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

Well, I guess I'll have to settle this dispute by ripping the BluRays and comparing the results to the CD's...

 

Here's a flac rip of the blu:

Analyzed: The Beatles / The Beatles (Part 1) (2018 Mix)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR12 -0.22 dB -13.89 dB 2:41 01-Back in the U.S.S.R.
DR13 -0.54 dB -15.05 dB 3:56 02-Dear Prudence
DR11 -0.20 dB -13.81 dB 2:18 03-Glass Onion
DR13 -0.22 dB -13.77 dB 3:09 04-Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
DR14 -0.22 dB -17.52 dB 0:54 05-Wild Honey Pie
DR12 -0.42 dB -14.13 dB 3:14 06-The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
DR11 -0.22 dB -12.91 dB 4:45 07-While My Guitar Gently Weeps
DR12 -0.11 dB -13.83 dB 2:45 08-Happiness is a Warm Gun
DR14 -0.22 dB -15.98 dB 2:29 09-Martha My Dear
DR12 -0.19 dB -15.65 dB 2:03 10-I'm So Tired
DR13 -4.00 dB -19.16 dB 2:18 11-Blackbird
DR11 -1.62 dB -14.63 dB 2:05 12-Piggies
DR12 -0.40 dB -15.71 dB 3:33 13-Rocky Raccoon
DR12 -0.22 dB -13.32 dB 3:50 14-Don't Pass Me By
DR11 -0.22 dB -13.19 dB 1:42 15-Why Don't We Do It In The Road?
DR12 -1.87 dB -15.72 dB 1:46 16-I Will
DR10 -3.50 dB -15.97 dB 2:55 17-Julia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 17
Official DR value: DR12

Samplerate: 96000 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 24
Bitrate: 2867 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: The Beatles / (Part 2) The Beatles (2018 Mix)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR11 -0.12 dB -12.40 dB 2:44 01-Birthday
DR11 -0.12 dB -14.03 dB 4:02 02-Yer Blues
DR13 -1.94 dB -18.60 dB 2:47 03-Mother Nature's Son
DR10 -0.11 dB -12.07 dB 2:25 04-Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
DR12 -0.31 dB -13.48 dB 3:16 05-Sexy Sadie
DR9 -1.12 dB -12.27 dB 4:30 06-Helter Skelter
DR10 -0.12 dB -14.65 dB 3:07 07-Long, Long, Long
DR10 -0.07 dB -12.16 dB 4:15 08-Revolution 1
DR12 -0.09 dB -14.91 dB 2:41 09-Honey Pie
DR11 -0.15 dB -12.91 dB 2:55 10-Savoy Truffle
DR12 -0.12 dB -14.21 dB 3:01 11-Cry Baby Cry
DR10 -1.72 dB -16.25 dB 8:22 12-Revolution 9
DR10 -2.62 dB -15.53 dB 3:14 13-Good Night
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 13
Official DR value: DR11

Samplerate: 96000 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 24
Bitrate: 2881 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================

 

Literally nothing that fits my taste on PSM (& on the few HDT has uploaded so far) other than the Rory Gallagher; & unless someone offers the entire box in 24 bit, the main reason to get it is the live disc 4 which is only on the cd set so far. If they were dead set on a 2 disc equivalent; I would have greatly preferred last year's release as "disc 1", & the live "disc 4" as disc "2".

 

Just so we are comparing apples to apples, do most of you use Foobar 2000 Dynamic Range Meter to get album DR, or is there a better option?

I can also get track DR values from JRiver, but I don't see a way of getting album values.

I find the Dynamic Range Database to be a bit sloppy in its details, like listing the source of a Blu-Ray version as "download," so I don't really trust it.

 

MAAT DR Offline Mk II is what I use. It does albums or individual tracks; for albums it does every track and gives you the summary value as well. It also works fine with HD files.

The DR DB is crowd-sourced, so individual entries are as reliable as whoever uploaded them.

 

I use the foobar free version. Some people feel the Maat paid version is superior. I've never used it. Dr Loudness has the option to state Foobar or Maat. Maat shows up with a green "+" sign.

 

Thanks for that.

MAAT trial also gives me DR8 for flac rips from the White Album Blu-Ray, same as Foobar.

Post #14252, which is supposedly measuring the same thing with Foobar, is giving much higher values (12/11) for the two halves of the album.

Anybody know why? Is there a chance that something went wrong with my Blu-Ray rips? I will re-rip with JRiver and the current MakeMKV right now.

 

Well, I re-ripped the White Album Blu-Ray using JRiver, MakeMKV, and AudioMuxer (first time using this one).

Overall album DR has jumped to 11 with both Foobar and MAAT.

Without this forum, I wouldn't have known that whatever software I used for the original rip gave me bad results. Thanks!

Going to re-rip my other Blu-Rays.

 

Looks like new Iron Maiden - Senjutsu was released in 24/96. Not a bug fan of the band, but wonder what DR their album has just as an example of modern heavy metal release.

 

foobar2000 1.6.5 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: Iron Maiden / Senjutsu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR7 -0.30 dB -8.19 dB 8:20 01-Senjutsu
DR8 -1.50 dB -9.94 dB 5:00 02-Stratego
DR7 -0.30 dB -9.00 dB 6:14 03-The Writing On The Wall
DR7 -0.30 dB -9.56 dB 9:32 04-Lost In A Lost World
DR6 -0.30 dB -8.02 dB 4:04 05-Days Of Future Past
DR6 -0.30 dB -8.07 dB 7:09 06-The Time Machine
DR7 -0.30 dB -8.81 dB 7:20 07-Darkest Hour
DR6 -0.30 dB -7.88 dB 10:20 08-Death Of The Celts
DR6 -0.30 dB -7.20 dB 12:39 09-The Parchment
DR6 -0.30 dB -8.92 dB 11:19 10-Hell On Earth
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of tracks: 10
Official DR value: DR7
Samplerate: 96000 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 24
Bitrate: 3058 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================​

About what you'd expect. I bought the CD (in transit) and so I don't think I'll be getting the hi-rez. Their modern recordings/mixes are mostly too dense, such that I don't think I'd really get any more out of it vs. the CD.

 

Oh thanks for that. Well, DR7 is not as bad as it may be but almost half 6's is mediocre of course. Hopefully no audible distortion for the fans.

 

I only tried using Foobar recently and couldn’t get the plug-in to work properly for FLAC (keep getting that the plug-in expired in 2011). I’ll have to revisit it. I use JRiver but as you said it doesn’t do full albums (from what I’ve tried). But I like the aspect of looking at the DR values for a range of songs because an album value won’t necessarily speak to the outlier song that’s exceptionally low or high. For my personal apples to apples tests, I don’t use the database but just put both sources into JRiver and check (and listen). With The Beatles recent blu-rays, I used the BR rip tracks as the main album component in my super deluxes.

 

Much more useful for me is to load the music into an audio editor (e.g., Adobe Audition, Izotope RX, etc) and look at and also analyze the waveform with the tools provided. This lets one compare the peak above average volume for loud passages (the best parameter to determine compression) and to see where hard limiting (the most destructive form of compression) is used.

 

One question is, are you actually ripping the stereo mix from the BluRay disc, or are you ripping the surround mix and downmixing it to stereo? I know DVDAE can do both. If you choose the 6-channel title and then choose stereo output, it downmixes it for you. That could explain the DR difference. The thing is, though, they are two completely different mixes. The downmixed surround mix doesn't sound the same as the stereo mix.

 

Ripped the stereo mix only.

 

I can now confirm that the stereo remix on the White Album 50th Anniversary BluRay is DR 12, compared to DR 10 for the CD.

The Abbey Road stereo remix is similar: Blu Ray DR 11, CD DR 9.

Pepper, unfortunately, is about the same: DR 8 on both BluRay and CD. If you want, you can downmix the TrueHD 24/96 surround mix to stereo to get DR 10. The risk with that is that the album may come out sounding unbalanced, but with Pepper it seems to work okay. But as I mentioned earlier, the front channels are still compressed, so the higher DR that results from merging them with the quieter but less-compressed rear channels is kind of an illusion.

 

The AR especially made a HUGE audible difference. WTF are these idiots at the label thinking? Audiophiles don't purchase $50 24 bit recordings only to discover they've been brick walled. In effect, the @$$$$$$'s at the label are forcing people to either buy vinyl they may not want or pirate a br rip to get decent sound.

 

Hi all! regarding From Elvis In Memphis, I want to be certain that I'll get the original hit mixes of both Suspicious Minds and Kentucky Rain. I'm also hoping for decent dynamic range and sound. Will those of you who have heard this particular release please comment and / or advise. https://www.hdtracks.com/#/album/5e1c32ef9c9991e6e570ad4c

Thanks,
Wayne

 

I don’t have this release with the extra tracks but the previous version was a DR12. From the samples on the HDTracks site, it sounds like the hit versions to me. See what you think after a listen?

 

Hi guys! I bought From Elvis In Memphis today from HDtracks and will listen to the set in its entirety tonight.

My desire to have original hit mixes of Suspicious Minds and Kentucky Rain in stereo led me to this release. There were several threads regarding these songs started and subsequently closed. Anyhow, there was a discussion about suspicious Minds and whether there was or wasn't a stereo mix of the original hit recording since the single was issued in mono. Their was dispute and doubt that a stereo mix of the original hit existed due to discrepancies in times of a few releases. Well, I now have two digital copies. One is included as a bonus track on the From Elvis In Memphis set I got today and the other is from my CD Elvis - 24 Karat Hits I bought in the late '90s. I compared both versions to a couple video presentations of the original single hosted on YouTube. Interestingly, The two digital versions in stereo are identical to the single except that all three have different durations. The single specifies 4:22 and has three instances of Caught In A Trap including the one occurring during the fade in and cuts off abruptly at the word because. The HDtracks version also has three incidents of Caught In A Trap with a continuous fade out through Because I Love You Too Much Baby (4:20). The CD version has four incidents of Caught In A Trap including the fade in and fades out continuously through Caught In A Trap (4:28). So, the CD version runs on the longest. As for sound, both digital versions are good, but my preference is for the CD. The HDtracks version is good, but it has goosed upper mids and is a tad too bright for my tastes. The CD is warm and more natural sounding. More to come.

 

There have been 2 singles & 1 4 song ep released from the forthcoming DE of Chicago At Carnegie Hall. 25 Or 6 To 4 is DR6. The 6 songs together are DR9. Once again, without Steven Wilson Chicago ****s up big time.

 

That's very disappointing. I would have loved to hear this - but there's no way I can tolerate digital music with that low a DR for that duration of a runtime.

 

Baby, what a big surprise ... not!

The hi-rez stores can only provide what's being fed to them by the labels. While not Loudness War levels (most of the time), the compression is now for the streaming folks (listening on phones, bluetooth speakers, etc). To try and bridge that, the streaming services can only insert some voodoo like MQA or labelling something as "blah blah masters" (basically upsampling). It's a losing battle if you're looking for audiophile hi-rez releases.

As far as Chicago goes, I'm only a Terry Kath-era fan, so my go-to's are stereo rips from the blu-ray Quadio box for everything through Chicago X. I have the three SACD's ripped and a four-disc version of the Carnegie Hall concert. This new release would be more for those who want the wealth of content as opposed to those looking for aural pleasure (sadly).

 

I should have added that I also have the Chicago II redbook Steven Wilson remix and can concur with moomoomoomoo that the entire catalogue (through 1978) should be put in his capable hands (he may not take it).

 

For those wondering about the Beatles' remixes, the Blu Rays of White Album and Abbey Road contain unlimited / uncompressed versions of the stereo remixes. The Pepper Blu Ray and the HD Tracks editions of Pepper, White Album, and Abbey Road have the same level of limiting as the CD versions.