Would you purchase new Quadio releases as lossless downloads?

[edisonbaggins]

I guess I'm different than others here...I don't buy anything unless I hear it once and KNOW I'll like it...
I also check the Internet as much as possible to see how others rate the mix if it's in 5.1...but usually mix quality isn't a factor in my buying decisions...only the actual music!

Many of us audition music to make sure it's a stylistic match.
A free trial download might be welcome for multichannel, in the case of engineers with non-existent or dodgy track records. But time has an opportunity cost. The more I'm downloading this or that for audition purposes, even if free, the less time I have for other things. Like arguing here!
But the original question was about paid downloads, anyhow!
And, to each their own. I have no issue with people who like or prefer downloads.

 

[mandrix]

I guess I'm different than others here...I don't buy anything unless I hear it once and KNOW I'll like it...
I also check the Internet as much as possible to see how others rate the mix if it's in 5.1...but usually mix quality isn't a factor in my buying decisions...only the actual music!

Well I'm sort of 50/50 on that. I do buy music that is unfamiliar to me fairly often, i.e. I may not really know the band, or I may just not be familiar with the music. But as far as scouring the internet for opinions, I don't see the point for myself. I frequently, if silently at times, disagree with my peers here on QQ, and although I respect all opinions on QQ I don't base my buying on them 100%.
For example, there once was this guy @Mr. Afternoon that appeared here with some music, and I had never heard of him nor heard his music. But upon purchasing said music I was pleased.
/S

 

[Mr. Afternoon]

Well I'm sort of 50/50 on that. I do buy music that is unfamiliar to me fairly often, i.e. I may not really know the band, or I may just not be familiar with the music. But as far as scouring the internet for opinions, I don't see the point for myself. I frequently, if silently at times, disagree with my peers here on QQ, and although I respect all opinions on QQ I don't base my buying on them 100%.
For example, there once was this guy @Mr. Afternoon that appeared here with some music, and I had never heard of him nor heard his music. But upon purchasing said music I was pleased.
/S

Well I did OFFER a sample of the 5.1 mix before pre-order...for this exact reason! If only other engineers could do the same...

 

[mandrix]

Well I did OFFER a sample of the 5.1 mix before pre-order...for this exact reason! If only other engineers could do the same...

There you go again. Conflating yourself with Injuneers again. J/K!
Oh wait, spelling.
/S

 

[mandrix]

Hope you know I'm just having some fun with you @Mr. Afternoon.

 

[Mr. Afternoon]

Hope you know I'm just having some fun with you @Mr. Afternoon.

You are??? I would have never guessed!

 

[timothyemerson]

I vote both.

It's a digital file on a disc either way.

Infrastructure for downloading is already set up with sites like Bandcamp/HD Tracks/Qobuz/7Digital/etc so it's not like the label/artist will attract any hosting/traffic costs.

Everything I buy on BD I back-up to FLAC/MKV on multiple HDD's, so downloads will save me time and storage space for plastic that's gonna either rot, delaminate or otherwise stop working one day.

If a HDD dies, I can buy a new one and back-up from one of my other backups, so everything's "secure" until EMP's become a thing. Hmmm, might start storing them in a tinfoil-lined container...

 

[Sal1950]

If a HDD dies, I can buy a new one and back-up from one of my other backups, so everything's "secure" until EMP's become a thing.

+1. I've got almost 11tb's of mostly music and just a bit of video on SSD's, that I keep backed up to a outboard 14TB spinner.
Sounds like a lot of data even to me, but I know I'm by far a "small timer" compared to some of my friends here. LOL

 

[OldAsMono]

I’m really surprised but COMPLETELY respect everyone’s opinions. For those old enough I remember loving it when CD’s first came out but then realizing how much I missed the big vinyl album with big pictures but as important, big print! I gotta say that the release of Mr. Big’s self titled SACD. i had the SACD on order and saw IMA offered the download. I quickly downloaded and canceled my SACD order. I came here expecting everyone to do the same. While brought up no one seemed to care and awaited their SACD. I shut up and enjoyed the addition to my online collection. We all spend a lot of money on our joy. I look for the deals like all of us. I have a full wall of physical media. I’m sorry but if the download is cheaper, I will go that route. But again I DO respect everyone still building your physical collection. I’m thinking of downsizing at this age and ya, my kids won’t be able to get ANY cash from downloads but honestly, they don’t even care about selling my vinyl / surround collection. So I’m for spending the least possible of my retirement funds. My vote, if cheaper, give me the download to enjoy to my grave.

 

[mandrix]

I’m really surprised but COMPLETELY respect everyone’s opinions. For those old enough I remember loving it when CD’s first came out but then realizing how much I missed the big vinyl album with big pictures but as important, big print! I gotta say that the release of Mr. Big’s self titled SACD. i had the SACD on order and saw IMA offered the download. I quickly downloaded and canceled my SACD order. I came here expecting everyone to do the same. While brought up no one seemed to care and awaited their SACD. I shut up and enjoyed the addition to my online collection. We all spend a lot of money on our joy. I look for the deals like all of us. I have a full wall of physical media. I’m sorry but if the download is cheaper, I will go that route. But again I DO respect everyone still building your physical collection. I’m thinking of downsizing at this age and ya, my kids won’t be able to get ANY cash from downloads but honestly, they don’t even care about selling my vinyl / surround collection. So I’m for spending the least possible of my retirement funds. My vote, if cheaper, give me the download to enjoy to my grave.

I hear you. I think we all should do as we see fit. Of course there's a lot of opinions on QQ. That's great! If we all thought alike, where would the fun be in that?

 

[mandrix]

BTW, for we older than dirt, CD's are sort of a new thing, eh? lol. I was a late adopter to optical media, sort of, until DTS-CD came on my radar.

 

[jamoke]

Give me an ISO with PDF artwork at a reduced price-point and I'll bite.
Anything else..Meh!

 

[artwwweb]

Wow, I'm kind of baffled at the negativity here towards the idea of downloads. You get to own them, they sound just as good as Blu-Rays, there's no extra charge for shipping or having to wait for the disc to arrive, and the labels get to save on authoring/manufacturing. What's the downside?

I rip as many as of my discs as possible and I do keep a backup of my files, but due to the size of my collection (which I'm sure is smaller than many reading this) it is not practical to have what I would call a 'proper' backup. I.e. back it up every week (say), overwriting the previous backup, but also keep snapshots of the whole collection once a year (say) in case of problems with the backup. The cost of keeping multiple copies of my whole collection would be prohibitive. So my backup does not feel as secure as I would like. (The big problem is if I delete an album by mistake, it will be deleted from my backup within a week, so I manually check the diff between my source and backup each week to see what has changed.)

So... it's nice to have a hard-copy backup of the software in case the worst happens.

But I am not totally against downloads and would deffo consider if the alternative was an expensive box or none at all.

 

[Ranasakawa]

Obviously if the price is reasonable I'd definitely buy a few of these Quad albums as well as those recently issued surround mixes that are streaming as a downloadable version.
The cost of shipping to Australia has become too expensive

 

[jaybird100]

No to downloads; I prefer physical media only.

 

[ar surround]

Bottom Line: I will buy almost anything in surround if it is available at a reasonable price. I will buy nothing in just stereo unless I'm intimately familiar with the title and there are no other options. Whether the surround title is offered as a physical disc or a digital download is a moot point for me.

 

[armyjazzer]

I never purchase downloads, so as the "Sharks" would say....I am out. I also don't rent software!!

 

[sperezmore]

Please don't! I want physical releases!

Agree 100%


Regards,

 

[sperezmore]

No to downloads; I prefer physical media only.

Agree 200 %

Regards,

 

[surroundophile]

I am going back and read all these 4 pages, but to answer the thread question, yes, I absolutely would purchase Quadio Lossless Downloads, in fact I would prefer.
NativeDSD is real good, but not my type of music. Sells MCH with PDF booklet.
Immersive Audio Album sells ATMOS and MCH, very good.
HDTracks 99% stereo has some gems, but mostly 50% of time. Many HiRes FLAC's, offering a lot of MQA now, a little DSD.
Sadly, Acoustic Sounds had a very good platform selling downloads FLAC and DSD, but wants there focus to be vinyl and everything else is a side project for them.
I know there others, but I can only comment on my experience.

If I had to vote for the BEST, MCH download site, all things considered it would be NATIVEDSD, just not my kind of music, very unfortunate, but even so I have purchased at least 20-30 downloads from them, Blues, Jazz, and a few Classical.

I agree with you about Native DSD,. They provide high quality downloads at just about any rate imaginable. My problem with them are their prices. Why pay for a download when they charge $30, when the same program can be bought on a MCH SACD for $16 ???? I've been arguing with them for years about this when I rate their services, but they always come back saying SACD is dead (has nothing to do with what is being critisized). FINALLY, this year they admitted that it's to line their pockets with.