HDTracks News (part 7)

encouraging! thx for the info.

 

For all that may be interested, 96-24 wav from HDTracks

Analyzed: Talk Talk / The Colour Of Spring
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR15 -3.55 dB -22.17 dB 6:31 01-Happiness Is Easy
DR14 -5.14 dB -21.27 dB 5:03 02-I Don't Believe In You
DR12 -5.07 dB -19.41 dB 4:30 03-Life's What You Make It
DR13 -5.74 dB -25.81 dB 5:52 04-April 5th
DR10 -5.38 dB -18.38 dB 6:59 05-Living In Another World
DR12 -4.70 dB -19.03 dB 5:18 06-Give It Up
DR17 -9.57 dB -33.26 dB 3:21 07-Chameleon Day
DR13 -3.45 dB -18.36 dB 8:17 08-Time It's Time
DR12 -6.02 dB -23.65 dB 5:51 09-It's Getting Late In The Evening
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of tracks: 9
Official DR value: DR13
Samplerate: 96000 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 24
Bitrate: 4608 kbps
Codec: PCM

 

Hey, a bonus track. Nice. Going to get this.

 

That did it! I'd been debating whether I actually "had to have" the new download version. Now it's obvious that the universe has spoken...

 

also bit on two older titles: the Latin frissell title (lagrimas...) and remembering weather report; both are redbook resolution, buts once these are the highest resolution sources available for these titles (to my knowledge), I dove in...

 

I hope that they will release Laughing Stock or even the Hollis solo album in hi-rez, but I don't have my hopes up since those were on a different label than Spring and Eden.

 

I haven't heard these HD Tracks versions but they do appear to mirror the DVD releases from 2 years ago (i.e. 96 Khz / 24 bit versions of the albums with an extra B-side apiece, 'It's Getting Late In The Evening' and 'John Cope'). 'Laughing Stock' would be awesome as well but I think you may be right that it's unlikely with it being on a different label.

 

HDtracks (@HDtracks)
10/20/14, 11:53 AM
Upcoming releases this week on HDtracks…

John Lennon
Neil Diamond
Beck
Slipknot
Annie Lennox
The B-52's

and more!

 

Guessing Plastic Ono Band and Sometime in New York City.

 

And Milk and Honey

 

This week is Meh....

 

Thank god! I can't afford a great week right now

 

agree!@

 

Wow! Complete discographies!

 

Upcoming releases this week on HDtracks…

John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band - Sometime in New York City - Milk and Honey
Neil Diamond - Melody Road
Beck - The Information
Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter (Special Edition) & Complete Studio Albums
Annie Lennox - Nostalgia
The B-52's - Mesopotamia
Andrea Bocelli, Ana María Martínez, Placido Domingo - Puccini: Manon
Frank Sinatra - Sinatra And Swingin' Brass
Grateful Dead - Complete Live Rarities Collection
Weyes Blood - The Innocents
Patricia Petibon & Susan Manoff - La Belle Excentrique
Too Close to Touch - Too Close To Touch

and more!

 

I bought Love is Hell from prostudio Masters. I know this is the HDtracks thread but I can't find a dedicated thread for PSM. Anyway, I found that tracks 2 and 14 on Love is Hell are upsampled from 44.1khz. PSM has confirmed that this is true and updates their website with this info. I asked them for replacement files at 96khz but they said that this was the best they could get from the label. So I notice that HDTracks has not updated their web site yet but I bet they are selling the same files. I know that HDtracks can only sell what the label gives them, but the should test the files and actually tell us that they are upsampled. So should PSM. Its quite dishonest IMO to just pass on whatever the label gives them and sell it as hi res if its upsampled. I can verify this in 5 min, so can they - if they want to.

BTW - I reckon you can hear the drop in quality as you go from the the true hi res files to the upsampled files. That's what prompted me to check. And the true hi red files sound great. English Girls approximatly is may fave song on the album, unfortunately its one of the upsampled tracks.

 

We decided to extend the discussion to the other HD download site.

 

any idea if ECM plans to roll out more titles from their catalog..?

 

The Colour of Spring from HDTracks sounds great. Very clean and dynamic. When the acoustic bass comes in during Happiness Is Easy it has real impact without being overpowering (I like to use the first minutes of this song to test gear and speaker setups).
Overall it does sound a bit "toppy", but the mids are not recessed and sound very balanced. I love it.
I do wonder if the source is perhaps DSD. The files are 24/96 yes, but they all peak around 60% of full scale, which seems typical of DSD-PCM conversions.

 

well, found out the hard way that if i don't finish dl'g an order, and then order something else, the previous dl won't show in the downloader (mac osx) anymore. clicking resume download in the account dashboard does nothing but reload the downloader, but not the downloads. and then i found that trying to dl a new downloader by ordering the sampler (since the downloader isn't available via a link, but only through checkout) blanks my latest completed (and paid) order... the upshot being that i have three orders of paid music, ~$60, and could listen to none of them this evening; the only thing i could dl is the sampler (since it is what i ordered last)... first world problem, to be sure, and certainly not the end of the world because i am sure this will get straightened out in the am when people show up and deal with my customer service email, but it is still a bit of a bummer, and really shouldn't happen - esp. since the dashboard shows my dl's are not yet complete; i assume this might be a glitch in the osx software, and thus might not be an issue for other users... i still dig the service, but figured i would post about this hiccup so as to save others here this hassle and warn y'all not to do the same thing i did...

 

Would have bought Brain Capers by Mott but couldn't pull the trigger on the whole Atlantic Album Collection it comes with. Even though it's a pretty good deal for four albums.

 

I

I would love to buy a couple of the individual Carly Simon albums, but they also are only available in a huge collection. I keep checking to see if they break these out individually but so far no luck.

 

I agree totally, and his electric solos are so unique. You can hear about 3 notes and he's instantly recognizable.

 

Damn shame the Beck Hi-res downloads are the same compressed masterings as the CDs. I was hoping they would be more dynamic.

 

Any more feedback on the Lennon stuff? Picked up Imagine last week and think it sounds great... Anyone?