HDTracks News (part 7)

HDtracks isn't ever the place to ask questions like this. They are only a retailer of these downloads. It's almost like asking Apple these questions. You have to do what noname74 did and ask the labels.

 

So the skeptic in me thinks that this may just be another way to boost the revenue stream that a product generates. I would like to be wrong but ...

Having said that, most of the 50s and even some of the early 60s products were recorded in mono OR recorded in both mono and 3 track stereo using two machines. Those mono recordings are often works of art.

 

Thank you. I see that the AP SACD was mastered by Kevin Gray and has received rave reviews in other threads on this forum. So I might hold out for that.

 

I don't quite understand what that means. Where

I am not sure what is the point of that series. . . Does that mean sooner or later we'll get a mono Sailing Shoes or Eat A Peach. It seems to me just releasing mono recordings regardless if they have any asthetic value is a pretty terrible business plan. For instance, I would have purchased a STEREO version of the Iron Butterfly, but not the mono because I couldn't be sure if it were dedicated or a fold down. Is there a big market out there for fold downs over stereo?

 

I got Robert Ludwig's 2014 remaster of Elton's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road in 96/24 last week and it sounds really fine. Thinking about downloading Captain Fantastic now.

 

Thanks for the London Calling recommendation above. I'm listening to it right now and I'm very happy with the sound quality. Much better than the 25th anniversary CD, which is the only version I had.

 

I don't know, but the stereo version sounds fantastic, I can't imagine why anyone would want this album in mono.

 

I have the SACD and feel no need to get the HD TRACKS because I think the disc sounds incredible.

 

I have had a brief listen to some of The B-52s set and it sounds like they are the original masters. All of them sound exactly like what my original CDs sound like EQ and dynamics wise. I haven't really been able to do much critical listening to check for soundstage depth and things of that sort but so far so good!

 

Even Lennon would have downloaded the B-52s stuff on HDTracks.

 

Has anyone had an opportunity to pick up Tom Petty's Wildflowers from HDTracks? Just curious how it compares to the original CD release seeing as the catalog was apparently remastered for iTunes last month.

 

Ludwig did the HDtracks release of GYBR?

 

It states on HDtracks that it is the 2014 remaster. The only 2014 remaster I know of is RL's. HDtracks doesn't say who mastered anything so I assumed it was him. Might not be, but it sure sounds good either way.

 

It is the 2014 Bob Ludwig remaster.

 

Do any of you have an idea how to confirm that an HD track we buy online isnt simply upconverted from a standard 16/44 source? I think I'm doing it correctly by importing it into Audacity, and doing a Plot Spectrum analyzation. Most CD rips have no info above 20,000Hz but the high-res ones do. Cheers!

 

HDtracks tests all of their downloads now before posting them because they used to get into a lot of trouble for selling unconverted tracks. Now anytime things are upconverted in any way they let you know.

 

Yes, it looks like a lot of problematic files have been removed.

For example, in the past HDtracks offered some BIS and Deutsche Grammophon recordings in 24/88, which had been recorded in 24/44 (BIS) or transfered from analogue to PCM in 24/96 (DG). The 24/88 files were most likely sourced from SACD rips, i.e. they underwent a PCM --> DSD --> PCM conversion instead of being a copy of the PCM archives of the label. In case of BIS, the label wasn't aware that HDtracks was selling hi-rez versions of their albums.

 

I can't stand the 2014 remaster of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, it is too loud for me and kind of bright.

 

It's probably one of the least bright digital releases except for maybe the early CDs. In terms of loud? That's arguable, it's slightly less dynamic than some of the earlier digital stuff but it makes up for it in the overall soundstage and clarity departments IMO.

 

Thanks. All I have heard from that 2014 release was the album proper, and I was not impressed. Maybe I will give it another spin.

 

I took advantage of the Labor Day coupon to grab some 70s era Aerosmith. Can anyone comment on the sound quality of the HdTracks Toys In The Attic vs the SACD??

 

Yes.

 

Neither, it was the original stereo masters supposedly; MoFi couldn't find them for their vinyl reissues. That is why they ended up on their "silver" label.

 

Any idea if the original CD's were taken from the master tapes?

 

The point is to issue mono mixes that were unavailable on digital. Like the Beatles' or Bob Dylan's.
If they are true mono mixes, it is interesting to hear a different mix.
If they are folddowns, they are useless. But no label or record company would pay knowingly for a mono folddown to be transfered and mastered.