24290 In order to evaluate this I downloaded what one might expect to be one of the most reliable "Hi Rez" web sites: HDTRACKS.COM. I donwloaded what should be one of their most exceptional collections: their headlining sampler. This is he music that convinces audiophiles to buy their products!
Remember this is the web site that posts proudly on their home page: "HDtracks is the only music store founded, funded, and operated by musicians, artists, and audiophiles. Started in 2008 by Norman and David Chesky, pioneers of revolutionary recording techniques and founders of the groundbreaking audiophile label Chesky Records, HDtracks takes their obssession with quality to the most important part of any recording: you, the listener. With industry-leading and painstaking quality controls, everything sold on HDtracks is of the highest possible quality, and available in a diverse range of formats so technology doesn't interfere with the listening experience." "We're looking to ensure all files sold on the site are true to the format they are listed as on the site. All 24bit is tested to have true 24 ACTIVE bits so 16 bit upsamples can be identified. We also test to make sure the freq extends to 1/2 the sampling frequency nyquist in order to identify they are not coming from lower resolution recordings (96khz will extend to 48khz nyquist)." Please review the attached graphic. The first picture is of the description of the tracks in the 2017 sampler. I downloaded it on the *last* day of the year 2017, so it has probably been downloaded thousands of times and its sound quality as perceived by its clients has convinced those thousands of audiophiles that it is as described above. Or, why else did they sign up and pay good money download tracks from it? The second picture is a FFT of the first track (Track 1) in the sampler. It is rather obviously slavishly upsampled from a 44 KHz file. The second file in the sampler is not pictured because despite being identified as a 24/96 FLAC, it is in fact a 44 KHz FLAC. The last FFT is a typical expanded view of that second file. Please note the rather obvious clipping. Now, just for grins look at this page and view the faces of the people who have brought this collection of files to you: https://www.hdtracks.com/about-us BTW this is by no means the extent of exceptional findings about this file collection. Check it out +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Filename: HDTracks Sampler 2017.jpg | |Download: http://forums.slimdevices.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=24290| +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ arnyk's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=64365 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=108499 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
