Rhino Records Downloads

Just an addendum.... I have received a call back from 'John' who has said that management will be calling me to help get the files I paid for and could not download. He also said they are going to refund the money I paid and still let me have the files. We shall see how it goes.

Well, I'd started my downloads last night before going to sleep. Woke up this morning to find 75% of them had timed out, and there wasn't any way to re-start them. Tried closing and re-opening the download manager and it started from the beginning, downloading the successful files all over again...<br />

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I chose FLAC, so all my metadata is trashed too. I'm surprised Dbpoweramp is at least showing as much as is in the screenshot - I've tried several apps on the Mac and they don't even show that level of detail - my comment fields appear to be empty from those apps. Will try dbpoweramp in a VM. It really doesn't help that the default Rhino names only include the track number & title, and then mix all the tracks together in one folder, otherwise you could tag based off of some of that info.

Chris - noted the authorship of a dCS review progresses...<br />

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Rather curious what you think of the Paganini DAC.<br />

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Do we have an ETA?

<i>"Rather curious what you think of the Paganini DAC."</i><br />

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It's wonderful.<br />

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<i>"Do we have an ETA?"</i><br />

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In the next few days.

I don't know how long the half off sale will last, but while it does I picked up the complete Ellington Reprise studio recordings for a ridiculous $30.<br />

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This was a Mosaic Records box set a few years back, and now goes for fairly large money as an OOP item.<br />

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Very, very nice.<br />

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Scott A.

Has anyone tried downloading ALAC or WMA to see if their tags are also screwed up? Was thinking about choosing ALAC for the next order.

Not yet, but I suppose it may be worth the $0.75 during the half price sale to test one track in these formats.

Apparently the 50% off sale just ended. I should have clicked the purchase button on the last few albums I'd been thinking of getting - it was still going when I was browsing this afternoon. At $7.50-$10 an album the pricing was about right for digital. At 20-50% more than the physical CDs I can't get too excited about Rhino...

I haven't done any rigorous testing - and it may very well just be me - but the flacs of the MJQ that I downloaded just don't sound that good.<br />

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Anyone else have an opinion on sound quality based on what they've bought?<br />

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Scott A.

I purchased Natalie Merchant's Motherland. . .sounds fine to me.

I sent a follow-up e-mail to Rhino customer service commenting on their sales-prevention pricing model for downloads. I'll post their reply (assuming I get one).

Being the kind who prefers holding the media in my hand, so i can listen or manipulate, i noticed there were some albums, like the doors' strange days for sale at 9.99 on one page, but 24.99 on a second page. i sent them an email; don't expect to hear back.

I'm jealous that album (Natalie Merchant's Motherland) is on my wanted list. Sadly living in the UK will mean I wouldn't be able to download it :-(<br />

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Anyone compared a Rhino download to a CD rip of the same album?

I compared a couple tracks for fun and heard no differences. Since I am a newbie, here's my rig so you can judge whether my opinion is worth considering!<br />

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iTunes (iMac)/CDs --> (sources) Apogee Duet /NAD C541i --> (amplification) Audio Outlaw RR2150/Headroom Micro --> (speakers/headphones) Paradigm Monitor 7 v.3, Paradigm PDR-10 v.3/AKG K701<br />

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Cables: (Interconnects) Straightwire Musicable, Kimber Heros; (Speaker) DiMarzio M-path, Blue Jeans Cable subwoofer cable<br />

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So far, I like the Rhino site, but don't love it. Browsing by artist is a bit cumbersome and the site layout is not as intuitive as some sites I've seen (I prefer HD Tracks' layout), but the downloads were quick (through Verizon FiOS) and they integrated into iTunes as advertised. Had no issues there. <br />

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It is very cool to make each album available for download in a variety of lossless formats (just FLAC would have been enough to make me happy). I do have issues with calling Redbook "Hi Def" -- although it is true that compared with an MP3, Redbook IS high def. Just another indication as to how all things audio revolve around that horrible lossy format. I guess I should start calling my old standard def DVDs "high def" since they are higher def than my even older VHS tapes. It is odd that the video world continues to go for more resolution while audio is sliding backwards. Perhaps this Rhino site signals a trend the other way? I sure hope so....

<i>"I haven't done any rigorous testing - and it may very well just be me - but the flacs of the MJQ that I downloaded just don't sound that good.<br />

Anyone else have an opinion on sound quality based on what they've bought?"</i><br />

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Hi Scott - After reading your post I did some testing myself. I downloaded track one from Emmylou Harris' Wrecking Ball album. I compared it to my CD ripped copy in FLAC. The two files sound different. My CD rip is much better. In fact the CD rip I have illuminates the HDCD indicator on my Alpha DAC but the downloaded version does not. There are a couple reasons why this could be. <br />

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1. The download may not be bit perfect.<br />

2. The download is from a different master that was not done using a Pacific Microsonics Model Two. (I really doubt it)<br />

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I don't want to jump to conclusions yet, but it does not look good. I'm trying to get in contact with someone at Rhino about this.<br />

Upon further review, some of the tracks I downloaded sound good -- others, not so much.... I sure hope they didn't transcode some of these "lossless" files from MP3s they had lying around.<br />

Somehow this looks suspicious to me right from the start. A feeling added with some "logic". Look :<br />

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What they do all the time (it is their life) is remastering and reissueing. This means that the FIRST they would have done is provide all in hires. However, they do not. Now what could be the reason ?<br />

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I assume all the labels they issue are from Warner (meaning : all is legal).<br />

It MUST be so that it is forbidden to remaster this and sell over the Internet, or otherwise they had done it.<br />

So, what I would do, as the person who received the assignment to make something of Internet selling ... I'd grab EAC, take a normal CD and make it ready for sale/download.<br />

Or something like that.<br />

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<strong>The way they do it makes no sense.</strong><br />

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Now start speculating ...<br />

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"The download may not be bit perfect."<br />

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My son used some Linux program to check for missing data in some of the downloads I purchased which sounded a bit thin. Are there Mac and Windows equivalents? In my case, it turned out it was my OS that needed reinstalling not the Hi Def site. <br />

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The 50% off downloads sale must be a "Working Out The Bugs Sale". (Although they do ask for feedback on bugs...)<br />

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Hi James - It's impossible to check these files because we don't know the source of the original data. If Rhino says the source of the Emmylou Harris download is the actual CD or same master as the CD then we'll know something is up because the files are not the same.<br />

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What Linux program did your son use? If I know which one it was or what it does I'll be able to direct you to a Mac or PC equivalent.

“It is odd that the video world continues to go for more resolution while audio is sliding backwards”<br />

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Totally agree, its madness. The music industry seems to be happy to self destruct. When tapes came out they were worried that copying would destroy the music industry. When CD’s came out they thought the same but quite the opposite happened. Now there afraid to release true Hi-Def music because its easy to copy. The truth is doing nothing has led to pirating and the downfall of sales.<br />

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Apple at least gave them a life line but they still cant see the way forward when its so obvious. It wouldn’t be difficult for all record labels to offer 24/96 or above material. Sell them for a small premium over CD’s or even better the same price of CD’s then I’m sure sales would increase and pirating would decline not increase.

I shouldn't say this - and Chris, if you think this goes too far into the realm of speculation please delete - but my first reaction Sunday was that I was hearing an mp3 file. <br />

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I don't think that's possible, but I do wonder if, as another poster suggests, someone is using EAC or the like to simply rip from cds. Truth to tell though, EAC rips sound better.<br />

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s.<br />

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edit - I really hope this is nothing, because the posted jazz catalog is fabulous: many, many albums that are hard to come by or easily missed. As I note elsewhere, I could easily spend money there for a long time to come.

Surely Rhino aren’t using EAC or any other general ripping program and taking copies from the CD’s. They have access to the original masters.<br />

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You would hope the lossless files would be better than the CD or at worst equal. If they are indeed worse than the CD then it’s quite outrageous to be calling them Hi-Def.

Sorry if someone noted this already...like so many others I eagerly started tearing through the site drooling at the prospect of hearing so much good music in hi def. Issues related to the fact the music isn't really hi def aside, almost all of what was most desirable to me is only available in physical format. I really thought the recording industry was starting to get it. Oh well.

Chris, et al.,<br />

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Help me out here. Yes, I have heard of Rhino. However, they are not members of, or accredited with the Better Business Bureau and furthermore, their “Secure Network Solutions” logo on their site is not validated (when you click on the logo you get a popup that states that the site is not validated and that their status is “invalid”). Now, if they accepted PayPal, there would be no concerns. <br />

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I was very unhappy to see that they do not accept PayPal. They require you to provide your credit card information directly. Considering the lack of accreditation (that I could find) I am a bit leery of completing my original order. Can any of you help to ease my skepticism? <br />

Their reputation is very strong as a supporter of classic rock music restoration, etc. However, they've clearly (IMO) stumbled here with their not-yet-ready-for-primetime download capability, HiDef mismarketing, and questionable ripping quality. It's for those reasons that I'd be hesitant, not their viability as a legitimate business (BBB or Secure Net capability).