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Yes Magnatune is a "not evil" where independent artists are paid 50% of the revenue, and customers are free to set their own price. They also sell membership for unlimited downloads. Good music available in FLAC and MP3. Also have free streaming to Squeezeboxes and iPhone. Very highly recommended. Good Classical.

 

DG also has a very nice download site with lossless downloads. The best part is unlike other labels, their downloads are for once cheaper than the physical CDs, which is the way it should be.

 

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Chris,

 

Actually DG does sell FLAC files. Just do a search on their web site and may of the files there are FLAC based.

 

In fact, the entire 111 anniversary 55 disc boxset in FLAC is available at a bargain price

 

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I don't think anyone has mentioned that Naim Records do High Resolution downloads.

 

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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The catalogue is very limited, but Burning Shed has some FLAC downloads available for some of its artists. They just recently added several full Porcupine Tree albums for FLAC download. They're a great Brit prog rock outfit, so that may be worth checking out for some of you.

 

http://www.burningshed.com/

 

For classical fans, I didn't see the Philly Orchestra's Online Store mentioned above (may have missed it). They also make FLACs available of many past concerts.

 

http://www.thephiladelphiaorchestra.com/

 

The sound quality from files from both sites are excellent.

 

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Good news, especially for us here in Denmark. Danish Dacapo Records have just offered their entire catalogue as download, with some hirez material, and more to come. Dacapo is devoted to Danish classical music, but their web site is in English. Although not an audiophile label, their SQ tends to be really good.

 

They're offering a free download of the day (http://www.dacapo-records.dk/news-free-download-of-the-day.aspx). Should you find something to your liking, they're offering a 50 % discount on all downloads through December. Use promotion code: DOWNLOADS-50-OFF.

 

I can recommend this album (unfortunately not available in hirez): http://www.dacapo-records.dk/recording-requiem.aspx.

 

"It's getting better all the time!"

 

 

 

All best,

Jens

 

i5 Macbook Pro running Roon -> Uptone Etherregen -> custom-built Win10 PC serving as endpoint, with separate LPUs for mobo and a filtering digiboard (DIY) -> Audio Note DAC 5ish (a heavily modded 3.1X Bal) -> AN Kit One, heavily modded with silver wiring and Black Gates -> AN E-SPx Alnico on Townshend speaker bars. Vicoustic and GIK treatment.

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Boomkat is also worth a look as it has a reasonable selection of material available in FLAC format hidden amongst cd, vinyl and mp3 releases.

 

http://boomkat.com/downloads

 

An honourable mention goes to Sofaspace which has a small selection of downloads in FLAC format. The main attraction for me is that most of the releases are from the French "panoramic" ambient electronica label Ultimae (http://www.ultimae.com)

 

http://www.sofaspace.net/store/downloads-c-47.html

 

An interesting looking site that has some hidden gems in FLAC format;

http://www.musiczeit.com/

 

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The Linn site has a 3 for 2 sale going on until Dec. 14th. Use promotion code 3FOR2. That's the good news.

 

The bad news is that their download speed (to US at least) is painfully slow. So far, 3 songs (24/88 FLAC) out of the 3 albums purchased have downloaded in about 4 hours (20kb/s on average). I have DSL which is usually decent on downloads so I doubt it is my DSL causing the issue.

 

I checked their help section that they acknowledged a slow download issue outside of Europe.

 

Hopefully, I will be able to enjoy my 3 new albums by the end of 2009.

 

Eric

www.beresford-dac.com

 

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Sound Guy, I just have the usual newsletter with the free and special price offerings from Chandos. My newsletter of 1 or 2 quarters ago had an offer which, when I clicked to investigate, was available in the lossless format. That said, it was not something I was interested in, so I did not bother with the download - in hindsight, it is quite possible that, had I done so, I may have discovered the free version to have been limited to the mp3 format.

 

Apologies if I have erred.

 

Even more profound apologies if I caused you to think that somehow I was getting a more generous newsletter than you.

 

David

 

MacMini, Mytek Manhattan I DAC, Avantone The Abbey Monitors, Roon

 

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Will you please compile an up to date list of download sites and make it prominent on your site? I recently learned of two new ones: 2L and Hodie. It would be very helpful to have all these in a handy spot and regularly updated by you without having to sift thru all the comments. Thanks.

 

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  • 8 months later...

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There might have been some changes on DG's website since you can now download CDs either at FLAC lossless (for a somewhat higher price) or 320 kbps mp3 files. Miguel

 

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I like this. Appears to be very true. I've downloaded both from Linn and HD Tracks and found the artistic qualities to be in reversed correlation with the quality of the recording.

 

One except is the Norwegian label 2L who sells HiRez tracks from their website (or cheaper from HD Tracks).

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

this thread was started a couple of years ago with genuine enthusiasm, however it seems to me that the list of interesting sites is still rather thin. are we sure high definition downloads are the future and will expand to a point where we can find tens of thousands of 24/96 or higher resolution downloads? I don't think so any more.

 

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Actually, I have the opposite experience--I feel that more and more hirez albums become available. But, OK, it's mainly classical ...

 

All best,

Jens

 

i5 Macbook Pro running Roon -> Uptone Etherregen -> custom-built Win10 PC serving as endpoint, with separate LPUs for mobo and a filtering digiboard (DIY) -> Audio Note DAC 5ish (a heavily modded 3.1X Bal) -> AN Kit One, heavily modded with silver wiring and Black Gates -> AN E-SPx Alnico on Townshend speaker bars. Vicoustic and GIK treatment.

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  • 1 month later...

I have yet to find a classical music download site. Such a site would have to have FLAC or WAV downloads (not MP3)and have a good selection of up to date classical pieces. By good selection, I mean AT LEAST 100 different pieces.

Naxos says it is streaming only, which I understand to mean that you cannot buy downloads.

Pristine has a good selection of OLD label or "classic" recordings, but has very little or nothing recorded after 1950. The best recordings should generally be after 1980.

Any sites meeting these criteria would be appreciated.

 

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