Holst's Planets conducted by Boult SACD (EMI Masters) help needed

[Leica]

Hi there,

 

I am really enjoying the (red book) 1978 recording conducted by Boult of the Planets, thanks to the recommendations from the nice people here on this forum

 

Anyway I now feel the need to get this in higher resolution and so I am looking to order an SACD of it.

 

I understand that last year EMI remastered from their analogue tapes their prized old recordings and then released these as some 100 SACDs but only in Japan. Here in England only 10 or so are available in the "Signature" collection. This Boult recording is not one of those 10

 

So I am looking to get the Japanese SACD from CD Japan from whom I have ordered before.

 

Now I come to the problem and hence this post and the need for help. Apparently, there are TWO versions! And they are both from the same series too! See this:-

 

Holst: The Planets Sir Adrian Boult [sACD]

 

Holst: The Planets Sir Adrian Boult [sACD]

 

Af first I thought this has to be some mistake, but no, there are indeed two different products with two different catalogue numbers but with the same cover! Go figure...

 

One of them is Single Layer and it is more expensive of the two. Again, go figure...

 

Does anyone know the difference between the two?

 

Thanks.

[LBob]

Maybe you should just go to HD tracks and buy the download? If I recall its 24/96 so it should sound pretty good. BTW, there's another earlier version from High Definition Tape Transfers that's worth a listen. Not as good SQ wise but interesting performance.

[wgscott]

I just downloaded one from Bowers and Wilkins website, with a free membership I got for registering speakers I bought in March of 2010. I didn't realize he was one of the Pluto-haters, and he didn't include Earth either.

[Boris75]

Maybe you should just go to HD tracks and buy the download? If I recall its 24/96 so it should sound pretty good.

 

I second your recommendation. I bought this 24/96 remastering of Boult's 1977 recording of the Planets and am very pleased with it. I would even go a bit further and recommend the 24/96 files from HDTracks over the Japanese SACDs because the liner notes for their recent batch of Signature SACDs explicitly mention that the remastering was done in PCM 24bit/96kHz. So the HDtrack 24/96 downloads have one fewer conversions than the SACDs.

[Leica]

All EMI Masters SACDs are sourced from 96kKz/24-Bit PCM files. So the SACD is not the first generation and in theory should sound inferior to the 96kHz download, assuming that is the untouched master file.

 

Unfortunately here in England I cannot purchased from HDTracks. Nor can I purchase from Qobuz. Just last week Qobuz had so many bargains for €10 that I wanted, but when I tried to check out I was unable to. Very frustrating...

 

I use findhdmusic.com and it says that this Boult recoding is available only on HDTracks If someone can find an online store other than HDTracks please let me know! And no I am not comfortable with using proxy servers, so that isn't an option for me.

 

P.S. I wonder if you can purchase 192kHz downloads of these EMI recordings? If so then it would be a con as these would also be sourced from 96kHz files!

[Snowmonkey]

I didn't realize he was one of the Pluto-haters, and he didn't include Earth either.

He wrote The Planets about 15 years before Pluto was discovered. Also, the suite is about the planets in their astrological roles as the wandering stars, so that wouldn't include Earth (at least not to an Earthling).

[Snowmonkey]

I use findhdmusic.com and it says that this Boult recoding is available only on HDTracks If someone can find an online store other than HDTracks please let me know! And no I am not comfortable with using proxy servers, so that isn't an option for me.

You can download from HDTracks if you use a Paypal account, instead of a credit card. No proxy required.

[Leica]

How can I pay by PayPal if I can't even add it to my cart? As soon as I click the red add button I get this pop up message:-

 

"This title is not yet available for download from HDtracks in your territory due to current contract restrictions. We are working hard to soon be able to offer this title and many others in pristine high resolution quality. Please continue to check back for further updates. We apologize for any inconvenience. We look forward to having your business."

[Snowmonkey]

How can I pay by PayPal if I can't even add it to my cart? As soon as I click the red add button I get this pop up message:-

 

"This title is not yet available for download from HDtracks in your territory due to current contract restrictions. We are working hard to soon be able to offer this title and many others in pristine high resolution quality. Please continue to check back for further updates. We apologize for any inconvenience. We look forward to having your business."

Hmmm, you've got me there. I have never had a problem and I'm outside the U.S. Have you ever got as far as trying to pay using a credit card? If so, they may have flagged your account as foreign. Can you add an item to your basket before you log in? It may be worth opening a new account with a Gmail address, or similar.

[Leica]

No I haven't gotten that far. As I said I can't even add anything to my basket/cart. It won't let me.

 

I do not have an account with them. Accounts are normally created when one is ready to checkout. I have not reached that stage.

[firedog]

Sort of odd. I'm not in the US. If I open a browser and go to HDT, I can load an album in my cart with no problem. In the cart, I put a US address in (it doesn't matter what it is, any existing address will work) and use PayPal. Never have any problem.

 

If I was you, I'd try a computer OS set to "region US", and use a browser that hasn't been to HDT. You can always change the location setting of the computer back to your actual locale after your order.

 

If that doesn't work for you, the next best option would be to try using a US proxy server or other software that makes your PC/browser look like it is accessing HDT from the US.

 

The Holst Planets by Boult is fantastic, and as noted, the SACD is based on the 24/96 transcription of the original tape. EMI has stated it sees no sonic reason to transcript analog in anything above 24/96 - in their opinion there is no benefit to higher res.

[Leica]

I am near London, England. My internet provider is BT and my ip address starts with 81.xxx.xxx.xxx. I am using Google Chrome on a MacBook Pro running Mac OS X 10.8.4.

 

Later on I will try on my iPad with 3G so that will be a cellular network, but still in the United bloody Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I feel somehow that this will not help, even though I will give it a shot.

 

Like I said I am not interested in Proxy Servers. I don't have time to learn to use them and I do not feel safe having all my data going through some company.

 

What I will do however is look for this Boult recording on a Torrent site! If HDTracks and Qobuz don't want my money then fine, I will download that exact same thing for free...

[LBob]

How can I pay by PayPal if I can't even add it to my cart? As soon as I click the red add button I get this pop up message:-

 

"This title is not yet available for download from HDtracks in your territory due to current contract restrictions. We are working hard to soon be able to offer this title and many others in pristine high resolution quality. Please continue to check back for further updates. We apologize for any inconvenience. We look forward to having your business."

 

I had the same problem. Make an account with Qobuz. Then contact their customer support, give the name for the account, and tell them the problem. The will change your account and let you buy. At least this worked for me in the USA. I seem to recall that some else in Britain had the same problem and got it resolved.

[Leica]

Thanks for your advice. I already made an account with them when I first wanted to order when the sale was on.

 

But now I have e-mailed them. Let's see what happens...