Is HDtracks really selling you Hi-Rez music?

Dasign, is your point that HDtracks sold you a HiRez file that was actually not a HiRez file, or that you couldn't hear the difference between the HiRez file and other copies of the music you already own?

Onhy61,

You bring up a good point that requires clarification. The uploaded file is really a 176kHz/24 bit format. The problem is that there are no difference in audio quality between it and the Santana Abraxas 1998 remastered 44kHz 16 bit CD version. I really was expecting to get a copy of the master recording of Abraxas. To me, it sounded like I purchased the CD version again, it was that bad!

I have purchased a few good 176kHz/24 bit hi-rez titles at HDT (Kenny Burrell's 'Midnigth Blue',Chesky Record 'The World's Greatest Audiophile Vocal Recordings', Milton Cardonia's 'Cambucha') that really sound fabulous.

I have also purchased hi-rez 176kHz/24 bit albums that were really disappointing like Rush 'Clockwork Angels', Bloom's 'The Hours', Deftones 'Koy No Yokan'. So my batting average is about .500 on HDT hi-rez titles.

So my whole point here is when you advertise a product on the base of improved audio quality, at that your customer segment is the audiophile community, it is truly disapointing to receive such a lame excuse that HDT is not responsible for audio quality of the product it sells, just because it does not process/manipulate in any way the product being purchased. If so, they should put a disclaimer that goes like this:

'We resell audio files purchased from recording labels for which we cannot guarranty the master recording quality they used during the hi-rez file construction. There is no implicit warranty on the audio quality of any album downloaded from HDT, but you may get lucky once in a while.'

If you are a product reseller, you have the responsibility to support the claims of your product advertising strategy. Why would you sell a 88kHz/24 bit and 176kHz/24 bit version of an album when there are NO audio improvement at all?

This brings a question of how HDT performs its quality control on data files they purchase from the major label record companies. IMHO they should verify if there is any audio quality improvements between the latest CD version of the 'classic' album available (typically a remastered version)and decide if the audio quality improvement justifies the release of a hi-rez version.

I can assure you that HDT has privileged sales/profit arguments over the quality of the product when releasing Santana Abraxas hi-rez versions. Truly disappointing. I hope they get the stick from music reviewers in audiophile magazines.

I am having trouble downloading files from HD Tracks for a couple of weeks now, they know there is an issue but instead of apologizing they barely respond. I have to send emails more than once. This is poor customer service; I can understand having issues but they should have the decency to apologize and even possibly offer a discount on a future order. So right now I am trying to make purchases and cannot. Unfortunately there are not many alternative but that may be ending soon.

JP2108, As Rlwainwright commented on, the Super Bit remastered CD of Abraxas is excellent. Don't know if you play vinyl, but if you do avoid spending the buckos for the Mobile Fidelity remaster, it was a huge disappoint, a lot of compression, squashed dynamics, poor bass. Most of the Mobile Fidelity LP's I have are great but this one.......not so much.

They sell hi res formats for sure, which means that the format is capable of hi res. The actual resolution of the actual content will almost certainly vary. Just like not all CDs or even LPs are equally detailed. You'll pay a premium nonetheless, so be cautious. ALso, hi res files that are not fully realized add a lot of processing overhead that may also be a negative depending on how well your gear is able to handle that. So you can see that hi res files have potential but are not a panacea yet these days. Someday, maybe....