HDtracks strikes again...
- Thread starter Julf
- Start date
uncl_nigel
pfm Member
What is the advantage of this over CD res, if any? Serious question.
Other question how do you get HD Tracks to work with a European IP address? I have tried a couple of times and always got a message saying I did not live in the right part fo the world (I think I live in the nicer part FWIW
)
Other question how do you get HD Tracks to work with a European IP address? I have tried a couple of times and always got a message saying I did not live in the right part fo the world (I think I live in the nicer part FWIW
)
Julf
Facts are our friends
Indeed. It is very clearly upsampled from 44.1 kHz. Not very good advertising for HDtracks - but it is also a pretty good double blind test. How many people noticed the difference by listening?
Julf
Facts are our friends
None, unless you have a need to fill up your disk space.
Other question how do you get HD Tracks to work with a European IP address? I have tried a couple of times and always got a message saying I did not live in the right part fo the world (I think I live in the nicer part FWIW
Works fine for me here in the Netherlands.
You should send this to HDT. They've tried hard in the last few years to eliminate these kinds of tracks and will usually delete them from the catalog until a true hi-res version can be found. They will probably give you a credit towards another purchase, too.HDtracks has a free "hi-res" sampler for download. Supposedly 96 kHz / 24 bits. This is the frequency plot of the first track, "Jimmie (2016 Remastered)" by Diana Krall:
What is the advantage of this over CD res, if any? Serious question.
Other question how do you get HD Tracks to work with a European IP address? I have tried a couple of times and always got a message saying I did not live in the right part fo the world (I think I live in the nicer part FWIW
you can try the .de or .uk HDT sites
Or use a VPN with US server to place an order from the US site. You don't need the VPN for the download once purchase is made.
Julf
Facts are our friends
In the past I did that with the upsampled albums I found. They never acknowledged the problem, but did refund me in several cases, always just based on "if you are not happy with the album...". This was a free download supposedly highlighting the benefits of their hi-res recordings, so if they do any sort of quality control, this must almost have been on purpose - maybe "it just sounds so good, nobody will notice"?
Jim Audiomisc
pfm Member
Did they remove - or replace with a different version - the offending items you reported in the past?
They did for me. There was even a Coltrane album that was "fake hi-res" that they removed from the catalog and gave me a credit. A couple of years later they sold a different master that actually was a true hi-res remaster. I wrote them and gave them the order number of my original purchase - they gave me a download of the new album for free.
One of the contractors who prepares material for release for them said online he is supposed to test everything to make sure it is not upsampled fake hi-res. So I assume the file Julf is referring to is a mistake/oversight. There have been almost no cases like this reported in the last few years from HDT.
G
Guest432
Guest
I thought it was common knowledge that hdtracks is a rip off load of shite, I haven’t been anywhere near that website for ages and have no intention of even giving them foot traffic
Your "common knowledge" is years out of date. They used to have lots of issues with fake hires provided by the labels, but they put in some quality controls, and it's an almost non-existent problem for several years. Their track record is no different in the past few years from any other vendor of hi-res on this issue.
But if you want to continue living under false pretenses without evidence to back you up - feel free.
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Guest432
Guest
More than happy to live under supposed false pretences but then again I'm not one of those gullible people that thinks hires makes a difference or MQA is the next messiah and pays through the nose for it.
Julf
Facts are our friends
Right. One would assume they would be especially careful with a sampler that is supposed to demonstrate the superiority of their material. Here is another one, "Secrets (Cellar Door) by Radical Face:
Julf
Facts are our friends
The only way I would have found out would have been by purchasing those albums again - they did not offer me new versions, just a refund.
Who are you to state it is an ‘almost’ non-existent problem? Can you provide evidence of hdtracks’ performance relative to other vendors? Are you just spouting reassuring shill noises to part people from their money or do you have a relationship to hdtracks? If you have one, perhaps you could get some comment from them on the evidence shown in this thread. If you don’t have a relationship with the company, where is the evidence back your reassurances, please?
Julf
Facts are our friends
Not sure that is a very reassuring thought...
Darth Vader
From the Dark Side
As a matter of interest Julf was Hi Res recording used in recording studios in 1993 when 'Stepping Out' was released? My guess is that this was recorded on tape in which case 16 bit would be enough.
Cheers,
DV
Cheers,
DV
Oh, another poster who every time hears something he disagrees with starts in with the "shill" accusations and "do you have a relationship?". Do you know how lame and smallminded that makes you sound?
The "evidence" in this thread? One file that was distributed for free? Out of thousands they sell. Wow, that's strong evidence on which to base a conclusion about an entire company.
First, if you are capable of actually reading and comprehending, in my previous posts I wrote about complaining to them as a consumer and their response. Is that what someone with a "releationship" does? No, it's something your average consumer does. It should be obvious. Drop the paranoid approach and just accept that someone is a consumer - just like you. Or are you a shill from their competition?
...See how easy it is to make baseless accusations?First a question for you: what tracks do you know of in the last 3 years they've sold that are fake hires? Or are you just spouting based on ignorance and lack of knowledge. It's easy to make online accusations without any evidence, isn't it?
My evidence? First Bruce Brown of Puget Sound studios, who prepares tracks for release for them and has publicly commented on his blog about how they've changed their approach and how at their instruction he checks each album he receives to be sure it is proper hires. That once wasn't part of the process.
Second, emails between me and them where they've explained that they (or someone working as a contractor for them) do now check all the material given to them to make sure it isn't fake.
Third, I regularly buy albums from ALL the various online vendors, including HDT. Probably one or two albums a week. I can't remember the last time I got a fake hi-res from any of them.
I'm not saying there aren't any fake hi-res files being sold, just that the percentage is very small and it generally isn't an issue. Most of the sites give you some provenance information about the albums if you look for it,so you know how the hires was produced.
And, BTW, since you seem to be unaware, HDT and the other hires download sites are just vendors/resellers. Unless they have their own label, they are all getting files from the labels/distributors. All the download sites get their albums from the same sources. They don't, in general, originate or produce the files. So if there is fake hires being distributed, you should first be angry at the label/distributor, as they are the source of the fake.
Just because there may be an occasional fake file that makes it through isn't a reason to denigrate an a company or an entire industry.