I love a really good Hi Rez recordings but far too many have been disappointing to put it mildly. I have one recording that was mastered from a record as you can hear the stylus in the groove in between the tracks. Having said all that when a Hi Rez file is done right , they can be spectacular. A while back, I downloaded Patsy Cline’s greatest hits 24/196 available from Acoustic Sounds . It is available in DSD. I did not have my DSD dac at that time so I went with the 24/196.It was mastered from the master tape with no mixing console involved. If you like Patsy Cline this recording will floor you. If you aren’t a Patsy Cline fan a listen to this recording will make you one.
Yeah, you really do need to be aware of the source of the high-def files. Too many out there (HDTracks comes to mind) are nothing but upsampled Redbook it seems.
Stick with the shops that can speak to the provenance of the files and you’ll do better.
“Nothing but upsampled Redbook” is too strong a statement about HDTracks, but there are some egregious examples there. I’ve also gotten some wonderful defiantly hi quality music from there. Still I shop at the smaller places where I know a lot more about the providence and I’d like to show that I care about providence enough to pay a little more for it.
You’re right Ted, I misspoke - I meant too many albums out there are upsampled - I didn’t mean to say HDTracks as a whole.
They burned me on one album, and I caught on before I dropped some cash on some whole collections from HDTracks. So I’m a bit salty.
I too don’t mind paying for HD if it’s truly HD.
Very fair.
To HD Tracks’ credit, they have hired a competent mastering engineer who now checks new recordings as they come in.
HDtracks has gotten a lot better about providing providence. You do need to read the album info (on a separate tab next to the track listings, where you also sometimes find that not all of the tracks are at the same resolution). Customer service has also gotten a lot better. Acoustic Sounds also sells some DSD albums that are from SACD’s mastered from red book sources but they do tell you what you’re getting from what I’ve seen.
I believe that the word you want is provenance, not providence. 
Sorry, but you’ll have to look it up for yourself as this damn forum software won’t let me cut and paste when using my android tablet. 
J.P.
I think every hirez download site should clearly state what the source of a download is, e.g. “created from the original analog masters” or whatever. HDtracks doesn’t do this at all, it is still a mystery what the source of their downloads is, let alone the “unlimited versions” they use (McCartney et al). Acousticsounds gives the source in many listings, but not all.
Since the provider of the files, the record company, knows how the files were made, there is no reason not to include this info, other than creating the impression that something smells. The story about hiring a mastering engineer to check new recordings (@Elk)? Check what? Make a spectrogram of the file to see if it is really 24/192? You don’t need a mastering engineer for that!
The hirez site knows where the files came from and should be able to provide the correct source info… unless they’re afraid to do so, for probably a very good reason.
On the upside, maybe red book files played through the DS and recorded to PCM will soon be officially regarded as “hirez” files!
wim said The story about hiring a mastering engineer to check new recordings (@Elk)? Check what? Make a spectrogram of the file to see if it is really 24/192? You don't need a mastering engineer for that!It is more complicated than this. For example, you can easily hide an upsampled file by processing into a higher format and applying a bit of EQ, or another effect. I can create a file in couple of minutes which will easily fool the specrogram loving audiophile.
Unfortunately there are many audiophiles who believe that they can better listen with their eyes than their ears after downloading a free bit of software and running a simple spectrogram.
IIRC, Puget Sound works with HDTracks.
wingsounds13 said I believe that the word you want is provenance, not providence. :-)Sorry, but you’ll have to look it up for yourself as this damn forum software won’t let me cut and paste when using my android tablet.
J.P.
You are correct. Looked wrong as I typed it.
wingsounds13 said I believe that the word you want is provenance, not providence. :-)Sorry, but you’ll have to look it up for yourself as this damn forum software won’t let me cut and paste when using my android tablet.
J.P.
Yep, I correct many words in each post but my wife laughs out loud every time I post “sweat spot” instead of “sweet spot”
And I am certain that everyone understand what you meant to say. Forums must be taken with a bit of interpretation, a grain of salt and a large dose of humor.
The PS Audio forum is one of the best that I have visited. Good for PSA but sad for the others where there are many native speakers of American who can barely write the language. Even our much improved friend Alrainbow 
is much easier to read and understand than some that I run across.
Sorry if my less than cheery mood of these days is coming through and bringing my posts down.
J.P.
I figure I’m only writing something once, (hopefully) it’ll be read many times: anything I can do to make it easier to read is good - but proofreading is a lot of work for me. (One of my college professors got me an appointment for a dyslexia test after my first paper for him )
I didn’t take it personally if that’s what you are worried about I’m getting more used to alrainbow too.
Regarding HDtracks most of them are ripped from audio DVD’s and still have the water mark so if you try to burn into a DVD they never play. It happen to me and that’s how I ended buying a DAC.
wingsounds13 said I believe that the word you want is provenance, not providence. :-)Sorry, but you’ll have to look it up for yourself as this damn forum software won’t let me cut and paste when using my android tablet.
J.P.
Thanks - I didn’t want to say anything - especially since I’m pretty well self-educated and often make silly mistakes myself. But I really wanted to say this, especially since I looked it up to make sure I used the correct version.
Ted Smith saidI’m getting more used to alrainbow too.
Ouch. That’s un-possible for me.
