Goodbye CD's

Well Pdn..yes there have been downloads with higher resolution than MP3 for some time now. And it is growing by the day.

Are high rez files on par with CDs bought in store?..Yes.
In some cases they have more resolution than a store bought CD.

For example, you can download a CD quality file in Flac.The file sizes vary depending on the sample rates and recording lengths.

We'll use the "Just like a woman - hymn to Nina" by Barb Jungr download from Linn records as a reference.

Let's say you have a standard redbook CD of this recording. That's 16 bit 44.1 kHz. That file size is 293.00 MB. The Studio Master sampling rate of this file is 24 bit 88.2 kHz.The file size of that same recording is 1,053.1 MB.

So as you can see we have a downloaded recording that is more than 3 times the size of a store bought red book CD.
After all a standard CD will only hold up to 700 MBs of information.

Just as the difference in sound between MP3s and red book are undeniable. The same goes with red book verses the Studio Master.

A downloaded Studio Master or Hi Rez is similar to 2 channel SACD.


Here's a few sites you can look over.Try some of the samples on both sites. Even with basic computer speakers you can hear the difference in quality.

Itrax
Linn Records
Here's a totally free site of thousands of live recordings from venues all over the country.Some of the recordings are HiRez as well.
Etree.org.

I can't remember the last time I bought a cd in a store. I once or twice bought one in Best Buys but typically buy 100 or so on the internet. I could care less whether local music stores go the way of local audio dealers.

Gmood1, thanks for a nice thorough posting. I do think that high definition downloads will ultimately satisfy those who cannot stand MP3s. The is even some rumbling about 192/24 downloads, although I hate to think of how long such downloads might take. I have heard some 192/24 performances on a server; it would be worth the time to get them on my server.

Updating Gmood1's list, here are a few more websites currently offering either high resolution or lossless standard resolution for download. Some are wma only (but convertible to wav via software such as dBPowerAmp), others are flac, some aiff, many have user-selectable formats.
highdeftapetransfers.com
hdtracks.com
musicgiants.com
itrax.com
chandos.net
linnrecords.com
gimell.com
magnatune.com

In addition, many bands, orchestras, and indie artists have high quality downloads at their sites. A few such bands are listed at the sourceforge website for flac:
flac.sourceforge.net

If you know of others please add to the list.

I haven't bought a CD in a physical store for quite some time, so I can't say I'm surprised. My listening is 95% classical, and there are no stores near me that have ever had a selection that went past "Best 50 Romantic Classical Hits of All Time" and Beethoven anthologies from the god-awful early days of digital. H&B has been my sole source of music for years.

I went to HD music source about 1.5 years ago and have never looked back. So convienet, so nice!