HDtracks.com?

[BLindsay]

Anyone familiar with this site? is it any decent or no?

[solarrdadd]

Originally Posted by BLindsay

Anyone familiar with this site? is it any decent or no?

i buy from them all the time. I started a thread about it awhile ago but it didn't go too far with the folks here. I do highly recommend them. I have almost 85gb of downloaded music from them and am a very happy customer!

but, that's just me...

[BLindsay]

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

i buy from them all the time. I started a thread about it awhile ago but it didn't go too far with the folks here. I do highly recommend them. I have almost 85gb of downloaded music from them and am a very happy customer!

but, that's just me...

just wanted to make sure they werent craptasic mp3s disguised as high res audio

[solarrdadd]

Originally Posted by BLindsay

just wanted to make sure they werent craptasic mp3s disguised as high res audio

while i'm not gonna touch that, i'll just say again, i've been happy with everything i've downloaded from them. I expect that to continue...

they do offer sample downloads that are free, all you have to do is download them and try them out.

other folks will give their opinion of the site and it's product soon enough; of that you can be sure!

[blu2]

Originally Posted by BLindsay

just wanted to make sure they werent craptasic mp3s disguised as high res audio

If you browse some other sites you'll find reports early on of some growing pains: In some cases there was content provided by labels that may have been sourced from 16 bit and/or 44.1 kHz recordings (Note: the same was true of many SACDs and DVD-As). HDTRACKS did remove the offending material when it was identified.

They've since put controls in place and this is no longer an issue.

They seem to have a steady stream of new and old content coming these days.

There are sometimes discussions of specific releases, and HDTRACKS in general on http://www.computeraudiophile.com/ and http://www.stevehoffman.tv.

[wilky61]

Originally Posted by BLindsay

just wanted to make sure they werent craptasic mp3s disguised as high res audio

HDTracks is the real deal and is probably also the largest/most comprehensive site of its type (that offers lossless music) of which I'm aware.

[DealsR4theDevil]

Originally Posted by wilky61

HDTracks is the real deal and is probably also the largest/most comprehensive site of its type (that offers lossless music) of which I'm aware.

How does this site stack up against CDs?

[rock, stone]

Are there any current promo codes? I have found several online but nothing that is working.

Thanks.

[wilky61]

Originally Posted by DealsR4theDevil

How does this site stack up against CDs?

That's a good question.

The data on CDs is encoded at a bitdepth of 16 bits and at a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz; these are the limitations of the CD format.

SACD and DVD-Audio and other high-definition formats support higher bitdepths (24 bits is quite common, 32 is kinda rare) and sampling rates (both 88.2 kHz and 96 kHz are pretty common, 192 kHz is just overkill...). Files in formats such as 24/96 will be noticeably larger than files in 16/44.1 format because the resolution is higher; if you have a large external hard drive, then the file size will probably be irrelevant to you.

So the short answer to your question is that anything available (on HDTracks or otherwise) in a format higher than 16/44.1 is "better" than CD quality. How much better? That's where things start to get subjective, and depending on your audio gear/setup you may not even notice a difference at all. 24/96 is probably considered the "gold standard" for most audiophiles, though.

See this for more info/technical jargon:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/16_vs_24_bit_audio.htm

And, I also should add that if you don't have the software/hardware capacity to play files at 24/96 resolution on your computer, then it might be pointless in paying extra for them. However, in my case, my external USB DAC supports playback up to 24/96, and I have configured my Windows 7 settings to match this.

[rock, stone]

Originally Posted by rock, stone

Are there any current promo codes? I have found several online but nothing that is working.

Thanks.

Just in case there are other lurkers wondering about codes, lptimes20 knocks off 20%, but the HDtracks website has a lot of bugs making code application dubious.

[Steelmaker]

I've recently started downloading from them and I have a couple of questions

1.) All of these files are in flac format. While I can listen to this format on my PC, I need to know are there any car stereos that currently support this format? Also, I have a Pioneer VSX 1020 receiver hooked up to my surround sound. Does this receiver support flac format.

2.) Can I convert my HD audio flac files to another format and they still be the same hd quality?

[pentatonic]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

I've recently started downloading from them and I have a couple of questions

1.) All of these files are in flac format. While I can listen to this format on my PC, I need to know are there any car stereos that currently support this format? Also, I have a Pioneer VSX 1020 receiver hooked up to my surround sound. Does this receiver support flac format.

2.) Can I convert my HD audio flac files to another format and they still be the same hd quality?

I can't say for sure but don't think car radios offer FLAC playback, but I would Google that. Your receiver unfortunately doesn't support FLAC from what I read. But it does support WAV so you could transcode them and you would keep the same quality. You can also transcode to ALAC which is Apple Loseless if you use an Ipod.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by pentatonic

I can't say for sure but don't think car radios offer FLAC playback, but I would Google that. Your receiver unfortunately doesn't support FLAC from what I read. But it does support WAV so you could transcode them and you would keep the same quality. You can also transcode to ALAC which is Apple Loseless if you use an Ipod.

Thanks pentatonic! Yeah I just converted one of the flac files to WAV and there was no loss in bit rate! Now I can just look for a stereo with a USB port and play from my thumb drive! Thanks!

[pentatonic]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

Thanks pentatonic! Yeah I just converted one of the flac files to WAV and there was no loss in bit rate! Now I can just look for a stereo with a USB port and play from my thumb drive! Thanks!

Pleasure buddy. Some car radios do have real ipod docks with a special plug and you then use ALAC on an Ipod (files will be big similar to FLAC so you might want to get a Classic with 160 GB if you like having a lot of your collection on hand. In my buddy's 335 it sounds really really good (he does have a nice sound system in there).

But to be honest even a nice 320 kbps MP3 sounds better in my car than local radio, Sirius and honestly quite close to a CD.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by pentatonic

Pleasure buddy. Some car radios do have real ipod docks with a special plug and you then use ALAC on an Ipod (files will be big similar to FLAC so you might want to get a Classic with 160 GB if you like having a lot of your collection on hand. In my buddy's 335 it sounds really really good (he does have a nice sound system in there).

But to be honest even a nice 320 kbps MP3 sounds better in my car than local radio, Sirius and honestly quite close to a CD.

I'm trying to get away from CD's in my car completely. I have ruined some of mine while using them in the car simply because of changing them in and out. Even trying to be careful I've put scratches on several.

I've been dragged into the digital age kicking and screaming and I do not support Apple or the iPod. Up to now the only digital files I've been playing have been ripped from my CD's. However now that I've discovered full fidelity lossless HD audio I honestly don't ever want to go back! I downloaded the new KISS "Destroyer" remix and Alice Cooper's "Welcome to My Nightmare" albums and I am blown away by both of them! I'm perfectly willing to spend the extra cash to get lossless audio. To me, this is the direction that the digital music age should have went in the first place!

[pentatonic]

Cowon makes really good players with flac support. They are rather expensive but well liked. If you have a 1/8" input on your car radio this would sound really good. For a cheaper option the Sanza Fuze supports FLAC natively. You can get a 16 GB one for $100

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by pentatonic

Cowon makes really good players with flac support. They are rather expensive but well liked. If you have a 1/8" input on your car radio this would sound really good. For a cheaper option the Sanza Fuze supports FLAC natively. You can get a 16 GB one for $100

Thanks but now that I know that I can convert flac to wav with no loss in fidelity I'll just look for a stereo with USB and wav support. Plenty of those around for sure!