For Those Naysayers...

[Bruce B]

Gotta be a DAW in that process chain somewhere. It's reported that the download files are .dsf and tagged. Something had to divide that single file into cuts, and tag it. Maybe Gus is doing that part.

It was reported over at CA that the tagging was being done with AudioGate

 

[cpp]

Got to wonder why the bulk of these DSD and non-DSD downloads are from artist that are dead or no longer record or perform or from material that is years gone by, is it easier to get the material ( masters etc..) if an artist is long gone or retired ? Just wondering as current "hi-rez" material ( non-classical) seems to be sparse ?

Wish Acoustic Sounds luck, maybe they can pull it off.

 

[MadFloyd]

I have all of them and they are really good. Or let me clarify that... I have all of the AP and BN SACD files.

I have some of the SACD files too. I know somebody with the right PS3 that can rip them, so once in a while I send him some along with a hard drive to rip for me, but it's not very convenient and I hate imposing on folks.

I have bought the LPs for many of these titles so between that and the SACD rips that I do have, so there's no question about the quality of the music itself, recording or mastering. If all they do is rip their own SACDs I'm still interested. I just got nervous when I saw you every so slightly suspicious of the way they might have gone about it.

 

[JackD201]

Got to wonder why the bulk of these DSD and non-DSD downloads are from artist that are dead or no longer record or perform or from material that is years gone by, is it easier to get the material ( masters etc..) if an artist is long gone or retired ? Just wondering as current "hi-rez" material ( non-classical) seems to be sparse ?

Wish Acoustic Sounds luck, maybe they can pull it off.

I'm not sure exactly anymore but I believe compositions enter the public domain 50 years after the composer's death. True for books and authors too. There have been moves to extend this however but I haven't kept track if the period has actually been extended. This drops the cost for classical music and a whole lot of Jazz and Blues.

 

[tailspn]

It was reported over at CA that the tagging was being done with AudioGate

Wow, they spared no expense!

I was unsuccessful in using AudioGate in converting and tagging Channel Classics .dff files to .dsf. It would do the .dff > .dsf conversion well enough, but when the metadata was added, it was only readable correctly on the AudioGate player. When the tagged files were loaded into JRiver and Pure Music, both ID3v2 compliant, the metadata was either garbled, or in the wrong headers. With Ted Brady's work, we finally had a script developed that would allow XL assembled metadata to be entered correctly using the ID3v2 editor within JRiver. I was surprised to find out that while there are many ID3v2 tagging editors on the market, only the JRiver included version recognize .dsf.

 

[Bruce B]

Wow, they spared no expense!

My sentiments exactly.
Because DSD is becoming more visible in the mainstream, I've seen mastering facilities say they "can work with DSD". Most of them usually buy a Korg or Tascam and call it good. This is not, to me anyway, the correct way to master and handle DSD. Channel, Five/Four, Soundmirror and others have spent tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours learning the software and the intricacies of the DSD format. These are the people that I would want to master my material.

 

[cpp]

My sentiments exactly.
Because DSD is becoming more visible in the mainstream, I've seen mastering facilities say they "can work with DSD". Most of them usually buy a Korg or Tascam and call it good. This is not, to me anyway, the correct way to master and handle DSD. Channel, Five/Four, Mirror Sound and others have spent tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours learning the software and the intricacies of the DSD format. These are the people that I would want to master my material.

Bruce do any of these "people" you note actually sell material for download ? just asking. As I would rather have it done the right way than some smoke and mirror process.

 

[Bruce B]

Bruce do any of these "people" you note actually sell material for download ? just asking. As I would rather have it done the right way than some smoke and mirror process.

Channel Classics

 

[MylesBAstor]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...unds-high-resolution-music-downloads/2710783/

 

[MadFloyd]

Channel Classics

Anyone have any recommendations of titles on this site?

 

[Bruce B]

Anyone have any recommendations of titles on this site?

You can scroll HERE and read some of the reviews.

Tom could probably point out a few for you as well.

 

[c1ferrari]

personally; I have around 3-4 terabytes of dsd files and listen to them all the time. I also listen to PCM hirez too. if you get a chance to enjoy some dsd downloads you will get hooked easily. I can listen to them all day long....they sound analog to my ears relative to the very nice PCM files which are not quite as analog and real sounding in comparison.

I see this event as a watershed moment in the expansion of server based dsd listening.

Mike,

Have you been able to listen to anything in DSD256?

Thanks

 

[Julf]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...unds-high-resolution-music-downloads/2710783/

"64 times the resolution of compact discs"...

 

[NorthStar]

Anyone have any recommendations of titles on this site?

They're pretty much all good overall.

* You can also check Audiophile Audition for some great reviews.
{Just click the section you're interested in, on the left.}

** Good link from Bruce too, just above.

 

[NorthStar]

"64 times the resolution of compact discs"...

High numbers like that always help in sales. :b

 

[tailspn]

"64 times the resolution of compact discs"...

"Salina, Kan., music retailer is the first to offer Direct Stream Digital music downloads"

Missed that one by almost two years. But, nether-the-less, raising the viability of DSD and downloads to the great unwashed.

 

[MylesBAstor]

"Salina, Kan., music retailer is the first to offer Direct Stream Digital music downloads"

Missed that one by almost two years. But, nether-the-less, raising the viability of DSD and downloads to the great unwashed.

Think the key words are "major label." Sure several others have; remember couple of years ago Bill Schnee announcing a new label offering DSD downloads of new artists. Same for the others that come immediately to mind.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

2L has been offering these for some time now I beleive.

 

[MylesBAstor]

2L has been offering these for some time now I beleive.

Yes and Blue Coast, Linn,opus 3, and a handful of others.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

I downloaded all of the freebies they have ...very nice.