A basic guide to downloading

James Jolly on classical music downloads on the web

Music from the web

Early in 2008, Gramophone readers – hard-core music lovers to a person – were asked whether they downloaded music. Twice as many said yes when compared with those who replied to the same question two years earlier. That’s not an overwhelming constituency but it definitely marks a sizeable interest in the new format. The CD, though, isn’t going to disappear overnight but it will become just one of a number of formats on offer and already a vast number of recordings are available as downloads. But first, let’s dispel a few concerns.

‘I don’t want to walk round with little white headphones on...’

You don’t have to! The millions of iPod users (and listeners to other kinds of MP3 players) are merely making portable a medium that is essentially a new form of delivery – down the phone line straight into your PC or Mac. But there is no denying the allure that instant, portable music has, and how it has driven the download market. But increasingly people are storing their music on hard-drives (the cost of which is coming down dramatically month on month). These can be played back either direct through your computer or via your hi-fi (see next entry).

‘I don’t want to listen to my music in my study...’

Ok, you don’t want to transport your music around in an iPod or sit at your computer to listen either. There are now numerous wireless ways of transmitting your music from your PC to your hi-fi. Or there are an increasing number of systems that allow you to insert your player (more often than not an iPod) and offer remarkably good sound quality. It’s also pretty easy to link your iPod/MP3 player using its cradle and a good old-fashioned – and cheap – cable (a phono to headphones cable is a mandatory holiday accessories now that many hotels and apartments have hi-fi as standard).

With the advent of a new generation of Network Music Players, freedom and quality go hand in hand. The audiophile listener can listen to downloaded (and no doubt lossless) music with no degradation of sound quality. And with companies like Linn, Gimell, Chandos, Da Capo and Analekta offering studio quality downloads, there is no reason that your music should not sound as good as (and in some cases considerably better then) the equivalent CD. A good guide to Network Music Players can be found on the Logitech website (one of the market-leaders).

‘I’m worried about sound quality…’

This used to be one of the biggest concerns voiced about downloaded music, but needn’t be any more. No one has ever claimed that MP3 is a hi-fi medium. But if you’re happy with FM-quality sound (say BBC Radio 3) played back through high-end equipment, you are unlikely to be disappointed with the quality of the sound of the music you download. However, there are a growing number of digital retailers (often record labels themselves) who are seriously addressing this issue and offering lossless sound (in other words, no degradation in sound quality over the equivalent CD, usually as FLAC files, occasionally as WAV). Sites to check out for lossless formats are Linn, Gimell, DaCapo, Analekta and Chandos’s download site, theclassicalshop: music downloaded from these sites will sound better than the equivalent CD. But how many people can honestly tell the difference?