HDtracks download manager...

[mr macgee]

I'm having the very same problems. I appreciate any help, I have read all the posts and fix it's above.

 

Mine is a little more complicated as I ordered several different pieces of music, FLAC & AIFF.

 

This the first time I used HDtracks, everything went smoothly with the order and when it came to downloading, the first two pieces in the download list downloaded no problem. The first one was a AIFF was "Worried Life Blues" by Corey Harris (sounds awesome), the second was a PDF of the art work for a Mozart album.

 

The third piece was the Mozart album/bundle which in FLAC and this is where the problem begins, the other FLAC's following the Mozart are the Kinks and Ottmar Liebert. I'm only having problems with the FLAC files download, they always hang. I have rebooted many times (computer and network), my apple software is up to date, my cable broadband is fast approx: 15-20MB/sec, I've tried at least 10 times and still nothing. Very Frustrating!

 

But here's where it gets fun, when I try to email them about the problem using the only way you can is with there contact page, I fill it out and send: my messages gets blocked and I get a message on my screen that there firewall has blocked my message and that I'm suppose to report the file number and report it to the administrator. Well I can't exactly even do that can I.

They have no phone number, email address or mailing address listed which I always find is in very bad form for a website and makes me loose considerable confidence as being a solid company. I know this website is founded by the Chesky brothers of Chesky Records but I just wished it was more polished in delivering product and proper customer service.

 

Sorry for the gripe, I just spent a lot of money and for the time being I only got one song and having to spend extra energy to recover items I already paid for.

 

Just hope there's a resolution to be had soon, for my sake and the others.

 

Cheers,

 

Macgee

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Macgee - Sorry to hear about your experience. One thing I've found when using contact forms on other website is to avoid putting links in the form. Web software can be setup to reject all incoming messages with links because that's a trademark of spammers. I'm not sure if you tried to send them a link to anything, but if you did I suggest sending the message without a link.

 

Just a thought.

 

[mr macgee]

Hi Chris,

 

Thanks for the note. No link was included, the only thing I included other than letters were numbers of the purchase order.

 

I tried downloading on a different computer and a different connection with the same results.

 

I'll keep persevering, I have to admit that the Corey Harris track "Worried Life Blues" that I downloaded sounded very nice.

 

I'll post if they get back to me or I find a solution.

 

I must say that I can't remember in the recent years that I had this much trouble strictly downloading files. I have since downloaded several different files of software today from different sources without any problems. The HDtracks downloader is still hanging.

 

[mr macgee]

Download completed but not after a bit of work.

 

I'm not completely sure what went wrong or where the problem is. I tried on three different computers and three different internet services, only one worked. I could not get the download to complete on three different computers without hanging on two different cable internet services, whether I was connected hardwire or wireless. The third option tried was to use my laptop that I originally had problems with and plugged in a nifty Mvix Solido Wireless-N 300mbps USB Adapter w/ 5dbi antenna that I use for hard to reach far away wireless networks while traveling. There's a wireless network down the street that is not password protected and although the signal was weak, it did manage while I was sleeping to complete the transfer. This is a solution I do not prefer nor does I suspect my unknowingly neighbor.

 

The only difference was the connection that worked was on a DSL service and the other two that did not work was on two separate cable internet services. Using my USB wireless adapter on the cable networks also did not work .

 

I'm not going to play the blaming game because there are so many different variables to contend with but I will say I'm not eager to download anymore files from HDtracks till a better more robust method is in place. Not to mention a better customer service system.

 

Sorry for the long boring post but only in hopes that this will be useful to someone or to HDtracks.

 

Cheers,

 

Conrad

 

PS. The music sounds wonderful, finally.

 

[Mike in MD]

Hi, to include some positive results I can say that I have had great responses from HighDefTapeTransfers.com and from Itrax.com. I have had two occasions to email Itrax and one with HighDef. All three were on weekends and in each case (as best I can remember) I received a response within about eight hours. Good people to work with!!

 

Mike

 

[Phil Townsend]

I have been trying to download 3 albums... The system has stalled and will not deliver the goods. I have eMail them...But alas, no reply... Also no PHONE Number! to me that in it's self is a problem. Its a very helpless feeling.

I have a high speed connection (10 MBS or better)

Mac OS 10.6.3

 

 

[Phil Townsend]

Dear Mr. Townsend,

 

Thank you for your order on HDtracks. We are sorry to hear that you are having problems with your download. There may be a number of reasons for this. First, please try closing and then relaunching the download manager (you can relaunch the download manager by clicking on the red Resume Download link). If that does not work, please try rebooting the computer as well. If this does now work either, please check the following:

 

- If you are on a wireless connection, please try a wired connection.

- Please make sure that you have enough space left on your hard drive.

- Please try resetting the modem and/or your router as well.

- If you are on a Mac with Boot Camp installed, please try using the Windows partition to see if this helps

 

You can also try this version of the download manager which downloads the files in smaller chunks than our regular download manager:

 

http://www.hdtracks.com/hdtracks.slow.jnlp

 

Please click on this or save the file to your computer and double click it to launch.

 

We apologize for the inconvenience. Please let us know if this helps.

 

Sincerely,

The HDtracks Team

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Guys - I just talked to HDtracks on the phone. This topic did come up in the conversation. I can assure you the people at HDtracks really do take this serious.

 

 

The HDtracks office is buzzing today because of the new catalogs just announced. High resolution music from the Concord Group, Stax, Hear Music, Prestige, Heads Up etc... Plus, more great stuff coming in the next couple weeks. They said new music from these labels will be added continuously.

 

 

Note: HDTracks had nothing to do with me posting this info. I'm excited about it and want to let everyone know. Plus, I think people should know HDtracks is listening to customers and is aware of the issues discusses above. Could they communicate with customers a bit better? Certainly.

 

 

[machinehead]

New music is not going to do them much good if they cannot elevate the frustration of this download issue. I have not been back since having my issue. Their second issue is slow response time to emails. Having technical problems is normal in this day and age, but not responding promptly to customers when you do is unacceptable.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi machinehead - I'm with you on the communication issue. It could be improved

 

[Phil Townsend]

OK I got my 3 albums. Good show.

I rebooted the mac and restarted the download. It downloaded all from start to finish.

Yes it took awhile but thats ok.

So, If I download more (yes I will) I'll do it in the middle of the night when the ethers are a bit more quiet.

Love this high res stuff...Way mo better.

 

Now to get itunes and PM to play flac files... Haven't tried yet so not sure how that will shake out.

 

What I bought:

 

Edith Piaf....

 

Robert Plant Alison Krauss... Raising Sand

 

Pizza Tapes (I have that in 16.44.1 and played it back with PM running at 24/192... sounds even better. So it will be of intrest to me, to see how that shapes up at 24/88 native, up sampled by PM to 24/192.

 

Off topic:Kinda:

Thinking about doing a power supply upgrade to the Lynx Aurora. They Might fit inside. And as you all know.... You can never be to rich or have to big of a PS.

 

 

 

[mr macgee]

Still haven't heard back from HDtracks.com. I sent emails to [email protected] & [email protected] on 3/30 and still no response yet.

 

While I would like to download more music, I'm afraid I'm going to have to find other sources. The more I think about it the more I feel I don't want to give my money to HDtacks until to have a proven record and feedback. I know I wouldn't buy audio gear again from a company or person that is having the same problems and not communicating.

 

No one would ever survive on Audiogon, eBay or Amazon if they didn't deliver product properly or didn't communicate in a friendly & timely manner.

 

Cheers,

 

Macgee

 

PS. I'm still pretty excited about getting more of these HD recordings, they really shine in my system compared to my regular recordings. Thanks above Mike about mentioning HighDefTapeTransfers.com and Itrax.com, I'll check them out.

 

 

[Kippyy]

Have had no problems downloading from HD tracks in the past...same computer/wiring..etc

Purchased 24/96 album last nite and stops after downloading the liner notes

Tried all the fixes above..no help.

Unless something changes, I feel duped and ripped off unless I get a refund

I was really optimistic about this site as a source of immediate hi-res albums

Very disappointed...

 

[mr macgee]

Hi Barry,

 

Sorry to hear about the problems. I know you tried all the above but may I suggest restarting your computer and using this link: http://www.hdtracks.com/hdtracks.slow.jnlp, make sure you have the password for your order handy to copy and paste when they ask for it in order to continue. Also make sure the directory your saving it into does not have any of the older files your tired downloading. Download it into a clean empty folder that has enough space for all the new files your downloading. We shouldn't have to go through all this.

 

The biggest irony of all this, I was so concerned about dealing and hassling with FLAC files that I resisted for quite a while but that's been the easy part so far, the downloading has been the biggest hassle.

 

Good luck

 

 

PS> I have also posted on Audiogon to see if anyone over there would have any solutions, nothing yet but you may want to keep an eye on it. http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?gmusi&1270177720&&&/Problems-downloading-from-HDtracks-com

 

[Kippyy]

Was downloading 24;96 In Sessions by Albert King/Stevie Ray Vaughan last nite....about half way thru download, process aborted, and only the first 5 songs made it into the My HD Tracks Music Folder. Later, I repeated the download, and after 3-4 hours, the HD Tracks download manager reported download was complete. Yet, when I check the HD Tracks music folder(which is the designated site for downloads to be found), I can only find the aborted version, ie 1st 5 songs. When I try to delete these songs, I;'m unable to do so. Tried searching the Mac Mini via spotlight for the later songs on the album, and come up empty.

Any ideas, as to why HD Tracks says the download is complete, yet I cant find it? I'm now left with a partial album.

Thanks.

 

[breadvan]

The saga continues, 4 hours with only one 24/96 track, OK, make it one and a half, and that is today, which means none of the concerns mentioned above have been attended to.

 

With all these negative user experience, to me at least, it is almost certain that the problem lies with HDTracks and not users not knowing how to install the latest java, different OS, browsers and what not. The download, or more precisely, the download speed is horrible and embarrassing for a company that survives partly on bandwidth, 4 hours with around 200MB? Come on HDTracks, don’t blame the outside world or inexperienced users please!

 

Great product but bad service is what I can sum up with, and I have recommended so many times to my friends to try HDTracks out, OMG ;(

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi breadvan - What part of the world are you downloading from?

 

[gcorley]

I downloaded a couple of albums over the weekend. It did take quite a while (3 or 4 hours each), but was completely hiccup free. BTW - I'm in Brazil. Mac/Snow Leopard/Java up-to-date.

 

 

[breadvan]

Updates: I left my office with the download manager marching on, returned home and started another instance to see if it makes any difference and yes it did, as slow as it was, two 24/96 albums were downloaded in about 8 hours. When I got back to my office this morning, the manager was frozen.

 

Interesting thing is my office connection is soooo much faster than that at home and can download a 94MB x64 iTunes in under 15 seconds !

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi breadvan - Apple is setup for downloads all over the globe, HDtracks is not. What part of the world are you in?

 

[breadvan]

Hi Chris,

 

I am from Hong Kong, excited about highres download but still think if HDTracks is in a business that heavily dependent upon bandwidth, they should do something about it, as reflected by other comments other than mine. Otherwise HDTracks’ highres music collection is second to none in my opinion.

 

Raymond

 

[rossop]

I live in Australia and have had no probs downloading with broadband ADSL.I only realised it was a US only site after my first download! I thought it might have been because I paid with PayPal.

We don't have very fast broadband here and although it can take a while I have had very few problems with them. The few times I made enquiries they helped me out ok. In the beginning I could not get a flac file to work and they let me do the aiff download at no extra charge. Cant complain at all.

 

[jerico]

If you're on OSX, try disabling the built-in firewall (sys prefs -> security -> firewall). I had the same problem with the stalling downloads, and this worked for me.

 

[jcaps]

I tried to purchase a 24/96 album from HDtracks today but the download manager wouldn't recognize my password. I tried using the help, but that didn't work.

 

I then checked out the computeraudiophile forum to see if there was any help here, only to find a barrage of problems identified with the downloads.

 

I decided it was more of a hassle then it was worth, so I've asked for my money back.

 

Seems like pretty bad business when an already limited niche market (i.e. HD music) is cut down even further by IT problems.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

[gcorley]

I actually had my first (minor) difficulty last night. Since I'd always paid by PayPal, I had never been asked to fill in my location data (address, ZIP, ...). My download wouldn't go ahead until I'd filled in the required fields (being from Brazil, I decided to fib a little as not to lose my download privileges).

 

All in all, still quite satisfied with the service!