HD audio might not be so HD...

mdaudioguy
mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
edited November 2011 in Music & Movies
Interesting article...

http://www.itrax.com/Pages/ArticleDetails.php?aID=32

It also makes me wonder why a high resolution version costs more, particularly if it came from the same exact source...
Post edited by mdaudioguy on
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,990
    edited November 2011
    See now, thats the point I was trying to make in my own derailed by me thread. How do you know a Hi-rez file is actually hi-rez from the git go rather than some half assed upsample ? Forget the whole bits are bits arguement, this is different. I knew I could hear a difference on a variety of 24/96 tracks, thought I was going nuts.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,724
    edited November 2011
    Another reason why I'll never download squat.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

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  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    edited November 2011
    Like anything else, buyer beware. As something new with money to be made, there is plenty of opportunity for the scammers. However, like anything else, reputable sellers will appear that will guarantee you get what you paid for. Everyone makes mistakes, but they better not make to many or they will get caught at it.

    Anyway, the last paragraph ends the article on a positive, upbeat note for the future.


    "I believe that it's time for digital music retailers, high definition record companies and the press (both printed and online) to adopt an open and honest approach to high definition music recordings. The more information that consumers have the better it will be for everyone…the high-end segment of the business will improve and music lovers will know what is possible with real high definition tracks."

    I added the bold.
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  • brgman
    brgman Posts: 2,859
    edited November 2011
    Great info.
    So it makes me wonder what a "remastered" cd actually is.If say the SRV hybrid SACD's recently done by MoFi are from original analog masters how do they get the sampling rates advertised?
    What about any 1970's rock album now "remastered"? Is this just cleaned up i guess?
    And what about FLAC downloads? Just MP3's converted maybe?
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  • brgman
    brgman Posts: 2,859
    edited November 2011
    And WTF? is HD radio exactly?
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  • IRLRaceFan
    IRLRaceFan Posts: 172
    edited November 2011
    How come no one has pointed out that iTrax (site link in OP goes to) is one of HD Tracks' competitors? And That the author, founder of AIX Records, is heavily invested in DVD and (I believe) Blu-ray audio?

    I'm not saying the article is not true. I'm only pointing out that the site & author have something to gain business wise, by making a competitor look bad and to my knowledge, HD Tracks is the biggest player (at the moment) in HD music downloads. So when I see something like this, I take it "with a grain of salt".

    I've purchased several albums from HD Tracks:
    Rolling Stones, Beggars Banquet (88kHz/24bit): sounds great, listen to it a lot, really happy with it
    Rush, Moving Pictures (96kHz/24bit: sounds good - better than 15yr old CD
    U2, Achtung Baby (Deluxe) (44.1kHz/24bit): sounds good, haven't listened to all of it yet
    Moody Blues, The Days of Future Passed (96kHz/24bit): sounds pretty good, better than 20yr old CD, got it for gf & she's happy with it
    Rolling Stones, Some Girls (Deluxe) (88kHz/24bit): sounds good, but nothing special.

    All of these are remastered or reissues, except for the Moody Blues, so I don't know what the regular CD versions sound like. For the most part I'm happy with the purchases, but do think the cost is a bit too high - but I am willing to pay a higher cost to get better quality than .mp3.

    I've also tried to purchase music from iTrax, but had problems with their site.
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  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,538
    edited November 2011
    The word "Remaster" can be seriously misleading. There are quite a few remasters that are a mess, due to overly hot levels crushing dynamic range. Sometimes you're better off with the original CD. I noticed this with a Boston (first album) so-called remaster---it was simply crushed, and did not sound as good as my 20yr old CD. I shot it with a pellet gun.
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  • Conradicles
    Conradicles Posts: 6,119
    edited November 2011
    The 2 letters "HD" have now become a Marketing gimick. I love the HD sunglasses they sell on TV!
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  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,538
    edited November 2011
    I'm going to download some 24/96 goodness from Linn's site this evening (classical), and give it a spin.
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited November 2011
    I always check here before buying anything. http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=150.0
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • SolidSqual
    SolidSqual Posts: 5,218
    edited November 2011
    I love my HD downloads . . . **** my digital front end is killer, but I find myself spinning vinyl more often lately simply because it has become too tiresome and costly to find certain albums in HiRes. Not to mention, the vinyl just sounds better. The only acceptable alternatives to vinyl are hi resolution copies of the vinyl. This process however is expensive to pay for and too time consuming to do yourself IMHO.
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  • inspiredsports
    inspiredsports Posts: 5,501
    edited November 2011
    F1nut wrote: »
    Another reason why I'll never download squat.

    I'm with you for the most part, but for me, "never" will probably happen once or twice at some point in the future :mrgreen:
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited November 2011
    the only hi rez music I listen to is on a store bought disc... like SACD and DVD-Audio. downloading HD files.. seems very suspect to
    me.. just saying... think about it..
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  • mdaudioguy
    mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
    edited November 2011
    IRLRaceFan wrote: »
    How come no one has pointed out that iTrax (site link in OP goes to) is one of HD Tracks' competitors? And That the author, founder of AIX Records, is heavily invested in DVD and (I believe) Blu-ray audio?

    I'm not saying the article is not true. I'm only pointing out that the site & author have something to gain business wise, by making a competitor look bad and to my knowledge, HD Tracks is the biggest player (at the moment) in HD music downloads. So when I see something like this, I take it "with a grain of salt".
    Thanks for pointing that out! I normally try to be a "consider the source" kind of guy when consuming information. I didn't mean for this to be read as an investigative news report, but was really thinking of it more as an editorial. Bottom line is, digital formats can be confusing, and the potential is there for consumers to be scammed. Then again, there are poor recordings that exist in the analog and "hard copy" world, too. As always, there can be both subtle and great variances from one recording to another.

    I haven't tried HD Tracks just yet, but I'm probably going to give it a whirl soon.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,724
    edited November 2011
    How come no one has pointed out that iTrax (site link in OP goes to) is one of HD Tracks' competitors? And That the author, founder of AIX Records, is heavily invested in DVD and (I believe) Blu-ray audio?

    I'm not saying the article is not true. I'm only pointing out that the site & author have something to gain business wise, by making a competitor look bad and to my knowledge, HD Tracks is the biggest player (at the moment) in HD music downloads. So when I see something like this, I take it "with a grain of salt".

    The author is only repeating what has already been known for a while now. So, don't take it with a grain of salt, the facts are rock solid.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • SolidSqual
    SolidSqual Posts: 5,218
    edited November 2011
    F1nut wrote: »
    The author is only repeating what has already been known for a while now. So, don't take it with a grain of salt, the facts are rock solid.

    F1Nut doesn't post BS. Here's a link that well documents many of the troubles that face HD downloads. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/HD-music-fft-atlas-reference-thread
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  • SolidSqual
    SolidSqual Posts: 5,218
    edited November 2011
    Here's another threading dedicated to informing downloaders of an albums true resolution before purchase: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/HD-music-fft-atlas-reference-thread
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