The Classical Download Thread

Started by Mark, June 03, 2007, 02:04:37 PM

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stingo

Quobuz has 10 Harmonia Mundi albums for free just now.

Klavier

Quote from: Papy Oli on April 30, 2020, 07:05:52 AM
Quick question for the Qobuz users please:

I have played around with Qobuz since yesterday in three different ways since setting the account:

1 - their Web player as a tab in my Opera browser on the laptop
2 - their android app on my phone
3 - their windows 64-bit app on the laptop as well

I used (1) most of yesterday for the searches and that worked perfectly. Same for (2) today. e.g. If i do a search for "Naive Vivaldi", click "See All Releases", I get a first set of 20-ish results and then go arrow down to load the next page of results and so on.

In (3), the windows app, however, the second page of results does not load up when i scroll down. I am only left with the first 20 results.

Are you or have you experienced anything similar please ?

Thank you.
I haven't had that particular problem with their app. Mine was worse: it kept freezing or would simply shut down on my Windows-based laptop! I eventually switched to Audirvana's software for streaming and hi-res downloads. No problems at all. I understand their new Studio version is not as good, so I'd recommend Audirvana 3+ if they still offer it. Before Audirvana I tried Roon, which worked better than Qobuz's app, but it's rather expensive and doesn't allow users to create playlists, which was a deal breaker for me. I don't know if the current version offers that option or not.

dhibbard

OLARI ELTS CONDUCTS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF ERKKI-SVEN TÜÜR'S WORK IN PORTUGAL
19.10.2022
Erkki-Sven Tüür's "Mare Lacrimarum" for big band and large ensemble will be performed by Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos and Casa da Música's in-house group Remix Ensemble under the direction of Olari Elts on October 23 at the Casa da Música concert hall in Porto.

The history of the work goes back to 2019, when Olari Elts conducted Tüür's 5th Symphony at the Casa da Música, after which the artistic director of the concert hall, António Jorge Pacheco, expressed an urgent desire for a new work that – like the 5th Symphony – would involve a big band. With a new work, composer had the idea to pay homage to his onetime inspirers – British prog rock bands. "Mare Lacrimarum" ("Sea of Tears") is dedicated to the victims of war crimes committed by the Russian army in Ukraine. The concert program also includes works by Magnus Lindberg, Lotta Wennäkoski and Anders Hillborg.

badflautist

#883
I haven't done any downloading yet, but am considering it seeing more and more on Presto not available on cd any more, and the temptation of hi res flac files.
I would download to Windows 10 laptop, store on USB stick, play with Windows media player via USB to usb-b input on my Dacmagic 100.
Would that work or are there technical complications I am unaware of?
Eg, would that mean that Media player would do the analogue conversion although I want the digital data input to the dac?

Spotted Horses

Quote from: badflautist on April 11, 2023, 02:10:07 AMI haven't done any downloading yet, but am considering it seeing more and more on Presto not available on cd any more, and the temptation of hi res flac files.
I would download to Windows 10 laptop, store on USB stick, play with Windows media player via USB to usb-b input on my Dacmagic 100.
Would that work or are there technical complications I am unaware of?
Eg, would that mean that Media player would do the analogue conversion although I want the digital data input to the dac?

Probably that would be fine (assuming media player supports FLAC). When I was using a PC I didn't use media player, I used foobar2000, which is a free program for streaming audio. I think it is better at allowing you to pick streaming options, rather than assuming the operating system knows best. For instance, I am setup so that my media player sends my audio files straight to the DAC at their native resolution, while all of the operating sounds (various clicks and pings when I open files etc, audio from web sites) go the computer's built in speakers. (Disclaimer, I'm using a Mac now, but I think similar considerations applied to a PC.)
There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind. - Duke Ellington

badflautist

Quote from: Spotted Horses on April 11, 2023, 06:15:42 AMProbably that would be fine (assuming media player supports FLAC). When I was using a PC I didn't use media player, I used foobar2000, which is a free program for streaming audio. I think it is better at allowing you to pick streaming options, rather than assuming the operating system knows best. For instance, I am setup so that my media player sends my audio files straight to the DAC at their native resolution, while all of the operating sounds (various clicks and pings when I open files etc, audio from web sites) go the computer's built in speakers. (Disclaimer, I'm using a Mac now, but I think similar considerations applied to a PC.)

Thank you for the encouragement. Maybe I'll have a look at foobar, though media player does support flac, I found a couple of test files online to download and gave it a try. How media player knows I want the digital output I have no idea, unless the connection to the dac tells it somehow.

DavidW

Quote from: badflautist on April 11, 2023, 10:10:17 AMThank you for the encouragement. Maybe I'll have a look at foobar, though media player does support flac, I found a couple of test files online to download and gave it a try. How media player knows I want the digital output I have no idea, unless the connection to the dac tells it somehow.


The reason to use foobar is that you can enable a mode called "wasapi exclusive" which prevents notifications from chiming when you're playing music and also bypasses processing that Windows would do.  I also find foobar to be much easier than wmp to use.

Another thing to consider is buying a streamer.  You can then plug in your thumb drive into the streamer and select what you want to listen to on a phone or tablet.  It is far less work than using a laptop but it will set you back $$$.

premont

#887
Quote from: badflautist on April 11, 2023, 02:10:07 AMI haven't done any downloading yet, but am considering it seeing more and more on Presto not available on cd any more, and the temptation of hi res flac files.
I would download to Windows 10 laptop, store on USB stick, play with Windows media player via USB to usb-b input on my Dacmagic 100.
Would that work or are there technical complications I am unaware of?

Welcome from me too. :)

I do much downloading but burn the music to CDR. 
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badflautist

Quote from: premont on April 11, 2023, 11:13:09 AMWelcome from me too. :)

I do much downloading but burn the music to CDR. 
I'd  be tempted to do that, I like having the actual physical disc, but my old laptop with a disc drive is in even worse health than I am, and the new one has no drive.
For that I assume you have to stick to 16 bit/44.1khz?

premont

Quote from: badflautist on April 11, 2023, 11:47:01 AMI'd  be tempted to do that, I like having the actual physical disc, but my old laptop with a disc drive is in even worse health than I am, and the new one has no drive.
For that I assume you have to stick to 16 bit/44.1khz?

Neither do my new laptop have any drive built in, meaning an external drive was the solution.

As to resolution I use preferably flac or wave files.
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badflautist

Quote from: premont on April 11, 2023, 12:38:50 PMNeither do my new laptop have any drive built in, meaning an external drive was the solution.

As to resolution I use preferably flac or wave files.
One sees external drives on ebay for less than £20, are they capable of producing a decent cd or does one need a better drive?

premont

Quote from: badflautist on April 12, 2023, 12:49:19 AMOne sees external drives on ebay for less than £20, are they capable of producing a decent cd or does one need a better drive?

I'm not experienced enough in these matters to answer this question. So to my new laptop I purchased a new drive (recommended by my it-consultant), cost about 100 euros.
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Roasted Swan

Quote from: badflautist on April 12, 2023, 12:49:19 AMOne sees external drives on ebay for less than £20, are they capable of producing a decent cd or does one need a better drive?

External CD reader/writers are very cheap - literally just plug into a free USB port and away you go.  Loads of choice for £20 and up. I use one to rip any/all CD's to FLAC files and have never had an issue with either reliability or quality (as far as I can tell!) with the rips.

badflautist

Quote from: Roasted Swan on April 12, 2023, 02:30:38 AMExternal CD reader/writers are very cheap - literally just plug into a free USB port and away you go.  Loads of choice for £20 and up. I use one to rip any/all CD's to FLAC files and have never had an issue with either reliability or quality (as far as I can tell!) with the rips.

Thanks for the reply, that is encouraging.
I would be going the other way though, does anyone have experience of burning cds with these cheaper drives?

Spotted Horses

This is one of those releases which seems to have disappeared without leaving much of a trace.



I only see one amazon marketplace seller offering it for an inappropriately high price, no one seems to have it for lossless download.

I have bought downloads from:

prestoclassical
qobuz
chandos.net
hyperion
eclassical

Are there any other sites where I can look for a lossless download for sale. Is there someplace else where I should be looking?
There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind. - Duke Ellington

DaveF

Quote from: Spotted Horses on April 13, 2023, 08:53:49 AMAre there any other sites where I can look for a lossless download for sale. Is there someplace else where I should be looking?

Both Presto and Qobuz offer a FLAC download of the Martinon in the UK, although it may be different where you are.  The former is cheaper.
"All the world is birthday cake" - George Harrison

Spotted Horses

Quote from: DaveF on April 13, 2023, 09:58:56 AMBoth Presto and Qobuz offer a FLAC download of the Martinon in the UK, although it may be different where you are.  The former is cheaper.

Odd. It doesn't appear when I search either web site from the U.S. I did find the CD version available on the amazon.ca web site.
There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind. - Duke Ellington

DavidW

Quote from: badflautist on April 13, 2023, 08:03:03 AMThanks for the reply, that is encouraging.
I would be going the other way though, does anyone have experience of burning cds with these cheaper drives?

It is fine but if you're going to rip hundreds or even thousands of cds you will really feel the time delay at 8x.  I would say shop around for a 24x.

Roasted Swan

Quote from: badflautist on April 13, 2023, 08:03:03 AMThanks for the reply, that is encouraging.
I would be going the other way though, does anyone have experience of burning cds with these cheaper drives?

That's exactly the kind of drive I use - although as DavidW suggests the capacity for higher speed does (usually) result in fast ripping.  I use/paid for dBpoweramp

https://www.dbpoweramp.com/cd-ripper.htm

there are LOTS of rippers but I like this because its stable, error-checks its own rips, has pretty good database for classical recordings, its easy to add/import album art etc and of course you can choose the settings for the ripping that you prefer.

If you have not done much ripping before - its easy - literally pop the disc in the CD drive, it will read it and prompt you to open the ripper etc.  You WILL quite often need to tweak/change/occassionally add ALL of the track information that you want to see.  When I have several discs to rip I just load one on in the background and then go on with whatever other work on the computer I happen to be doing.  It will rip away in the background quite happily.....

DavidW

+1 for dBpoweramp.  Worth the money.