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I bought Morricones "Le clan des Siciliens" and "L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo" from Qobuz, and they sound better than the previous recordings I had.
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I see now the problem with 7digital is it's only FLAC, which must have been where I was getting the incompatibility with iTunes. Though I would have sworn I read somethign to the effect of needing a specific app- but maybe that was simply offered as the solution to accessing FLAC on a Mac?
There is a neat little tool called MediaHuman Audio Converter (https://www.mediahuman.com/audio-converter/) which is freeware and a stand alone converter with which you can convert ALACs to FLAC or FLACs to ALAC (or convert other formats too). Since converting from one format to the other is lossless, you can buy FLACs when no ALACs are available and just convert them.
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...so even a high-res file from that would still sound exactly like it came from an LP. Because it did.
Well, a high-res file ripped from a worn LP with a cheap stylus will still sound like a worn LP being played with a cheap stylus. Hence my complaint about "Murderer's Row." Don't make the mistake I made.
Yes, obviously. If the source sucks, a file can't do anything about it. But that is of course true for CDs just as much as it is for downloads.
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I bought a few titles from Qobuz, excellent quality and also service. My preferred streaming service and place to buy downloads. I would never buy DRM coded files that require special apps. I don’t even listen to music on a computer.
Do you think it is safe to assume that when they say "CD quality, 16 bit, 44.1 kHz," it is truly this and not simply bumped up from mp3 resolution? I ask because they sell a number of albums that are otherwise available only as mp3s.
Reputable labels almost always upload in true CD quality. Dubious labels almost always upload dubious files, and those are not checked automatically by Qobuz. Although that is not completely different to physical copies. Some dubious labels will sell CDr/MP3 burned to CDs, etc. The main difference here is that there are algorithms that could easily check for this and I'm surprised Digital/Streaming stores don't even bother to run quality checks, or at least ban labels that routinely upload fake material.
Unfortunately, there is really no way to know for sure. I've tried some of the recommended tools and they will mostly fail on vintage recordings. The best chance is if you have a good ear, but even then it could be difficult since an over-use of noise reduction could sound like compression noise - the same goes for minor tape warble. Missing high frequencies may be the result of missing signal in that range or the use of low-pass filters in the mastering process to cut off the upper range in recordings that mostly feature noise in that range. Some of the lossy codecs also cheat by adding high frequency signal that doesn't originate from the original signal.
It's always a question of trust. Things get even more complicated by the fact that most labels (or at least the major ones) refuse to offer downloads that correspond with the CD content. I've had downloads by Warner which prefectly match with AccurateRip or CTDB data. No such luck, however, with UMG or Sony titles.
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Well, I listened a little more closely to "Murderer's Row," at a higher volume. While it claims to be an RCA "Legacy" reissue, it sure sounds like a vinyl rip to me.
Seeing several pressings of this title (all over the world) makes me wonder if all dub tapes for this title are indeed lost or if Sony didn't bother to check. I still think that titles should be offered this way if there is no other option, but the labels could be more transparent about their sources (or offer a discount for titles that have compromised sound quality). I don't except 50 PDF pages of notes, but a basic PDF sheet with the original liner notes, recording information and transfer notes shouldn't be too much do ask for.
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Well, I listened a little more closely to "Murderer's Row," at a higher volume. While it claims to be an RCA "Legacy" reissue, it sure sounds like a vinyl rip to me.
Seeing several pressings of this title (all over the world) makes me wonder if all dub tapes for this title are indeed lost or if Sony didn't bother to check. I still think that titles should be offered this way if there is no other option, but the labels could be more transparent about their sources (or offer a discount for titles that have compromised sound quality). I don't except 50 PDF pages of notes, but a basic PDF sheet with the original liner notes, recording information and transfer notes shouldn't be too much do ask for.
Yes, and many labels, like Deutsche Grammophon or ECM or Naxos etc, do. It's just that there are also releases where this information is not provided. Download shops like Qobuz (or HDTracks, etc.) are basically just like CD shops, they carry a lot of the stuff that is provided to them by the various labels, but they don't exert control over the offered contents. You can get crappy sounding CDs and crappy sounding "high-res" downloads. I mean, when an old recording is re-issued from an old and worn tape source, the resolution in which the music is offered isn't really the issue.
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Ist this legit?
Reading that MURDERES ROW seems to be from the LP Tracks sounds like a bootleg...no?
I don't know about that specific album, but just because something has been taken from LP Tracks does not automatically qualify it as a bootleg. Intrada's SILENT RUNNING and THE LONE RANGER were taken from LP sources too, IIRC, and they are not bootlegs.
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