[RUMAY408]

I need to update the thread:
 
Multiple downloads since the last post, 
 
"August and Everything After" 24/96 by the Counting Crows pristine, clean, and clear.  I'll say this as an early believer in this format, the recordings I have downloaded in the last 6 months have been excellent, I thought the consistency in my first 6 months was mostly hits and a few misses.
 
"Hearts," "Holiday," "America," and "Homecoming" 24/96 from America all well recorded gems.
 
All the above are highly recommended,
 
"12 X 5," "Rolling Stones, Now!," and "England's Newest Hit Makers (remastered)," 24/88 The Rolling Stones, these were early recordings and subject to the recording capabilities that they were originally mastered in.
 
"The Velvet Underground and Nico (45th anniversary  album)" 24/96 The Velvet Underground and Nico, no knock on the album, but the recording was famously done on the fly and authenticate raw recordings are harder for me to justify as high res purchases.

 

[RUMAY408]

Time for more updates:
 
The Cars 24/96  All 6 albums 1) "The Cars" 2) "Candy-O" 3) "Panorama" 4) "Shake It Up" 5) "Heartbeat City" 6) "Door To Door"
 
All 6 albums are as good as any vinyl that I have, and hands down better than the CD versions available, very well done.
 
Weezer 24/96 "Everything Will Be Alright In The End" an excellent download

 

[Music Alchemist]

HDtracks is cool, and most of the releases I have sound better than their CD counterparts, but it needs to be emphasized that this is due to the fact that they were derived from different masters, not because the files are "HD". Not counting DSD, if you take a 24-bit PCM file of any sample rate and convert it to 16-bit / 44.1 kHz, you can't hear a difference between them. (Human hearing only extends from 20 to 20,000 hertz, after all.)
 
I highly recommend that anyone who is interested in learning more about digital audio read this article and do further research.

 

[RUMAY408]

  HDtracks is cool, and most of the releases I have sound better than their CD counterparts, but it needs to be emphasized that this is due to the fact that they were derived from different masters, not because the files are "HD". Not counting DSD, if you take a 24-bit PCM file of any sample rate and convert it to 16-bit / 44.1 kHz, you can't hear a difference between them. (Human hearing only extends from 20 to 20,000 hertz, after all.)
 
I highly recommend that anyone who is interested in learning more about digital audio read this article and do further research.

No arguments from me about frequencies above 44.  Versions 24/196 and now up to 32/384 are memory killers in my book.  That's just my opinion using my own equipment.  24 bit depth makes a difference to me but again that's just my opinion. 
Many of the better albums that show up on HDTracks were 1st issued on SACD or DVD-A format.  The newer downloads are often from the original mastered tapes ex. Van Halen.  I'm impressed with the better albums, but dogs are here as well.
I have 100's of CD's, 100's of MP3 albums, and 100's of vinyl albums.  The loudness wars ruined a lot of CD's since about the mid 80's on.  Digital downloads that equaled vinyl albums on some level was something I was after.
HDTracks 16/44 downloads (and above) have instituted better than average quality standards, whether the cost is worth it or not is always a question.
 
The above article is referenced here and in other audio communities frequently, dogma becomes dogma when it is never questioned, I am too skeptical to believe in everything I'm told to believe.

 

[daltonljj]

With regards to whether 24bits matter IMHO I feel that it really depends on the music. I feel that some music benefit from it while others don't make a difference. Anyway enough of so much technical debate. One thing we can agree on is Good music is good music. So recently I've made a few new purchase.
 
1. Buena Vista Social Club - Nonesuch
2. Tabula Rasa - Water Lily Acoustics
3. Bourbon & Rosewater - Water Lily Acoustics
 
Simply pleasing to my ears you guys should check it out. Plus there is a 15% discount up now ... haha
 
CODE: HOLYFILDHD

 

[Music Alchemist]

  24 bit depth makes a difference to me but again that's just my opinion.

  With regards to whether 24bits matter IMHO I feel that it really depends on the music. I feel that some music benefit from it while others don't make a difference.

 
I tagged you both in my thread. If you would like to demonstrate that you can hear a difference, many people there would be interested in the results.

 

[plonter]

All the Hi-Rez meterial on HDtracks (24/96 24/192), is it converted to Hi-Rez digital format straight from the analog tapes?  I mean..it's not just a digital 16/44.1 upsamples or something..

 

[Lenni]

  I know they have 16/44 and 16/48 audio for downloads but what I want is feedback on the 24/44 and above. 

 
I like HDTrack too. I usually get the 48kHz/16bit rip - I prefer it over the 44.1/16. I did, on a couple of occasions, a brief comparison  between 48/16 and 192/24 of the same rip, and both sounded as good. If I felt there was a significant difference, I'd have kept the 192/24 rip. but I'd need to do a more extensive comparison over multiple rips to make sure, and that'd take a lot of time and effort. So far I'm happy with the 48/16 rips. 

 

[Music Alchemist]

  All the Hi-Rez meterial on HDtracks (24/96 24/192), is it converted to Hi-Rez digital format straight from the analog tapes?  I mean..it's not just a digital 16/44.1 upsamples or something..

 
Fancy running into you here!
 
The files are derived from all sorts of sources. Analog tapes, studio masters, CD masters (which sound the same as the CD version)...a few albums have been demonstrated to be 16/44.1 upsamples, but it's rare. Doesn't matter, anyway. The only thing that matters is which master was used, and which techniques were used if it was converted from an analog master.

 

[RUMAY408]

   
Fancy running into you here!
 
The files are derived from all sorts of sources. Analog tapes, studio masters, CD masters (which sound the same as the CD version)...a few albums have been demonstrated to be 16/44.1 upsamples, but it's rare. Doesn't matter, anyway. The only thing that matters is which master was used, and which techniques were used if it was converted from an analog master.

I have been convinced for several years now that several of the downloads on HDTracks are derived directly from SACD/DVD-Audio album masters (several of these I already own).  The technique used to obtain the downloads, now that is a good question 

 

[Music Alchemist]

  I have been convinced for several years now that several of the downloads on HDTracks are derived directly from SACD/DVD-Audio album masters (several of these I already own).  The technique used to obtain the downloads, now that is a good question 

 
If I could make one suggestion to HDtracks and other digital music stores, it would be to disclose which master is being sold. Much of the time, it's an exclusive one, but other times, it's the same one as the CD and sounds the same, meaning that some people could end up paying twice needlessly. It's always cool to have the SACD/DSD stuff in digital format, though! Even cooler for surround sound mixes, but that isn't so common.

 

[RUMAY408]

   
If I could make one suggestion to HDtracks and other digital music stores, it would be to disclose which master is being sold. Much of the time, it's an exclusive one, but other times, it's the same one as the CD and sounds the same, meaning that some people could end up paying twice needlessly. It's always cool to have the SACD/DSD stuff in digital format, though! Even cooler for surround sound mixes, but that isn't so common.

I completely agree.  
Transparency in audio is rare!

 

[m8o]

This being the hdtracks appreciation thread, I would appreciate it if everyone would stop downloading for the next few days. I just purchased close to 100 albums, and it becomes apparent figuring out what I wanted to buy was only one of the hard parts taking many many days. The download of them becomes another onerous part.

Download is very slow (their side, I have a very fast reliable connection) and after downloading dozens of megs of a song of an album, mmmany mmmmany of them end up failing before completing.

Ssssooo just figured if you stopped appreciating HDtracks for a day or two, that would really help me out. .... j/k .... no I'm not ..... hahaha, yes, j/k.

 

[hungga]

I see that they have Muse Black Hole and Revelation on 24/96. Grab or pass?

 

[RUMAY408]

I see that they have Muse Black Hole and Revelation on 24/96. Grab or pass?

That is my favorite Muse album and just downloaded the HDTracks 24/96 version 
 
Initial impression:  Vocals and Synth are thrown forward and I rather like it, more complex and musical, I own the CD so easy to compare, I love this band and saw them on the "2nd Law tour" if you want to sample the album go to the HDTracks album and hit the button right of the song title.
 
My beef with HDTracks outside the cost, the song sample is really short.
 
For a brief time BUY2GET20 will discount 2 albums for 20% off
 
 
FYI:   I have no connection with HDTracks, no money exchanged, no wink wink agreements, nothing, I call it as I see it, and frankly I prefer it that way