CD or Download

[Gussy]

Mike Oldfield Hergest Ridge 2010 is available to buy as a regular CD. It is also available to download (16/44,1) from Qobuz.

 

Would anybody be able to say - purely from a sound quality viewpoint - which I should buy? Is there any guarantee that the files will be identical to the CD?

 

Many thanks for your advice!

 

Gussy

[coxhaus]

I have just recently figured out file sizes from rips vary. I have a CD track ripped 2 years ago with dBpoweramp and I ripped the CD track again with a newer version and the file size is different. I have ripped this same track with EAC and the file size is different than the other 2 rips. So to me the CD is important. I kind of wonder if we should be using ISO (CD image) instead of rips.

[sdolezalek]

There are a number of new CD's out that I would normally buy from Amazon, but I question just how good their pressing/ripping process is these days. You can also download the MP3 file, but I'm not sure that's better. Most of these titles are not yet available from any of the Hi Res or other download sites.

 

Any views on what the best format is, if you are buying from Amazon for example?

[CatManDo]

I never asked myself this question, because 16/44 lossless downloads are usually not worth buying, as they are more expensive than the CD.

 

CDs are being sold at discount prices, downloads mostly at list price. A rare CD can gain in value, while a download cannot be resold.

 

So I end up buying only hi-rez downloads or CD quality downloads for which the CD is out of print and hard to find.

[DaQi]

Unless there is a hi-res version I am with CatManDo, I buy the CD. Some good reasons for that - it is a back-up against possibly deleting the file or not being able to access the file in the future (this mainly applies to files with DRM on them which is not so common anymore but used to be a problem) and when new formats for different players come out I am quite sure I will be able to pull out my original CD and re-rip it to another format. Plus, I like getting the case and covers although not as much as I enjoyed old LP record covers.

 

The reason that different rips may be different sizes may be due to different metadata or tags being added to the file by different rippers or using different settings when ripping. For example, with DBPoweramp, you can change the compression on flac files which would result in different sized files although the "music" data will uncompress to an identical bit-stream.

[Musicophile]

When possible, I buy even 16/44 downloads from Qobuz. Reason being that I want to support them as their pricing policy is usually among he more reasonable, I often buy recent releases that are not necessarily cheaper on CD, I get the product instantly and don't have to wait for delivery, you can download the product as many times as you like in case of data loss, no physical product cluttering the space, and access on my iPhone and iPad to the cloud version of my music everywhere.

 

And while this may sound like a commercial, I'm not affiliated with Qobuz, just a happy customer.

 

I don't believe that there is any sound quality difference as long as your rip is ok.

[audiojim]

When possible, I buy even 16/44 downloads from Qobuz. Reason being that I want to support them as their pricing policy is usually among he more reasonable, I often buy recent releases that are not necessarily cheaper on CD, I get the product instantly and don't have to wait for delivery, you can download the product as many times as you like in case of data loss, no physical product cluttering the space, and access on my iPhone and iPad to the cloud version of my music everywhere.

 

And while this may sound like a commercial, I'm not affiliated with Qobuz, just a happy customer.

 

I don't believe that there is any sound quality difference as long as your rip is ok.

 

Is qobuz site only in French ? You can buy in the USA though correct? What's the policy of , say, hd tracks if I lose a file I have downloaded -- can I redownload ? Thanks

[Musicophile]

Is qobuz site only in French ? You can buy in the USA though correct? What's the policy of , say, hd tracks if I lose a file I have downloaded -- can I redownload ? Thanks

Their original site is in French, but they slowly expand internationally, with local sites in the UK, Germany, Ireland, and some other European countries. However, the first thing they seem to sell is their lossless streaming service. The second business they have, selling downloads, still is pretty much focused on their French site, so you probably have to live with Goodgle translate if you don't speak French.

 

I'm in Europe so I have no direct experience in accessing it from the US, but I've heard that usually they don't sell their downloads to the US, so you'd need to use a proxy service.

[Gussy]

If you write them a nice email, they´ll open an account for you!