At this moment, I’m a physical media guy, not a download, streaming, or burning guy. When I noticed the increase, my first thought was, if this isn’t a mistake, this price puts their CD product into a whole new category. With Acoustic Sounds and Mofi SACD’s around the $29-$30 level (and free shipping at $49 for AS), I was thinking this will definitely have an impact to “hard copy” sales. Yes, Octave is a different product; they record their own music. But despite a fairly new SACD transport, this increase just seemed like it was sending a signal that physical media was not going to play a significant role in PS Audio/Octave’s future.
Current pricing aside, I hope this is not the case.
I am also a “Physical-Media Guy”; and I don’t mind paying a bit of a premium to help ensure the continued production of CD/SACD media and support of the artists.
IF this endeavor evolves into a downloads-only enterprise, I will not likely be purchasing future content.
I am wedded to the perceived security of owning a physical copy of the music even though I listen more to ripped copies of the CDs/SACDs I own (to my ears, the files generally sound better coming from the hard drive then they do from the discs) than I do the discs themselves.
(Although my recent purchase of a used PSA DMP and a pile of SACDs has resulted in more and more disc spinning of late.)
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Even though I have an i2s modded Oppo interfaced to my Gaincell DAC I find myself spinning the DVD data disk more than the SACD for some reason.
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Hot off the press:
"Going forward, we’re going to absorb the cost differences of $10 and return pricing to its original $29.
For the hundreds of Octave fans that invested the extra $10, we’re happy to issue you a refund. Just drop me or Aaron a note with a copy of your sales order and we’ll take care of it for you."
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Just one man’s opinion but I think that for the investments they have made in recording and producing these discs the extra $10 would be money well spent. This is not a poor mans hobby as we all know.
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I won’t be asking for the $10 refund. Get yourself a latte on the way to work tomorrow, @Paul . 
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Paul, as I wrote in a response to your “Paul’s Post” column today, I was happy to pay the extra $10 for a great SACD, and hopefully do my bit for up and coming musicians, and help Sony Austria stay alive.
However, if it would be possible for PS Audio to collect our money and donate it to a great cause—a Ukrainian relief fund, for instance, I would be happy to do the paperwork on my side.
I’ll enjoy my music either way!
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I’m guessing that will be a soy milk latte.
Dang, this is really weird. Did you ever get it sorted out?
No. After multiple attempts, I manually overwrote the tagging data.
Curious occurrence.
Have you folks started submitting Octave Records release’s to databases out there on the “Interwebs” yet?
Cheers.
Please give my $10 to the artists, it is a great album. Oh, I mean SACD.
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Just got my copy. In a word, STUNNING.
Two to Tango and Scabaret in particular are superbly played and recorded. The piano is so beguiling and believable. And this is at a very, very civilized volume (wife is home and on a Zoom call).
Bravo!
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My $10 can go to a charity, under circumstances Red Cross in Ukraine would be appropriate
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Thanks, Palouse. This is truly a remarkable work of the musical arts.
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I agree.
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I am finding that with my system all working in harmony I listen to and enjoy music that I had not cared for in the past—it all sounds so much better. And some of my old favorites now sound bad. Good sound makes me listen and enjoy more; good music with poor sound is not for me now.
I’d put the Audiophile Masters and Hothouse Flower in the first category.
The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel & Dixie Chicks in the second. Loved them in the past, but not so much anymore.
On the other hand I have several remastered CDs of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, from their work in the late 1930s-40s. Superb.
To be sure, the major magic came when I upgraded from a 14+ year old NAD to the PerfectWave SACD transport!
I had a lot of music that was just “meh” to me. I upgraded my SGCD to a Directstream Dac and eventually a BHK preamp and the magic came back to the music that was once “meh” and the audiophile recordings are at another level!
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Just listened to the whole SACD; my second time through.
The Hothouse Flower is growing on me. Lots of great moments and “artistry” on the record.
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They’re certainly a talented and energetic group. Not my usual style of music but it is so well done that It is growing on me.
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As I commented elsewhere, the opening track was reminiscent (for me) of the theme music used in the old Jeeves & Wooster TV series, and I expected the rest of the album to be similarly light-hearted, kind of like something from the Ditty Bops. I was surprised then, to hear the more serious, maybe even slightly darker, music and themes that followed. It’s a remarkable work, and one that I think will stand up to repeated listenings.
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