One other problem is that so many supposedly high resolution sources are not that at all--they have been up-sampled to fake high resolution. In doing reviews of recordings High Fi News and Record Review would do an analysis to determine if the original source was high-resolution or merely up-sampled lower resolution stuff (I don't know if they still do this because I have not read them in a while).
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