[Helgi]

I picked up a few albums from the Naxos sale at Chandos, excellent value at ~£2 for lossless 44/16 files – but jeeez, the metadata. It's an absolute mess!

Such a mess that I hesitate to get more.

 

[Helgi]

I don't even know what metadata are. I rip or download and put them on a mp3 player. Or maybe what you are talking about is when I pull a track up on the media player and a totally different album cover displays?

Mostly messy track names, inconsistencies, tracks not tagged together as an album and so on. I bought an Alfred Cortot album of Chopin Etudes and it took me probably 15-20 minutes to set it straight in iTunes.

Here is an example of two consecutive track names from that album:

CD01 TK13 - Chopin - Etude No. 13 in A flat major, Op. 25, No. 1, "Harp Study" - Etude No. 13 in A flat major, Op. 25, No. 1, "Harp Study"
CD01 TK14 - Chopin - Etude No. 13 in A flat major, Op. 25, No. 1, "Harp Study" - Etude No. 14 in F minor, Op. 25, No. 2

Apart from the duplicate title, they're numbered correctly as Etudes No. 1 and 2 of Op. 25, and also No. 13 and 14 because they are sequenced after the 12 Etudes of Op. 10

Really? I was unsure when I purchased because the monthly naxos freebie never has anything. But my purchases were perfect.

My Schubert string quartet freebie was far from perfect. Not as bad as the Chopin album, but IIRC there were no tags for artist or composer and the track names were riddled with underscores.

Might be a problem with the ALAC files only?

 

[Helgi]

Here's a bargain: https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7962499--brahms-piano-concerto-no-1

€2,29 mp3, €2,92 lossless.

 

[Helgi]

Tallis for me.

The Oxford Camerata recording of Fauré Requiem was what pushed me off the cliff into classical music. Can't remember why that one in particular. It's a little rough around the edges in hindsight but I have a soft spot for them

 

[Helgi]

Just ordered the Skrowaczewski box.

Thanks for the heads up :tiphat:

 

[Helgi]

Glad to hear that you like the Bruckner. I was only looking for his Beethoven so all the others are a nice big bonus.

 

[Helgi]

I had the CDs in my cart at Presto at around €30, reduced from €40. The 44/16 FLAC files are €53.

But then I had the good fortune to check audite.de and came away with 24 bit FLAC files for €12!

They have 27% off everything due to the virus crisis and free shipping EU/UK.

 

[Helgi]

This thread seems to have become all about downloads. I wonder where all the bargains on physical CDs are these days? Obviously they are more expensive to produce and distribute, but surely there are still buyers (like me), and record companies want to move their stock?

I find that record companies (or retailers) are much more willing to offer discounts on CDs than downloads, on Presto for example.

I'm usually looking at lossless downloads, though. Many of the bargains on here seem to be Amazon MP3s.

 

[Helgi]

Yeah, I buy used CDs that are available locally but shipping and all kinds of fees make downloads the no-brainer option for me in most cases.

 

[Helgi]

Also what a ridiculous bargain is seems very inflated in this thread, A 6 CD set for €40 is not a rediculous bargain imo, a normal price for a CD set I would say, nor is a $2 price for a download album.

The bargain part was where I got the 24 bit FLAC files for €12

That is a real bargain, IMO.

 

[Helgi]

50% off selected Decca and DG boxes at Presto: https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/promotions/dg-decca-boxes

I got two Beethoven piano sonata sets, Gilels and the mono Kempff.

 

[Helgi]

The Bach 333 looks mighty tempting at 50% off. Problem is I don't have anywhere to hide it!

 

[Helgi]

My past addictions were expensive and distructive.

Yes, I'm able to justify most of my music purchases by comparing them with what I used to spend on alcohol.

At least to myself

 

[Helgi]

I wonder where the royalties would go for that one, assuming it's still in print. The BPO and the estate of Karl Böhm?

 

[Helgi]

50% off hi-res downloads from Naxos at https://www.eclassical.com/labels/naxos/

 

[Helgi]

^ Well, they seem to have changed the offer now, fewer titles discounted and they've removed the promotion banner.

And what a pain that website is to navigate.

 

[Helgi]

Schubert's late piano sonatas with Leif Ove Andsnes, €2,92 for FLAC: https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7961971--schubert-late-piano-sonatas

Prices are different between regions, but this is what I'm getting.

 

[Helgi]

Hmm, that's more than just the VAT... don't know how this works exactly.

 

[Helgi]

And according to the Supraphon track-listing PDF, it's 63 CDs of Richard Strauss :lol:

Bargain of the year so far, nonetheless.

 

[Helgi]

I think it must be a Supraphon issue, as I've bought Sony/RCA downloads from other vendors that were properly tagged etc. Judging by the PDFs that you can download at the bottom of each album page, they have automated processes where nobody has gone over to check the results.

Discogs has (it seems) all the original covers for the Reiner box: https://www.discogs.com/Fritz-Reine...er-Chicago-Symphony-Orchestra-The-Complete-RCA-Album-Collection/release/6018385

I also bought the Levit Beethoven sonata set and now I feel guilty about paying so little for it!