Looking for a place to find rare/hard-to-find albums

[technodanvan]

I'm looking for a specific CD: Ambeon - Fate of a Dreamer

I've seen it once on eBay, my bid of $60 was not enough to win it. I keep checking there as I think it's the only place I'll find it at this point...but I'm willing to pay more if necessary.

Any thoughts where I could find this?

[Kal Rubinson]

Have you tried GEMM.com?

[technodanvan]

Have you tried GEMM.com?

Never heard of it until just now...but that's a no go on the search.

However, bookmarked for future use!

[David Meek]

Have you tried GEMM.com?

Now that's an interesting site! Thanks Kal.

[Bob]

GEMM and Musicstack are the two I use the most. Here is your CD:

http://www.musicstack.com/item.cgi?item=74807504

[technodanvan]

GEMM and Musicstack are the two I use the most. Here is your CD:

http://www.musicstack.com/item.cgi?item=74807504

No kidding, that cheap?!

I found a used copy for a bit over $100 on another site...gotta say I'm a bit curious to see what I get but I'm jumping on the one you linked.

Thanks man!

[technodanvan]

Gah...it wasn't actually there.

*sigh*

[Bob]

Is this still available?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B00005K8B6/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

[Kevin D]

Are you trying to get one for a collection or do you just want the music? There's an uncompressed FLAC version out there on the net.

Kevin D.

[technodanvan]

Is this still available?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-lis...condition=used

As far as I know...I just can't bring myself to shell out $100 for a CD just yet. But yeah, that's the only one I've found on my own so far.

Are you trying to get one for a collection or do you just want the music? There's an uncompressed FLAC version out there on the net.

Kevin D.

I would prefer the CD, though it is coming to the point where I may just have to take what I can get.

Side note: The only way I even know of the band is from the good 'ol college days (a couple years ago) when any and all music was "up for grabs". Since then, I have dumped all digital music I ever had as and have switched to purchasing CD's only - it is a tedious and expensive task to be sure, but I definitely enjoy the music more this way.

[David Meek]

....I have dumped all digital music I ever had as and have switched to purchasing CD's only - it is a tedious and expensive task to be sure, but I definitely enjoy the music more this way.

Is that because of the lack of quality in the early digital stuff? If so, a FLAC-based high-resolution copy is going to surprise you with how good it sounds.

[David Meek]

Kevin, for what it's worth FLAC (which stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec) employs a lossless compression algorithm to store data. Could you clarify about the "uncompressed FLAC" version you mention?

[technodanvan]

Is that because of the lack of quality in the early digital stuff? If so, a FLAC-based high-resolution copy is going to surprise you with how good it sounds.

Well, the digital stuff I had wasn't mine to begin with...which was the main reason at the time to get rid of it.

As for sound quality, that's not really THAT big of a deal to me - I tend to enjoy music because it's music, more than whether or not it sounds like it was well recorded. This is partially because my a.c. is so loud that sound quality is irrelevant in my current apartment.

This will hopefully change whenever I get a chance to move, so I do like to plan for the future.

In any case, I have noticed that if I play back a lot of digital music (via computer) I tend to jump around a lot and not really finish listening to anything. If I throw a CD in I usually listen to the whole thing. It's more of a commitment thing, to get me to listen to more music and less TV/games.

I have to play these psychological games with myself...it's complicated. 8O

You should have seen the levels of psychological warfare I waged last night to con myself into buying an Emotiva XPA-2 and UMC-1. I'll be recovering even after the strain on my checkbook wears off!

[bigburner]

If so, a FLAC-based high-resolution copy is going to surprise you with how good it sounds.

David, do you convert from FLAC to .cda and if so do you think there is any loss?

Nigel.

[Kevin D]

Kevin, for what it's worth FLAC (which stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec) employs a lossless compression algorithm to store data. Could you clarify about the "uncompressed FLAC" version you mention?

I should have used lossless. I wasn't aware of how much knowledge he had of digital files and wanted to imply that it *should* be CD quality when burned back to a disc.

Kevin D.

[technodanvan]

I should have used lossless. I wasn't aware of how much knowledge he had of digital files and wanted to imply that it *should* be CD quality when burned back to a disc.

Kevin D.

I suppose burning lossless files to CD is an option...would probably take a few tries on my laptop to get one without errors but I've got a million blanks lying around anyway.

But where can I find a FLAC variant of the CD? Best I've seen is 192 kbps MP3...

[David Meek]

David, do you convert from FLAC to .cda and if so do you think there is any loss?

Nigel, no I don't convert to CDA. My Opus4 plays the FLAC files straight up. When I rip the CDs, I have a choice of output formats and the FLAC is the best choice for sound quality vs. disk usage - i.e. I can't really tell a difference between the CD and the FLAC.

Sorry, to take this so far OT. Now, back on topic....

[David Meek]

I suppose burning lossless files to CD is an option...would probably take a few tries on my laptop to get one without errors but I've got a million blanks lying around anyway.

But where can I find a FLAC variant of the CD? Best I've seen is 192 kbps MP3...

Dan, HDtracks sells downloadable albums in standard Red Book quality and also is building up a library of HD music too. Most all of these are available in the FLAC format.

[technodanvan]

Dan, HDtracks sells downloadable albums in standard Red Book quality and also is building up a library of HD music too. Most all of these are available in the FLAC format.

Some good stuff there, though it's sort of hit-or-miss depending on popularity and initial quality of the recording. Sadly, the one I'm looking for is not there.

However, I just discovered a Celtic/Medieval rock band called Blackmore's Night...it was one of my random purchases on Amazon (good lord am I all about randomly buying music...) and I decided to get all their albums along with their two DVD's. Good stuff.

Still...I'm trying to not cave and buy that used copy of Ambeon. *sigh*