Prince HD tracks

Yes, you must. It is just that good

 

Ok, "Purple Rain" at 24/96 finally became available around here as well and I downloaded it yesterday. Today I compared the old CD, the SHM and the new hi-res files. For me the differences were the same as for the two other albums I described here already, though not as obvious as for "1999". Again the old standard CD has the least bass and the SHM is the brightest. But I find the differences rather subtle for this album. The old CD already sounds pretty decent and the hi-res files are only a small improvement for me. But since this is one of my favourite albums and has been with me for 30 years now, I'm still happy for this.

 

I have found the original Controversy CD better sounding than the HDTracks 192/24 version. All the other HDTracks Prince albums (especially ATWIAD, but also 1999, Parade and Purple Rain) were better (though I don't have For You or Dirty Mind yet). I found the HDTracks Controversy to be muddier and less detailed. Also, imaging skews to the left channel.

Any opinions?

 

I found this to be the case as well.

The original Prince and Controversy CDs sound excellent. I have to disagree with you though - I think the Parade CD is much better than the HD tracks release.

 

Sorry for the late response... In what way exactly? The HD Tracks version to these ears has more space/layering and has less 'edge'. The CD has a bit more bass, but the HD Tracks does not sound thin to me.

 

I did not have DMSR on any CD version. I have the target of 1999 and it does not have DMSR so I went for the HD tracks. Listening now and it is fantastic sounding.

 

Has anyone heard the HD Tracks version of 'Dirty Mind' and compared to the original CD? Also, I seem to recall reading about there being digital glitches on a couple of these releases on another thread. I can't find it now but I believe it was on 'Purple Rain' and 'Around The World In A Day'. Does anyone know if this has been fixed?

 

Bump.

Anyone heard 'Dirty Mind'?

 

I have compared the 24bit/192kHz Dirty Mind with the original CD and (as with For You and Prince) have found that the HD Tracks miss a bit of 'oomph'. They are less dynamic and less present than the originals. They might have slightly better separation, but overall, they are not an improvement. The same can be said of Controversy and arguably Parade (although I find it to be better, BlueGangsta does not agree here... ). All the others I have found to be better than the originals.

But where are they on HD Tracks?? Can't find any of them in the catalogue anymore?

 

Right now there is page for Prince on HDTracks, but NO albums available for download.

 

I just went to check the price of 1999 on HDTracks and noticed all his 70s & 80s Warner Bros. albums are gone. When did that happen? I had downloaded Purple Rain and Around The World In A Day. They're available on Pono.

 

When HDT and other hi-res vendors buy a hi-res album, generally they contract for rights to sell a certain amount of albums, say 5000 downloads. They may not have any more to sell, or the label for whatever marketing reason, has decided not to make any more available.

 

I just bought 'Purple Rain' in 192kHz 24bit from e-onkyo. It sounds nice but as I don't have the original pressing on CD, I can't really compare it to anything else.

 

I bought the HD Tracks version of 1999 ages ago but hadn't got round to listening to it until recently. I'm slightly annoyed now because there are small gaps between '1999' and 'Little Red Corvette' and more noticeably between 'Lady Cab Driver' and 'All The Critics...'. Now I've tried listening to the same tracks on two different devices (Naim NDX and Astell & Kern AK240) and there were gaps both times. The gaps are a split second but are still annoying. I've done nothing to the files themselves (24/96 FLAC) so I don't understand why this is happening as both sources do gapless. Has anyone else had the same problem with this download or could something I hadn't thought of be going on here? Any advise would be appreciated!

 

I'm going to bump this thread as I still can't figure out why my HD Tracks version of 1999 isn't gapless. Is there anyone who has this download who can verify whether or not they have this issue? Thanks.

 

I have the 96/24 HDTracks download and there is no gap between 1999/Little Red Corvette for me (or it is so slight I don't hear it), however there is a split second gap between Lady Cab Driver/All the Critics... so I can confirm that one. It's so slight that unless I'm listening for it, I usually don't notice it. But I do plan to take the two files into an audio editor soon and trim the few blank frames causing the gap (I know, we shouldn't have to do that with these expensive downloads, but it is what it is).

 

Yes, the same here. Can't say I really hear it between "1999" and "Little Red Corvette", but I hear a very tiny break between "Lady Cab Driver" and "All the Critics...". Never noticed it before. Of course now I always will. Thanks a lot.

 

Sorry about that! For me the gap is clear between 'Lady Cab Driver' and 'All The Critics..'. Of course I was looking for other gaps when I listened between the first two tracks so maybe my mind was playing tricks on me but there did seem to be a split second gap there also (not as long) - I will check this again though. Either way, AlanDistro is right that we shouldn't have to put up with these mistakes. I know it must seem insignificant to most but it's the kind of thing that irritates me because you're looking out for it instead of enjoying the music!

 

Well, I wasn't really serious (hence the added ) and I agree, this shouldn't happen given how pricey these downloads are.

 

After comparing all of the HDtracks releases to the original CD's, ATWIAD is only one that is worse than the original CD. brighter and louder (slighly better bass).

 

One of the things that people forget sometimes is that Prince had most of the multitracks and possibly 'original masters' (as opposed to copies) at Paisley Park.
Indeed the fabled vault began when Susan Rogers noticed that some multitrack masters were absent because they'd been left behind at various other studios and decided to get them all together and rack 'em.
So although WB owned the recordings, many remained in Prince's possession. I'm sure this was A. Part of why he wanted to keep and then own them when WB 'called to collect them' and
B. Why he played with the notion of 'new masters' (which could, actually have been 'old masters' with a few alterations ) in facing the company down during his battles.

 

The finger cymbals on the title track made me wince the first time I listened to it. I haven't returned to it since. I like my CD of 1999 better than the 96/24 download, too.

 

What did you think of the rest? I thought Dirty Mind, Prince, Controversy and Parade were big improvements. Purple Rain and For You sounded about the same (with slightly better A/D transfers).

I have to listen to 1999 again I think.

 

I only bought 1999, Purple Rain, and ATWIAD. After preferring my CDs of 1999 and ATWIAD, I didn't hear enough of an improvement on Purple Rain to warrant spending money on any more downloads. Looks like I picked the wrong ones to buy!

 

I may have oversold Parade. It's moderately better. But the other ones are great. Dirty Mind is the best.

Here is a snippet... Uploadfiles.io - wywm.flac