ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Probably this will be one of those "don't dare to ask because I will just look stupid" questions, but I have decided I don't care so here goes. Why does a Hi-Res track download cost more than a red book download?
Is there anything that justifies this price difference? Or is it pure capitalism, the willingness of consumers to pay it? Is it people trying to convince me that there is a difference, but most of these people simply want to take your money. Or is it because more time and effort is involved in producing the higher definition files, or are vendors charging more simply because files are bigger and more storage space is needed?
It could be my ears, but what’s the point of having HD capable hardware if I can’t be confident in the media/software. I listened to some albums encoded at 24bit/44.1kHz and asked myself, are those additional 8 bits really worth the extra cash?
I get it with vinyl, MFSL (for example) the use of heavier vinyl and better equipment all round in the production of limited editions, but I am struggling to see how this applies in the digital world.
In my experience good sound starts in the studio and has less to do with bit rate and depth. I’ve been disappointed in listening to some Hi-Res files not worth the extra cash, felt like purchasing a Louis Vuitton handbag off the web only to find it’s fake. We are really in need of a simple social website that rates Hi-Res recordings from different retailers. We need a Yelp for music downloads!
The enjoyment of listening to good sound is actually getting cheaper, with better, less expensive technology appearing virtually every day. The amazing DAC designs and playback that we now have are giving us the great pleasure to explore and enjoy digital files the kind of analog-like sound we only dreamed of years ago. The problem was never with the 16/44.1 standard, the problem was that equipment was never available at the consumer level for most audiophiles to experience all that Red Book CD had to offer in anything approaching full resolution. I’ve listened to some ripped red book files yesterday on my Moment, reproduced with the kind of liquidity and three-dimensionality I'd previously have thought only to be possible with a vinyl record as the source.
I give up in buying Hi-Res.
There....I asked and feel better already. Please go easy on me with your "duh..." responses.
"Believe nothing you read and only half of what you see, let your ears tell you the truth."
BeoNut since '75
"what’s the point of having HD capable hardware if I can’t be confident in the media/software"
Well, whats the point in having HD at all if u can't tell the difference and just have to rely on confidence?
The trick question the instructor asks on day 1 in Marketing 101 goes something like this:
"If the product costs X to make, and you have to factor in the costs of marketing and distribution, what should the retail price be? 3X? 4X?"
The answer is, of course, not 3X or 4X or anythingX. The answer is: whatever the consumer is willing to pay.
High resolution tracks cost what they do because that's what consumers are willing to pay, just like Pink Floyd The Wall on LP today costs $50 because that's what consumers are willing to pay.
Chris: I give up in buying Hi-Res.
You'd better!
99% of what is offered as highres is just standart definition upconverted to 24/96 - same content in a bigger bucket *
As long as the origin wasn't highres - and this was preserved during mixing and processing - there is no highres in the final offer.
Big business - they charge, what they can!
A lot of people believe that, if it costs more, it must be better.
I'd say - don't trust anyone, who can't/won't offer details of the provenance of the files offered as 'highres'.
* But sometimes things are tricky. It may happen, that you find files offered as 'highres' sounding better than, what you already know.
In most cases it is because these files/the recordings were remastered from someone, who had a more gentle approach to what mastering should be.
Means: if the 'highres' files were less hot mastered, they may sound better (more dynamic - as audiophiles say).
They sound better because of the different mastering and not because of the bigger bucket, they are sold in.
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV