Qobuz removed all the Rhino/Warner/Atlantic material

[CatManDo]

Here's my email exchange with Qobuz support:

 

J'ai constaté que beaucoup d'albums du label Atlantic (Rhino) ont disparu du site, y compris des albums que j'ai acheté recemment. Un exemple parmi de nombreux autres: Don Cherry - Hear and Now http://www.qobuz.com/album/hear-now-edition-studio-master-don-cherry/0603497936472?ectrans=1 (lien mort maintenant) Est-ce qu'il s'agit d'un bug technique ou est-ce que Qobuz ne peut plus vendre ces albums?

 

Translation:

 

"I've noticed that a lot of Atlantic/Rhino albums have disappeared from the site, including some that I bought recently. One example Don Cherry - Hear and Now http://www.qobuz.com/album/hear-now-edition-studio-master-don-cherry/0603497936472?ectrans=1 (link now dead). Is that a technical bug or is Qobuz no longer allowed to sell these albums?"

 

And their reply:

 

Ce sont en fait les version 192 kHz qui sont sorties de la vente.

Warner ayant décider de faire un tarif particulier pour les versions 192 kHz par rapport aux autres échantillonnages. (plus cher!!)

 

Nous n'avons pas encore la date de remise en ligne de ce catalogue. Divers soucis se posant.

 

Translation:

 

"In fact, it's the 192kHz versions that are no longer sold, Warner having decided to make (charge?) a special price for the 192kHz versions compared to the other resolutions (more expensive!!)

 

We don't have yet a date for making this catalogue items available again. Several problems remain."

 

 

I'm not sure what to make out of this. The Qobuz downloads were 16€ (that includes sales tax), while the same albums are $25 on HDtracks. I always thought this was due to the silly price structure on HDtracks, which charges 30% more for 24/192 albums compared to the 24/96 version (non-existent in this case), but it could be that Warner wanted Qobuz to raise their prices to a similar level than HDtracks.

[chriss71]

 

"In fact, it's the 192kHz versions that are no longer sold, Warner having decided to make (charge?) a special price for the 192kHz versions compared to the other resolutions (more expensive!!)

 

We don't have yet a date for making this catalogue items available again. Several problems remain."

 

 

First off: Thanks for the info, CatManDo. What that several problem would be....

[Snowmonkey]

What that several problem would be....

Quite a few albums that are available on HDTracks in high-res are only available at Qobuz in 16/44.1. I wonder if that is because Qobuz suspects that the high-res versions are upsampled or padded, given they claim to guarantee the provenance of their "Édition Studio Masters". Has anyone analysed any of the Rhino/Warner/Atlantic high-res material?

[Robert Hutton]

Quite a few albums that are available on HDTracks in high-res are only available at Qobuz in 16/44.1. I wonder if that is because Qobuz suspects that the high-res versions are upsampled or padded, given they claim to guarantee the provenance of their "Édition Studio Masters". Has anyone analysed any of the Rhino/Warner/Atlantic high-res material?

 

Nothing to do with that at all. The answer seems to have been given several posts above - pricing. Qobuz has had its fair share of padded stuff and in fact, unlike HD Tracks, has no compunction about bootlegs either.

 

I have a fair bit of the Rhino/Atlantic material - it is all legit as described and for the most part sounds fabulous.

[Snowmonkey]

Nothing to do with that at all. The answer seems to have been given several posts above - pricing. Qobuz has had its fair share of padded stuff and in fact, unlike HD Tracks, has no compunction about bootlegs either.

 

I have a fair bit of the Rhino/Atlantic material - it is all legit as described and for the most part sounds fabulous.

Not meaning to demean HDTracks in any way (perish the thought), but I wasn't aware that Qobuz had been found to be selling a significant amount of padded/upsampled material. No-one seems to have mentioned any on the recent thread:.http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f13-audiophile-downloads/qobuz-quality-control-significant-step-16264/

I can't understand why price alone would prevent Qobuz from carrying this material. Why wouldn't they just pass the premium price on to their customers?

Clearly a lot of the Rhino/Atlantic/Warner stuff sounds great. I'm just wondering if any of it has been analysed objectively by anyone on this forum.

[Robert Hutton]

Not meaning to demean HDTracks in any way (perish the thought), but I wasn't aware that Qobuz had been found to be selling a significant amount of padded/upsampled material. No-one seems to have mentioned any on the recent thread:.http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f13-audiophile-downloads/qobuz-quality-control-significant-step-16264/

I can't understand why price alone would prevent Qobuz from carrying this material. Why wouldn't they just pass the premium price on to their customers?

Clearly a lot of the Rhino/Atlantic/Warner stuff sounds great. I'm just wondering if any of it has been analysed objectively by anyone on this forum.

 

If it's padded/upsampled on HD Tracks, the corresponding title on Qobuz is almost certain to have the same issue.

 

The new "guarantee" is hardly a significant step, as they have always been quite responsive and quick to refund if a file is found to be not a true Hi-Res file. I suppose the new "guarantee" is a marketing tool, to get people on the sidelines or too paranoid about validity to jump in, and since they always refunded anyways, they net positive.

[Snowmonkey]

The new "guarantee" is hardly a significant step, as they have always been quite responsive and quick to refund if a file is found to be not a true Hi-Res file. I suppose the new "guarantee" is a marketing tool, to get people on the sidelines or too paranoid about validity to jump in, and since they always refunded anyways, they net positive.

Hey that's great. I didn't realise they did that. Do HDTracks refund for spurious hi-res material too?

[Musicophile]

If it's padded/upsampled on HD Tracks, the corresponding title on Qobuz is almost certain to have the same issue.

 

The new "guarantee" is hardly a significant step, as they have always been quite responsive and quick to refund if a file is found to be not a true Hi-Res file. I suppose the new "guarantee" is a marketing tool, to get people on the sidelines or too paranoid about validity to jump in, and since they always refunded anyways, they net positive.

Sure it's a "marketing tool", but isn't this exactly the kind of "marketing" we'd want? This customer friendly practice plus the fact that the premiums they charge for highres vs redbook are much more reasonable than some other sides make Qobuz right now my preferred content provider.

[Boris75]

Sure it's a "marketing tool", but isn't this exactly the kind of "marketing" we'd want? This customer friendly practice plus the fact that the premiums they charge for highres vs redbook are much more reasonable than some other sides make Qobuz right now my preferred content provider.

 

I fully agree with your point. This is a sort of marketing I'd like to see more often. For me it would be even better if they added DR reports to their Studio Master certification.

[Snowmonkey]

Well a guarantee is nothing more or less than a promise to refund a customer's money if the product is defective or not as advertised.

Which leads me back to my original hypothesis that maybe Qobuz is less willing to carry a product which they suspect contravenes their policies than other companies which are, shall we say, less forthcoming....

[chriss71]

Quite a few albums that are available on HDTracks in high-res are only available at Qobuz in 16/44.1.

 

Look at my graph and then you maybe have the answer...

[Snowmonkey]

Look at my graph and then you maybe have the answer...

Indeed Chris, though one swallow does not make a Spring. Still, come to think of it, the infamously padded Joni Mitchell: Ladies of the Canyon was also a Rhino/Warner release.

[chriss71]

Indeed Chris, though one swallow does not make a Spring. Still, come to think of it, the infamously padded Joni Mitchell: Ladies of the Canyon was also a Rhino/Warner release.

 

True. Btw, have HDTracks now the right Joni Mitchell one and not the padded one?

Do you have a list of the Rhino/Warner/Atlantic stuff which Quobuz have deleted. I have many of them from HDTracks.

[Dos]

Quite a few albums that are available on HDTracks in high-res are only available at Qobuz in 16/44.1.

I've found the converse true as well. Some ECM albums are available on Qobuz or Gube in high-res but on HDTracks only 16/44. Terje Rypdal's Odyssey is available in the following resolutions through various vendors: 16/44, 24/48, 24/88, and 24/96. I contacted ECM but they did not reply (surprise). Can there possibly be 4 versions of this one album? More likely it's not correctly listed. I'm so confused.

[regnaD kciN]

At this point, does anyone know of any other download sources for these albums (in hi-res, of course) other than HDTracks?

[Robert Hutton]

At this point, does anyone know of any other download sources for these albums (in hi-res, of course) other than HDTracks?

 

You can get most on e-Onkyo and a fair number on Highresaudio, but at higher prices.

[CatManDo]

Highresaudio (Germany) has regional restrictions for the Warner albums. When I browse the site from Luxembourg, I get the following message:

 

Sorry!

 

Dear HIGHRESAUDIO Visitor,

 

Unfortunately you can not purchase the Song/Album due to licensing constraints. HIGHRESAUDIO does not have the rights to this Song/Album in your territory. We are doing our best to make the HIGHRESAUDIO library available worldwide.

 

We greatly appreciate your understanding.

 

Yours sincerely, HIGHRESAUDIO

HIGHRESAUDIO | Home of audiophile music - Ornette Coleman - Ornette On Tenor

[regnaD kciN]

You can get most on e-Onkyo and a fair number on Highresaudio, but at higher prices.

 

I can only seem to get e-Onkyo in Japanese, which I don't read. Is there any way to access that site in English (or, if not English, French or Spanish?). Unfortunately, Google Translate doesn't work when the text is part of buttons or other artwork.

[rwwjr44]

I think Google translate is about as good as you can get for now. My problem is that I can't get them to accept my card for payment, so I can't buy anything (which is probably a good thing for my cash reserves )

[firedog]

I think Google translate is about as good as you can get for now. My problem is that I can't get them to accept my card for payment, so I can't buy anything (which is probably a good thing for my cash reserves )

 

I can only seem to get e-Onkyo in Japanese, which I don't read. Is there any way to access that site in English (or, if not English, French or Spanish?). Unfortunately, Google Translate doesn't work when the text is part of buttons or other artwork.

 

Chrome works by way of Google Translate, but you are right the buttons are graphics and don't translate. But when you put your cursor on the buttons, you can see the URL of the link, and this mostly tells you what it is. I managed to muddle through and buy a couple of 192 albums (the Who) that sound fantastic.

 

CC - have you tried recently? They used to only take Amex from abroad (apparently), but the revised site took my US Mastercard with no problem.

[rwwjr44]

--snip--

 

CC - have you tried recently? They used to only take Amex from abroad (apparently), but the revised site took my US Mastercard with no problem.

 

Thanks, I'll try sometime this week.