[disastermouse]

Hey all....
 
Props to HD Tracks....but where can I get my hands on audiophile-level tracks of music I actually listen to (indie, rock, indie-rock, rock-indie, IDM, limited/smart hip-hop, etc)?
 
Their rock/pop selections are limited to 'music my father got stoned to'.  I got stoned to completely different music.
 
*All drug references refer to the rather distant past.  As a capable health care professional, I no longer have any interest in such things.*

 

[astroman302]

I use what.cd and waffles.fm mainly (torrenting sites)

 

[disastermouse]

I'd rather actually pay the artist in some way.  Are they SACD quality FLACs?

 

[ramicio]

You won't really find anything that is actually popular with the majority of people under the age of 60 in HD form.  People today don't care about quality of the sound so much, and the quality of the music is horrible as well.  SACD and DVD-A are pretty much dead and anything that does come out anymore is limited to stupid jazz and classical type music that own-fart-smelling yuppie types listen to.  There will be the occasional classic rock album that is remastered by the artist and released independently as a HD download, but you will never see that for pop these days.  CD is about to die as a pop format too.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Agreed with ramicio. Very few artists release studio albums at anything other than 16-bit/44.1 kHz because CDs were the number one sellers until digital distribution which also uses the same specs. I suppose more artists could release high-res music now that 24-bit sound cards are becoming ubiquitous, and Blu-Ray makes it more likely to find lossless high-res audio for live concert-style releases. So, the prospects of popular music going high-res are in limbo at the moment. Until iTunes offers high-res (or lossless in the first place), it probably won't take off.

 

[ramicio]

Popular music needs to be mixed and mastered correctly and have some dynamic range first to make a better format worthwhile.  I don't see indie kind of rock having too much production value to warrant good sound.  It's all about emoness for that kind of music.  I've never met a single person that listens to that kind of music and actually cares one bit about quality.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

I don't see indie kind of rock having too much production value to warrant good sound.  It's all about emoness for that kind of music.  I've never met a single person that listens to that kind of music and actually cares one bit about quality.

Aww, not true. The aesthetic is part of the appeal, but not all indie rock bands are lo-fi (though I guess it depends on your definition of indie and your standards for production). There's sort of a mini movement embraced by not-quite-mainstream artists to gradually bring back dynamic range.

 

[ramicio]

There doesn't need to be a movement.  It's either loud or it's not.  It's a simple decision.  Dynamic range will NEVER happen to mainstream music.  Good music is dead.

 

[disastermouse]

Quote:

Popular music needs to be mixed and mastered correctly and have some dynamic range first to make a better format worthwhile.  I don't see indie kind of rock having too much production value to warrant good sound.  It's all about emoness for that kind of music.  I've never met a single person that listens to that kind of music and actually cares one bit about quality.

Hi.  My name is Chet.  Nice to meet you!  (Now you've met one.)
 
The Flaming Lips certainly fall into the camp of 'Indie-artist-who-craves-quality' - they put out Yoshimi in a dual CD/DVD-A format.
 
I don't think indie-types don't care about sound quality - I think they are limited by budget.  Still, some do well and may be interested.

 

[Roseval]

Maybe a site like this one: http://bandcamp.com/

 

[infinitesymphony]

Roseval, that's another future possibility. I've purchased a number of albums on Bandcamp and downloaded FLAC, but I don't think they offer a high-res option at this point. Great service, though.

 

[monsieurguzel]

I have a whole bunch of 24/96 records from hdtracks, SACDs, etc. but the more I listen to them, the more I realize that they don't sound much better than properly mastered redbook CDs.  Granted this isn't indie rock again, but a lot of released by Audio Fidelity by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray have better dynamic range and clarity than many 24/96 recordings I find from other places...and are just released as 16/44 albums.  My system is very revealing, and so I really believe that you'd be better off finding well mastered music (MFSL, Audio Fidelity, XRCD (hit or miss), Reference Recordings, DCC, Chesky etc) than worrying to much about the resolution it is at.  Now if you are looking for better mastered non-brickwalled contemporary music, I'm afraid your only solution is to get a good vinyl setup and listen that way.  Even though some new vinyl is mastered similarly to the CD equivalent, they thankfully can't raise the volume level as high. 

 

[astroman302]

Quote:

I'd rather actually pay the artist in some way.  Are they SACD quality FLACs?

Yes, not all, but many (a good amount of DDC and the like as well). But as far as supporting the artist goes I can't help you, although one day, when I'm not a poor college student, I'd like to stick with listening, and buying, sacd's and vinyls. Until then, sorry! Good luck man.

 

[ramicio]

Quote:

I have a whole bunch of 24/96 records from hdtracks, SACDs, etc. but the more I listen to them, the more I realize that they don't sound much better than properly mastered redbook CDs.  Granted this isn't indie rock again, but a lot of released by Audio Fidelity by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray have better dynamic range and clarity than many 24/96 recordings I find from other places...and are just released as 16/44 albums.  My system is very revealing, and so I really believe that you'd be better off finding well mastered music (MFSL, Audio Fidelity, XRCD (hit or miss), Reference Recordings, DCC, Chesky etc) than worrying to much about the resolution it is at.  Now if you are looking for better mastered non-brickwalled contemporary music, I'm afraid your only solution is to get a good vinyl setup and listen that way.  Even though some new vinyl is mastered similarly to the CD equivalent, they thankfully can't raise the volume level as high. 

You wouldn't think so, but I have several vinyl albums of newer music (Muse, Jay-Z, Eminem) that are mastered exactly the same as CD and anytime there is an S, T, or F in the sound (something that blows on the microphone) it terribly distorts.  Any vinyl that I've ripped onto my computer I have since deleted and just "illegally" downloaded the CD version.  Are there any super-rich people here who could chime in on how to get better music?  Life is all about who you know, and if you are rich you most likely know someone related to a record company.  If I was loaded I would be bribing several companies to sell me better music than mainstream gets.

 

[Bones13]

There is some indie stuff going right to Vinyl, but I an not aquainted with their recording/mixing/mastering techniques.
 
It is not overly difficult to rip from Vinyl to a hi rez file.
 
One of our sponsors does http://www.mastersfromtheirday.com/episode-4-sherlocks-daughter-out-in-the-cold-john-agnello/ which offers some new music at 24/88.  Benchmark should be commended for this.  All the other stuff seems to be SACD and DVDa offerings ripped to audio files of various resolution.
 
Phil Collins and B&W offer http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/Society_of_Sound which has a wide spectrum of music, in different formats, some hi rez.
 
There are not much of any music going from recording in HiRez being sold directly as files.  There is almost less being recorded as Hi Rez to SACD or DVDa or BR Audio.  That is why most offerings for sale now are of older music.
 
Perhaps some of the younger folks here will know.  I may not be 60, but I find the music I grew up with still on Vinyl, and some "Best Of" CDs.  The mainstream younger crowd seems to be perfectly happy with MP3 quality.