Hi-Rez Download Reviews - Comments About Music You've Purchased (or want to purchase) *Only*, Please

The analog multitracks are fine, it is the stereo master that is apparently damaged (different tape stock and all that).

 

Led Zeppelin I-III are fantastic; the best I have ever heard them. I've also been impressed by Aerosmith's 'Pump', The Doors (The Doors & LA Woman), The Faces set and some of the YES titles (Big Generator and Drama for instance are excellent). I'd probably go for 'Tales' by Yes too but I'm anticipating more good things from Steven Wilson later in the year so I'm holding off on that and 'Relayer'. As for what I'd like to see, some definitive Abba would be very nice!

 

Except for Aja, where a couple of the multitracks are missing...

 

Yep. I was talking of Gaucho specifically.

 

Picked up Gaucho yesterday and like it. Best version I've heard. Does sound pretty much the way the 2003 sacd sounds but, for me, it makes me sense to own the download. I'm sure the SHM/SACD sounds better but this works for me. Also picked up Dylan's Highway 61. What a fantastic album. Has been years since I listened all the way through. As for the sound quality, it was decent but not spectacular. Steve's AF remastering of "Like a Rolling Stone" from the Greatest Hits compilation sounds better to me. Dylan's vocals in particular are more forward in Steve's mix but, still for $15 bucks with discount it was well worth it to me.

 

The 2003 Gaucho isn't bad, SACD or download.

That Highway 61 Revisited is also the same mastering as the Sony SACD.

 

Aren't those compressed?

 

A little limiting on a few tracks, not much.

 

FWIW, here is a spectrogam of 5.1->2.0 downmix of 24/96 multi-channel track 2 (Hey Nineteen) taken from Gaucho DVD-A:

 

Not in a way that's detrimental to the sound, I hope? I know, the recordings are far from audiophile quality but still...

Anyway, I envision they should be definitive as far as detail and soundstage are concerned, so that should be cool.

 

So that was clearly a modern transfer of the original analog multitrack. Probably explains why it's the best version of Gaucho I've ever heard. I think it sounds incredible.

 

Might pull the trigger on Sabbath's Rules of Hell. I've read some positive reviews but at 70 bucks or so I was hoping to get more. What do you guys think? Strong buy? Thanks!

 

Anyone purchase The Raspberries debut from HDtracks?

 

I am real tempted to get Grand Funk's Closer to Home. I have some of the tracks on 30 Years of Funk and my vinyl got destroyed years ago. Even the sample on acoustic sounds.com sounds great. Mmmmmm

 

I have the HDTracks Tales and Relayer and I have to say they are exquisite.

 

I have it and like it a lot I would say it's well worth the purchase.

 

Weren't those some of the worst-recorded albums ever? I can't imagine they'd sound anything other than awful regardless of the sample rate and depth, but I'm hoping to be surprised.

 

Yep ... One of those gnarly Jimmy Ienner let's-make-it-sound-like-AM-radio productions.

 

Did you get the 96 or the 192?

 

192 Here's what I wrote about it

Downloaded and listened to GFR "Closer to Home" last night. At first, I wasn't sure. It sounded different than I was used to. "I'm Your Captain" is a song I know very well and something just seemed a bit off. Then I compared tracks to two different redbook cds- the capitol and the Collectors Series comp- and realized why. Everything on the 192/24 download is just more natural sounding. Less reverb on the vocals, bass is more even and mellow, not as boomy as on the redbook stuff. When my ears got used to hearing this new version I realized that, yes, this is the best this album has ever sounded to me. Buy it with confidence. And, no, this is not a case of a buyer trying to justify a purchase. Well worth it imo.

 

My last HDtracks purchase was Jackson Browne "Late For The Sky" 24/96. I don't purchase 24/192 because I just have to down convert to play it on my iPhone and aTV, even though I do think that there is a sonic difference with 24/192. Right now, it's just too much hassle for me maintaining two identical sets of source.

Anyway, I think this version of the album is superb on every level. I believe that someone told me that the mastering was already available in red book. I have not compared them. I just really enjoy having this record (which I am very familiar with) in a top notch version. Detail is exceptional. Instruments sound just like they should. DR value is 12, which is perfectly fine for me. My ReplayGain tool adjusted the files down between -3.7db to -1.2db, which I'm not happy about. That indicates the files are louder than they should be (damn the loudness wars). But I hear things I never heard on either orig vinyl or CD versions. Overall, I find it very musical and enjoyable. Buy with confidence.

 

Not necessarily; It mainly depends on the genre or the style of mixing. For instance I have some flat transfers that get such ReplayGain values, but they haven't been compressed one bit and even have some headroom.

 

Although heavily compressed files are also generally very loud files, one really has nothing to do with the other.

The DR tool measures the dynamic range (i.e., a simple mathematical difference in amplitude between the softest and loudest parts of a song file).

A ReplayGain tool analyzes a song file to determine perceived loudness (i.e., maximum amplitude). This is a fairly complicated analysis that weights various frequencies differently. This is because low frequencies are supposed to be louder than high frequencies.

It is entirely possible to have a very dynamic sound file but also for that same song file to be very soft or loud. I have seen both.

 

I know, but it is pretty rare to have some very compressed track that has then been reduced in volume -a brick with headroom-, unless the mastering engineer has had second thoughts.
Anyway, a DR of 12 is good.

 

Wonder if the HDTrack version of The Raspberries album gets rid of the brittle guitars in the first track.