The Smiley Smile Message Board

For those unaware, Sunflower (clocking in at 88kHz/24bit) is now available for download at www.hdtracks.com.  Having listened to the samples, I do notice a difference in the sound quality although not a dramatic one.  The biggest issue I have for these "HD" tracks is that they are not compatible with my iPod or other portable devices unless you choose to compress them down.  But that pretty much defeats the purpose of downloading these to begin with.  I'd really like to get on the "high definition music" bandwagon, but record labels are really going to have to start embracing the technology first. 


https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=catalogdetail&valbum_code=HD5099931904155

There's been complaints in the past with HDTracks with regards to rumors of them simply up-converting 16/44k audio files and reselling them.

I'd be interested in buying this, but only if I had a way to know that I'm getting the real deal.

What specifically did you hear on the samples that sounded different/ better?

I haven't purchased the album from there, but based on the samples alone, the music sounded cleaner and more crisp than it does on CD.

Two things come to mind.

1) Using an audio editor, like Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/), open the file and save at 44 htx, 16 bit.  then bring into iTunes (where your setting will recompress the files to your selected iTunes format.

2) Burn the 88kHz/24bit tracks to a HD audio DVD.  On the Mac side, Toast does it.  Then play the disk on your DVD player thru your DVD 7.1 system.

Thanks.

You can convert them to ALAC (Apple Lossless) rather than m4a or mp3 and it will play in iTunes without really losing quality.

Thanks for the suggestions.


But again, this defeats the purpose of purchasing high-fidelty tracks if you are just down-converting them to CD quality.  The only solution to be had here is for the iPod and other portable devices to welcome audio at a higher quality than standard CD.  Until then, there is no practical way to enjoy these tracks on the go at their full quality.  

I did manage to get the HDTracks version of That's Why God Made The Radio to play on my Droid RAZR phone, but I'm not sure it has enough horsepower to deliver that 24-bit goodness as the audio could be a bit jerky at times.  



I've mulled around this option as well, but again would prefer having something I could take with me on the go.

But thanks again for your suggestions.  

Per Rocky's suggestion - convert to ALAC.  iTunes will automatically convert to 16bit for playback within the Apple eco system, and you can use any one of a number of other players (or iTunes add-ons) for 24bit playback.

This is actually the first major reissue campaign that I'm holding out for high res downloads rather than jumping on CDs the day they came out.  We're finally moving beyond CD quality audio, it's just taking a while.

Well, there is something new coming that will do that - Neil Young's Pono

Mark Linett posted on this board previously about hdtracks.com. These are real 24-bit  recordings from the studio masters, not upsampled CDs. 

If you intend to play back the recordings only on an iPhone, you may be better off just buying the CD, as CDs are cheaper and may sound better on a portable device like that.  Hdtracks.com is for audiophiles who play back the recordings on high end equipment.   They want to preserve the dynamic range of the original recording, so often, the hdtracks recordings have a lot less compression.  With less compression, the sound will have less "punch" on an iPhone.  My 24-bit recording of Pet Sounds from hdtracks sounds better on my stereo, but the stereo CD from the 90's sounds better on my iPhone.

There is reasonably priced equipment that you can use with your computer that will play back 24-bit files with high quality.  I just ordered the Audioquest Dragonfly ($249) USB DAC, which has received great reviews.

It won't even work on your iPhone? Man, trash that sh*t and just buy from iTunes.

I might be mistaken but iTunes can run 24-bit normally. It doesn't convert down to 16-bit.

Yes, iTunes can play 24-bit tracks (unless they are FLAC), but they cannot transfer said content to your iPod or iPhone. 

ITunes?  C'mon, folks!  The great thing about HDTracks is you are able to buy hi-res versions of classic albums.  I've purchased many titles from them, and have been blown away by the sound quality difference compared to CDs.  More depth to the soundstage, more depth to the instruments and vocals, better stereo separation, no brickwalling, and often no compression.

If you want to enjoy these songs in the best possible way this is the way to do it (and no, I don't work for HDTracks).  Purchase the album you'd like to enjoy, download it, make an ISO with DVD-Audiofile software, and burn it with ImgBurn.  No downsampling necessary!  This is how to fully enjoy these releases on your DVD-Audio player.  If you're content listening to MP3s or ITunes files it's not worth buying these, as you won't hear any differences, but if you're looking for the whole audio picture and have the equipment to play it on it's the best way to go, in my opinion.

Look, I didn't pay 79.95 plus tacks for higher quality only to find out that I couldn't listen to it because I couldn't convert it with Windows Movie Maker and put it on my iPod Shuffle, asshole.

.

They will still sound better when compressed onto an iPod.  And just because you convert the HD originals for your iPod doesn't mean you still don't have the HDTracks to use in any other way you want in future.

True.  But I suppose ultimately it will depend on a more practical means of listening to these tracks at their fullest quality without having to compress or down-sample them before I can really go to town on purchasing them.  Being an audiophile, I want the best-sounding quality that I can obtain and I want that quality on the go.  Until the iPod and other portable music devices start embracing high-end audio, these things will serve as a novelty moreso than anything else.  Thanks again for all your suggestions though.

I was playing around a little bit with iTunes, and came to the realization that Apple's iPod can actually handle music encoded at 48 htx, 24-bit quality.  That's Why God Made the Radio is available at this quality format over on the HDTracks.com, and after converting the files to an equal quality WAV format and then to Apple Lossless, I got it to play on my iPod.  Can't claim that the improvement in sonic quality is exactly mind-blowing, but there is some noticeable difference.  I also recorded some vinyl of the bluegrass group Old & In The Way to 24-bit, and that actually sounds quite good after a little mastering. 

"Audiophile" and "on the go" don't go together.

No...at least not yet!

Looking at the HD tracks website, I don't immediately feel filled with confidence - looks a bit half-baked to me. I'd feel far more comfortable buying from a Capitol web page - or indeed Amazon etc.

Having said that, it's great that the BBs are among the artists potentially available on 24-bit. Ironic that the CDs are now all in HDCD too, which given a suitable player already provides the equivalent of 20-bit resolution.

Incidentally, why 24/88 and not the more common standard of 24/96? Maybe because it has been upsampled from 44mhz (16 bit) !!

Typically 88.2 and 176.4 indicate a DSD master.  No?  At least that's what I've lead myself to believe.   ;D

I caved and purchased Sunflower off of HDTracks.com.  The sound is an improvement over the CD version.  Has the warm vinyl sound with CD acoustics.  I down-converted it to 24/48 so that it would play on my iPod.  Haven't purchased Surf's Up yet but may do some at some point.  Anyone else download these albums from the website?

There's a program called Lplex which converts high-resolution audio to DVD Video format. In case you want to burn the tracks and play them through your home cinema set (if your set supports high-resolution audio, that is).

There's a thread on Steve Hoffman's site about "how bad Sunflower sounds" with comments from Steve himself and even Old Surfer Dude:

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-beach-boys-sunflower-poor-sound.307815/ (http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-beach-boys-sunflower-poor-sound.307815/)

I haven't jumped in on the conversation but I encourage you all to do so.