HDtracks download manager...

[jcaps]

So I contacted HDtracks initially asking for my money back due to problems I was having with inputting my password into the download manager, and following me reading about a number of other problems people were having.

 

HDtracks got back to me a day later. Seems it was human error (my human error) that was causing the problem. My username was registered with a capitol letter that I wasn't including in my login for the download manager. Once I included the capitalisation the DM worked. Funnily, I don't need to include the capitalisation when I log into the HDtracks website.

 

Anyhow, I haven't listed to the music yet (it's still downloading), but I'm really looking forward to it. I just wanted to be sure to point out HDtracks' speedy response to my problem, and that the DM seems to work fine with my system.

 

In pursuit of great music,

 

JCaps

 

[hifitubes]

There are issues with their system. 3 months ago, it drags and downloads stop and won't auto-resume.

 

It's been doing the same lockup behavior for me for the last 2 days.

 

WTF.

 

They are getting a premium from us, wish they would reciprocate in terms of bandwidth and a stable download procedure.

 

[machinehead]

They have had more than enough time to get this fixed, time to change their name to HD Hacks.....

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Guys - I just downloaded Jazz At The Pawnshop three "discs" at 24/88.2 with out any issues. I wish it worked this well for everyone.

 

I'm using Snow Leopard with all updates and the Chrome browser. Plus my Java is up to date and my Internet connection is very good.

 

[hifitubes]

I downloaded that one too. I rebooted, and that helped. Still, a pain.

 

On windows it seems it is not a browser specific tool, but listed as a

 

Java TM Web Start Launcher.

 

I had about 5 albums total; guess a fresh boot is order ( at least on Windows).

 

[aamefford]

I downloaded 4 albums Day before yesterday. It hung the previous evening. I closed download manager and my browser - Safari I think??? Could have been firefox. Anyway, restarted download, and everything was there when I got home from work.

 

2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo, OS X 10.5.8, 4 GB Ram.

 

My only experience to date - glitchy, but it worked.

 

[indirstr8s]

The hdtracks download experience depends a lot on the ISP that is being used. Initially I used to have a lot of problems with a particular ISP viz Hdtracks downloading but with another ISP it goes through, eventually.

 

IMO the hdtracks downloading sucks even when it does not hang...

a) Very slow.

b) No way to modify the download order.

c) The Pause and resume doe not work.

d) Restarts downloading from the beginning of the file in case of on interruption.

 

Would have been great if just the download links are provided instead of being forced to use the HDtracks java based downloader. Hope somebody at the HDtracks listens.

 

By the way I am also downloading the Jazz at the pawnshop. How is the sound quality compared to the XRCD?

 

[cbdenco]

This is my first and LAST time using HDTracks. The worst experience I've had using an internet "store". Of course it could be my wireless network (n) with a throughput of 300Mbps in the dedicated 5GHz band (not). HDTracks~ a good idea with the poorest implementation in the history of earth. What a joke! I hope you enjoy my $15 HDTracks! Buyer beware!

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi cbdenco - Your wireless network is one very small piece of the puzzle. It would be great if we could narrow down where the problem is at.

 

Where are you physically located in the world?

What OS version ate you using?

What Java version are you using?

 

[cbdenco]

Hi Chris, Thanks for the reply. Yes, I realize that the wireless network is one small piece of the puzzle. And, while some problems may be on the end users side of the equation, it seems to me, that more than likely, the problem lies with HDtracks, given the number of complaints I've been reading. Their customer service is MIA. Which is unacceptable in this day and age. I get my emails on my iphone within minutes of them being sent. They are selling a premium product at a premium price. Great customer service should be a no brainer.

Why they choose to use their own lame java based download manager is a mystery?

Since they advertise on your site, perhaps you can alert them in a more direct manner as to the extreme dissatisfaction of a number of your readers.

As for me, I am located in suburban Denver, Colorado. My ISP is Comcast Cable, I'm using Mac OS X Ver. 10.6.4 on a Mac Mini with 4GB of ram. I assume I have the latest java, since Apple handles their own updates.

I'm not sure where HDtracks is located, but using Speedtest.net, from me to Atlanta, GA, I get a download speed of nearly 22 Mbps. Yet, according to Menumeters, the highest download speed I observed trying download my album was around 650Kbps! Not even 1Mbps! And, the connection dropped continuously, such that, I restarted their download manager 27 times over a period of about 28 hours.

What I see here, is an opportunity for some new company to offer dependable HiRez downloads to a starving computer audiophile community. Should one surface they will leave HDtracks in the preverbal dust. Until then, I'll keep waiting and watching, because HDtracks has received the last red penny that they'll ever see from me.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Thanks for the information.

 

Whenever I read about these issues on the site I always talk directly with HDtracks about them.

 

Your system should work perfect with the download manager. Speaking of the download manager, I can assure you HDtracks has to satisfy all the big labels and the download manager satisfies some requirements. It has to do specific things foe security of the content etc... Trust me HDtracks would like things to be as easy as possible for everyone.

 

That said, have you checked your OS X log for any telltale signs of a problem during the download?

 

 

[mfaoro]

I hate that a rant is my first post (I think)but I have to agree that HDtracks needs to get its act together.

 

My first experience resulted in 2 weeks of fiddling and failing: 'slow' downloader, different systems (OSx Snow Leopard with all updates, Win 7 on three different up-to-date machines), different locations (North Bend, WA and Redmond, WA), resetting modems, routers).

 

All this work was to no avail. HDtracks had to put the music on an open folder on their server so I could grab it via normal HTTP.

 

This weekend I downloaded their sampler with no problem so I decided to try again. Same experience as above. I even flattened my system and started over - still no HDtracks. They gave me money back which is too bad because I would rather have had the music.

 

The fact remains that several other download services work 100% of the time on my systems. One shouldnt have to look at obscure logs on their system to figure out what is wrong - thats HDtracks job.

 

Its possible to develop a download manager that will work and HDtracks has some serious work to do.

 

Michael

 

ps. I have talked to HDtracks extensively via e-mail. They really have no idea whats going on...hence putting music on open server the last time I bought music from them. They also do not read your e-mails until you get really irate - they just send you the 'have you tried resetting this..form letter.

 

 

 

[Forehaven]

I too have had problems with the Download manager. It won't recognize my ext. fw drive where store my music. Spent at least a week with emails with HD Tracks, and they had no idea what was causing it or fixes. I had to use my G5 running Tiger as I simply put it on it's internal drive....then I copied that over to my fw drive. I was using a Macbook Pro, Snow Leopard, all updated software incl java and a very good wireless connection. I won't be using HD Tracks again till they fix or eliminate the DL manager.

 

 

 

[airdronian]

I'm afraid I can't offer much assistance. I've had a few downloads from them and all were fine. I do prefer to use a wired pc for the download as the wireless to upstairs can be a bit dodgy at times.

 

It can be difficult to pin down the causes for these things. I have a cable internet provider, and when trying to watch some training videos a while back they would hang and quit, making it impossible to get thru a chapter. This with a connection that was supposed to give 25 Mbps downloads.

 

I ended up with 2nd or 3rd tier support and they found that at the times when I would be trying to watch these videos the network was oversubscribed in our area causing the problem. They actually couldn't deliver the 25 Mbps speeds, it would require an infrastructure upgrade on their part. So we sorted that out - I downgraded the service to 15 Mbps and got local copies of the videos from work.

 

So it's not always easy to find out what the root cause of a problem is. Is it the ISP ? Possibly. Is it the Download Manager ? Possibly. Is it your antivirus? Is it your Java install ? Maybe. Do check the version you have installed against what HD Tracks warns you about. You may also want to try uninstalling Java and reinstalling a fresh copy from Sun/Oracle for whatever operating system you are using.

 

In my opinion if it were a bug with the Download Manager itself that causes the dropouts, it should affect all of us. More likely it is one or more variables that are causing issues for some users. That doesn't help those having problems however.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[breadvan]

couldn't help but noticing the continual problems listed here, so may be a premature conclusion .. ongoing issues with little progress ?

 

I believe HDTracks faces the same technical challenges as other online download stores, but my experience with say Linn was just light years ahead, of course, some would say it is my problem, not HDTracks .... Again it is a real pity, with the excellent catalogues that it has.

 

 

[mfaoro]

I dont agree.

 

I downloaded the HDtracks free sampler in less than a minute using their download manager. I think their user authentication/payment validation code is probably at fault.

 

I have tried wired and wireless at home. I have tried it at work on three different systems. We basically sit on the internet .

 

I have an entirely up-to-date system with the most recent Java install, no antivirus on the mac. As I said above, I spent two weeks doing everything HDtracks asked me to do.

 

But regardless of all that, the HDtracks download manager user experience SUCKS for a large number of people when other companies download managers work fine. Blaming that bad user experience on the nuances of home networking only goes so far.

 

We are not trying to install a server for goodness sakes - we are just trying to buy some music. Something we have all done repeatedly without problems from Itunes, Linn, etc. The customer expectation that this should be an easy task is not unreasonable.

 

If it is in fact the home networks causing the problem then HDtracks needs to make the software more robust and resist to network problems.

 

Case in point, I have downloaded over eight 24/192 albums from Linn with zero trouble. Those are a lot bigger files yet Linn's download manager works flawlessly.

 

Michael

 

[Bob Stern]

Tony Lauck solved his speed problems with the Linn download manager by increasing the TCP Window Size parameter in Windows. Perhaps this tweak also would help with HD Tracks.

http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/pcaudio/messages/8/80071.html

 

However, this site says such TCP tuning is mostly unnecessary in Mac OS X and Windows Vista:

http://fasterdata.es.net/TCP-tuning/background.html

 

Of course, nothing will help if HD Tracks server is overloaded.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

It may also have something to do with HDtracks use of Amazon S3 to store and distribute files behind the scenes. S3 is an awesome way to do things, in fact all the images/videos/audio here on CA use S3 & Cloudfront, but I wonder if it has something to do with download issues once in a while from HDtracks.

 

[Lars]

I have found that my firewall Zone Alarm blocks the download manager. Once I adjust this, all is well.

 

[hifitubes]

Are you talking about disabling your firewall, or making some kind of exception rule?

 

 

 

 

[Lars]

The level of security can be adjusted. No big deal to turn it off for the download as an alternative. I'm running Win 7.

 

[hifitubes]

I run NOD32 A/V on my machine, while it is "net" protection, it is not a software firewall. Windows 7 x64.

 

A reboot fixed my issues.

 

Either way, their system is wonky as S#!^.

 

[Forehaven]

HDTracks eliminated firewalls, java (I copied and emailed them the java commands once the Downloader was opened) and no matter what, the Downloader never recognized my ext. fw drive. I agree, this shouldn't be rocket science, it's just downloading a file for goodness sake.... And the fact that so many of us are continuously having problems that HD Tracks apparently doesn't seem to care to address concerns me. Just my opinion.

 

[gcorley]

I seem to remember another user having troubles when using an external drive? Might this be an issue? Anyone have difficulties downloading to an internal drive?

 

[wideopenvista]

Mac OS X 10.6.4 with latest Java on both a Mac Pro (early 2008) and Macbook Pro 2.33Ghz. Downloads cut out on both wired and wireless connections using Airport Extreme router. No problems with any other websites, including music downloads from Linn and iTunes. I watch movies using Apple TV all the time (Netflix streaming). Never cuts out. Have a 25 megabit broadband cable connection with very good grounding (just had major electrical upgrade to the house completed last spring) to specifically address cable and satellite grounding.

 

I must have restarted my download for a single Ella Fitzgerald album now at least 30 times.

 

Whoever is making excuses for HDtracks stop it. I had this exact problem a few months ago. And just like one of the others, I contacted them. They acted *surprised* that this could be happening, as if it were some rare thing. And all the while, unbeknownst to me you all were making comments. And for every comment here, you know many more are experiencing this problem and contacting them (or attempting to). Straight up, no sugar coating: they have a problem, they've known about it, they lie about it and 9 months later it's still going on.

 

Speaking as a software developer and systems consultant: nothing takes this long unless the ownership doesn't want to pony up $$ to solve it. That's the cold hard truth, folks. This would be over if they'd hire someone who knows what they are doing. But those folks are not cheap and they don't use friggin Java. Guess they miscalculated their business plan up front. Seen it happen before. They thought they could do it on the cheap and then it ended up costing them big time to troubleshoot it and now they have no reserves to solve the problem. They're as good as dead at this point until they get a cash infusion. Don't be their cash infusion, please! I recommend people use: Linn, iTrax, Hyperion (notice the lack of Mickey Mouse client-side downloaders!).