[Atlplasma]

Itrax has an article summing up some research on the quality (or lack thereof) of many "hi rez" downloads. Ted, you are mentioned by name.

http://www.itrax.com/Pages/ArticleDetails.php?aID=32

[ted_b]

That is a very old article and was discussed here ad nauseum (but can't find the original    ).  BTW, I am completely quoted of of context, but at least I helped stir up the pot.   I discussed this with Mark at CES 2 years ago.  We had a nice conversation about provenance and transparency in hirez reporting.  I love what Jared does at Channel Classics; he shows all the recording and mastering info of his stuff...I realize that is easier in that he owns it and/or knows where it came from.  HDtracks does not have that kind of data, so the labels need to be accountable.  I won't hold my breath.

[Atlplasma]

Thanks for clarifying, Ted. The date code on the article is misleading.

[ted_b]

No problem; the fact I can't find the original discussions only proves that your post is quite relevant. 

[Atlplasma]

Just curious. Do you agree that all analog master tapes are inherently suspect? That was my takeaway from Mark's piece. Kind of makes me think that buying used CDs is a better strategy for many of the tunes I'd like to add to my library.

[ted_b]

No; I strongly disagree with Mark that analog tapes are off limits to hirez restoration.  Any listen to the great Analogue Productions remasters (analog-to-DSD) of the jazz classic catalogs (Blue Note, Impulse, etc) tells me that timbre, tonality and overall music capture is wayyyyy better than cd.  Maybe it's no more than listening to the actual analog tapes, but I don't have that luxury. 

[Phil A]

Mark, for one, does not like DSD (that's probably understating it).  At the Capital Audiofest in July, I bought one of his classical hi-res releases (have not got around to listening to it on my system yet but heard enough of it in the everythingaudio.net room), and talked to him.  When I mentioned it was my goal to digitize my SACD collection and perhaps eventually consider a DSD DAC, I got the 20 minute lecture on why it is better to convert it to 24/192.  As long as he keeps producing nice hi-rez stuff, along with others, I'm happy to buy them but my own ears be the judge of what is good.  Here is another old article with his philosophy.

[rw@cn]

Home Audio Stream has interesting Q&As with a number of download site owners. It is interesting to read their views.