Hi-Res Download News (HDTracks, ProStudioMasters, Pono, etc.) & Software/Mastering Part 12**

The Toto albums in hi- res would be amazing.

 

Toto albums in hi-res with out a crap-tastic peak limited mastering would be amazing
Edit:
And also without that brightness that seems to be the new fad. (Fleetwood Mac/Eurythmics)

 

Yea I fully agree. I have pre-ordered the box set from the UK for a low price of $53 shipped here to USA. I would cancel that if I knew the Hi Res was more dynamic than the CD's that are not that dynamic but supposedly still sound very good.

 

THIS WEEK on HDtracks...

Morrissey - California Son
Sting - My Songs
King Crimson - Fracture (Steven Wilson Live Mix)
Melissa Aldana - Visions

plus much much more...

 

What's with this new version just released of Simon and Garfunkel Greatest Hits (same album cover!) but a bunch of live versions replacing studio versions? Crazy!
Simon Garfunkel-Greatest Hits-FLAC 192kHz24bit Download|Acoustic Sounds

 

IMO, the entire Warner 2011-2014 flat transfer series on HDT which includes all the Joni's other than 1 that was taken from a dvd-a (unless they were newly remastered for PSM and are different then the ones I have) are stunning.

 

Glad to have found this thread; 24 bit has been my sonic obsession since I bought my Oppo in 2011. Very sadly, based on the lack of releases, the trend to 44/24, & the dreadful MQA's, hr seems to be getting killed off by the labels.

 

This is the first time that I've read any indication about the methodology used for the Joni Mitchel hi-res downloads with any certainty. Not that I doubt you, but how do you know these are flat transfers? I've read speculation that these use the same mastering as the original CDs (prior to the remasterings used for the HDCDs). Would love to get confirmation that these are indeed newer flat transfers.

 

They don't sound anything like the original CDs. Those were awful, tinny, yet curiously muffled things. The high-res editions are much warmer and cleaner. They don't sound quite as polished (some might argue overpolished) as the HDCD releases, but they have a clarity or depth to them that even the HDCD editions sort of lacked. I didn't think I'd prefer them to the HDCD masters, which I think are wonderful (especially when compared to some other acts' catalogs from the same era), but the high res editions are definitely more enjoyable (and more like the original vinyl I think, at least comparing Hissing and Hejira to the vinyl counterparts I have, both original pressings from the '70s).

I think it's a combination of those two factors - not super-polished (including no gobs of compression), yet lots of depth - that make people speculate they're flat transfers of the studio masters.

I wonder if they were done by the same people and around the same time as the high res masters of the Linda Ronstadt and Eagles stuff for Warners?

 

Listening to the samples of The Boxer and Bridge they sound like the studio versions.

 

Back in the day, the HD Tracks site had a category called, "Warner Flat Transfers". I assumed they were being truthful. The section no lnger exists. I can say that I personally on many Warner titles released in that time frame & the only poor sounding ones were from masters that had likely been released on the dvd-a series. Other great sounding titles from that series would include (but not be limited to) Jackson Browne, Prince, & Duke Ellington.

 

Ah, excellent to hear. I could have sworn that someone said they sounded like the original CDs (and at the time I didn't get the impression that that was meant either as praise or a lament). I always held off on purchasing the Joni Mitchel hi-res downloads because of this, but now I feel a lot more confident about buying them. I must have not become aware of these until after the "Warner Flat Transfers" section went away because I never could find any mastering info on them. Anyway, thanks for the vote of confidence for these downloads.

 

You're welcome. Again, other than a few released on dvd-a (Neil Young Harvest & Joni Both Sides Now to name 2) & taken from the mediocre dvd-a masters; I've never heard one that wasn't sonically superb. Compare the "Flat Transfer" Purple Rain to the recent "DE" for an extreme example.

 

Thinking about picking up some 2xhd selections from HDTracks today with the 25% off sale. I use Jriver and can convert DSD to PCM so wondering if anyone has any opinions on whether it's worth it to get the DSD 5.6 versions and convert or just go with 192/24.. My DAC is a Schiit Gungnir multibit. Any thoughts would be great... and recommendations.

 

A repost from a different hi-res thread, by request:

A number of 2019 offerings taken from fresh tape transfers by Kevin Gray that sound uniformly excellent, available at most hi-res outlets:

Chick Corea - Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (Solid State/Blue Note, from the Tone Poet LP series, first digital release of the original mix)
Gil Evans - New Bottle Old Wine (World Pacific/Blue Note, from the Tone Poet LP series)
Joe Henderson - State of the Tenor: Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. 2 (Blue Note, from the Tone Poet LP series)
Albert King - Born Under A Bad Sign mono (Stax/Craft/Concord, from the 2019 RSD reissue LP)
Sam Rivers - Contours (Blue Note, from the Tone Poet LP series)
Wayne Shorter - Etcetera (Blue Note, from the Tone Poet LP series)
Cassandra Wilson - Glamoured (Blue Note, from the Tone Poet LP series)

 

What's the sale code?

 

You choose how you want to save:

Buy One Or More Albums, Get 20% Off
use code
HD20SALE
or
Spend $75 Or More, Get 25% Off
use code
HD25FOR75

To use both codes you must complete two separate orders.
Offer valid through 05/27/19 11:59PM EDT

 

If the "flat transfer" Purple Rain still available anywhere?

 

All the Princes remastered from 2011-2014 seem to go in & out of print repeatedly. Right now HDT only has the debut

Prince | HDtracks - The World's Greatest-Sounding Music Downloads

I would suggest searching AS, PSM, Onkyo, Qobuz & 7 Digital if you're in the USA. You're looking for masters made between 2011-2014.

 

I suspect it would have to do with how good your jriver software is. The highest quality converting tool I own after comparing a few inexpensive ones is db Power Amp Paid version. As I can't play dsd except on a cheap PC stereo, I personally choose a professionally converted 192/24 rather than doing the conversion myself where possible. If you plan on getting a true high end player that does DSD/DSF in the relatively near future, it might be worth buying the DSD version & converting, though.

I don't have the $'s, or I would have tried for one of the last batches of Oppo 205's.

 

Any idea why this happens? Since there's no physical inventory, not sure I understand why it would repeatedly be available and then unavailable. I could see something being discontinued because of a licensing/rights issue or because it was being replaced by a newer version, but it seems odd that a download would go in and out of print repeatedly.

 

I have no idea. Just what I've observed. Happens with the couple older Jackson Browne's also.

 

Here's a post by someone with the Gumby saying the JRiver conversion isn't quite as good as pro software, so I'd get the PCM if I were you.
DSF to FLAC converter?

 

Thanks, very kind of you!

 

It looks like the hi-res download of Getz/Gilberto is no longer available on HDtracks or 7Digital. However, there are two different versions on Acoustic Sounds. I'm guessing each of these correspond with (i.e. same masterings, transfers) the Analogue Productions SACD and the Verve SACD, correct? Are these what used to be available on HDtracks?