Music downloads?

Try Qobuz .  Lots of mainstream stuff in hi-res for the cost of a CD.

I didn't think Qobus was available in the UK at the moment? Perhaps later this year.

I admit I haven't yet tried ordering from them but they seem to have a pretty good selection.

You can also try to check the other sites mentioned in these threads: 

Where Do You Download Your Hi-Res Music From?

HI Def Downloads - From Where ?

Some artists make Hi Res downloads available also directly on their web sites so it is worth looking those if you are after a specific release.

Popeye

To answer your question I don't think you are going to find many music downloads available from the major labels higher than 256Kb (AAC) or 320Kb (MP3) bit rate, e.g. iTunes or Spotify. What I am doing, and I guess a lot of others, is ripping my CDs to lossless files, e.g. FLAC or ALAC, and then steaming from my PC to my music system. Maybe when Qobus becomes available in the UK this will change.

Dave

Yes, buying a CD or DVD-A - sometimes for pennies - and then ripping it ( for CDs use a Unitiserve, HDX, or alternatively use EAC or DBpoweramp on your computer) seems the best way right now for best quality and lowest cost.  Just make sure you keep the CD somewhere safe though.

It is - If you mail them via the help form they will activate your account.

G

From what I've seen it probably helps if you speak, or understand, French as well.

Surely it helps but there is also a google translate button (select language) in top right corner of the page which might make things a bit easier for those who have limited knowledge in French.

If you are really desperate to download high resolution files then maybe the effort and cost will be worth it for some people. Personally CD resolution is perfectly adequate for my listening needs. I'll carry-on buying and burning CDs and wait until they launch a UK site.

Ok thanks guys. I personally can tell a diffrence in quality to the hd stuff I have downloaded but its not a million miles away. A casual listener wouldn't pick it up I don't think. 

Strange. Qobuz has some albums in hi-def cheaper than the CD quality.

They had a sale on last week, I don't know if it's still in progress. They were (are?) doing a Beethoven's symphonies 1-8 set in 24/96 for 9.99 Euro. Most HiRes stuff reduced.

This Qobuz sale on hi-res "Studio Masters" ends today.

Is there a HD version of Famous Blue Raincoat (legally) available anywhere?

N.B. 3 x 45 rpm LP version not included.

I found reference to a 24/88 version in an online review of a headphone amp, but cannot find it anywhere.  HDTracks doesn't have it.

Hi Popeye,

for me an important source is the public library. Here in Belgium, one can loan CD's from te public library. It is entitled to rip 1 copy for personal use only. 

Iver

They have extended the sale till 7 September now. Really a great source for both CD quality and Hi-res albums. Like others mentioned first time i tried to buy from them it said the album wasn't available in my country (Netherlands). But after a friendly email to them in English to ask about availability in my country they updated my account and everything is available now to download. I don't speak French but after browsing the website it's all quite straight forward. Can really recommend it to have a look around.

I'm afraid you're a pirate Iver. 

And the author/artist(s)/whatever would in England get a royalty (if warranted) for every CD you borrow and make one copy of.  Or a lending feel for books. The library system is very diligent about such things over here and I expect the same applies in your locality Iver. It is good that such transactions are audited and accountable. Librarianship is a very serious business. Authors/artists/whatever get a steady and in some cases comfortable income stream from fees paid from the library services.

Your librarians might be right in the sense that there might be a loophole in the law. In our countries there is a fee collected on each CDR sold. These fees are channeled to the artists and are supposed to cover copying for own use, even if you just borrowed the original CD from a library or from a friend. But of course there is no such fee collected for hard-drives. I suppose law makers are having a hard time keeping up with technology.

Borrowing from a library and borrowing from a friend are two different scenarios. The friend is not likely to inform the publisher or offer a fee for a copy. The library service is funded by the taxpayer/ratepayer. You pay in advance for right to borrow or make one personal copy of a music file which you do not share, even though the vast majority of us do not avail themselves of this facility.

Really? In Finland the library is not accounting and paying a royalty for every CD borrowing transaction. Instead, copying for own use of CD's is covered with the mechanism that I described above, with CDR fees. This is supposed to cover also copying from a friend's CD. 

Felix, actually there is such a fee for every type of storage media. Below is an example of prices concerning hard disks.

Prices from January 1, 2013 VAT (10 %) will be added to the remuneration prices  External Hard Disks (inc. Flash/SSD) Memory minimum 50 gigabytes, max 250 gigabytes 9 euros Memory over 250 gigabytes, under 1 terabyte 12 euros Memory minimum 1 terabyte, max 3 terabytes 18 euros

source (and full price list): http://www.hyvitysmaksu.fi/fin/prices.html