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Distressing as it is when albums and labels disappear from streaming services, this is not a new thing. It has always been a fact of life. This is why I've always adopted a "buy it if you love it" policy. Otherwise, there is always the risk of something you love disappearing without notice from Qobuz or Tidal. Now, once you've bought it, you obviously should download and make backups of the music files. That said, of course some times things happen, files get misplaced, and you need to come back to re-download the files. And this is what the latest email from Qobuz seems to be addressing. I don't know what used to be in the past. Say you bought an album from Qobuz. Subsequently, that album gets pulled from the catalog. Were the music files still available for re-download? I don't know, I never dealt with this situation. I sort of assumed the answer was no, but if that were true, there would be no need for this latest round of emails. So some clarity would be good. But practically, the answer is simple: if you buy music from anywhere, download the files immediately, make backups to ensure you never lose them, and never rely on the purchase source to indefinitely provide a facility to re-download the files.

It seems to be more granular than a label. It's specific albums. In my case, it's a subset of albums from BIS, Alpha, and Pentatone.

Well, my BIS purchases are certainly affected. Like this one: It's still available for streaming, but the download and buy links are greyed out.

Opening Weekend concert (Sep 29) with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Marian Anderson (formerly Verizon) Hall. Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto with soloist Seong-Jin Cho Bruckner's Seventh Symphony Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra Since this has already occurred, here are my impressions. This was my first time hearing Cho, Yannick, or the Philadelphia Orchestra live, and my first time at the former Verizon Hall. It would not be an understatement to say that I was simply blown away. First, the venue. I had not done any research on it, so while experiencing it, I had no preconceived notions. As background: I tend to favor sitting in the first 6-10 rows of the orchestra, as it allows me to experience the visceral dynamics and power only a live orchestra can provide. This is something no home system can completely produce. The downside in some halls is that higher-frequency instruments like violins, piccolos, and especially the brass can sometimes sound overbearing, or even harsh. In the concert I attended at the Verizon Hall (now Marian Anderson Hall), I sat in seat J101. What I was most impressed by, acoustically, was that I got the power and dynamics in spades, but the tonal balance was just superb. Bruckner’s 7th is heavy on brass, but at no point did the brass sound over-bright or overwhelm. The strings sounded absolutely luscious. Cellos and double basses growled and hit you in the gut as they should. As a caveat, I might say the hall’s tuning that day matched my personal preference of a system that others may perhaps consider a bit dark tonally. I tend to be very sensitive to treble frequencies, so this was ideal for me. I must emphasize that this did not in any way mask or blur the texture and detail of every instrument. Cho's Beethoven 2nd was absolutely brilliant, as I expected it to be. Personally, I came for the Bruckner, and that did not disappoint! I was so impressed with Yannick and his orchestra. The playing was taut, controlled, and almost pitch perfect. My favorite recording is the Karl Böhm with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1977 on Audite. The Philadelphians' rendition yesterday was so compelling that at no point did I find myself comparing against the Böhm. I will definitely be going back to Philly for more concerts as and when I can!

Just finalized plans and got tickets for this epic event in May 2025: the Mahler Festival at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. https://mahlerfestival.concertgebouw.nl/en/ What's convenient is that it leads right into the High End Audio Show in Munich (for the last time in 2025).

Awesome! I always love it when a concert coincides with a planned visit.

Yeah that was the problem with the Munich show. It was just too small. 😂

I have no idea what this new ACV venue is going to be like acoustically, so don't really have any opinions on the matter. As a visitor, it will be nice to be in a new city for a change, although Munich's charms are endless!

https://www.highendsociety.de/newsletter/nl_902.htm Wuppertal, 11th September 2024 The HIGH END is moving to Vienna: a step into a promising future The HIGH END international audio show will change to a new venue in 2026. This move from Munich to Vienna signals a groundbreaking step and was announced by the HIGH END SOCIETY at today’s annual general meeting of the Association for High Quality Audio and Video Reproduction. With the decision, the organizer is marking an important milestone on the future path of the world’s leading trade show for enthusiasts of high-quality audio technology. Offering the best conditions for shows and exhibitions and setting new standards The HIGH END 2025 will be held in the MOC Event Center once again from May 15 to 18, 2025. But then just a year later, the internationally renowned audio show will exhibit to visitors for the first time in the Austria Center Vienna (ACV) in May. The first-class event venue in the heart of Austria’s capital has undergone extensive remodelling in recent years and was equipped with the latest digital technology. The venue offers a variety of modern rooms in different sizes for exhibitors to best showcase their products and technologies. Additional rooms and spacious halls are available for exhibitors to set up their individual stands. The ACV has a total of 26,000 square meters of exhibition space on several levels in the main building as well as the adjoining halls, enabling exhibitors to find optimal conditions for their various needs. The companies that took part in FINEST AUDIO SHOW Vienna in November 2023 received a first impression of this. The consistently positive feedback and the current registration figures for this year’s FAS Vienna only underscore the fact that the ACV is an excellent choice for the new home of the HIGH END. The next level for an event with a long tradition The HIGH END SOCIETY sees promising prospects and optimal opportunities for the further development of the HIGH END audio show with the change of venue. The ACV offers a modern, future-oriented setting for this. “The Austria Center Vienna not only scores with excellent exhibition conditions, but also with a progressive environment that will raise the level of the HIGH END and ensure its success in the coming years,” confirms Stefan Dreischärf, Managing Director of the organizer. The timing for a change had to be carefully thought through after more than 20 years at the same venue. The decision to move the international audio show to Vienna stands for a new beginning, renewal and forward-looking prospects. “We are convinced that we can take the HIGH END show to a new level with this move and we look forward to the opportunities that this change will no doubt bring,” says Stefan Dreischärf, underlining the significant step. Vienna as a brilliant and attractive location for exhibitions, shows and music The cosmopolitan city on the Danube river impresses with its international flair, rich history and outstanding cultural opportunities. Year after year, Vienna attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world. The Austrian capital is easily accessible and, as a music capital of the world, provides the perfect backdrop for the HIGH END audio show, which is all about excellent sound reproduction and music. What’s more, the excellent logistical conditions make Vienna an ideal choice for the trade show organizer. “The new location creates a perfect connection to our trade show and will also be a win-win for everyone involved in terms of atmosphere,” says Dreischärf. The Association’s approval The board of the HIGH END SOCIETY e.V., the Association for High Quality Audio and Video Reproduction, has been actively involved in the further development of the successful HIGH END and supports the decision one hundred percent. “We see the move to Vienna as a great opportunity to make the HIGH END even more attractive, to strengthen it as the leading meeting place in the world for the industry and to make it fit for the future,” explains Jürgen Timm, Chairman of the Board of the Association. “We look forward to a new era in the more than 40-year tradition of the HIGH END audio show.” As a strong community, the HIGH END SOCIETY is looking forward to the upcoming trade shows with high hopes, as the move from Munich to Vienna will mark a groundbreaking step into a promising future. The dates for the events: HIGH END Munich 2025 – May 15 to 18, 2025 HIGH END Vienna 2026 – May 28 to 31, 2026 HIGH END Vienna 2027 – May 6 to 9, 2027 HIGH END Vienna 2028 – May 25 to 28, 2028 Information on the HIGH END: The HIGH END, the internationally renowned audio trade show, is the undisputed leader when it comes to impressively setting the tone for top-class music reproduction. It has been providing ideas and impetus for producers, sellers and consumers of high-quality consumer electronics for four decades. On the four days of the event in May, the entire world of audio experts and professionals will gather in Munich to visit hundreds of exhibitors from more than 40 different countries as they showcase their latest innovations in the halls and atriums of the MOC Event Center. After 21 successful years in Munich, the HIGH END is moving to Vienna in 2026. www.highendmunich.com Downloads HE_Vienna_2026_LOGO HE26_Transfer_Videoclip ACV_Event_Venue ACV_Rooftop Please contact us if you need more download material. HIGH END SOCIETY Service GmbH | Vorm Eichholz 2g | 42119 Wuppertal Amtsgericht Wuppertal: HRB 8617, Geschäftsführer Stefan Dreischärf Contact | Legal Notice | Data Privacy Policy Unsubscribe from the newsletter

A stunningly great Das Lied. Sarah Connolly is luminous here. http://open.qobuz.com/album/o1ucx7irragbb

It saddens me to say this, but Bluesound have a serious quality issue with the power supplies on their streaming products. I have had 2 products die over the last few years: - a Node 2 - a Pulse speaker. In both cases, all I got from support was a (virtual) shrug, and an offer to buy a refurbished current model, for a very modest discount. With the Node 2, I was able to turn lemons into lemonade, by installing a replacement LPSU interface from a small Polish company called PD Creative: https://pd-cf.com/produkt/bluesound-node-2-2i-upgrade-low-noise-psu-interface/ I powered this with a Farad Super 3 5V/3A PSU, and Bob's -- or in this case, Pavel's -- your uncle. This transformed it into a much better sounding streamer. With the Pulse however, I was out of luck. I did try to disassemble it to reach the PSU, but gave up after peeling a few layers. Ultimately I had to throw it away. 😠

Hold that thought. An article is in the works!

Another outstanding recording from this ensemble. I’ve gotta believe the Pittsburgh Symphony is one of the US’s underrated orchestras. It’s awesome that Reference Recordings is showcasing their quality.

Since things are kind of quiet, I thought I'd update the group with some experiments I've been doing to further speed up my PGGB runs. Today's focus is on the "Reduce Contention" flag. On the face of it, it sounds like motherhood and apple pie. Why on earth wouldn't you reduce contention? We all want peace on earth, don't we? 😏 Sure, but on PGGB, this flag actually represents a choice between two algorithmic paths, one with the potential to be faster, but that requires more I/O operations, while the other minimizes I/O (i.e. reduces contention on the paging file), but could run slower if I/O is not a bottleneck. I should say at this point that if you're running on a Mac, then always keep this flag checked. Also in Windows, if you have a single pagefile on an SSD, then you should also not mess with this. This post is targeted to folks who have heftier machines (like my i9-14900k with pagefiles on more than 1 NVMe SSDs to absorb very high amounts of I/O. It also turns out the highest amount of I/O is generated when processing Redbook input files as it requires the highest upsampling ratio -- 512x for DSD512, and 1024x for DSD1024. If you look at the pggb_album_analysis_plus_v1.csv file in your output directory, you will see this reflected in the Blocks column. I tested tracks of durations of roughly 4, 8,16,24, and 32 mins with and without the Reduce Contention flag to see if there was an inflection point. Here is the data. Key Takeaways On my system, doing the DSD512 gargle blasting that works best with my DAC, I could not find an inflection point with longer track durations, where turning on the "Reduce Contention" flag would have reduced my PGGB run times. However, I did try a test where I gargle blasted a relatively short track of 6 mins to DSD1024, and here I found that turning on the Reduce Contention flag definitely did have a positive impact in lowering the PGGB processing time. My recommendations If you're on MacOS, or on Windows with a single pagefile, don't mess about. Set the Reduce Contention flag, and get on with your life. The same is likely the case if you're doing 1FS to DSD1024 upsampling, as that is a very I/O intensive case. If you're on Windows and have 2 or more paging drives, then try running both ways (On and Off) for a few test tracks that are typical durations for you, and see where you land. Please post the results of any tests that you try!