gerelmx1986
Headphoneus Supremus
Hey fellas. as you know me, I love classical music. I started with CDs and now in modern times i mostly download in FLAC or DSD. So i Wanted to post a review of the three major Classical music sites i use for downloads or physical media purchase (This won't include amazon or the record labels own sites),
So in the past few years i've come down to three main sites i use, and they are:
Presto Classical (Now Presto Music):
Web sites:
* https://www.prestomusic.com/classical - For classical
* https://www.prestomusic.com/jazz - For Jazz
* https://www.prestomusic.com/sheet-music - For sheet Music (Notes)
* https://www.prestomusic.com/books - For Books
I am going to review only the Classical store.
Aside from offering a Digital shop, they have a Brick-and-Mortar shop in Leamington Spa, UK. They're a small business so don't expect a full fledged streamer like Qobuz which i am also reviewing here.
They web site is clean and modern, It has many filters for browsing music as like Hi-res downloads, Digital downloads or CDs/DVDs and man more filters. Other handy feature i find from Presto is that if i type "Jacquet de la Guerre" the site gives me a link to filter all items for the composer (works same for the work, Label, media type, etc.).
They have a section of nEW AND FUTURE RELEASES in which you can browse all incoming releases and place a pre-order, a caveat is that this feature only works for Physical media and not for Digital products like qobuz.
There are labels not listed in presto website, that baffles me, one example is Hyperion records, a fellow Brit label for classical music... odd seeing presto not selling catalogue from Hyperion. They confirmed me that they are now selling hyperion records
Other caveat i see by presto and some times i al most click the wrong Button out of confusion: They have two purchase buttons: One for Physical Media and One for downloads. In My Opinion I would have a radio-Button list with all media Types and a single "Add to Cart" Button, much like Channel classic does
The Payment option are broad with most debit and credit cards accepted (VISA/MASTERCARD) as well but, albeit rarther limited Paypal support (only for payments made in British pounds),
As for handy features they have a wish list, a music player for preview (IMHO a bit short in length to really judge an album if i really like it or not. Have returned a couple of albums because this). Gift vouchers are available also to buy (Maximum value per voucher is approx. 200 euros as of 2020). In your account you have unlimited access to your past and present made downloads (F.E. when your hard drive dies and you didn't have a backup. This is handy feature).
They don't offer a download manager like Qobuz, or Chandos do, but they at least offer a zipped file ( I dislike sites that only let you to download track-by-track). And the most handy Feature is the "PRESTO CD" that is a CD-R of discontinued titles (selected labels only as i know).
Customer service is top-notch from a simple question like "Can you check if the Fitzwilliam Virginal book, vol. 7 from Brilliant classics will have flac version?" to "Oh I downloaded this FLAC-Album Pachelbel- Organ Music Vol. 10 from Centaur records and a wrong file came in" all my inquiries have been resolved (they did actually replaced this album with fresh files, unlike qobuz that only gave me "extra electronic-points" as Money-back guarantee... Yeah i am looking at you qobuz with frowned eyebrows). They answer per Telephone (haven't tried), Mail and Facebook chat (my most used communication channels).
As for promos and discounts they often get a full label's catalogue in nice 20% also works for digital products (in their older website this was not possible)
Once you buy your stuff: for Digital products you get instant-access with option to download either Track-by-track, Zip-file and Booklet/Cover, Not all albums have a booklet, is nice to have but for me, is not a big fuss, i can live without the PDF.
Fake Digital products issues: I think just once, and if i got a supposed 24-bit "MP3/CD upsample" fake, they refounded my money rather quickly (I provided them with my spek (spectrum analyzer tool) Image as proof).
PROS
* Offers both digital and Physical CD media (incl. DVD and SACD)
* Downloads in the most popular formats FLAC (up to 24/192) and MP3 (320kbps)
* Top Notch support, It beats qobuz with a Brick-stuffed Boxing glove.
*Accessible prices: Between $9 and 11 for mp3, between $13.50 and $30+ for FLAC (depends on resolution and disc count) and between $14 and 30+ for physical media.
* Lots of handy features like wish-list, re-download of purchased content. Filtering for quick finding of albums.
* Extended discount and promo periods, usually for the whole label catalogue.
* PRESTO CD, offers access to now-discontinued catalogues.
CONS
* No full Paypal support
* No pre-order in digital media
* Some downloads have no Booklet.
* More of a wish No Presto SACD (you know what i mean, if there's presto CD for discontinued CDs...)
* No downloads for DSD nor DXD (24 or 32-bit/352.8 to 768 KHz) files yet, though, for DSD i don't whine as they offer SACD physical media. I know not all have a Pioneer or the knowledge i have as to rip a SACD to ISO... hence the inconvenience.
QOBUZ
Website: https://www.qobuz.com/
Perhaps qobuz needs no Intro here as many here know it for its streaming platform Qobuz sublime (Now studio) in both CD and Hi-res quality. But it also offers a Download store.
The site is fairly easy to browse, but it is more Artist focused (is clear Presto Music is only "niche" whereas qobuz caters all genres incl. POP, rock, Rap, etc.). You can search for many stuff, but i find the filtering a bit more confusing than presto music approach. so Far i have only used the "quick" search box so to get to that Jacquet de la Guerre's Violin sonatas i had to type the full
(LOL) "Jacquet de la guerre Ricercar Les dominos violin sonatas".... same story for Telemann La bizarre and othe Harmonia mundi albums.
But once there the list presents the albums with some basic details like Year, Artist, Label and the album, as well as a quick View of the buying options (usually two CD quality or HI-RES in golden icon).
In the album page you get the streamer player as preview, i think the preview length is a bit longer than presto music player, i am not sure.
Features much like presto: a Wish-list, access to your Past and present downloads , one caveat if the label removes one of your past purchases you lose it.. Not nice IMHO, at least they should give you access to the "new" stuff they replaced with... (usually the same sh*** with a different cover).
As for offers and promos they have from time to time hi-res at the price of CD quality downloads, but not as often as presto. Their prices are a bit higher than presto.. about 14euro for a CD quality full album or 17 to 28+ euros for a Hi-res (like presto varies with resolution and disc count). They also offer vouchers and eschange codes (personally i have never seen them).
As for downloads and payment options: once your pay you can download your purchases either with the Qobuz downloader or the Qobuz for MAC/PC (i assume streaming app that also doubles as player), or track by track. When it comes to formats they offer more formats than presto: FLAC, ALAC (apple lossless), WAV/AIFF, WMA (still one using this dino?), MP3 (from 128 to 320kbps). For lossless except WMAL you get a maximum of 24/192, WMAL being only max 24/96 - hence the dino pun. I like the qobuz Download manages as it downloads the files for you and no need to unzip.
As for payments they offer All credit and debit cards, i think SOFORT money transfer and full Paypal support.
Customer service... i have been disappointed with qobuz customer service, being rather crappy... They return the money as credits/points so no actual deposit to your card like presto does (Last time i have used Paypal dispute method, still waiting for qobuz response... if they don't answer i'll escalate). They haven't fixed any of the files... It seems they don't care if its classical music (I bet if some body whines his Justin bieber album was damaged or bad flac, they'll ASAP fix it ... no?)...
Fake flac experience ufff... many of them:
* Pachelbel Organ msuic vol. 10/Centaur records - Wrong files present in album... still not fixed
* Airs de Jour - Marin Marais Orchestral airs/ Alia vox - fake Hi-res upsampled CD - still not fixed
* Mexican christmas delights - truncated FLAC - still not fixed
* Telemann Complete Chamber music and concertos for viola da gamba / Brilliant classics - Fake CD FLAC MP3 Upsample - still not fixed
* Charpentier La Descente d'Orphee aux Efers / Harmonia Mundi Fake Hi-res FLAC MP3 Upsample- still not fixed
* (Today 1 May 2020 bought) Monteverdi Selva morale e spirituale - Fake 24-bit FLAC CD upsample
PROS
* Offer both streaming and digital downloads options
* Many files to chose from when downloading incl. WMA-Lossless
* Download manager
* Handy features such as wish-list, unlimited re-download of past purchases
*Hi-res downloads up to 24/192, same as presto.
* Has Hi-res content that PRESTO does not have or only offers in CD-quality (The vivaldi edition concerti per fagotto IV and some of the CPE Bach BIS Keyboard concertos series)
CONS
* No Physical media options
* No DSD nor DXD downloads yet
* Not easily accessible for all parts of the world
* Pretty bad customer support, that i've moved on to buying w/Paypal to facilitate escalation.
* They don't fix files issues. That is What i admire from such a small business like presto, that they take their time and effort to try to fix the issue with files.
* HIGH RATE OF FAKE FLAC (MOSTLY WITH HI-RES), They don't seem to scrutinize the files for QA.
* Prices a bit higher than Presto
* If a label removes an album you lose it too (better to backup!). With presto i haven't noted this.
Native DSD Music
Web site: nativedsd.com/
Native DSD web site focuses only in "pure" DSD recordings (Recordings made with all the chain in DSD, so no PCM involved) hence the extremely limited catalogue.
The site is slow in loading and navigating but still easy to use. It has some bugs like if you serach, you must delete the Filter tag before you make a new search. Aside from that I like the site for DSD-related purchases.
Download options are rather Limited to DXD and DSD (both in stereo and multi-channel). Maximum DXD resolution i0ve seen by native DSD is 384Khz/24 bit and DSD up to 512x. Maximum i've bought is DSD 256x, most often i but DSD 64x.
The site doesn't seem to offer wish list, but at least you can re-download past purchases (They're fairly newcomers) so don't expect a fully mature site like qobuz or presto.
Also i haven't spotted discounts or promotions, I have always paid full price, up to 60 euros for two albums in DSD64 and like 50 euros for one DXD download and 64 euros for a DSD 256 album.. ouch! I'd get the SACD from presto for half the price and Rip it my self.
Customer service, so far i haven't seen the need to direct to CS as all files i've downloaded from native DSD have been fine and up to specs (no fakes).
As for payment I have used credit and debit card, can't remember if they have paypal or not, I think yes.
PROS
* Downloads of DXD and DSD up to 512x in Stereo and multi-channel
* Some albums offer Binaural recording technique
* The longest preview player of them all, the full song!
* DSD and DXD files exclusively in NATIVE "PURE" DSD (No PCM conversions for edit).
CONS
* Limited catalogue
* Expensive more than 30 euros per download
* No Physical media options
* No wish-list
* Site needs software performance optimizations and a redesign
In summary i'll rate as follows from BEST > to worst
Presto Music > Native DSD > Qobuz
If you have other sites (that is not amazon) you're welcome to post experiences
So in the past few years i've come down to three main sites i use, and they are:
Presto Classical (Now Presto Music):
Web sites:
* https://www.prestomusic.com/classical - For classical
* https://www.prestomusic.com/jazz - For Jazz
* https://www.prestomusic.com/sheet-music - For sheet Music (Notes)
* https://www.prestomusic.com/books - For Books
I am going to review only the Classical store.
Aside from offering a Digital shop, they have a Brick-and-Mortar shop in Leamington Spa, UK. They're a small business so don't expect a full fledged streamer like Qobuz which i am also reviewing here.
They web site is clean and modern, It has many filters for browsing music as like Hi-res downloads, Digital downloads or CDs/DVDs and man more filters. Other handy feature i find from Presto is that if i type "Jacquet de la Guerre" the site gives me a link to filter all items for the composer (works same for the work, Label, media type, etc.).
They have a section of nEW AND FUTURE RELEASES in which you can browse all incoming releases and place a pre-order, a caveat is that this feature only works for Physical media and not for Digital products like qobuz.
There are labels not listed in presto website, that baffles me, one example is Hyperion records, a fellow Brit label for classical music... odd seeing presto
Other caveat i see by presto and some times i al most click the wrong Button out of confusion: They have two purchase buttons: One for Physical Media and One for downloads. In My Opinion I would have a radio-Button list with all media Types and a single "Add to Cart" Button, much like Channel classic does
The Payment option are broad with most debit and credit cards accepted (VISA/MASTERCARD) as well but, albeit rarther limited Paypal support (only for payments made in British pounds),
As for handy features they have a wish list, a music player for preview (IMHO a bit short in length to really judge an album if i really like it or not. Have returned a couple of albums because this). Gift vouchers are available also to buy (Maximum value per voucher is approx. 200 euros as of 2020). In your account you have unlimited access to your past and present made downloads (F.E. when your hard drive dies and you didn't have a backup. This is handy feature).
They don't offer a download manager like Qobuz, or Chandos do, but they at least offer a zipped file ( I dislike sites that only let you to download track-by-track). And the most handy Feature is the "PRESTO CD" that is a CD-R of discontinued titles (selected labels only as i know).
Customer service is top-notch from a simple question like "Can you check if the Fitzwilliam Virginal book, vol. 7 from Brilliant classics will have flac version?" to "Oh I downloaded this FLAC-Album Pachelbel- Organ Music Vol. 10 from Centaur records and a wrong file came in" all my inquiries have been resolved (they did actually replaced this album with fresh files, unlike qobuz that only gave me "extra electronic-points" as Money-back guarantee... Yeah i am looking at you qobuz with frowned eyebrows). They answer per Telephone (haven't tried), Mail and Facebook chat (my most used communication channels).
As for promos and discounts they often get a full label's catalogue in nice 20% also works for digital products (in their older website this was not possible)
Once you buy your stuff: for Digital products you get instant-access with option to download either Track-by-track, Zip-file and Booklet/Cover, Not all albums have a booklet, is nice to have but for me, is not a big fuss, i can live without the PDF.
Fake Digital products issues: I think just once, and if i got a supposed 24-bit "MP3/CD upsample" fake, they refounded my money rather quickly (I provided them with my spek (spectrum analyzer tool) Image as proof).
PROS
* Offers both digital and Physical CD media (incl. DVD and SACD)
* Downloads in the most popular formats FLAC (up to 24/192) and MP3 (320kbps)
* Top Notch support, It beats qobuz with a Brick-stuffed Boxing glove.
*Accessible prices: Between $9 and 11 for mp3, between $13.50 and $30+ for FLAC (depends on resolution and disc count) and between $14 and 30+ for physical media.
* Lots of handy features like wish-list, re-download of purchased content. Filtering for quick finding of albums.
* Extended discount and promo periods, usually for the whole label catalogue.
* PRESTO CD, offers access to now-discontinued catalogues.
CONS
* No full Paypal support
* No pre-order in digital media
* Some downloads have no Booklet.
* More of a wish No Presto SACD (you know what i mean, if there's presto CD for discontinued CDs...)
* No downloads for DSD nor DXD (24 or 32-bit/352.8 to 768 KHz) files yet, though, for DSD i don't whine as they offer SACD physical media. I know not all have a Pioneer or the knowledge i have as to rip a SACD to ISO... hence the inconvenience.
QOBUZ
Website: https://www.qobuz.com/
Perhaps qobuz needs no Intro here as many here know it for its streaming platform Qobuz sublime (Now studio) in both CD and Hi-res quality. But it also offers a Download store.
The site is fairly easy to browse, but it is more Artist focused (is clear Presto Music is only "niche" whereas qobuz caters all genres incl. POP, rock, Rap, etc.). You can search for many stuff, but i find the filtering a bit more confusing than presto music approach. so Far i have only used the "quick" search box so to get to that Jacquet de la Guerre's Violin sonatas i had to type the full
(LOL) "Jacquet de la guerre Ricercar Les dominos violin sonatas".... same story for Telemann La bizarre and othe Harmonia mundi albums.But once there the list presents the albums with some basic details like Year, Artist, Label and the album, as well as a quick View of the buying options (usually two CD quality or HI-RES in golden icon).
In the album page you get the streamer player as preview, i think the preview length is a bit longer than presto music player, i am not sure.
Features much like presto: a Wish-list, access to your Past and present downloads , one caveat if the label removes one of your past purchases you lose it.. Not nice IMHO, at least they should give you access to the "new" stuff they replaced with... (usually the same sh*** with a different cover).
As for offers and promos they have from time to time hi-res at the price of CD quality downloads, but not as often as presto. Their prices are a bit higher than presto.. about 14euro for a CD quality full album or 17 to 28+ euros for a Hi-res (like presto varies with resolution and disc count). They also offer vouchers and eschange codes (personally i have never seen them).
As for downloads and payment options: once your pay you can download your purchases either with the Qobuz downloader or the Qobuz for MAC/PC (i assume streaming app that also doubles as player), or track by track. When it comes to formats they offer more formats than presto: FLAC, ALAC (apple lossless), WAV/AIFF, WMA (still one using this dino?), MP3 (from 128 to 320kbps). For lossless except WMAL you get a maximum of 24/192, WMAL being only max 24/96 - hence the dino pun. I like the qobuz Download manages as it downloads the files for you and no need to unzip.
As for payments they offer All credit and debit cards, i think SOFORT money transfer and full Paypal support.
Customer service... i have been disappointed with qobuz customer service, being rather crappy... They return the money as credits/points so no actual deposit to your card like presto does (Last time i have used Paypal dispute method, still waiting for qobuz response... if they don't answer i'll escalate). They haven't fixed any of the files... It seems they don't care if its classical music (I bet if some body whines his Justin bieber album was damaged or bad flac, they'll ASAP fix it ... no?)...
Fake flac experience ufff... many of them:
* Pachelbel Organ msuic vol. 10/Centaur records - Wrong files present in album... still not fixed
* Airs de Jour - Marin Marais Orchestral airs/ Alia vox - fake Hi-res upsampled CD - still not fixed
* Mexican christmas delights - truncated FLAC - still not fixed
* Telemann Complete Chamber music and concertos for viola da gamba / Brilliant classics - Fake CD FLAC MP3 Upsample - still not fixed
* Charpentier La Descente d'Orphee aux Efers / Harmonia Mundi Fake Hi-res FLAC MP3 Upsample- still not fixed
* (Today 1 May 2020 bought) Monteverdi Selva morale e spirituale - Fake 24-bit FLAC CD upsample
PROS
* Offer both streaming and digital downloads options
* Many files to chose from when downloading incl. WMA-Lossless
* Download manager
* Handy features such as wish-list, unlimited re-download of past purchases
*Hi-res downloads up to 24/192, same as presto.
* Has Hi-res content that PRESTO does not have or only offers in CD-quality (The vivaldi edition concerti per fagotto IV and some of the CPE Bach BIS Keyboard concertos series)
CONS
* No Physical media options
* No DSD nor DXD downloads yet
* Not easily accessible for all parts of the world
* Pretty bad customer support, that i've moved on to buying w/Paypal to facilitate escalation.
* They don't fix files issues. That is What i admire from such a small business like presto, that they take their time and effort to try to fix the issue with files.
* HIGH RATE OF FAKE FLAC (MOSTLY WITH HI-RES), They don't seem to scrutinize the files for QA.
* Prices a bit higher than Presto
* If a label removes an album you lose it too (better to backup!). With presto i haven't noted this.
Native DSD Music
Web site: nativedsd.com/
Native DSD web site focuses only in "pure" DSD recordings (Recordings made with all the chain in DSD, so no PCM involved) hence the extremely limited catalogue.
The site is slow in loading and navigating but still easy to use. It has some bugs like if you serach, you must delete the Filter tag before you make a new search. Aside from that I like the site for DSD-related purchases.
Download options are rather Limited to DXD and DSD (both in stereo and multi-channel). Maximum DXD resolution i0ve seen by native DSD is 384Khz/24 bit and DSD up to 512x. Maximum i've bought is DSD 256x, most often i but DSD 64x.
The site doesn't seem to offer wish list, but at least you can re-download past purchases (They're fairly newcomers) so don't expect a fully mature site like qobuz or presto.
Also i haven't spotted discounts or promotions, I have always paid full price, up to 60 euros for two albums in DSD64 and like 50 euros for one DXD download and 64 euros for a DSD 256 album.. ouch! I'd get the SACD from presto for half the price and Rip it my self.
Customer service, so far i haven't seen the need to direct to CS as all files i've downloaded from native DSD have been fine and up to specs (no fakes).
As for payment I have used credit and debit card, can't remember if they have paypal or not, I think yes.
PROS
* Downloads of DXD and DSD up to 512x in Stereo and multi-channel
* Some albums offer Binaural recording technique
* The longest preview player of them all, the full song!
* DSD and DXD files exclusively in NATIVE "PURE" DSD (No PCM conversions for edit).
CONS
* Limited catalogue
* Expensive more than 30 euros per download
* No Physical media options
* No wish-list
* Site needs software performance optimizations and a redesign
In summary i'll rate as follows from BEST > to worst
Presto Music > Native DSD > Qobuz
If you have other sites (that is not amazon) you're welcome to post experiences
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