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Thoughts on HDtracks
7 years ago
General
I already bought many albums on ITunes before the release, but I recently discovered a terrible truth that has a silver lining. ITunes music has much smaller file sizes than CDs do and the sound quality is not as grand.
In some cases an ITunes version can sound better than the CD, like Metallica's Death Magnetic. Unfortunately that's because the 2008 CD version suffers from clipping due to dynamic range compression. The ITunes version is not as compressed but is still inferior to the Guitar Hero version which has no compression. The loudness war is to blame for this whole fiasco.
I was upset by this for sure, but everything changed when I discovered a site called HDtracks. This is a site that was founded by and designed for Audiophiles, people who want the highest quality downloads of music possible.
It delivers exactly as promised. I bought Meatloaf's Bat Out Of Hell in the AIFF 192kHz/24bit format, and the AIFF 96kHz/24bit version of Queen's A Night Of The Opera, plus The Beatles's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the same format as the Queen album.
All 3 sound amazing and are the best versions of all of these albums that I have ever heard, period.
HDtracks is now my favorite site of all time. It costs more money to buy them but it's worth it.
In some cases an ITunes version can sound better than the CD, like Metallica's Death Magnetic. Unfortunately that's because the 2008 CD version suffers from clipping due to dynamic range compression. The ITunes version is not as compressed but is still inferior to the Guitar Hero version which has no compression. The loudness war is to blame for this whole fiasco.
I was upset by this for sure, but everything changed when I discovered a site called HDtracks. This is a site that was founded by and designed for Audiophiles, people who want the highest quality downloads of music possible.
It delivers exactly as promised. I bought Meatloaf's Bat Out Of Hell in the AIFF 192kHz/24bit format, and the AIFF 96kHz/24bit version of Queen's A Night Of The Opera, plus The Beatles's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the same format as the Queen album.
All 3 sound amazing and are the best versions of all of these albums that I have ever heard, period.
HDtracks is now my favorite site of all time. It costs more money to buy them but it's worth it.
