djreef
Sensei
Thoroughly enjoying my Schiit
Posts: 353
|
Post by djreef on Mar 2, 2016 20:37:46 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by MusicHead on Mar 2, 2016 20:44:54 GMT -5
Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour are among the best. It must be their common roots :-)
|
|
djreef
Sensei
Thoroughly enjoying my Schiit
Posts: 353
|
Post by djreef on Mar 2, 2016 23:29:45 GMT -5
Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour are among the best. It must be their common roots :-) Ya. I have DG's new one. I was thinking about getting the new Anthrax at HDTracks. dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/104557I guess not . DJ
|
|
|
Post by JKCashin on Mar 2, 2016 23:43:34 GMT -5
This is just one number.... care to explain why a "bad" value means the album is not worth buying?
Not being sarcastic or anything, looking to learn something.
Jamie
|
|
|
Post by 509Paul on Mar 3, 2016 0:21:43 GMT -5
I hear a lot of stuff is just up sampled junk from the same red book layer and sold for a premium.
|
|
djreef
Sensei
Thoroughly enjoying my Schiit
Posts: 353
|
Post by djreef on Mar 3, 2016 8:20:03 GMT -5
This is just one number.... care to explain why a "bad" value means the album is not worth buying? Not being sarcastic or anything, looking to learn something. Jamie These recordings have been mixed and mastered in away that sucks the dynamics (life/emotion/drama) out. The lower the number the more egregious the crime. You're basically paying extra for a "Hi-Rez" download ($18+) that is in many cases no better than the redbook CD version. It's a rip off. Someone would pay extra for these recordings because of perceived qualitative differences in the transfers. If I pay more there should be a perceivable sonic difference, or at least the numbers should bear this out. DJ
|
|
djreef
Sensei
Thoroughly enjoying my Schiit
Posts: 353
|
Post by djreef on Mar 3, 2016 8:21:57 GMT -5
I hear a lot of stuff is just up sampled junk from the same red book layer and sold for a premium. That may be true. The numbers here may be bearing that out. DJ
|
|
geebo
Emo VIPs
"Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are driving taxicabs and cutting hair"
Posts: 24,163
Member is Online
|
Post by geebo on Mar 3, 2016 8:35:13 GMT -5
I use that site as kind of a general guide but it doesn't tell the whole story. I have Graceland from HDTracks which shows mediocre numbers and Sweet Baby James which has much better range across the board. As far as which sounds better it's no contest. Graceland is far better.
|
|
|
Post by fbczar on Mar 3, 2016 9:04:39 GMT -5
I use that site as kind of a general guide but it doesn't tell the whole story. I have Graceland from HDTracks which shows mediocre numbers and Sweet Baby James which has much better range across the board. As far as which sounds better it's no contest. Graceland is far better. I agree. There are a number of factors to consider. First among them is whether or not the original master tapes were used, who the re-mastering engineer is, etc. Unfortunately, in most cases HDTracks provides little or no useful information on the technical aspects of the re-mastering process. For instance, The Beach Boy's "Pet Sounds" from HDTracks is fantastic. It was created from the original studio masters by a great engineer. The HDTracks site goes into great detail about it. The HD release of Neil Diamond's Hot August Night is truly remarkable, but HDTracks only mentions that it was made from the original master tapes. On the other hand, most of the other albums sold on HDTracks have no technical info. It would be great if a list of high resolution downloads with technical info and listener impressions could be maintained on this forum.
|
|
KeithL
Administrator
Posts: 9,902
|
Post by KeithL on Mar 3, 2016 10:24:48 GMT -5
You need to remember that - in most cases - HDTracks is simply a retailer - so they can only provide the information they get from the supplier. On the remasters of the Grateful Dead Studio Albums (which I highly recommend), they provide several pages detailing how each album was remixed and/or reprocessed/repaired. (As far as I know HDTRacks doesn't confirm or measure anything past what they get from their suppliers.) I use that site as kind of a general guide but it doesn't tell the whole story. I have Graceland from HDTracks which shows mediocre numbers and Sweet Baby James which has much better range across the board. As far as which sounds better it's no contest. Graceland is far better. I agree. There are a number of factors to consider. First among them is whether or not the original master tapes were used, who the re-mastering engineer is, etc. Unfortunately, in most cases HDTracks provides little or no useful information on the technical aspects of the re-mastering process. For instance, The Beach Boy's "Pet Sounds" from HDTracks is fantastic. It was created from the original studio masters by a great engineer. The HDTracks site goes into great detail about it. The HD release of Neil Diamond's Hot August Night is truly remarkable, but HDTracks only mentions that it was made from the original master tapes. On the other hand, most of the other albums sold on HDTracks have no technical info. It would be great if a list of high resolution downloads with technical info and listener impressions could be maintained on this forum.
|
|
djreef
Sensei
Thoroughly enjoying my Schiit
Posts: 353
|
Post by djreef on Mar 3, 2016 10:35:48 GMT -5
You need to remember that - in most cases - HDTracks is simply a retailer - so they can only provide the information they get from the supplier. On the remasters of the Grateful Dead Studio Albums (which I highly recommend), they provide several pages detailing how each album was remixed and/or reprocessed/repaired. (As far as I know HDTRacks doesn't confirm or measure anything past what they get from their suppliers.) I agree. There are a number of factors to consider. First among them is whether or not the original master tapes were used, who the re-mastering engineer is, etc. Unfortunately, in most cases HDTracks provides little or no useful information on the technical aspects of the re-mastering process. For instance, The Beach Boy's "Pet Sounds" from HDTracks is fantastic. It was created from the original studio masters by a great engineer. The HDTracks site goes into great detail about it. The HD release of Neil Diamond's Hot August Night is truly remarkable, but HDTracks only mentions that it was made from the original master tapes. On the other hand, most of the other albums sold on HDTracks have no technical info. It would be great if a list of high resolution downloads with technical info and listener impressions could be maintained on this forum. I get it. That's why I posted. I plan on verifying before I buy from now on, as opposed to taking someone's word for it. I just picked this up a few weeks ago- dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/101779I should've just bought the CD. No, I understand, but if you're going to charge $8 above CD you should damn well find out what it is you're selling. You have a responsibilty to your clientele to actually provide premium content if that's what you're claiming you're doing. DJ
|
|
djreef
Sensei
Thoroughly enjoying my Schiit
Posts: 353
|
Post by djreef on Mar 3, 2016 10:41:55 GMT -5
I use that site as kind of a general guide but it doesn't tell the whole story. I have Graceland from HDTracks which shows mediocre numbers and Sweet Baby James which has much better range across the board. As far as which sounds better it's no contest. Graceland is far better. Yes, but does Graceland Hi-Rez sound better than the original redbook? dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/79780 Vs dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/89352I don't see how that could be possible. DJ
|
|
|
Post by boomzilla on Mar 3, 2016 11:02:03 GMT -5
2L label has quirky content, but awesome recording.
|
|
|
Post by fbczar on Mar 3, 2016 11:28:42 GMT -5
I use that site as kind of a general guide but it doesn't tell the whole story. I have Graceland from HDTracks which shows mediocre numbers and Sweet Baby James which has much better range across the board. As far as which sounds better it's no contest. Graceland is far better. Yes, but does Graceland Hi-Rez sound better than the original redbook? dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/79780 Vs dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/89352I don't see how that could be possible. DJ Yes. Yes it does. I have both on my system and the HiRes version is better. Same with Neil Diamond's Hot August Night and Cat Stevens "Tea for the Tillerman". The list could go on for a while. Then of course, you have HiRes albums that are also re-mastered. So it is not just the conversion from standard to HiRes that has to be considered.
|
|
|
Post by monkumonku on Mar 3, 2016 11:34:42 GMT -5
Yes. Yes it does. I have both on my system and the HiRes version is better. Same with Neil Diamond's Hot August Night and Cat Stevens "Tea for the Tillerman". The list could go on for a while. Then of course, you have HiRes albums that are also re-mastered. So it is not just the conversion from standard to HiRes that has to be considered. Couple of questions, in what ways does the Hi-res version sound better, and are the masters for both identical or different (Graceland specifically). Like you say, there are Hi-res albums that have been remastered which can account for differences in sound and not just the resolution itself. I am wondering if Graceland's two versions are different masterings.
|
|
geebo
Emo VIPs
"Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are driving taxicabs and cutting hair"
Posts: 24,163
Member is Online
|
Post by geebo on Mar 3, 2016 11:40:35 GMT -5
I use that site as kind of a general guide but it doesn't tell the whole story. I have Graceland from HDTracks which shows mediocre numbers and Sweet Baby James which has much better range across the board. As far as which sounds better it's no contest. Graceland is far better. Yes, but does Graceland Hi-Rez sound better than the original redbook? dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/79780 Vs dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/89352I don't see how that could be possible. DJ I don't have the CD but it could be possible for one with less dynamic range to sound better than one with more. There is more to a good recording than dynamic range and although DR is important it's not the only thing that factors in to a good recording. But if all I did was look at DR numbers, I would buy the Sweet Baby James from HDTracks and not Graceland and would have missed out on one of my favorites. I haven't listened to it but some here really like the new Adele CD (25). But the DR numbers are pretty bad.
|
|
|
Post by Loop 7 on Mar 3, 2016 11:43:50 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by audiogeek on Mar 3, 2016 11:46:26 GMT -5
That looks fairly thorough...
|
|
djreef
Sensei
Thoroughly enjoying my Schiit
Posts: 353
|
Post by djreef on Mar 3, 2016 11:48:31 GMT -5
Ya, I've read that before. This all comes into question, now. DJ
|
|
|
Post by audiogeek on Mar 3, 2016 11:48:37 GMT -5
In general all the albums I've bought from HDTracks have been excellent. The one that I was least impressed with was Elton John's Yellow Brick Road. It sounds like an old recording. Some of the jazz stuff I have that was recorded in the 60s sounds unbelievably good. It all depends on the mastering process.
|
|