I feel bad, I feel a bit responsible for the tough time Bissie had here lately.

[wgscott]

It is actually very easy to do.

 

Here is an example I posted to Amazon.com for Neil Young's Le Noise DVD, which, despite what are I assume his expectations, wound up being up-sampled redbook:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Noise-Amazon-com-Exclusive-Neil-Young/dp/B004B3BIG2/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

 

It is the 3rd customer image.

 

[crisnee]

First off, this is not a matter of life and death, so a lot of these comparisons as to trustworthiness and value of getting the perfect product, to the same re airplanes flying right and the like are absurd.

 

Second, if you buy a faulty file, what have you lost but a few minutes. You can return the file and get your money back. If this happens many times, it becomes a problem and then you go elsewhere.

 

Third, in the instance of safety, long turn around time if item is faulty, and no product return guarantee, I would very much like something that insures me that I'm getting a perfect product, but in this case, where I lose nearly nothing I'm perfectly satisfied with a good reputation and what seems like a strong effort to do the right thing.

 

Fourth, no I don't want to pay extra for added assurances, when I can easily get my money back (not to mention that most people wouldn't be able to make head or tale of the proposed charts). BTW, it would be cool to just show a simple Dynamic Range chart, as that's simple to read/understand, and tells a lot about the recording (although probably more so in popular music).

 

Fifth, I like the idea of innocent until proven at least somewhat guilty.

 

Sixth, just to repeat all the above, we're just talkin' about music files here, instantly returnable at that. And this company and Robert are really putting their faith in us (we could say we don't like his files, get our money back and keep the music) but we're doubting and harassing him (or his policies).

 

-Chris

 

 

 

[AudioDoctor]

That right there should have even prevented this entire thread.

 

[midfiguy]

Well, Doc, despite the pillow fight that erupted in the middle of this thread, there were some good issues raised and discussed. I like what Jud added regarding a chain of provenance. I don't know if the idea of an "industry standard" is remotely feasible or even desirable, but a re-seller who adopted that approach might have an advantage in the marketplace. If we audiophiles want to see demand for hi-res product grow, a safe, trusted marketplace is important. (Speaking of safe, in an earlier post, I said I hadn't had any issues with HD Tracks. Not quite true. I did have some intrepid guy try to charge $4,400 worth of alfalfa seeds to my account after it got hacked through HDT. I'm guessing there weren't any alfalfa seeds involved in that transaction but never mind...) To my mind, in our niche right now, the issue that most needs to be addressed is customer service. Chris is quite right. We're only talking about music downloads. Still, it seems that some companies offering music downloads are better at putting up Web sites than they are at delivering decent customer service. (I could site a couple of examples I've had with Rhino re: lossless downloads.) Except in extreme cases, it's not really about being innocent or proven guilty. It's about how you handle the inevitable mistakes when they occur.

Anyway, to salute the spirit of the original post, BIS has a really interesting catalog of music available to download. My own collection of BIS titles is mostly vinyl, but they are excellent recordings.