Best sounding hi-res downloads to use at a high-end audio salon

[crisnee]

"Great music will sound great on a boombox, just like a great movie will be great on a B&W television with a mono speaker," is the boombox reference I was referring to.

 

And I realize this is somewhat off topic, although someone did refer to bringing poor recordings to the salon (which, by the way, is what reminded me of this issue).

 

So, if a few others feel this is inappropriate here, I will delete it--no problem, or Chris, the boss can, if my edit function is disabled--as it is at times.

 

-Chris

 

[ted_b]

to the studio does not mean to infer they will sound great on a great system....it means they will show warts and those warts are well known by the listener...so there are cues and references points, and will give the listener an idea of the full spectrum of the equipment is capable of. Juts as I said you'd want to test drive a car on poor roads as well as good ones.

 

I stick by my idea that any discussion outside of hirez eval music to bring to a salon ought to be a new thread, especially one as different, but relevant, as yours (about should poor recordings sound great on better systems).

 

[Kimo]

The HD Tracks 24/96 download of "Waltz for Debby" is excellent, though I could imagine the 24/192 might be superior. I preferred it to the AP Gold Cd and the AP SACD, and preferred the download.

 

I also preferred the 24/96 HD Tracks releases of "A Love Supreme" and "Saxophone Colossus" over their domestic SACD counterparts, but the recordings aren't quite so lively. The Beatles 24/44.1 USB best all other digital copies that I have heard, but it is not a download, though it is certainly easy to load.

 

[audiozorro]

using the method described by ted_b, you should also consider vinyl which can be digitized to 24/192 or DSD128.

 

You may well find the LP versions of Waltz for Debby, A Love Supreme, and Saxophone Colossus when digitized to sound much better than the commercial digital offerings.

 

And with SACDs and DVD-As, the multichannel mixes usually sound much better than the stereo mixes.

 

Here's a commentary on some Sony reissues:

 

http://www.rdf.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/SACDReissues/SACDs.htm

 

[Kimo]

Actually, I burned the files to a DVD-A, and compared them all on the same player, and through that player to a reasonably high end DAC. The exceptions were the SACDs, since I could not use the DAC with them. I am not set up to handle vinyl any longer, so needle drops are a no go.