Not so sure about HD Tracks...

I am quite new to streaming and have only two CDs/pieces of music that I can compare.  The first is the original version of Sgt Pepper and the 24 bit remastered version.  The latter is definitely much clearer and brighter.  For instance Ringo's drumming is much clearer.  All in all a much better experience and I am listening to it as I type this.

 The other example is Vivaldi's Four Seasons but the comparison is not like for like as they are different versions.  The standard version is Sarah Chang and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the other is the 24/192 Avison Ensemble version. There are others on the forum with much better (aurally and educated) ears than mine but what I find noticeable is the much clearer articulation in the very high tempo sections.  At times the Sarah Chang version tends to get blurred whereas with the Avison Ensemble I can hear every note.  So far the evidence seems good enough to try more but I am aware from other posts that HD recordings can be variable.

Goat,

 You are not alone in your findings.

Don't waste your money buying from them.

Most of there recordings are just upscaled from CDs that you can buy for peanuts now.

Lots of info about what they have been doing on the web and other forums.

Just buy loads of CDs and ripp them.

They are cheap as chips now.

Always try and get the original CD pressings to ripp.

That goes for the Talking Heads albums also.

PS Sea Change is one of my fav's on CD and vinyl..

Stu.

I too can confirm another disappointing hd tracks experience post the installation of my ndac, unitiserve streaming front end. Compared the 24/192 hd tracks download for USD 25 to the 16/44 rip from the unitiserve. Winner was the cd rip, I personally will stick with ripping.

Mixed results for me too. Last Paul Simon album really did sound excellent but a couple of others including Wilco The Whole Love were ordinary. I have not gone back

It is a shame, but perhaps not surprising from posts elsewhere, that the responses are pretty negative.  A lot of people on this Forum spend a lot of time and money trying to get the best out of their systems and what goes in at the beginning is very important.  I only have about 400 non classical CDs and it seems that the quality of these varies considerably.  I also note with interest the tales of obvious delight as the vinyl crowd discuss their high quality pressings.  I assume that Naim and Linn downloads are of good quality and are to an extent self-policing.  However it seems that some others are not as careful in monitoring quality control.  Surely as consumers we need some form of protection or quality assured standard so that we can buy with confidence and get the most out of our investments.  The question is how do we do that?

Maybe only possible by consumer power, i.e. informing each other of the good, the bad and the ugly.

Qobuz.com has the policy that they only sell HighRes that is provided by the record labels themselves. So they don't 'create' high-res by rippings or others means as I believe HDTracks sometimes does.

-

aelg

You can do a lot of comparisons using naim label and linn records to decide whether the hi res version of an album is worth having. Bought a few albums from HD tracks ( which have been verified to be true hi res not up sampled etc) and they are very good but in the end it's down to the mastering. 16/44.1 done properly is superb. 

My understanding is that after some earlier kerfuffle, HD Tracks' quality procedures have improved greatly.  There are too many people doing spectral analysis of the downloads for them to get away with upsampling CD rips.

Thanks everyone. So I am not alone! They'll loose what remains of their credibility pretty quickly if they keep this up. Surely they must know that some of their releases are not the slightest bit superior than the CD version. It's pretty unambiguously so with the Beck release I mentioned. Bit of a joke... and it gives Hi-Res a bad name. I won't be buying anything more from HD Tracks. I'm pretty dubious about it in general at this stage. Quite happy to direct the finds into CDs and FLAC seems to be surprisingly available, at least as far as new releases go. I was pleasantly surprised to find FLAC digital albums of a couple of Kiwi bands I'm into for sale. Much cheaper than the CD versions too! 

 I bought a 24/96 version of Brothers in Arms. 2 days later, they gave me a refund, stating that they had mistakenly classified it as while it was indeed just the cd version. WTF? How does this happen?

Here's the email from them:

Dear Valued Customer:

Yesterday, we were very pleased to feature the Dire Straits album, Brothers in Arms in our private anniversary sale that was sent to select VIP customers.  After having the title up for only a few hours we discovered that the title was mistakenly labeled in both the 192 and 96kHz formats.  The file that you received  was in fact 44.1kHz/16bit. Upon realizing the error we immediately removed the title from our store.

You were one of the customers who had purchased this download before we took it down, and we apologize for this error.  You will be refunded 100% for your purchase of this download, that is yours to enjoy, courtesy of HDtracks. We have already begun processing these refunds. We hope that you will utilize the discount code at the bottom of this letter good towards 10% off a future purchase as a token of our appreciation.

It is extremely important to us that our customers receive the resolution quality that they are paying for and we make every effort to check incoming files from our label partners. However, there are sometimes situations that arise that are unavoidable. In this case, in an effort to offer this very special title along with our anniversary discount to our VIP customers the title was incorrectly labeled by one of our engineers. For the time being we have put this title on hold until such time as we can be certain that we are able to offer the best quality files available for this title.

Please let us know if you have any further questions about your purchase.

We continue to make it our goal to offer The Ultimate Download Experience!

Norman and David Chesky           HDtracks

how does anyone purchase from HD tracks outside USA? apparently they don't sell unless one is a USA resident

I compared the Metallica Black 96/24 (from the sample) to the CD.

It's clear that the 96/24 version is a slightly different mix and EQ. 

Maybe that's why it sounds better?

Apparently, the record companies discovered that consumers in the UK had found a way to pay for their Hi Res products. They acted with commendable speed to rectify this shocking  situation ;-)

Keith 

Imagine having a group of people wanting the buy the music they want to listen to. Can't let that happen

They really do deserve what they get sometimes.

Luckily there are other workarounds which still allow us Brits to purchase music from HD Tracks.

I see a couple of Naim label offerings have appeared on HD Tracks. Charlie Haden - Private Collection as 96/24 and Antonio Forcione - Touch Wood as 44.1/24.

Tim

In that case you would be nuts to buy from HD Tracks. Just buy from Naim

Tim,

Buy them both on vinyl.

Your XX2 will love you for it.

Stu

Recording provenance, mastering and transfer is all. 16/44 'Red Book' CD has the potential to sound fabulous.

GIGO.

John.

Briz - usually would buy from Naim, but it gets expensive here in Canada. Would like a vinyl version of Charlie Haden (have already got CD), but seems the records do not travel well.

Just wondering what the agreement is for Naim recordings to find their way onto HD Tracks, would have thought it would be better for Naim to sell direct downloads such as with Meet Me in Lonodn.

Tim

Bought dave brubeck hd from them and the cd sound much better. It's a rip off don't waste you're money there.

Some of the stuff from HD Tracks sounds fantastic (Doobie Brothers The Captain and Me springs to mind), while other recordings... not so much. I now always check the HD Tracks review forum on at computeraudiophile.com... lots of good info on there and can save you from buying recordings that are not well transferred/mastered, etc.

Zipperhead banjo,

The Captain and Me is a great sounding, warm analogue recording. Glad HD Tracks did it justice. Too bad it's such a crap shoot to buy digital. How much does an album cost to download?

Computer Audiophile is a good reality check. HDTracks get a lot of stick for their poorer material but they are like any other reseller. And every online retailer that takes material from the distributors will offer a selection of good through to bloody awful. The downside is that whereas you can return a badly recorded CD and get a refund, downloaded material is what it is and provided it is not damaged you're lumbered with it.. So Computer Audiophile in particular is a good filter. Tastes and subjectivity aside, there is often sufficient technical information published to allow an informed opinion, although as with any forum, axe grinding occurs.

The relatively small (probably about 35) number of albums I've bought from HDTracks contain a range of gems, dogs and albums which seem to offer nothing over 16Bit. But the distribution is the same as CD and vinyl. Crap recording/mastering/production is crap regardless of resolution and the labels do produce an awful lot of crap. Same as they always did. HDTracks have on occasion rectified the mistakes (cynicism?) of the labels. I would rather have them than not. 

To be sure, Harry, vinyl is not without its share of poor quality products.

I remember it well. Nothing's changed, apart from that if you buy a rubbish download which is physically intact you're stuffed. CDs allowed a bit of latitude.

My parents once did something which for them was pretty progressive and innovative. They bought me the newly released Led Zeppelin 4 for my 17th birthday. My sample was so poorly manufactured, the stylus jumped. We took it back to the shop.

"How dare you damage goods and expect ,me to replace them. I'm running a business, not a home for the stupid. If you think you can put one over on me you are sadly mistaken and don't you ever come into my shop again." 

Personally I don't regret the demise of record shops, although I do accept that some were/are better than others.

+1  The quality is variable, but no more or less variable than any other format. I'm waiting for the emergence of a high quality "digital reissue" label like Mobile Fidelity, Acoustic Sounds and the other vinyl reissue companies. Of course, they all have their ups and downs as well.

I should say that HD recently did right by me when I purchased a classical album with 30+ tracks that were labeled out of order (by the record company.) I complained, and they gave me a refund for $37 I think (was hi res version.)  So, I think they are trying to repair the bad rap they earned initially.

They could do much better to earn a great reputation if they enabled Computer Audiophile to link into the product listings, or something similar.