If B&O ends up supporting ALAC AND comes out with a beonet to masterlink interface (I am not interested in the Beosound 5/Beomaster 5 combo)...there will be a Beosound 5 encore in my future....

....and hopefully in that future the Besound 5 encore includes a digital output that would allow me to connect to the digital input of my Beolab 5s (alternatively, a Beosystem 4 that has a digital output would be even better).......(as silly as this may sound....this is the reason I never upgraded to a Beosystem 3 from a Beosystem 1...the thought of a digital system converting digital signals to analog to then have a digital speaker convert those signals back to digital doesn't sit well with me)....

Same for me, as long as they also find a way to make it play tracks without gaps..

Let's see how responsive B&O is to this great opportunity!

I don't suppose iTunes is about to start selling lossless music???

Puncher:

I don't suppose iTunes is about to start selling lossless music???

That's a nice thought :-)

For all those who are in search of a VERY RELIABLE lossless/HD download website, I can only recommend the french Qobuz : ALL albums are available in lossless, you can choose your prefered filetype (FLAC, WAV, WMA, ALAC, AIFF), and re-download what you've bought infinitely, in any quality you want (lossy/lossless), or even UPGRADE to HD when available, only for the price of the difference.

That's the perfect site for BS5 owners, and it will become available in english soon (but you can already find what you want and understand how to buy, even in French).You have to install a downloader for the files you buy, and you can even set it up so that all files will be directly downloaded on your BS5 library!

Qobuz does not "upconvert" any file or rip SACD, they are not cheating on quality, they are sourcing HD files directly from the majors.

Puncher:

I don't suppose iTunes is about to start selling lossless music???

It is, according to some pretty convincing chatter.

soundproof:

Puncher:

I don't suppose iTunes is about to start selling lossless music???

It is, according to some pretty convincing chatter.

In that case.. we'd better invest in shares from storrage manufacturers :-)

Karel Uyttendaele:

Let's see how responsive B&O is to this great opportunity!

Whitout the slightest pessimism, VERY slow is my guess!

Cool, beoworld now works with the iPad!

soundproof:

Puncher:

I don't suppose iTunes is about to start selling lossless music???

 

It is, according to some pretty convincing chatter.

 

Keeping fingers crossed!!! Hoping for a one sum uppgrade to lossless quality for existing purchases!

mbee:

For all those who are in search of a VERY RELIABLE lossless/HD download website, I can only recommend the french Qobuz : ALL albums are available in lossless, you can choose your prefered filetype (FLAC, WAV, WMA, ALAC, AIFF), and re-download what you've bought infinitely, in any quality you want (lossy/lossless), or even UPGRADE to HD when available, only for the price of the difference.

That's the perfect site for BS5 owners, and it will become available in english soon (but you can already find what you want and understand how to buy, even in French).You have to install a downloader for the files you buy, and you can even set it up so that all files will be directly downloaded on your BS5 library!

Qobuz does not "upconvert" any file or rip SACD, they are not cheating on quality, they are sourcing HD files directly from the majors.

Thanks. Qobuz works perfectly.

mbee:

For all those who are in search of a VERY RELIABLE lossless/HD download website, I can only recommend the french Qobuz : ALL albums are available in lossless, you can choose your prefered filetype (FLAC, WAV, WMA, ALAC, AIFF), and re-download what you've bought infinitely, in any quality you want (lossy/lossless), or even UPGRADE to HD when available, only for the price of the difference.

That's the perfect site for BS5 owners, and it will become available in english soon (but you can already find what you want and understand how to buy, even in French).You have to install a downloader for the files you buy, and you can even set it up so that all files will be directly downloaded on your BS5 library!

Qobuz does not "upconvert" any file or rip SACD, they are not cheating on quality, they are sourcing HD files directly from the majors.

Hi guys,

More than lossless, Qobuz make it possible to buy albums in a Studio Masters quality too.

Thanks again Marc for making me discover this website, now I don't buy music from iTunes anymore 

Cheers,

EdouardG:

Hi guys,

More than lossless, Qobuz make it possible to buy albums in a Studio Masters quality too.

Thanks again Marc for making me discover this website, now I don't buy music from iTunes anymore 

Cheers,

 

I never understood the iTunes hype, anyway. For some Euro's/Dollars more one could/can buy the CD. And then one can rip it in any format you prefer! 

The price - quality ratio of iTunes files is to low if one compares it with a CD. 

Carolpa:

EdouardG:

Hi guys,

More than lossless, Qobuz make it possible to buy albums in a Studio Masters quality too.

Thanks again Marc for making me discover this website, now I don't buy music from iTunes anymore 

Cheers,

 

I never understood the iTunes hype, anyway. For some Euro's/Dollars more one could/can buy the CD. And then one can rip it in any format you prefer! 

The price - quality ratio of iTunes files is to low if one compares it with a CD. 

I agree with you about iTunes and the quality of their records available in the store.

But about Qobuz, you won't (easily) find any Studio Masters cd's on the market...that's why Qobuz is a Great alternative.

Cheers

We have to assume that the period of compressed music will be a blip on the radar as digital music advances. It was, so far as I understand it, a matter of scarcity of storage. Now that storage is cheap, files can grow. Now that the cloud is here, memory will become effectively unlimited. 

EdouardG:

you won't (easily) find any Studio Masters cd's on the market...that's why Qobuz is a Great alternative.

 

for sure this will be the future.

But for now an alternative is ripping DVD (Video / Audio), ripping Blurays and even ripping the DSD layer of a SACD. I already have a collection of about 1200 tracks in 24bit (up to 192kHz) resolution. 

bayerische:

soundproof:

Puncher:

I don't suppose iTunes is about to start selling lossless music???

 

It is, according to some pretty convincing chatter.

 

Keeping fingers crossed!!! Hoping for a one sum uppgrade to lossless quality for existing purchases!

Here's an article about the majors planning to abandon the CD-format next year. They'll sell through downloads and streams - which then sets a clear context to what happened to ALAC. Which is as much as I should say on the topic. :-)

http://www.side-line.com/news_comments.php?id=46980_0_2_0_C

Carolpa:

EdouardG:

Hi guys,

More than lossless, Qobuz make it possible to buy albums in a Studio Masters quality too.

Thanks again Marc for making me discover this website, now I don't buy music from iTunes anymore 

Cheers,

 

I never understood the iTunes hype, anyway. For some Euro's/Dollars more one could/can buy the CD. And then one can rip it in any format you prefer! 

The price - quality ratio of iTunes files is to low if one compares it with a CD. 

Not defending iTunes, as IMHO they should have given the lossless option 2-3 years ago.

However, iTunes or online music stores are great by offering the possibility to buy one song, not the whole record. They offer previews or should I say "prelistening" before you buy, great for finding new music. Everything in the store ~20 million songs are always available and never "out of stock". No brick and mortar music store could ever come close to 20 million songs in store, it would take over 1 million cd's to do that.

IMHO the quality of the current iTunes file is very good, not perfect but very good. 

bayerische:

Carolpa:

EdouardG:

Hi guys,

More than lossless, Qobuz make it possible to buy albums in a Studio Masters quality too.

Thanks again Marc for making me discover this website, now I don't buy music from iTunes anymore 

Cheers,

 

I never understood the iTunes hype, anyway. For some Euro's/Dollars more one could/can buy the CD. And then one can rip it in any format you prefer! 

The price - quality ratio of iTunes files is to low if one compares it with a CD. 

Not defending iTunes, as IMHO they should have given the lossless option 2-3 years ago.

However, iTunes or online music stores are great by offering the possibility to buy one song, not the whole record. They offer previews or should I say "prelistening" before you buy, great for finding new music. Everything in the store ~20 million songs are always available and never "out of stock". No brick and mortar music store could ever come close to 20 million songs in store, it would take over 1 million cd's to do that.

IMHO the quality of the current iTunes file is very good, not perfect but very good. 

 

A couple of points here, if I may.  To the above comments let me say that in any field of interest or fetish, wether it be wine, wristwatches, automobiles or hi-fi audio, the vast majority is not terribly interested in discovering, much less buying, the very best there is.  They are rather more interested in convenience and value (real or imagined.)  

Can we all agree that the benefits of a lossless audio file are wasted on the headsets that Apple gives away with their iProducts?  Similarly,  in an Audi A7 cruising along at 100kph, I imagine that the ambient noise-floor is somewhere north of 60db due to wind- and road-noise, so where does that put my precious 110db S-N/R?  Balanced against the sheer joy of sitting down at the keyboard and finding that one track you've always wanted, clicking a mouse a couple of times, grabbing my keys, unplugging my iPod and dashing off to my car to go do the things I really want to do while listening to my new song?  The iTunes store has been life changing, and utterly satisfactory, for millions of people.  We're a minority with demanding tastes, and those tastes presented daunting technical challenges to the industry a decade ago.  They're getting to us.  Deal with it.

To Trip's point:  Obviously local storage has alwasy been a key issue, and one that is being dealt with by the storage equivalent of Moore's Law.  On the other hand, band-width has been a far more difficult problem to overcome.  And one that neither Apple, nor the recording industry can really solve from their end.  The world-wide hodge-podge patchwork of service providers is struggling to deal with demand, and even threatening to 'throttle' individual user's.  A sudden huge influx of lossless audio will only make that situation worse.  

I think a little patience and pragmatic thinking may be in order.

Carolpa:

But for now an alternative is ripping DVD (Video / Audio), ripping Blurays and even ripping the DSD layer of a SACD. I already have a collection of about 1200 tracks in 24bit (up to 192kHz) resolution. 

Hi Carolpa!

I didn't know that it was possible to rip the DSD layer of a SACD... What software (and maybe hardware) do you use to do that?

By the way, if someone wants to try Qobuz, here is a code to be sponsorized by myself :
http://www.qobuz.com/authentification?parrain=8339-87317 

you get :
- 4 free albums (so that you can try Studio Masters quality without having to pay...)
- 5% reduction
- 24h free streaming (their streaming offer is not the best I know, but it's worth a try)

mbee:

I didn't know that it was possible to rip the DSD layer of a SACD... What software (and maybe hardware) do you use to do that?

 

it is tricky because you must have a PS3 from the first generation (SACD capable) AND the firmware must be <=3.55

see this site for the sw: http://code.google.com/p/sacd-ripper/

a SACD iso file can be played and ripped in Foobar2000 after installing a plug-in to Hires PCM

Wow! That IS really tricky!!!

As I don't own lots of SACDs, and as finding a 1st gen PS3 and managing to downgrade to <3.55 is close to impossible, I will just hope that the Qobuz Studio Masters library expands...

By the way : you managed to rip DSD from SACD, but now you're struck with a file that only plays with Foobar? I mean : there is still no available solution for converting your file to FLAC (or something else more supported by hardware decoders)?

mbee:

but now you're struck with a file that only plays with Foobar?

No

with a plug-in you can play AND rip de SACD-iso into WAV or FLAC

(there are SACD-iso's around .....)