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midfiguy

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  1. Thanks for the bump, Paul. I'd have never seen this fascinating thread otherwise. Me? I'm an innkeeper on Penobscot Bay, in Maine. I'm basically a food guy with a 10 year detour through the corporate mazes of L.L. Bean.
  2. Well, Doc, despite the pillow fight that erupted in the middle of this thread, there were some good issues raised and discussed. I like what Jud added regarding a chain of provenance. I don't know if the idea of an "industry standard" is remotely feasible or even desirable, but a re-seller who adopted that approach might have an advantage in the marketplace. If we audiophiles want to see demand for hi-res product grow, a safe, trusted marketplace is important. (Speaking of safe, in an earlier post, I said I hadn't had any issues with HD Tracks. Not quite true. I did have some intrepid guy try to charge $4,400 worth of alfalfa seeds to my account after it got hacked through HDT. I'm guessing there weren't any alfalfa seeds involved in that transaction but never mind...) To my mind, in our niche right now, the issue that most needs to be addressed is customer service. Chris is quite right. We're only talking about music downloads. Still, it seems that some companies offering music downloads are better at putting up Web sites than they are at delivering decent customer service. (I could site a couple of examples I've had with Rhino re: lossless downloads.) Except in extreme cases, it's not really about being innocent or proven guilty. It's about how you handle the inevitable mistakes when they occur. Anyway, to salute the spirit of the original post, BIS has a really interesting catalog of music available to download. My own collection of BIS titles is mostly vinyl, but they are excellent recordings.
  3. Greetings, Robert. First of all, I appreciate your willingness to participate in this forum, especially after how things started for you. Your comment about questioning milk labels got me thinking. I have never had a bad experience with HD Tracks and, at times, I've found myself mildly exasperated at some of the things I've read at this site regarding HDT. It doesn't take much, it seems, to encourage an audiophile to climb on his high horse. That said, many people have clearly had unfortunate experiences with this company and have the spectrographs to prove it. To my point about milk labels, your analogy doesn't fit. You don't question a milk label because you don't have to. The dairy industry is one of the most regulated industries in the world. (Take a look at the sanitary standards a producer of raw milk cheese has to meet, for example.) Companies selling high resolution music downloads are only held accountable by their customers and the marketplace. At present, we're talking about a pretty small marketplace. A handful of companies offer a limited amount of product to a small number of customers. While I don't blame you at all for taking umbrage at having your integrity questioned, the market in which you're doing business is immature and it is also entirely self-policed. In the dairy business, regulation benefits both the consumer and the producer. It's a lot easier to buy and to sell a quart of milk if there are assurances that it isn't going to kill anyone. Thankfully, a lousy, upsampled music file isn't going to kill anyone (so maybe the federal government doesn't need to get involved!). Still, I can envision a market for music downloads in which sellers offer a similar assurance. I have to think a ripped-off audiophile on his high horse who has access to public media is bad for your business, whether eClassical is a guilty party or not. There is a notable lack of trust in the market just now and that's too bad. In a small market, a little mistrust can go a long way! While I am not as prone to mistrust as some, I am more inclined to do business with a company that takes the extra step to guarantee its product. Anyway, time for me to climb off my high horse and go fix myself some lunch. Best wishes, Larry
  4. Hi Jeff, Here are a couple of tips: Matt Haimovitz is an interesting guy. His repertoire features a lot of 20th Century stuff, but he's well represented on HD Tracks (redbook only, as far as can tell). While his repertoire features a lot of 20th Century stuff, there are a few items that might be of interest. The Divertimento in E-Flat (String Trio) from "Mozart the Mason" might work for you, as an example. Another person who might be of interest is Pieter Wispelwey, who specializes more in Baroque. He has some downloads available via Ariama (also redbook). There are also a couple of Hi-Res downloads of his available through HD Tracks. Good luck!
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