Article: Van Halen Studio Albums 1978-1984 High Resolution 24 Bit / 192 kHz Download

[vigotone]

Can someone tell me exactly how big the 24/192 FLACs are? I want to make sure I have room!

[The Computer Audiophile]

Can someone tell me exactly how big the 24/192 FLACs are? I want to make sure I have room!

From the review, "I opted for the 24/192 download, containing 8 GB of FLAC files. Thirteen minutes later I had all sixty tracks on my desktop."

[vigotone]

Thanks. Do you know offhand the exact download size? I'm squeezing here!

[The Computer Audiophile]

Thanks. Do you know offhand the exact download size? I'm squeezing here!

About 7.9999 GB

[vigotone]

Ha! Ok, thanks!

[Somsak]

I thought the gain on the HD Tracks was lower? I used the audio tools sound pressure meter on my iPad and listened to some of the HD Tracks vs. cd rips at 90 db. I'm pretty sure I needed to turn up the volume on the HD Tracks cuts to level match???

 

If you are talking about the first album (Van Halen I) then maybe you are comparing against a rip from the 2000 remasters rather than against of a rip of the originally issued CD. What DR figures are you getting on your CD rip?

[MarkS]

I don't know how to measure the dynamic range. I think I have the original cd and yes, it is VH 1.

[j20056]

Not to steal the thread, but what is the view about FLAC versus native WAV? Cookie Marenco is very strongly opposed to FLAC. Before HDTracks offered native WAV, I used to expand the FLAC permanently to WAV, but now I download WAV directly to hopefully avoid FLAC altogether.

What is the view here?

[Somsak]

I don't know how to measure the dynamic range. I think I have the original cd and yes, it is VH 1.

 

The "album" replay gain value for the original CD of Van Halen I is -2.26db. On the HDTracks version it is -2.50 db, meaning that on average the HDTracks version is 0.24dB louder. THat same roughly quater dB differential exists on every track.

 

Probably the easiest way to measure the DR is with the plug-in for foobar2000. Another way to determine whether your CD is an original or a remaster is to check to see if it is HDCD enocoded. The 2000 reissues were HDCD encoded, earlier versions (including the 1998 DCC reissue) were not.

[Somsak]

Not to steal the thread, but what is the view about FLAC versus native WAV? Cookie Marenco is very strongly opposed to FLAC. Before HDTracks offered native WAV, I used to expand the FLAC permanently to WAV, but now I download WAV directly to hopefully avoid FLAC altogether.

What is the view here?

 

Same beer in a different bottle.

[Julf]

Not to steal the thread, but what is the view about FLAC versus native WAV?

 

I don't think we want to have Yet Another Discussion on that. There are lots of threads with flame wars about it already. As a storage format, both are lossless and bit perfect. FLAC has better standardised handling of tags. When playing the files, there could in theory be small differences in the sound due to the processing work caused by the FLAC decoding, but I have not seen any verifiable test results showing any differences. I have seen some measurements showing differences in network streamers caused by the additional network load caused by the WAV.

 

And, by the way, WAV is no more "native" than any other format.

[Boris75]

I don't think we want to have Yet Another Discussion on that. There are lots of threads with flame wars about it already. As a storage format, both are lossless and bit perfect. FLAC has better standardised handling of tags. When playing the files, there could in theory be small differences in the sound due to the processing work caused by the FLAC decoding, but I have not seen any verifiable test results showing any differences. I have seen some measurements showing differences in network streamers caused by the additional network load caused by the WAV.

 

And, by the way, WAV is no more "native" than any other format.

 

You summed it up very nicely. I join you in hoping that we'll be spared another flame war on this matter.

[The Computer Audiophile]

There will be no discussion about file formats in this thread.

[jmall]

Hi Folks,

 

I have to preface this review with the fact that this is one release I have been waiting FOREVER for (so expectations and all that). I even asked HDTracks for it waaay back when. Yeah yeah, I know that some releases haven't been up to snuff. But I ponied up for the 24/192 version and here's my take...

 

I have original CDs from the 80s, vinyl from the 80s and very recent vinyl (like 1-2 years) (my vinyl system being no slouch either) and after having time to listen to all of it, these are by far the best copies I have. To be honest, at first I thought these were kinda "light" and "thin". But after having listened for a few days I can truly say that they're more "correct" and even make me want to listen more. To me, I seem to hear more of what they were trying to convey with the recording and performance. Mind you, there is bias here. VH is my favourite band. So I will probably like anything. But I have been listened to (up to) 24/192 for almost 2 years now and I hear nothing here which makes me think this is a veiled copy.

 

Now I'm not a measurement hound. I don't want to be (that's why I spend exorbitant amounts of my hardware - let the engineers figure it out). I use my faulty ears. And you guys might say that this doesn't mean anything. But as a FAN I can tell you they're great. And if you have a choice I'd recommend spending the dough for the highest res. You won't be disappointed.

 

Best,

 

Jeff

[Archimago]

I just got 3 albums the other day - VH, VH II, and 1984 in 24/192 - good memories of high school :-)

 

In retrospect, I think 24/96 would have been enough and in fact likely preferable for a number of reasons.

 

1. No need to have those high frequency spikes around 50kHz. These are old analogue recordings and the peaks are likely just tape bias.

2. During playback, there's really no music-related frequency >35kHz.

3. Most DAC's function better around 24/96 anyways.

4. Nothing wrong with 50% storage reduction.

[MarkS]

I'm going to start a new thread about the above comment that "Most DAC's function better around 24/96"

 

I don't get that statement, but it's not appropriate for this VH thread.

[Lowlands]

....I opted for the 24/192 download, containing 8 GB of FLAC files. Thirteen minutes later I had all sixty tracks on my desktop..

 

That is some 'pipe' you have there Chris... 8Gb in 13 minutes ... That's over 10Mb/sec DL speed. I'm on 100Mb fiber and don't make those numbers......

[The Computer Audiophile]

That is some 'pipe' you have there Chris... 8Gb in 13 minutes ... That's over 10Mb/sec DL speed. I'm on 100Mb fiber and don't make those numbers......

 

I have 105 Mbps copper. I can't live without it now. Here's a speed test from this morning.

 

[stevebythebay]

That is some 'pipe' you have there Chris... 8Gb in 13 minutes ... That's over 10Mb/sec DL speed. I'm on 100Mb fiber and don't make those numbers......

 

Speed is often more about the outbound server pipes and server usage than the receiving end. And for sites that live and die by delivering video in particular they'd sure a hell better have the bandwidth and server support (lots of processors, CPU threads, I/O platters, and network speed and bandwidth) to deliver the goods.

[Julf]

And for sites that live and die by delivering video in particular they'd sure a hell better have the bandwidth and server support (lots of processors, CPU threads, I/O platters, and network speed and bandwidth) to deliver the goods.

 

And I guess that is why many of them use dedicated content delivery networks such as Akamai or Limelight.

[FatherMurphy]

Hello.

Just wanted to throw in my 2cents

I grabbed these as soon as they came out (192kHz 24bit in AIFF)

 

I did something I'm sure is the equivalent of sacrilege on this site...I imported those files into Adobe Audition and I resampled them at 48kHz 24bit (i know, i know). Then I imported them into my iPhone. This allows me to listen to 48kHz/24bit AIFF files while on the go,

I have a pair of Shure sm535 earbuds, and this is how I have been listening to the albums constantly since downloading & importing them.

 

So...keeping all the above in mind,

I think these albums are Brilliant.

At first I was taken back at the difference in sound between the HDCD remastered discs from 2000 and these.

The site declared they struck these transfers from the original EQ studio masters, and being familiar with these albums, I knew these sounded very much like my original discs that I bought back in the 80's.

But that worried me, mostly because I'm not overly familiar with HDtracks, and I worried, like some of you have stated, that these HDtracks were simply the sourced from the 44,100kHz, 16bit sound files and resampled at 192khz/24bit by HDtracks.

 

I loaded every single track into Adobe Audition, resampled at 48

 

I agree with one of the above comments who stated that Fair Warning is a bit suspect. It doesn't sound as crisp to me, as detailed. Especially when you compare it to the other albums.

 

I also notice that the end of woman and children , right after in a simple rhyme...the audio fades out ...and it shouldn't.

 

Otherwise, the high (and low) frequency present in these albums is incredible. I keep hearing vocals, instruments, little snippets of detail ....either Dave or Michael Anthony, or EDDIE rocking out....drum sticks being put down after a song ends, dialogue I never, ever heard before in these tracks...& no exaggeration, I've been listening to these tracks /albums on everything from the 45's of Jump/House Of Pain to vinyl (we used to call them records) tapes & cd's since 1984 when I was 10 years old.

 

I know they officially remastered these albums, and I didn't realize they suffered from the loudness war until i compared them with these.

 

These are beautiful sounding albums people, faithful to the original albums,

I'm blaring Woman And Children First as I write this.

 

Well done in my opinion.

 

Ps

This is a great site.

[Boris75]

Here is an Adobe Audition spectrogram of House of Pain. There is what looks like normal HF content up until 96kHz, but it is mixed with strange peaks.

 

[Phil C]

I share some of the skepticism about the pedigree of hi-res downloads and believe in the adage "trust, but verify." Hoping for a new product tracking system and getting the music powers that be to participate would be nice but that is a long shot. What I rely on today are hi-res reviews from reviewers I trust, such as this review by Chris. Yes, it would be nice to know the pedigree, but it's also very important to know that a hi-res download is worth it because it sounds significantly better than the original.

 

Unfortunately, there are too few of these reviews anywhere. I've seen some in Absolute Sound by Alan Taffel and others that are most welcome but represent a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of hi-res offerings going to market.

 

A positive review by a trusted reviewer of a hi-res album of music you like, man that's like winning a trifecta. Just doesn't happen often enough does it? Let's encourage our favorite hi-fi editors to get busy by asking them for more hi-res reviews.

[Julf]

A positive review by a trusted reviewer of a hi-res album of music you like, man that's like winning a trifecta. Just doesn't happen often enough does it? Let's encourage our favorite hi-fi editors to get busy by asking them for more hi-res reviews.

 

That's why I like "Hi-Fi News & Record Review" - they have made it standard procedure to publish spectrum plots and a technical review along with the subjective revaluation of every hi-res download they review.

[Eric Ventura]

Seems like some others felt the same way about Fair Warning (my favorite VH album)

 

HDTracks: Fair Warning | Metal-Fi Rant

 

I wanted to buy the HDTracks versions, as my old 80's vintage CDs are having issues playing lately...but I'm tempted to just save my money and pick up Fair Warning CD on eBay for $6.

 

If HDTracks continues to put our questionable tracks, then I can't justify spending my money with them. I shouldn't have to research to see if my favorites albums are upsampled fakery.