be perfectly honest, I couldn't hear any difference between the two versions. Any sceptic can try this on their own ears!

That said, I generally go for lossless as it costs hardly any more and file size is hardly an issue these days. The biggest pain associated with downloads is the booklet, especially those with sung texts. It's ridiculously difficult to print a downloaded booklet in a convenient format. That, even more than tagging, is the issue that record companies should tackle.

[MrBear]

I really want to go with downloading but aint for many reasons mainly financial others health based and I will not contemplate lower than cd quality or equipment that makes noise
I need to use a desktop pc quite ones costs more than I am willing spend then the investment in storage media along with dac cables so can connect to hi-fi
Really put off by the idea to listen to a downloaded piece of music I have to wait to boot up a pc or other device find the file Is quicker to get a CD off the shelf and pop it in player
When I have some money to spend on hardware I am going to buy CD player along with a signal processor graphic equalizer and maybe a dac and then upgrade speakers and amp and with all these consider wether to stay stereo or go multi channel only then would I consider spending on hardware specific to downloads I will certainly be looking at devices that can stream etc along the way but I want to buy stuff that will last my current hi-fi is

[Don Petter]

Well, I don't think kernelbogey has got his 'Beginner's Guide to Downloading', but, as may be seen from some of the answers, the process can cover a whole multitude of sources and a whole multitude of destinations, both depending on the requirements of the user. (He may not even have waded through all the posts, since those trying to offer some helpful information were outnumbered by those of the political axe-grinders, as is often the case.) In truth, a simple guide, in any general sense, doesn't seem possible.

For any particular user, once their sequence of processes and conversions is established, the activity becomes routine and to them seems simple enough. However, for anyone not knowing, or wanting to know, anything about the various compressed and uncompressed file formats, it may well not seem worth the bother of even dipping a toe.

The advantages for those who do download rather than purchase the plastic disc include the possibility of higher technical quality and lesser cost, perhaps coupled with the immediate availability.

All of this, and the thread so far, relates to downloading as alternative to disc, but it's worth pointing out that there is a vast quantity of public domain recordings freely available on-line from sources such as private bloggers and YouTube. Many of these are of great musical or historical interest and otherwise just not available.

Some examples I have recently discovered are Max Rostal playing chamber music by Franz Reizenstein, the first ever recording of the Franck String Quartet, Milhaud conducting his 'Joys of Life' and 'Globetrotter Suite', Stravinsky's Capriccio with Sanroma and Koussevitsky, Robert Palmer's First Piano Quartet, Albeniz's 'Iberia' played by the Cuban prodigy José Echániz, and Enesco conducting his own String Octet. The list seems endless, with genres for all tastes.

This is where I find downloading to be indispensable.

[Stunsworth]

...it's worth pointing out that there is a vast quantity of public domain recordings freely available on-line from sources such as private bloggers and YouTube. Many of these are of great musical or historical interest and otherwise just not available

My favourite find on YouTube remains a wartime recording from Berlin with Gieseking in Beethoven 5th PC.

Well recorded stereo with the sound of artillery clearly audible in the background...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY7lvuVjjX4

[kernelbogey]

I hope that experienced downloaders might be willing to share some of their wisdom, signpost other threads, make encouraging offstage noises, direct one to good sites etc.

Away from the boards for a few days and I return to such riches! Not yet read all, let alone digested.... many thanks to all who've contributed.

BW, kb

[jayne lee wilson]

Noting Don Petter's comments above, I would just emphasise Pristine Classical's website http://www.pristineclassical.com/ as a terrific source of advice. Look under "getting started & getting help" and you'll find a VERY comprehensive what-it-is-and-how-to-do-it about every shade of download...

Music ain't bad either.

[Don Petter]

Noting Don Petter's comments above, I would just emphasise Pristine Classical's website http://www.pristineclassical.com/ as a terrific source of advice. Look under "getting started & getting help" and you'll find a VERY comprehensive what-it-is-and-how-to-do-it about every shade of download...

Music ain't bad either.

Agreed. I haven't meant in any sense to to put people off by mentioning some of the possible difficulties, and Pristine will be found most helpful, with a personal service not forthcoming from some of the other sources. A good place to start.