Just entered the world of high resolution audio


I dipped my toes by obtaining the HD Tracks free samples. Now I am ready to get something else- I'm into jazz so can someone recommend some music that is both excellent music and sounds great. I already have Kind of Blue on CD and vinyl, so I'm not really interested in Kind of Blue in yet a 3rd format 

zavato

Showing 2 responses by dbtom2

Hi @zavato. When I first purchased HD downloads, I bought a few favorite albums that I already owned in another format. It helped me understand the benefits of "high-res" and whether it was worth the additional investment. 

Bill Evans' "Waltz For Debby" is a terrific live album even though you'll hear the audience conversing during lulls in the music. 

Weather Report's "Heavy Weather" is a personal favorite I've owned in several formats. I can say, however, I'm not certain the investment in a high-res version of this album was worth it.

Everyone should own several versions of Steely Dan's "Gaucho" album. It would make me feel better about having four - no, five - versions of it. 

I subscribe to Tidal's Hifi streaming service.  So nowadays when I buy music it is usually recordings I am unable to stream because the artist is embargoed here in USA. Jan Garbarek and Pat Metheny are two artists whose recordings availability via streaming are slim for me via Tidal here in US.

Lately, being unsure of the provenance of high-res offerings and whether they are worth the extra cost, I simply order the CD via Amazon and rip it to my library. Placing a bad bet on a poorly produced CD is less painful than buying an expensive high res dud.

Once you order from HD Tracks and others, you'll get on their mailing lists that contain promo codes for discounts on certain items. (Some hifi magazines have ads that also offer discounts.) If I'm unsure whether a high-res purchase will be worthwhile, getting a 10-15% discount on it lessens the risk stress. 

Good luck.


WAV is uncompressed but FLAC (compressed but lossless) has better metadata tagging capabilities. FLAC isnt compatible with iTunes if youre still using it. (I use it to manage adding files but play my music using Roon.) ALAC also lossless and compressed is compatible with iTunes and considered equal to FLAC. 

I rip to AIFF format uncompressed because storage space and file size became less important than compatibility and I want full metadata capabilities. 

In terms of sampling resolution, you may want to listen again to those HD Track samples to determine how your DAC handles the differing rates.