Presto Music Downloads
Divina Milliken
Downloads are an alternative way to purchase recorded music without the need to physically send discs in the post. The music is transferred electronically to your computer's hard drive, and can then be played on the computer or transferred again to a separate device.
We list nearly 190,000 classical albums for download covering a wide spectrum from opera to ballet, symphonies to concertos, contemporary to early music. We offer both MP3 and FLAC formats for download, which each have their own merits - we also offer 40,000 Hi-Res Studio Quality downloads which you can browse separately.
Hi-Res (or Studio Quality) downloads are the pinnacle of modern digital audio. While standard-definition (SD) FLAC files match the quality of a standard CD encoded in 16 bits at 44.1kHz, Hi-Res FLACs retain the higher definition of the files used by the sound engineers in the mastering process itself - hence the name.
The most common Hi-Res format is 24/96 - that is, a bit depth of 24 bits and a sampling rate of 96 kHz - though other Hi-Res bit depths and sampling rates exist, such as 24/192. Among other benefits, this enables them to encode a considerably greater range of both dynamics and frequencies.
Hi-Res audio files 'more closely replicate the sound quality that the musicians and engineers were working with in the studio' (What Hi-Fi? Magazine) and are playable on most devices that support the FLAC format.
Presto Music has launched a classical and jazz focused music streaming service to go along side its music sales business. Using the OraStream platform, Presto Music offers tightly curated catalog for $10.00 per month or $109.90 per year. Streaming Plus plans also exist, that offer discounts on purchases and shipping of physical products.
Presto says its catalog contains over 200,000 albums and 70,000 PDF booklets. I signed up for the service this morning and really like the PDF booklets on many of the album pages. Offline listening is another selling point of Presto Music, although not a differentiator among streaming services.
In my cursory look this morning, I found all the record labels I typically associate with Classical and Jazz, in the Presto streaming catalog. Atlantic, Blue Note, Capitol, Columbia, Concord, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, Harmonia Mundi, Prestige, Verve, and many more.
Currently Presto Music offers applications for Android, iOS, and web based playback. Macs with Apple Silicon chips will be able to use the iOS app, but it isn't certified to work on the platform. I ran into an issue with playback stopping at the end of each track on my MacBook Pro (M2 Pro), but couldn't duplicate the issue on supported iOS platforms such as my iPhone and iPad Pro.
The music goes up to 24/192, but listeners should note that the web player can't change the sample rate of the interface outputting audio. Not a showstopper, but an item to note. Playing a 24/96 track at tis native rate, then switching to 24/192, does require a manual sample rate adjustment if the new album is to be played at its native rate. If the sample rate isn't changed, the album will play at whatever rate is set on the computer.
Using Presto Music I ran into some hiccups that I'll chalk up to the fact that it's a new release. Setting the Mobile Streaming Quality to lossless required multiple attempts. Ever time I changed it from MP3 to lossless, the setting would go back to MP3 when I left the settings page. Currently it's set to lossless, and it has been there through multiple restarts of the application, so all seems well.
Testing out the offline nature was a bit strange. I tapped the save offline arrow and nothing happened. I tried tapping it again and again, and even swiping it, and nothing happened. About 15 seconds later, Kind of Blue said it was "saving." Scrolling down to the album tracks I could see circles indicating the tracks were downloading. I then clicked the heart to add the album to my collection. This reset the offline setting and removed the downloaded tracks. I started this over and wasn't able to reproduce the behavior a second time.
What sets Presto Music apart from other services is the smaller focus on Classical and Jazz, and the magazine-like presentation of information. Presto is clearly trying not to be just another repository of music, instead offering highly focused information and music.
I ran some searches to test Presto Music's results against Qobuz. In my limited tests, the results were very similar. For example, here are results for my search terms Shostakovich Boston. The results are what I expected, but may be different from what a classical music aficionado expects. I look forward to hearing more from members of the Audiophile Style community who have more stringent classical searching needs than I.
One feature I'd love to see in the Presto Music app is active links for artists, labels, and composers. For example, searching for Eiji Oue, I found several Minnesota Orchestra albums from Reference Recordings. Navigating can only be done on the arch results, not clicking into an album then clicking Minnesota Orchestra, Eiji Oue, or Reference Recordings. Perhaps this is by design, and a way to keep the experience less techie, and more like that of an actual album in one's lap. Click on the album, press play, and be done.
Overall, I'm happy the Presto Music streaming service is here. More competition is good, as is a more focused service catering to the needs of listeners who only listen to classical and jazz. The OraStream platform has proven itself for many years, and is run by a very capable team from Singapore. If you didn't listen to my interview with OraStream, check out the podcast below.
Chris, did the Jazz catalog seem any stronger than the Qobuz Jazz catalog or the Tidal jazz catalog? I am wondering if there will be any benefit to having both. I listen about 90% to jazz. I now have both Tidal and Qobuz accessed thru Roon. The other issue would be getting the output to HQP. Thanks for the good review.
This move makes it evident to me that Presto can't make a go of it selling physical discs and downloads (which is too bad, because I like them). But if the market becomes fragmented by download and physical disc companies all moving into streaming, how many streaming companies other than the very largest/richest (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music) will survive? Those companies aren't streaming or selling in hi-res. Would they have any incentive to start?
I certainly hear you, but we really don't know much about much. A business that expands, doesn't mean its existing business isn't viable. Perhaps Presto sees a market that needs to be super served and this is a step in that direction. Who knows. We also have no clue about Presto's arrangements with OraStream or the labels etc...
From my prior work with Frankie, I know that he used a local CDN (such as AWS) to stream the actual music. OraStream is the software platform used to accomplish this. The only connection to Singapore is that he and Kelvin live there and the company is incorporated there. Orastream is also the platform for at least two other streaming services. I believe that the choice of CDN is dictated by the terms of the contract with the streaming service. The days of any streaming service trying to stream from some far distant location are over. I did not really work well that way. It is true that in the very early days some streamers, such as Qobuz for example, tried to stream from a central server. I remember all the problems I had with dropouts and other issues as a beta tester in those days. The last research I read showed that to achieve reliability one needed to be no more than 300 miles on average from the server site. This is one of the reasons that streaming services limit the countries they serve. If a reliable CDN is not available, they cannot guarantee reliable service. There are of course other reasons but this is definitely one of the main ones.
I also don't know, but I'm guessing there's an audience for a streaming service targeting the classical (and also jazz) market that: a) has a good selection; b) album booklets; c) good search - the kind classical lovers like.
The overall Classical market is probably something like 1-5% of the market (a bit more in some countries like Germany), but worldwide it's a large number of potential listeners - and listeners who are willing to spend money - unlike the more pop oriented services, where people either want it free or whose purchasing is tightly self- capped at $9.99 a month.
Let's put this in perspective... I know at some point you have to say enough $$ is enough, but I subscribe to Tidal and Qobuz and look at it this way. Before streaming became mainstream I spent $100's of dollars every month to buy new and used CDs. That got me a dozen or so new to me albums some of which I really didn't care for and never listened to again. I probably spent more on gas and wear/tear to drive my car to the record store than I pay for streaming
Now for about $30 a month I have access to MILLIONS of songs in the same or higher resolution. Many of the same who happily pay $10 a day for a Starbucks coffee complain about paying $1 a day for access to millions of songs.
Not that ecwl was complaining, but those that do complain about paying this amount a month for basically an unlimited amount of music are just a bunch of whiners. I have lost more $$ buying/selling a single high end item than I spend in a few years on streaming. If you think you might like it, sign up.. you can always cancel later. If you spend more than a few minutes a day listening to these streams you are getting your money's worth.
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