HD 24 Bit Expensive

My first try at downloading 24 bit files. Downloaded a free set from HD Tracks. Great sound. I purchased two more downloads. I would have purchased more but the prices are pretty high. For a lot of 30-40 minute albums the cost is $25+. They seem way higher (like 2x) the cost of CD's.

Anyone else paying these high prices? Is this the norm? Any other services that offer downloads (I don't want to stream: my ISP won't work well for streaming)?

 

Try Qobuz.
They have a streaming service, and a download service.
They have many albums and Eps to download, always the best hires quality available, and they're not always that expensive.
www.qobuz.com

 

That does seem high ! I've only ever downloaded 16/44.1k FLAC, but I'd still be interested to know more about dynamic-range specs of HDs, as I've been thinking about getting some. Obviously it will depend on mastering of each individual title, but if I am going to pay premium, I certainly would not want to see single-digit DR rating numbers in any case. Unfortunately HD buyers seldom post DR ratings for some peculiar reason. I would have thought they'd be anxious to show the world how much better the mastering and dynamic range is, versus the typical 16/44.1 counterpart.
I'd almost be willing to pay $25. for an album if they were, for example, offering [DR13] to [DR17] over a more common 16/44.1 at [DR7] to [DR10] of the same title.

* I am basing my expectation on my experience with SACD-hybrids, which are typically remastered such that even the Redbook layer is almost always better dynamic-range than its commercially remastered 16/44.1 counterpart.

 

7Digital is another alternative...if you're okay with 24/96, downloads are often around $16, 24/192 are more like $21...or at least that's what I was seeing last time I visited.

I also appreciate that they keep track of your downloads and will let you download them again if need be... I lost a number of titles I purchased from HDTracks when I had a hard drive fail before I had a chance to back up.

 

Do not assume high numbers automatically mean high quality.

24 bit lowers the already inaudible noise floor, 44.1 kHz means the high goes up to 22.05 kHz. Any number over that means your dog will be able to hear something there, but you, a grumpy old deaf drummer , will have no benefit from it whatsoever. You're lucky if you can still hear anything over 16 kHz.

I have pre-mastered studio recordings in mp3 format that sound infinitely better than the official SACD release...
Search for good mastering, forget the numbers.

 

Ofcourse it is more expensive. Bits is a logarithmical scale so you get millions of extra zeroes and ones....

 

The price varies ;however, they can get expensive. Qobuz has better prices then HDTracks usually, but sometimes Qobuz doesn't have it whereas HDTracks does. I don't buy them much anymore but I still listen to the ones I have. I enjoy them. The sound quality depends on the album. Some sound really good while others don't.

 

they seem to be shoehorning everything into that 192khz zone that it doesn't really need to be in, in my opinion, to justify added profit. $26 does seem high and they seem to be betting that the audiophile will respond. 24/96 is perfectly fine for this application and there are reasons you could even justify 24/48 or 24/44.1.

What people really need is documented lineage of digital sources. This is what is important to me right now, so I would suspect others as well.

 

I receive the HDtracks newsletter, where they announce codes that give you 15 % off from time to time, two or three times a year even 20 %. That’s the time when I buy. The normal prices are way too high in my opinion.

But only in a few cases it is the high-res file that has the best sound quality / mastering for an album, especially if you are sensitive to dynamics. The DR database will show in many instances that the high-res file has reduced dynamics compared to earlier CD versions. Is a little bit more detail worth that for you? Some offerings are overly bright. For classic rock reissues a hybrid SACD by an audiophile company like Analogue Productions (AP) or Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MoFi) will be the better option in many cases – and you can resell it, if you don’t want to keep it.

You really have to read the reviews here to know what to get.

 

ProStudioMasters is another good hi-res retailer. If you sign up for their emails you'll receive weekly coupons - much more frequent than HDtracks. But when HDtracks has their periodic sales, the discounts are usually better than ProStudioMasters' weekly coupons.

 

Agreed ! It would be helpful if Qobuz would list dynamic-range specs alongside their titles. For that matter, it would be helpful as well if all CD reissues came with that information printed on the back cover someplace.

 

The problem with DR numbers is that they are easily influenced. Add a little bass, the numbers go down, and quite fast. So even though the upper and mid range have not changed at all, because there is more low end in the file it has a lower DR.
Infinitely better would be a LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale) database. The LUFS number is not influenced by the amount of low end. Right now LUFS is a studio tool, I really would love a consumer version that is easy to use, plus a DR database like site for LUFS measurements.

 

Another vote for 7Digital

 

You can get Hi-Res albums for less than $7.49 - $9.99 on Qobuz, if you’re a Sublime member. That’s a $70 premium up front versus a monthly service, but the savings add up quickly.

 

Redbook covers all *musical* and *audible* content. I've downloaded countless WAV files on Bandcamp that have turned out to be high res - I then look at the spectrum frequency graph and almost always the audio content tops out at 21khz and everything above is tape hiss/noise. I'm always amused at people wanting 192khz downloads of Beatles/Kinks/Stones stuff, because redbook covers everything. It isn't uncommon these days for artists to put everything through a low pass filter at like 15 or 16khz - in a bid to try and ape a vintage sound! And 24 bit is only useful for actually editing music - you aren't gaining anything from having music in 24 bit over 16.

 

Just to be a Sunday-morning contrarian, I've added a link below to an image of the spectrogram for "Width Of A Circle" from a 24/96 vinyl rip of a 70s copy of The Man Who Sold The World.

Width_Of_A_Circle.jpg

There is clear musical data all the way up to 48kHz (looks like cymbal crashes & hi-hat)...yes, the majority is below about 22kHz, but to say the audio content of hi-res tops out at 21kHz and everything above is noise is not accurate. Can I hear those cymbal crashes above 21kHz? Nope! Probably not even above 18kHz...but some people swear they can or think it makes a difference, and I don't think saying it's all in their heads is fair.

 

I just downloaded the 24 bit/48kHz of the deluxe edition of Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory from qobuz for £5.49.

 

99% of the people here only listens with his/her eyes...

 

I really can tell the difference in a good remastered cd and a hires cd. I have HD650 cans and they both sound good. Now compare a cd that came out in the 80's and a remastered version today...that is a big difference most of the time but not all remasters are better.

 

Sorry I meant CAN"T TELL

 

If you have a "clean" system then going from 16bit to 24bit is noticable on the same track and the same master in some cases.

That is why I buy hires music. Generally, I would say, most of what I bought was probably a waste of money, but if the alternative is an MP3, it certainly wasn't.

I third 7digital, it tends to have the best price. However, many small labels use Bandcamp. Bandcamp sells .FLAC files with every CD or lp purchase (and you can buy just the files). These are often 48khz/24bit or 96khz/24bit for new releases.

 

Not really a hi-res issue, but it is baffling that with a Sublime+ sub you can buy many 192K titles for $7.99-9.99 but the CD quality are still usually $12.99. Any discounts only on Hi-Res?