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Has anyone else had problems downloading the Grindhouse and Little Axe albums from the B&W Music Club archives? The other albums download fine for me. But downloading these two files in Safari on Mac OS X Leopard gives me the dreaded "Error 1" when unzipping. When I open a terminal window and use unzip it says that the files are corrupted.

 

David Odren

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I emailed B&W last night about the issue but have not had a reply, so far. I've tried three different zip utilities but all report the same issue. The closest I get to the problem is when using PeaZip, which reports that a password may be required - the problem being, of course, that I never get the chance to put one in!

 

If I get an answer, I'll post back.

 

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I'm inclined to agree, re the password thing. Just clutching at straws! Hopefully you'll have more clout than me, in the e-mail stakes! The length of time it takes to conduct a conversation, using the 'instant electronic' medium of e-mail, never fails to disappoint me! ;(

 

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from B&W. They seemed to think that the issue was 'not widespread' and asked me loads of 'helpdesk' type questions. Gave them the answers to the questions and pointed them to this thread by way of comment on how many other cases are around. As a number of us have had the same problem, they will hopefully find this helpful. Fingers crossed...........

 

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I had this same issue yesterday, actually, with 3 downloads. . .Little Axe, Grindhouse, and Dub Colossus. I re-downloaded the Dub file this morning and it extracted just fine. However, I tried the same thing with Little Axe and it still blew up.

 

All the other files (Madam, Gwyneth Herbert, Tom Kerstens, and Juliann Raye) were fine.

 

BPT 3.5 Ultra/Reference 3A Reflectors/MSB Technology S201 Amplifier/MSB Technology Analog DAC/MSB Technology Network Renderer/Audirvana +

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Hi,

 

Susanna here from B&W. I'm sorry some of you have been having trouble with accessing the music.

We've had to upload a lot of new zip files to make the back catalogue available and it seems some of them may have uploaded incorrectly.

We are working to correct this right now and will keep you updated.

It was great to read this whole conversation about the music and what you thought of it. We are experimenting with something here and any feedback is always useful. An exclusive club is exactly how we wanted it to feel.

We have a blog that we try and encourage members to feedback each month on the album so they can share their opinions: http://blog.bowers-wilkins.com/musicclub/

 

Sorry again but as I say, I will keep you updated,

 

Susanna

 

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And welcome to CA. Many thanks for your efforts and, as you can see, Society of Sound is a bit world famous over here! It does it for me, anyway! I'll take this opportunity, if I may, to say that the decision to offer the back catalogue was inspired! I can't wait to hear the Little Axe in all its 24 bit glory. Many thanks. :)

 

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I received an e-mail from B&W this afternoon saying that the new files should be available from 'tomorrow morning' - I assume that to be a UK time! ;) Should be good to go soon, anyway!

 

Apologies to Susanna if I've jumped the gun with the info but, well, good news can't wait!

 

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FWIW, I downloaded the 16bit Little Axe file last night and it extracted just fine. Of course, I want the 24 bit version!! The Grindhouse file was still corrupted.

Bob

 

BPT 3.5 Ultra/Reference 3A Reflectors/MSB Technology S201 Amplifier/MSB Technology Analog DAC/MSB Technology Network Renderer/Audirvana +

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  • 1 year later...

I have recently moved into computer-based music and hi-rez downloads adn have been exploring the sites as Linn, Naim and most recently the Society of Sound.

 

I accept the fact that availability of hi-rez music currently is very low with hardly any mainstream music availalble. So when I went to Linn and Naim I knew choice of music to individual taste may be limited, but still I was able to find a lot of albums that I enjoy and some were excellent.

 

Unfortunately, I found the SoS quite disappointing. Very limited choice of albums and artists. I listen to a variety of genres and try to keep my mind open and try all kinds of new music, but what I found there was a plain disappointment.

 

I also had technical problems (download manager not working at all and contacting SoS's support did not result in anyhting more that a reply of 'we are sorry for the inconvenience' type).

 

I will keep watching it for new albums and hope SoS and other hi-rez sites develop.

 

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almaatakz commented... "Unfortunately, I found the SoS quite disappointing. Very limited choice of albums and artists. I listen to a variety of genres and try to keep my mind open and try all kinds of new music, but what I found there was a plain disappointment. "

 

You have to remember that the Bowers and Wilkins Society of Sound is not a traditional download site. Their mission statement (so to speak) is to provide the subscribers with an album of well recorded / mastered music, from a variety of genres, on a monthly basis. Having said that, if you only actually enjoy 2 or 3 of them in a year - and there is now a general release and an LSO release each month, £35 (think thats about the year's subscription) is still good value especially as you have access to the previous releases too.

 

I'm not trying to say you HAVE to like the SoS ... but you should judge it in the context that they intend - it's not really comperable to Linn / Naim / HD-Tracks.

 

Eloise

 

Eloise

 

Eloise

---

...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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Yes, Eloise, indeed. I was well aware of it's "music club" as opposed to a "shop" approach. Thinking positively, reading their 'mission statement' (which makes an impression of carefully selected music which I read as "outstanding in some positive way", not just quirky) my expectation was something like that:

 

60-70% music that will be just not to my taste i.e. for somebody else's taste perhaps

20-30% music that I might not like immediately but that can grow on me with time, being high-quality representation of its genre

20-10% music that I might like straight away

 

But what I found there was well below expectation. It was uninteresting, in some cases there was not enough musicality in music, more like 'sounds' (that is to me, I hope others did like more music there). so, indeed, I found the contrast between the expectation created and what I found resulting in a very low impression. This is not where I want hi-rez download music to be going... ;-(

 

What were the impressions with others here?

 

 

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@ almaatakz: I guess my expectations of the SoS club were very similar to yours ... but I've found that about:

 

20-30% I've enjoyed immediately and repeatedly listen

50-60% I've either enjoyed listening to or found in time I enjoy it

20-30% I've listened to but not really found to be my tastes

 

With the addition of the LSO recordings I expect there will be more "go back to" music as well.

 

As I say ... for me the concept works but I can understand others not liking it ... though I still think for the cost it is good value - especially for new members. Also IIRC there is a "trial" membership which allows access to 4 track EP versions of some of the music.

 

Eloise

 

Eloise

---

...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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This is a completely subjective issue and a matter of personal taste. Maybe your expecations weren't realistic?

 

How can any site offer limited selections that will appeal to everyone? One man's meat. . .

 

My only expectation from SOS is well-recorded music. Whether or not that music meets my tastes isn't a consideration as I'm always looking to expand my horizons. If I don't like something that's fine, but it's not B&W's fault and I certainly don't feel that I'm not getting my money's worth.

 

BPT 3.5 Ultra/Reference 3A Reflectors/MSB Technology S201 Amplifier/MSB Technology Analog DAC/MSB Technology Network Renderer/Audirvana +

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------ Maybe your expecations weren't realistic? -----

 

You are probably right. yes, it is very subjective and personal taste, fully accept that.

 

difficult to put a finget on it - I expected the selection to be more refined.

 

------ If I don't like something that's fine, but it's not B&W's fault and I certainly don't feel that I'm not getting my money's worth. -----

 

Also a valid point. I am not dismissing them at all and will continue to try their music.

 

It's just when I went through other sites, the impression was like "of cause many things not to my taste (perfectly normal) but some are certainly excellent" and here it was like 'hmmmm, that is a bit disappointing"

 

 

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Offhand ... does anyone else have trouble loading the Bowers and Wilkins website on a Mac? With both Firefox and Safari the home page (www.bowers-wilkins.com) just continually reloads for me.

 

Eloise

 

Eloise

---

...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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