JezA;615201 Wrote: > Since when has 40 year old analogue tape been 24/192? > > Much of the HDTracks catalogue is similarly ancient and suspect - they > are selling very little that has been recorded and mastered in hi-res > digital.
Recorded and mastered in high resolution digital is different from an analog recording which is converted to high resolution digital and then digitally mastered in high resolution digital. For example the Rolling Stones Abcko recordings are analog recordings which have been converted from the original analog masters (of so you are told) in high resolution digital masters. It is these files that HDTracks is selling. Nothing wrong with that provided that the hi-rez digital files have in fact been sourced from the original analog masters. I think the basic problem with the legal download sites is that they are basing their business model and hence their price structure on the old physical media model. For the average person who doesn't completely understand things digital (which would be somewhere around 99.9999999% of all those gray haired audiophiles out there - it would be a solid 100% expect for myself and perhaps a few other people on this forum) they think that the physical pricing model applies to things digital. However the distribution system for digital files is completely different than the distribution system for physical media and the many of us are well aware of this and feel that the pricing structure should be revised. I'm not saying that the files should be given away only that the current pricing structure is out of whack with the realities of the digital distribution system. Throw in the fact, that as Mnyb correctly pointed out, there are other means of obtaining the same files at a much lower cost and HDTracks relatively high prices are seen in a very harsh light. And by the way, while hi-rez recordings from HDTracks and other sites (e.g. Linn) may not have reached the torrent market I have seen them available via other means. What puzzles me is that the approach being taken by many of these legal download sites and the record companies appears to run counter to the old supply and demand model. Let me explain: A limitless supply of a commodity would normally mean a low or falling price. It is only when demand outstrips supply that the price should go up. And yet the record companies' response to the their commodity (digital music files) being widely and cheaply available (torrents, news groups, Rapidshare, copies and rips of CDs) has been to continually raise their prices. Obviously the laws of supply and demand are only followed when they result in higher, not lower, prices. I don't have the answer but I do know that until these greedy S.O.B.s come to their senses regarding their failing business model things are not going to improve nor are the prices going to come down to a point where many of us would be happy with them. In the meantime illegal downloading will continue unabated. -- ralphpnj Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels -> Snatch -> The Transporter -> Transporter 2 (oops) -> Touch 'Last.fm' (http://www.last.fm/user/jazzfann/) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ralphpnj's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=10827 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=86017 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
