How Source the Highest Resolution Downloads?

[Ron Resnick]

My current view is that if I want to listen to a digitally recorded album, then I want to replay it digitally, not on vinyl. (Please accept this operating hypothesis for the purpose of this particular thread.)

I appreciate that asking the question "which is the highest resolution download?" is not the same as asking the question "which is the best sounding download?", and that these two questions may well have different answers.

How would I go about finding the highest resolution download of, for example, Jennifer Warnes' Famous Blue Raincoat?

Is there a particular website that y'all go to to purchase high-resolution digital downloads?

I see that Qobuz has The Killers" album Wonderful Wonderful available only in 44.1kHz/16 bit, but Acoustic Sounds has this album available as a download in 44.1 kHz/24 bit. Why wouldn't Qobuz have the higher resolution version if it available?

Thank you!

 

[asiufy]

Ron,

Weird question... But let's see if I can help...

First, Qobuz lists "Wonderful Wonderful" as being 24/44, both to stream as well as download. But there's also a CD quality version available to download there. Link: https://open.qobuz.com/album/0060255788201

Then, if there is ever a situation where "bigger is not necessarily better", it's with digital files. Generally, for digital recordings, you want the file in its native resolution. Most labels will sell you upsampled versions of the same album, but like I said, I don't much see the point.

And finally, same as folks appreciate and cherish original pressing of LPs, or even search for the better sounding reissues, the same applies for digital. Classic albums, even those recorded in digital, have had many, many reissues over the years, some with atrocious "remasterings" applied to them. You don't want those, even if they're in ultra-mega-hyper-high-resolution.

Hope this helps!

cheers,
Alex

 

[HughP3]

HDTracks may have a 24 bit version to purchase

HDtracks | You can hear the difference. Listen on the go in master studio quality.

HDtracks is a high-resolution music platform for music lovers to download their favorite tracks in master studio quality. Join us today for the ultimate listening experience!

www.hdtracks.com

 

[Daverich4]

My current view is that if I want to listen to a digitally recorded album, then I want to replay it digitally, not on vinyl. (Please accept this operating hypothesis for the purpose of this particular thread.)

I appreciate that asking the question "which is the highest resolution download?" is not the same as asking the question "which is the best sounding download?", and that these two questions may well have different answers.

How would I go about finding the highest resolution download of, for example, Jennifer Warnes' Famous Blue Raincoat?

Is there a particular website that y'all go to to purchase high-resolution digital downloads?

I see that Qobuz has The Killers" album Wonderful Wonderful available only in 44.1kHz/16 bit, but Acoustic Sounds has this album available as a download in 44.1 kHz/24 bit. Why wouldn't Qobuz have the higher resolution version if it available?

Thank you!

Although you can’t purchase digital music through this site, it is where I go to find out what’s available.

Jennifer Warnes - Famous Blue Raincoat (The Songs Of Leonard Cohen)

Explore songs, recommendations, and other album details for Famous Blue Raincoat (The Songs Of Leonard Cohen) by Jennifer Warnes. Compare different versions and buy them all on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

 

[Wine Doctor]

I am a big fan of Native DSD ( https://www.nativedsd.com ), particularly for multi-channel hi-res downloads.

 

[tony22]

Then, if there is ever a situation where "bigger is not necessarily better", it's with digital files. Generally, for digital recordings, you want the file in its native resolution. Most labels will sell you upsampled versions of the same album, but like I said, I don't much see the point.

My own experience is in agreement with Alex on this, for digitally captured recordings.

 

[seeteeyou]

I see that Qobuz has The Killers" album Wonderful Wonderful available only in 44.1kHz/16 bit, but Acoustic Sounds has this album available as a download in 44.1 kHz/24 bit. Why wouldn't Qobuz have the higher resolution version if it available?

Maybe whatever "fix" Qobuz promised back in February 2019 was never delivered after such a long time?

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/qobuz-24-bit-flac-is-playing-at-16-bit/61088/25

Hi all, as some of you have already noticed, almost 10% of our Hi-Res catalogue is available in 24-Bit for download but not for streaming. This is why some tracks can not be streamed in 24-Bit despite showing the Hi-Res logo. This problem will be fixed in a Roon update which is coming very soon. The problem will also be solved on Qobuz a bit later this year.

FYI - both downloadable versions of Wonderful Wonderful (10 tracks) as well as Wonderful Wonderful Deluxe (13 tracks) were indeed showing 24-Bit for the higher price and then 16-Bit for the lower price respectively

https://www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/album/wonderful-wonderful-the-killers/0060255788201
https://www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/album/wonderful-wonderful-the-killers/0060255788204

It always came with 24-Bit in Japan as well

https://mora.jp/package/43000006/00602557882018/
https://mora.jp/package/43000006/00602557882049/

https://www.e-onkyo.com/music/album/uml00602557882018/
https://www.e-onkyo.com/music/album/uml00602557882049/

Basically here's what they did for their cheaper (i.e. CD flavor) downloads

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/qo...eally-an-sq-difference-for-cd-quality/58984/3

Across the board, CD quality are actually down-sampled and some are sampled rate to 44.1k from Hi-Res masters.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Ron,

Weird question... But let's see if I can help...

First, Qobuz lists "Wonderful Wonderful" as being 24/44, both to stream as well as download. But there's also a CD quality version available to download there. Link: https://open.qobuz.com/album/0060255788201

Then, if there is ever a situation where "bigger is not necessarily better", it's with digital files. Generally, for digital recordings, you want the file in its native resolution. Most labels will sell you upsampled versions of the same album, but like I said, I don't much see the point.

And finally, same as folks appreciate and cherish original pressing of LPs, or even search for the better sounding reissues, the same applies for digital. Classic albums, even those recorded in digital, have had many, many reissues over the years, some with atrocious "remasterings" applied to them. You don't want those, even if they're in ultra-mega-hyper-high-resolution.

Hope this helps!

cheers,
Alex

Thank you, Alex!