Argh! Brickwalling at HDtracks

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Atmospheric, Jan 27, 2015.

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  1. JamieLang

    JamieLang Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nashville, TN
    Hey, is that an offer? I can put you in touch with my agent....I kid....FWIW, yes, that's me....rolling my eyes because I was having to take pictures for this release earlier this year:

    http://jamielang.bandcamp.com/track/cogs-in-the-machine

    Only to have their site kinda split it....and, well--doesn't look good to me, but it works well as a little avatar, I think. It's funny, I grow a beard....all of sudden I'm on a Yacht Rock kick....chicken....egg....chicken....? I never liked Michael McDonald BEFORE....!? Ha.
     
    Roger Meadows likes this.
  2. Rolltide

    Rolltide Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vallejo, CA
    Have you listened to the 44.1/16 version to compare it too? I know the LP I have of that album sounds absolutely incredible too, but I suspect its more the recording itself then the format its presented in.
     
  3. Veni Vidi Vici

    Veni Vidi Vici Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    That Muddy Waters isn't around to pester his label to make his releases hot enough for Sirius?
     
    bhasenstab likes this.
  4. Roger Meadows

    Roger Meadows Active Member

    It's still good picture that could be used as a headshot.
     
  5. JamieLang

    JamieLang Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nashville, TN
    Where's the "blush" emoticon? ;) Thx.
     
  6. Atmospheric

    Atmospheric Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Eugene
    Actually, I think because they specify "...best sounding downloads," that it's probably a low bar to clear. What's the competition? iTunes? Amazon? Pono? Perhaps Pono but they are offering the same versions in most cases.
     
  7. old time fan

    old time fan Active Member

    Location:
    EU
    So you got the refund but you didn't get to keep the cd?
     
  8. old time fan

    old time fan Active Member

    Location:
    EU
    I'm not sure brickwalling is a scientific term either. Is it?
     
  9. Joshua277456

    Joshua277456 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Wait a minute...are you able to buy and download recordings from the Pono marketplace and use them on other devices and your computer? You don't have to use them on the Pono player?
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2015
  10. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    Correct. You do not need a PonoPlayer to be able to play the files or buy the files.
    The files are regular FLAC files. No DRM. No restrictions. They'll work on Mac, Windows, Linux, Fiio portables, Astell & Kern portables, iPhones, anything that can play FLAC. If you want ALAC to be more iTunes friendly you can convert the files to ALAC.

    You will need to download and install the PonoMusic World application. PonoMusic World includes the necessary download manager to do the actual download. PonoMusic World is available for Mac and Windows. It's a free download.
     
  11. Joshua277456

    Joshua277456 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Great!

    I seen a few titles in mono I couldn't find elsewhere and those would be the ones I'm interested in
     
  12. Lucidae

    Lucidae AAD

    Location:
    Australia
    Which ones?
     
  13. Joshua277456

    Joshua277456 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
  14. Lucidae

    Lucidae AAD

    Location:
    Australia
  15. Joshua277456

    Joshua277456 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
  16. markp

    markp I am always thinking about Jazz.

    Location:
    Washington State
    Early on I purchased a couple of albums from HDTracks, and they were good. An Esperanza Spalding and Rolling Stones Some Girls. But after reading all the reviews of compressed, or not really hi-rez recordings on HdTracks, I am not shopping there.

    I understand HDTracks does not remaster the tracks, and they can only sell what the record companies give them. I think HDTracks needs to understand that shoppers like me (part of the tiny audiophile universe interested in HDTracks products) want either verification of their products sampling and mastering, and/or user reviews. And the lack thereof, does not produce a warm cozy feeling in my belly.
     
    Gardo likes this.
  17. amoergosum

    amoergosum Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany

    Exactly.
    Do they fear that providing DR values would hurt their sales? Or are they just to lazy to provide DR values?
     
  18. HAmmer

    HAmmer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milwaukee WI
    Interesting, anyone compare the Prostudiomasters version?
     
  19. SteveS1

    SteveS1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Weald, England, UK
    As somebody who wouldn't dream of entertaining so called high res as a format unless the mastering was uniquely better than anything offered so far, I'm not at all surprised by this.

    I tried a couple of their early releases of back catalogue and was annoyed to find they were taken from later (read worse) masterings than had been issued on CD originally. The reply I got was again that they could not be responsible for the masters given to them. This is feeble and nowhere near good enough when you set yourself up as delivering premium product.

    But while their are people easily seduced into thinking the higher bit and sample numbers make a difference, I don't see the marketing BS stopping anytime soon.

    After this I did more experiments with identically sourced digital files and even vinyl rips prepared for comparisons at 16/44 v higher rates. I have yet to hear any benefit where I know for sure that the source is identical. Just give us well produced and mastered music - sod the format. :)
     
    robtodd likes this.
  20. amoergosum

    amoergosum Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    I just sent HDtracks a Tweet (and an email) and asked why they don't provide DR values for each album.
    Let's see if they reply...
     
  21. lechiffre

    lechiffre Forum Resident

    Location:
    phoenix
    They did not make me keep it.
     
    Six String, Tuco and Atmospheric like this.
  22. Claude

    Claude Senior Member

    Location:
    Luxembourg
    Since excessive dynamic compression during (re-)mastering is now the biggest sound quality issue with music releases, HDtracks could measure the DR itself and put the info online, with a proper disclaimer saying that this is just a dynamic range measurement and not a complete indicator for sound quality. I don't think it's in their interest to sell files which disappoint their customers, and with DR7 releases it's hard not to disappoint.

    This could also put some pressure on the mastering engineers who provide the files. They could think about doing two versions of the mastering, one with compression (if they think they must) for the CD release and an uncompromised one for hi-rez formats.
     
    Starwanderer and Atmospheric like this.
  23. Plan9

    Plan9 Mastering Engineer

    Location:
    Toulouse, France
    HDTracks clearly think putting customer reviews or DR readings on their site would hurt their business.

    Qobuz for instance allows users to comment on any download. I'm sure other retailers do it too.
     
  24. Lucidae

    Lucidae AAD

    Location:
    Australia
    HDTracks is shooting themselves in the foot by not being transparent about their products. Customers will place the blame on the retailer rather than the record label - the real enemy.
     
    Joshua277456 and Atmospheric like this.
  25. erniebert

    erniebert Shoe-string audiophile

    Location:
    Toronto area
    A bit of Quality Assurance would go a long ways.
     
    Orthonormal and HAmmer like this.
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