does anyone use hd tracks to buy music?

[Andrewjvt]

Im sure this subject has already been spoken about but since all the posts regarding recording quality and resolution i want to try hd download in flac on my media player.

Who uses or buys hd downloads and is it worth it?

I expect you guys will say its not worth it but i need to see for myself. Please no arguments and science lol as its all been covered on other posts. This is also not about compression/loudness wars
Or even the quality of the original recording.
Just who uses it and if you think its worth it or a waste of bucks.

 

[ID.]

I bought the hi res version of Random Access Memories. Can't really tell if there's a dinference compared to the CD version. Sometimes I think it may be slightly better, but it's such a minuscule difference that I'd put it down to expectation bias and not worth it anyway.

Some of the tracks may be superior masters. E.g. I had a SHM-SACD of a Rolling Stones album that sounded very good and that master is probably available on HD Tracks.

 

[Q5]

Im sure this subject has already been spoken about but since all the posts regarding recording quality and resolution i want to try hd download in flac on my media player.

Who uses or buys hd downloads and is it worth it?

I expect you guys will say its not worth it but i need to see for myself. Please no arguments and science lol as its all been covered on other posts. This is also not about compression/loudness wars Or even the quality of the original recording. Just who uses it and if you think its worth it or a waste of bucks.

To answer your question, I use HD Tracks and have done for a while now.

No problems, fast download and easy payment.

Like all recorded music there is good and bad recordings, I have a mixture of CD's ripped to Flac and direct downloads in both CD and Hi Res from them.

I would recommend them to anyone.

 

[Andrewjvt]

I bought the hi res version of Random Access Memories. Can't really tell if there's a dinference compared to the CD version. Sometimes I think it may be slightly better, but it's such a minuscule difference that I'd put it down to expectation bias and not worth it anyway.?

Some of the tracks may be superior masters. E.g. I had a SHM-SACD of a Rolling Stones album that sounded very good and that master is probably available on HD Tracks.?

 

Meaning to buy a few rolling stones anyway so may be a good start thanks for the idea

 

[Vladimir]

I'd join the Steve Hoffman forum and ask around what are the better masters of my favorite albums and get those in 16/44.1. HD Tracks offers handpicked better masters that are upsampled to higher resolution. Why pay the upsampling when you can do it yourself on your DAC if you think it makes a difference.

 

[Andrewjvt]

I'd join the Steve Hoffman forum and ask around what are the better masters of my favorite albums and get those in 16/44.1. HD Tracks offers handpicked better masters that are upsampled to higher resolution. Why pay the upsampling when you can do it yourself on your DAC if you think it makes a difference.

I was going to say not interested in upsampling

 

[Vladimir]

I'd join the Steve Hoffman forum and ask around what are the better masters of my favorite albums and get those in 16/44.1. HD Tracks offers handpicked better masters that are upsampled to higher resolution. Why pay the upsampling when you can do it yourself on your DAC if you think it makes a difference.

I was going to say not interested in upsampling

Clicky

 

[Gray]

Im sure this subject has already been spoken about but since all the posts regarding recording quality and resolution i want to try hd download in flac on my media player.

Who uses or buys hd downloads and is it worth it?

I expect you guys will say its not worth it but i need to see for myself. Please no arguments and science lol as its all been covered on other posts. This is also not about compression/loudness wars Or even the quality of the original recording. Just who uses it and if you think its worth it or a waste of bucks.

I've only so far tried the HD tracks sampler but even with their 20% off offers, I find others to be cheaper more often than not.

Whoever supplies the files, the upsampling doubt is always there although some guarantee no monkey business. Here's Qobuz for example:

http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/quality/HD-24-bit/download-streaming-albums?f%5Bgenres_list%5D=Jazz

I found Technicstracks to be good (before WHF reviewed them as the best) and have used 2 or 3 of the others.

All I can say is that I hate spending money, I'm not easily impressed and I'm most certainly not expecting it to sound better - as a sceptical pessimist the opposite is true.

But I can say that the 24 bit has been better than 16 bit versions of the 'same' tracks for me. At best, these could only have been re-samples of the analogue master tapes (since they were never digital)

The more you read about MQA though, the better it seems - not least for its authentication guarantee.

 

[Al ears]

Im sure this subject has already been spoken about but since all the posts regarding recording quality and resolution i want to try hd download in flac on my media player.

Who uses or buys hd downloads and is it worth it?

I expect you guys will say its not worth it but i need to see for myself. Please no arguments and science lol as its all been covered on other posts. This is also not about compression/loudness wars Or even the quality of the original recording. Just who uses it and if you think its worth it or a waste of bucks.

To answer your question, I use HD Tracks and have done for a while now.

No problems, fast download and easy payment.

Like all recorded music there is good and bad recordings, I have a mixture of CD's ripped to Flac and direct downloads in both CD and Hi Res from them.

I would recommend them to anyone.

No problem with this site, they are much cheaper than some, namely Technics Tracks. Just look at the price for Bowie's Dark Star.

You will still find some selections listed, however, that appear to be ' not available in your region' which is a pain when your looking at the UK site.

Quality material if you are selective and don't just want CD resolution.