Mahler 5 - Tilson-Thomas - Qobuz - 24/96

[Musicophile]

Just a quick note on this: Qobuz has a special offer on Michael Tilson Thomas San Francisco recordings of most of the Mahler Symphonies, including 1, and 5-7, at €6.30 per album in 24/96!!

 

I'm just listening the first time to Mahler 5 I just bought, and the sound quality is really good. At first ear, the interpretation seems quite nice as well. Will write more after some more listening (on this note, I'm surprised that at this forum nobody has yet suggested that downloads need some burn in time before they sound well).

 

Check it out if you are in a Qobuz-available country, the special offer is only valid for 4 more days.

[chrille]

Thanks a lot Musicophile!

This afternoon I have downloaded Mahler's 8th and The Ives Brand Copland tilte at super bargain price in 24/96 masterfile quality!

I have ony had a chance to hear parts of the Mahler so far but it easily qualifies as my best download bargain so far this year.

[orgel]

My thanks as well. I snagged No. 3 and No. 5. Two Mahler symphonies in 24/96 for less than US$16? You really can't beat that. If these sound good I'm going back for more.

 

--David

[ted_b]

The MTT Mahler cycle are DSD recordings, so these are DSD-to-PCM transfers. It would be nice to see someone (other than having to rip from SACD, which I did for the 2 I own) like SFO offer them natively in DSD. Otherwise, $8 for 24 bit versions is a nice fall back option. Good find.

[chrille]

I know they are DSD recordings, I have number 7 on SACD. But the sound apart from obvious multimiking at times is excellent even in pcm.

String sound via my HD800 headphones and the Hegel HD20 and Musical Fidelity's M1HPA Headphone amp ,is sweet smooth and very realistic. And the ppp percussion in part 2 has clear timbre ie sound very much like real instruments rather than the undefined fizz 16/44 delivers.

All in all a very good recording of Mahler's mighty 8th at super bargain price .I paid €6,30.

As long as this promo lasts,this Mahler series is becoming almost irresistable,although I have plenty of Mahler both on LP SACD and other hi res downloads. And although my french is pretty basic registering ,downloading and all went very smooth, fast and efficiently too.

Unlike some other sites there is a downloader that works automatically on my mac . And you can even choose between flac ,aiff and wav!

I will be using Qobuz a lot in the future.

[Musicophile]

Had a first listen to the full album now.

 

Well, Tilson Thomas is no Lenny, still probably my reference for this one (especially the NY Phil one), or obviously Walter, but in the audiophile sector it is a strong competitor to e.g. Gergiev/LSO live or Zinman/Tonhalle.

 

Overall, it is played beautifully, my only complaint would be that sometimes I'd prefer a bit more emotion or some more rough edges.

[brucknerdoc]

Interesting...

 

Many of these MTT/Mahler releases have been available thru HDT as 88.2/24 files. But, some of the series were absent - Sym 2, Sym 8, Klagende Lied, Orch Lieder.

 

These Qobuz releases are 96/24 - and fill in some of the gaps in the series: Sym 8 and Lieder

 

Curiously, Sym 2 still seems to be unavailable in a hi-res download from either site.

[chrille]

Yes unfortunately the 2nd is missing from this otherwise great Promo.

I have so far downloaded the 1st, the 3rd, the 7th and the 8th at €6.30 each.

And like I said yesterday this site not only offers unbeatable prices during the Promo, but also the smoothest most customer-friendly hi res downloads of any of all the sites I have tried so far.

Aiff downloaded straight into iTunes with booklet and sleeve included too.

The most hazzlefree experience in downloads I have had.

Using my office connection in town I downloaded the full aiff files of both the 1st and 7th in ten minutes!

Add to that, apart from this promo lots of interesting Classical Music in hi res quality.

I only wish my french was better.

[orgel]

I only wish my french was better.

 

Using Google Translate helped get me through the parts not covered by 1st-year college French.

 

I initially downloaded Nos. 3 & 5, gave them a good listen, and liked what I heard. This morning I went back and downloaded Nos. 7 & 8, so with any luck (and spouse permitting) I'll be able to immerse myself in those this evening.

 

These were my first Qobuz dlownlaods, and I'd agree completely that that they provide a superb user experience -- much better, IMO, than HDtracks. I'll be checking in with Qobuz regularly from here on in.

 

--David