[Don_S]

I am considering creating an account at HD Tracks and downloading some hires files. Tips and suggestions would be appreciated.

Google showed me some coupons to clip. Do those work? If so how do I apply them?

My main question is once I download a file can I put it on multiple devices? Since my desktop is easier to use I would like to use it to download to the SSD drive I use to backup my music server files. Then copy the files to my two music servers.

I like that I would then automatically have a backup of expensive downloads. If I download directly to a server then I have to remember to back up the files. I am assuming that files do not have some kind of "tag" on them restricting future use.

[WGH]

Don't know about coupons but HD Tracks are always running some sort of sale.

Once you buy the albums you do whatever you want with them.

[Don_S]

WGH,

Thank you. So far I only see one hires album I want to download now. Many of my favorite albums are only listed at the same resolution as the CDs I already have.

[newzooreview]

There is no copy protection on HD Tracks or any other site where you can purchase music for downloading. You can copy and use your files as you like.
 
I usually check the Qobuz store, Presto Music (jazz and classical), and NativeDSD before checking HD Tracks. HD Tracks has the highest prices.

I have not had good experiences when I've had to re-download a purchase from HD Tracks and would not rely on them as a backup method. They always ask me to e-mail them and explain why I need to download again. At present, their download app, which they ask you to install on your computer, shows none of my previous purchases available to download.

The Qobuz store and Presto Music both keep very good lists of my purchases and never hassle me about re-downloading what I already bought.

In my experience, HD Tracks is the worst of all the options, but by no means bad. If they have what I want and nobody else does, then I use them.

[WGH]

I always check out bandcamp when buying new music
https://bandcamp.com

An example is the new album by Natalie Merchant - 'Keep Your Courage'
16/44.1 download
Bandcamp - $9.00
HD Tracks - $15.98

And you can listen to the entire unedited, full length album at Bandcamp before buying.

[Don_S]

Thanks for the education. I will keep it in mind for future purchases. Band Camp does not have the album I want. I used Quobuz to preview the added tracks that are not on the CD I have. There is a good reason they were not included on the original release.  So the only benefit I would get for my $$ and trouble would be a higher res version.

I think I might download it anyway. I need to hear the difference (16/44 vs 24/96) for myself at least one time. The album is relatively recent so I do not think it has been upsampled. Is there a way to determine the original recording resolution?

[WGH]

I think I might download it anyway. I need to hear the difference (16/44 vs 24/96) for myself at least one time. The album is relatively recent so I do not think it has been upsampled. Is there a way to determine the original recording resolution?

You may or may not hear a difference, let us know how it shakes out.

I use HQPlayer to upsample and also follow all the posts/questions and answers in the HQPlayer thread on Audiophile Style. The developer Jussi Laako answers every question, the thread is like a 1,113 page user manual (which would scare many new users away).

If I remember correctly Jussi has written that the difference between 24/96 and 16/44.1 would be barely noticeable. The sweet spot is 384kHz and DSD256 and even then the improvements can be subtle.


Regarding the resolution of the original modern recording, I would guess higher than 16/44.1. The problem is many of the answers at a site like the one below are 5 years old, which might as well be 5 Centuries in the digital world.
https://www.quora.com/Are-modern-studio-recordings-tracked-at-44-1khz-or-do-they-start-with-a-higher-quality-for-tracking-mixdown-and-convert-it-for-release


There are quite a few new recording studios that record in DSD256, convert to PCM to edit then downsampled to the various consumer resolutions.

Feb. 16, 2023 - Cookie's Corner - #151
From the Founder of Blue Coast Records and Music
"Those of you who know me, know I love tape. And I still have fond memories of many sessions and sound coming from my beloved Otari MTR-90.

"And one not-so-fond memory of a bad reel of tape that broke my machine in 2018. Since then (and the pandemic didn’t help) we move to Pyramix (DSD only) and Protools (yes, I still hate PCM but had to give in for some artists - not Blue Coast Records, though… that’s still my baby and is DSD256)."
- Cookie Marenco


Mixing in Pure DSD - No PCM Allowed
Tom Caulfield, mastering engineer for NativeDSD, and Gonzalo Noqué, owner and recording engineer at Eudora Records and Noqué Studio mixed Lost in Venice, Infermi d'Amore, Vadym Makarenko in DSD256 using HQPlayer Pro, bypassing the conversion to DXD that is commonly used.

https://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/mixing-in-pure-dsd-no-pcm-allowed/

"Gonzalo recollects that he used 12 microphones to capture the stereo release: main pair, room pair and spot microphones. Tom Caulfield at NativeDSD then mixed the 12 microphone channels into the final stereo release via Signalyst HQPlayer Pro per the mixing instructions Gonzalo provided.

"Over the past several years, Tom and NativeDSD have worked with Jussi Laako at Signalyst to use Jussi's HQPlayer Pro (HQP) software to mix DSD tracking channels. The mixing is done in HQP through a process called "modulation." This process keeps the signal entirely in the DSD domain."


In an extreme example - I made a demo CD to listen to at last weeks audio club meeting at a member's house because he can't play high-res downloads, it's CDs only. I took the 7.23GB file of DSD256 demos from 2L Records, converted them to 16/44.1 WAV and burned the 17 tracks to a 650MB CD. The sound was acceptable on an unfamiliar system but the highs were too sharp and imaging was flat but that was to be expected when 91% of the music was thrown away.

Still... we all preferred the Beatles Revolver: Special Edition Remix (2022) CD made from the 24/96 download compared to the pristine, never played Revolver mono record from a Complete Beatles Vinyl Boxed Set.


Note: CD player was the PS Audio Memory player to a new PS Audio DirectStream MK2 which upsamples everything to ridiculous high levels.
"DirectStream MK2 converts every one of its galvanically isolated input signals, both PCM and DSD, to a high sample rate 50 bit version which is further converted to pure DSD for its final conversion to pure analog."

[Mike-48]

It was shown objectively that not all things purchased from HDTracks are mastered in higher resolution. Some are just upsampled. I stopped buying from them years ago, after some of the HR versions I bought sounded worse to me than the CD versions.

If something was decently mastered to begin with and the originals are not in HR, there is no benefit that I can hear. If your DAC works better with higher resolution files, you can convert them yourself for free.

Some HDTracks offerings are different masters from the CD version. They may be better, worse, or equal. It's a gamble.

Usually, I find the Qobuz store cheaper.