I believe HDtracks contributes to a type of "misdirection" that is
prevalent in the world of high resolution audio. When Mr. Chesky
advertises downloads that are merely upsampled standard resolution
recordings as high resolution, it's a real shame and he knows full well what
he's doing. He's going for the short term profit and his message is
"caveat emptor" to folks like you and me.
While this practice may be legal, it's completely shortsighted and hurts the
hi-res "cause." Slapping a "hi-res" label on a poor
recording is certainly anyone's right, but it won't result in repeat customers
or fire anyone up about these new formats. I recently downloaded a dozen
or so hi-res recordings and only three of them were worth recommending to
friends (my standard for whether something's good)
And that's not all; what about the prices? I know very few people, even
among my audiophile buddies, who feel that paying twice the price of a CD
for a downloaded music file they can't re-sell is a "fair deal." It's
especially annoying when you consider that the CD comes in a package
with liner notes, pictures and had to be physically shipped. What is it about
a download that justifies the doubled price? I've never heard a credible
justification for the elevated price of hi- res downloads. They are, in point of
fact, cheaper to produce and sell than CDs or vinyl. At least with a cd or a
record, you can recoup your investment by selling the physical object to
someone else.
If there is ANY hope for DSD or any other version of hi-res to truly take
hold, those who distribute it need to deliver what they promise at a fair
price. Otherwise, most of us will just stick with the incredible, affordable
sound of Redbook played through the increasingly better digital gear like
the PWD II.
If you can't get a sound fanatic like me fired up about hi-res, then there's
something wrong at company headquarters. My ears are fine and I've
heard good hi-res recordings; there's just way too little worth bothering with
at this point. Call me when you've got a hi-res version of Beck's Sea
Change that blows my gold Mo-Fi disc out of the water. The "hi-
res" version on HDtracks sure doesn't do it.
Sorry to be grumpy but IMHO, some of the trickery involved in marketing hi-
res audio is just as bad as the slight of hand produced by the Flat Earth
Society who claim that hi-res recordings are no better than Redbook.
prevalent in the world of high resolution audio. When Mr. Chesky
advertises downloads that are merely upsampled standard resolution
recordings as high resolution, it's a real shame and he knows full well what
he's doing. He's going for the short term profit and his message is
"caveat emptor" to folks like you and me.
While this practice may be legal, it's completely shortsighted and hurts the
hi-res "cause." Slapping a "hi-res" label on a poor
recording is certainly anyone's right, but it won't result in repeat customers
or fire anyone up about these new formats. I recently downloaded a dozen
or so hi-res recordings and only three of them were worth recommending to
friends (my standard for whether something's good)
And that's not all; what about the prices? I know very few people, even
among my audiophile buddies, who feel that paying twice the price of a CD
for a downloaded music file they can't re-sell is a "fair deal." It's
especially annoying when you consider that the CD comes in a package
with liner notes, pictures and had to be physically shipped. What is it about
a download that justifies the doubled price? I've never heard a credible
justification for the elevated price of hi- res downloads. They are, in point of
fact, cheaper to produce and sell than CDs or vinyl. At least with a cd or a
record, you can recoup your investment by selling the physical object to
someone else.
If there is ANY hope for DSD or any other version of hi-res to truly take
hold, those who distribute it need to deliver what they promise at a fair
price. Otherwise, most of us will just stick with the incredible, affordable
sound of Redbook played through the increasingly better digital gear like
the PWD II.
If you can't get a sound fanatic like me fired up about hi-res, then there's
something wrong at company headquarters. My ears are fine and I've
heard good hi-res recordings; there's just way too little worth bothering with
at this point. Call me when you've got a hi-res version of Beck's Sea
Change that blows my gold Mo-Fi disc out of the water. The "hi-
res" version on HDtracks sure doesn't do it.
Sorry to be grumpy but IMHO, some of the trickery involved in marketing hi-
res audio is just as bad as the slight of hand produced by the Flat Earth
Society who claim that hi-res recordings are no better than Redbook.