High Definition Music Downloads
04-06-09, 04:30 PM
#1
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High Definition Music Downloads
This is only applicable if you have one of the newer ML systems with DVD-A capability
I've been playing around for about a month now. HD music is about 5-10 times CD quality. It's the opposite of going to MP3, and makes classical music sound great. Here's what I've found out so far.
www.itrax.com -- You can download individual songs or full albums in a variety of formats. If you download in DTS, you get surround sound at about CD quality and you put it on a CD (I used Roxio). You can also download in 96/24 HD surround. The files are large (10 minutes of music is a gig). The 96/24 stuff has to be put on a DVD. I liked this site the best, but the choice of music is very limited. When the pop-up box comes up, click SAVE. The DTS clearly sounds better than a regular CD. The 96/24 sounds better than DTS.
www.hdtracks.com -- They have a 96/24 HD store on their site. They have stereo HD only, not surround. You still have to put it on a DVD. (I wasn't able to hear much difference in quality between stereo HD and surround HD.) They have a better selection than itrax. I sent them a question on what I needed to do to play it in the car, and they sent me back a pretty good response. They have some free samples to try.
www.musicgiants.com -- you have to buy full albums only and you have to pay in $20 increments. You have to open their site through WMP (read their instructions). I still haven't downloaded anything rom them; so, I can't recommend this site.
The trick was getting the 96/24 HD music onto DVD Audio (This is where HDtracks came in. They said you have to burn the files as DVD Audio to get this thing to work). I got the software from www.cirlinca.com on 30 day free trial. It was very easy to use. I burned onto regular DVD-R discs. The software knows you're trying to write audio.
If you've got the system in your car, it's worth trying the free test songs. FYI, 44Hz/16Bit is CD quality 96Hz/24Bit is HD.
Joey B
__________________
I've been playing around for about a month now. HD music is about 5-10 times CD quality. It's the opposite of going to MP3, and makes classical music sound great. Here's what I've found out so far.
www.itrax.com -- You can download individual songs or full albums in a variety of formats. If you download in DTS, you get surround sound at about CD quality and you put it on a CD (I used Roxio). You can also download in 96/24 HD surround. The files are large (10 minutes of music is a gig). The 96/24 stuff has to be put on a DVD. I liked this site the best, but the choice of music is very limited. When the pop-up box comes up, click SAVE. The DTS clearly sounds better than a regular CD. The 96/24 sounds better than DTS.
www.hdtracks.com -- They have a 96/24 HD store on their site. They have stereo HD only, not surround. You still have to put it on a DVD. (I wasn't able to hear much difference in quality between stereo HD and surround HD.) They have a better selection than itrax. I sent them a question on what I needed to do to play it in the car, and they sent me back a pretty good response. They have some free samples to try.
www.musicgiants.com -- you have to buy full albums only and you have to pay in $20 increments. You have to open their site through WMP (read their instructions). I still haven't downloaded anything rom them; so, I can't recommend this site.
The trick was getting the 96/24 HD music onto DVD Audio (This is where HDtracks came in. They said you have to burn the files as DVD Audio to get this thing to work). I got the software from www.cirlinca.com on 30 day free trial. It was very easy to use. I burned onto regular DVD-R discs. The software knows you're trying to write audio.
If you've got the system in your car, it's worth trying the free test songs. FYI, 44Hz/16Bit is CD quality 96Hz/24Bit is HD.
Joey B
__________________
04-07-09, 10:31 AM
#3
Thank you for the link, I've never seen the iTrax site before. I love playing DTS Surround in the car.
I don't see the point of buying 96/24 stereo music for the car. You are not going to be able to tell the difference between CD and Stereo HD listening to a Mark Levinson system while driving.
I don't see the point of buying 96/24 stereo music for the car. You are not going to be able to tell the difference between CD and Stereo HD listening to a Mark Levinson system while driving.
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