PEN TATONE to start offering SACD/DSD downloads

[Synfreak]

Anyone noticed this:

 

PENTATONE | Catalog

 

and watch that video:

PENTATONE Sound Quality - YouTube

 

especially from around 1:55 ...

 

SACD ISO's are announced to be available for DL, which would really push the envelope further to get more vendors to accept this as needed capability for the future.

 

... ;-)

[golfugh]

Thanks for the heads up! Added to my list of DSD capable download sites.

Mark

[bmoura]

PentaTone has been talking about offering DSD Downloads for awhile now. The big question is when....

[Boris75]

The option of purchasing DSD files is open. I could put one album in DSD form in my cart. However, I did not proceed to buy it, so I don't know which sort of file (DFF, DSF, ISO - stereo or multichannel or both) it was, and there is surprisingly little information on their FAQ page.

 

Anyway, given the quality of Pentatone SACDs, that they make the associated DSD files available for purchase is a piece of very good news.

[chrille]

The option of purchasing DSD files is open. I could put one album in DSD form in my cart. However, I did not proceed to buy it, so I don't know which sort of file (DFF, DSF, ISO - stereo or multichannel or both) it was, and there is surprisingly little information on their FAQ page.

 

Anyway, given the quality of Pentatone SACDs, that they make the associated DSD files available for purchase is a piece of very good news.

 

Unfortunately they insist on only offering ISO images both stereo and mch together in one large zip file. No other options!

Convenient for them,but not for us customers.

I have emailed them repeatedly but they answer: quote "feel they serve the customers best this way.

That is by forcing stereo listeners not only to download also the mch version and the mch listeners the stereo version in one and the same large 3-4 gigabyte zip file. On top of that they expect customers to download an independent app to convert ISO images to playable file formats.

I was unable to download my first purchase via wi fi here in Singapore and have asked for a refund.

[mkrzych]

I have confirmation from them, that they're following this thread, so maybe improvements will be inline with us soon. We'll see.

 

BTW, what do you recommend as the first exceptional sound/performance download from them?

[ted_b]

I updated the DSD database yesterday about this. There are upsides and downsides to ISO purchases.

 

The downsides:

* you must buy it all, for like $42 US after VAT, even if you just want a track or just want stereo or multichannel, not both

* as stated above, it therefore makes it more expensive relative to other DSD download music sites

* requires either a software player that plays back ISOs or running sacd_extract.exe on them to extract DSF or DFF tracks (Jesus's GUI is the best option).

* even having a software player for ISO playback still requires some manipulation to not have both stereo and multichannel selections available (JRiver custom view with rule pertaining to number of channels is best way). Picking mch on a stereo dac is not workable.

* ISOs don't have standard tagging, and some ISO playback software does not allow tag editing (JRIver does, and stores it in a sidecar since daily build 117).

* ISO playback can require quite a bit of horsepower if the ISO contains DST compressed content.

 

The upsides:

* one download

* ISO playback is gapless

* if you are indeed wanting both stereo and multichannel content (Pentatone's vast majority of its catalog is both) then price might be reasonable.

* could likely spur on more players to accept ISO playback for those of us with our own ISOs.

 

Caveat: I have a non-financial interest in NAtiveDSD.com a tagged DSF DSD download site that provides stereo and multichannel DSD downloads from many native DSD labels. That site could be considered competition (although neither Native nor Pentatone carry the same music). FYI.

[wisnon]

Unfortunately they insist on only offering ISO images both stereo and mch together in one large zip file. No other options!

Convenient for them,but not for us customers.

I have emailed them repeatedly but they answer: quote "feel they serve the customers best this way.

That is by forcing stereo listeners not only to download also the mch version and the mch listeners the stereo version in one and the same large 3-4 gigabyte zip file. On top of that they expect customers to download an independent app to convert ISO images to playable file formats.

I was unable to download my first purchase via wi fi here in Singapore and have asked for a refund.

 

You can play the ISOs directly in A+ and JRiver on a Mac.

[Boris75]

Unfortunately they insist on only offering ISO images both stereo and mch together in one large zip file. No other options!

Convenient for them,but not for us customers.

I have emailed them repeatedly but they answer: quote "feel they serve the customers best this way.

That is by forcing stereo listeners not only to download also the mch version and the mch listeners the stereo version in one and the same large 3-4 gigabyte zip file. On top of that they expect customers to download an independent app to convert ISO images to playable file formats.

I was unable to download my first purchase via wi fi here in Singapore and have asked for a refund.

 

Thanks for your answer. It is good to know. Actually ISO files are very attractive to me as I like the convenience of having the stereo and multichannel DSD files in a single container that I can then easily playback directly from JRiver.

[bmoura]

I have confirmation from them, that they're following this thread, so maybe improvements will be inline with us soon. We'll see.

 

BTW, what do you recommend as the first exceptional sound/performance download from them?

 

I sent them some suggestions and comments yesterday - including one to keep an eye on comments here!

 

I also downloaded a couple of the albums in ISO form here. The downloads are taking a long time at the moment. They do need to work on that.

 

But the music is excellent - and you do get both the Stereo and Multichannel DSD editions as mentioned. An excellent development for music fans. And another reason to pick up - and donate some $ - for ISO2DSD from Jesus at Sonore !

[PENTATONE]

Thanks for all your comments and feedback. We will improve our platform on an ongoing basis and therefore your feedback is very helpful. We are currently working on our technical FAQ part of the website, where we will explain all the basics and will try to inform our customers as good as possible. This page will be online very soon.

 

At PENTATONE we believe in the power of classical music and the best sound quality. We are working very hard to deliver this to you as good as possible. We believe that the stereo and MCH DSD is a perfect way to deliver the DSD native masters to our customers.

 

Please feel free to always share your feedback and comments. This feedback helps us in our process to develop the most optimal solution for classical music lovers.

[Synfreak]

... Thanks for all your comments and feedback ...

 

Hi!

 

I would strongly recommend that there should the resulotion of the files to be mentioned on the corresponding pages.

At the moment, one will not know at what resolution i.e. the FLAC files actually are. This would help quite a bit when browsing your catalogue.

 

As this is a new field of experience for PENTATONE, I'm sure it will grow and develop over the time, and I'm really looking forward on that.

[bmoura]

Thanks for all your comments and feedback. We will improve our platform on an ongoing basis and therefore your feedback is very helpful. We are currently working on our technical FAQ part of the website, where we will explain all the basics and will try to inform our customers as good as possible. This page will be online very soon.

 

At PENTATONE we believe in the power of classical music and the best sound quality. We are working very hard to deliver this to you as good as possible. We believe that the stereo and MCH DSD is a perfect way to deliver the DSD native masters to our customers.

 

Please feel free to always share your feedback and comments. This feedback helps us in our process to develop the most optimal solution for classical music lovers.

 

Since you get both Stereo and Multichannel DSD from the ISO, I'm fine with continuing that way for the DSD downloads.

[Boris75]

Since you get both Stereo and Multichannel DSD from the ISO, I'm fine with continuing that way for the DSD downloads.

 

+1. To me purchasing ISOs that contain all the SACD DSD tracks is the best, most future-proof option.

[wisnon]

Hi!

 

I would strongly recommend that there should the resulotion of the files to be mentioned on the corresponding pages.

At the moment, one will not know at what resolution i.e. the FLAC files actually are. This would help quite a bit when browsing your catalogue.

 

As this is a new field of experience for PENTATONE, I'm sure it will grow and develop over the time, and I'm really looking forward on that.

 

They are all DSD64, I think.

[Synfreak]

They are all DSD64, I think.

 

Wisnon, I talked about the offered WAV and FLAC files (stereo and/or surround).

[bmoura]

They are all DSD64, I think.

 

No, PentaTone offers 3 download choices: WAV, FLAC - Stereo or Surround and DSD(64) - Stereo and Surround via the DSD ISO.