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High Infidelity

I’m unapologetically old school. I own rather than lease my car and not because I think it drives better that way. I own my music and not because I think it sounds better than streaming. I’m puzzled as to why it’s cheaper to buy a CD, have it shipped home and rip it rather than downloading it from a popular digital audio store. I’m disappointed that artists who bypass the CD process seem to only offer MP3 downloads. But I digress…

I recently purchased music for download on Qobuz. The website identified the download as CD quality 16 bits, 44.1 kHz. The downloaded files turned out to have varying bitrates between 756 & 938 Kbps rather than 1,411 Kbps. I contacted Qobuz through their help messaging. They thanked me for bringing this to their attention and stated they would request a corrected copy from the record label. They unfortunately could not give me a timeframe as this would be up to the record label.

I requested a refund on the basis that I purchased CD quality tracks for immediate download per their website description and the prospect of potentially getting them at an undermined time in the future was not acceptable. I was told that Qobuz does not provide any refunds on purchased music in any circumstance. There are no exceptions to this rule. I asked to speak to a supervisor but my request was denied.

I’d like to get feedback on:
-     whether others have encountered downloads that weren’t as advertised or if this was truly an exception
-    what you think of their refund policy
-    any possible recourse

Thanks
 

rpmpam
ghdprentice
7,267 posts
 

There was purchasing physical media… ~pre-2005 (around there), then there was ripping, then purchasing downloads. The world moves on… horse and buggy to automobiles. 
 

I’m not a young whisper snapper… I’m 71. The age of buying media is over. Qobuz knows it to. They’re not going to waste a lot of time on a download… which is a legacy product. Just offered for a few folks into nostalgia that will pay a huge amount of money to do it. Vinyl was the media for 100 years, CDs for 35 years and downloads for 5 years. Streaming is overwhelming all physical media markets and is the future. 
 

Just stream. It just makes no sense to buy downloads at this point. A lot of money for little value. At least vinyl has the tradition of pulling one out… cleaning it, putting it on the turntable. 

Time to let go.

rpmpam OP
7 posts
 

elrod, thanks for your sage advice. You are absolutely correct. 

cleeds, very good question but no, AIFF 

ghdprentice
7,267 posts
 

@czarivey 

 

The reason everyone flocks to Qobuz is because it has well over half a million high resolution albums… and the number is growing fast, it sounds a little bit better than Tidal and a lot better than the others, and if you have a good enough streamer / system can sound as good as vinyl. 

kerrybh
182 posts
 

Qobuz sounds a little better to me and that seems to be the case with most folks

i have bought some hi res downloads and can't tell the difference from streaming, so not much point to owning for me. I still prefer the sound of vinyl- nothing like it- but the convenience factor of streaming usually wins out 

eagledriver_22's avatar
eagledriver_22
83 posts
 

@ghdprentice   +1

For Quobuz it would be far too complicated to allow for refunds. I suppose, they are not in the position to check every record they 'import'.

Me, I would consider the annoyance you encountered as a write-off. I guess (and hope for you) that your are not talking about more than a couple of dollars.

With Quobuz, one can create hundreds of 'own' playlists'. Feels a bit like owning the music, although it's still streaming.

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