Downloading versus buying CD's

The big pay off from a service like Qobuz is not downloading but streaming. Once you get your head round paying for access rather than ownership it's fantastic. I just took out a Qobuz free trial and have discovered and enjoyed some wonderful new music that I wouldn't have otherwise. Will definitely take a sub when the free period is over. I haven't checked all the CDs you mentioned, but there's a good chance you could've streamed them all from Qobuz, along with a kazillion others. And it lets you keep local copies of a decent amount of stuff so even if you have flakey internet it's still a goer.  But for music that is only available to either download or buy on CD I've found Qobuz downloads to be cheaper - but I'm talking about new classical releases. And the top subscription gives you hi res downloads often a t the same or less than cd quality ones.

Qobuz also sells high-res downloads - not only streaming.

Anyhow, go to

http://dr.loudness-war.info

and search for your album that you want to buy. If you are lucky, you get information on both editions, the CD one and the high-res download. Often you don't get any dynamic range advantage in downloading the high-res version instead of buying the CD. But sometimes the high-res version is mastered differently to the CD and can sound better.

For example "George Ezra - Wanted on Voyage"

http://dr.loudness-war.info/al...bum=Wanted+on+Voyage

the HD Tracks version even seems to be worse than the CD version.

No you're not missing anything.  HD Tracks only do hires (24-bit), which is why you don't see any CD quality stuff there.

And if you can buy a CD for less than a CD quality download on Qobuz then you may as well get the CD.  I occasionally buy CD quality downloads from Qobuz when I need add something to an order qualify for a Qobuz discount offer, or very occasionally if I am feeling exceptionally impatient.

Qobuz in the UK at least seems to be always cheaper than HDT.  HDT seems to offer more discount periods, but even with those they seem to be no cheaper than Qobuz undiscounted.

So for purchases I think Qobuz, HDT etc typically only make sense on hires.

As likesmusic says, the real fun with Qobuz (and Tidal for that matter) is when you can stream at CD quality and basically have access to a massive CD collection for £20 a month.  Unfortunately in Naim world at the moment that means you need a workaround as Naim don't support lossless streaming yet.  Hopefully that will be fixed soon.

I've not tried it but the best workaround for lossless streaming sounds like it is Bubble uPnP.  There was a very interesting thread on this about a week ago if you want to explore that option.

Thanks for your replies. At least I know I'm not missing something obvious. I think next time I buy an album I'll check if a hi-res version is available and review the useful info on the dynamic range and go from there.

I might also look at the streaming subscription, but I'm not sure I'd listen to enough new music to justify £20 a month.

Thanks again.  

You need to understand the difference between the DR measurement used on that site and the DR advantage of 24bit recordings - they are NOT the same thing.

Even if they have the same master (and hence the same DR when using the DR measurement used on dr.loudness-war.info) the 24bit version can still have significantly greater recorded detail and can sound considerably better.

The difference is mastering is very often the most important thing, and then you're not comparing like with like.

I think Qobuz and Tidal both have free trial periods if you want to give it a go.  I've been surprised how much I listen to new stuff when the option is there.

Because they hadn't taken the time to research price differentials first?

Some will shop around, some will hit the buy or download button because it's convenient, or habit. 

Most of my purchases over the past two to three years have been at higher than 16/44. Just as much variation in the pricing of 24bit material and sometimes the choice of buying on DVD/BD or downloading. I think most of us here will tend to look into pricing and providence (if possible) before impulse buying. But not always

Indeed, I think you"ll find the final mix mastering is usually definitive for a particular album release no matter what medium it is to be transferred on. I understand there are sometime rmasters done for particular purposes such as a more compressed version for radio replay for promotion purposes.. Apparently was common for Country and Western albums in the U.S.

Also old recording re masters is something we are familiar with...

Typically the mastering is often part of the creative aspect of an album, with input/direction from the artists and A&R teams. 

Reading the blogs of some of the worlds renowned mastering engineers can be interesting...

Simon

You have come up with a couple of examples, while examples the other way around also can be found in high numbers. As always you need to shop around and look what the benefits are. In my case I buy in most case if available 24 bit recordings. They are normally offered at an attractive price at Qobuz (through Qobuz Sublime). On normal CD quality one needs to review on a case to case base, while also then normally with new cd's Qobuz also wins. I tend to only buy on Amazon in case of cd collections which are often much cheaper.

it can also be a benefit to wait until Qobuz get's to a discount action on the be of albums. With sublime you then have double discounts.

Exactly! One 'bargain' example I recently availed myself of:

Gentle Giant - Three Friends 

amazon.co.uk £11.72 plus pp

qobuz €4.99

Why weren't Gentle Giant as massive as KK / Yes? The download sounds excellent in 16bit for a '72 album.

I've just spent the last 11days with no internet or landline connection so I'm also in the 'zero dependency is good' camp. And yes you can simply 'buy' downloads, you need to create an account (like most online shops) and then download a bit of software which 'manages' the download, you can download the same album in many different formats as many times as you like. I've only come across one release that was 'only' available for streaming as opposed to downloading, can't remember now what it was though!

I've bought plenty of downloads from Qobuz at CD resolution but mostly higher. Their pricing can be competitive if you watch and pounce on a good offer. They observe the regional restrictions placed on distribution by default but will lift them on request. They are one of the last of the present suppliers I would like to see go down the tubes - for downloads. I don't subscribe to pay per play schemes.

I'll tend to buy albums from Amazon as they do tend to be cheaper in my experience when considering CD quality. If I want to purchase a single track however then I will download from Qobuz. Annoyingly there is a lack of websites that allow you to download a single track at CD quality, Qobuz being one of the only ones I have come across.