News

Acoustic Sounds Launches "Super HiRez" High Resolution Digital Download Website

Michael Fremer  |  Sep 20, 2013

Leveraging its catalog of licensed title and self-produced SACDs, Acoustic Sounds has launched a high resolution digital download site that will allow customers to download their choice of DSD (Super Audio CD), FLAC files at 176/24, 88/24 or ALAC files at 88/24 bit resolution.

The site has gone "live" with many choices you probably already own on AAA LPs including Shelby Lynne's Just a Little Lovin, Counting Crows August and Everything After and titles from Norah Jones, Nat King Cole, John Coltrane, Ricki Lee Jones, and dozens of titles from the Verve, Impulse and Blue Note catalogues among others.

Like the pioneer in this endeavor, HDTracks, Acoustic Sounds' site includes exclusive self-produced titles but unlike HDTracks, they are available in both PCM and DSD formats with most if not all originally recorded to analog tape. In addition, since Acoustic Sounds licensed many of the commercial label titles, accessed the master tapes and exercised complete control of the mastering process, at least with these titles, it should not experience HDTracks' "start up" issue of getting pre-mastered files that were on occasion not true high resolution files, but rather "up sampled" from CD resolution files or from actual CDs.

With those issues long ago resolved, we now have two excellent high resolution download sites, one all PCM, one offering both PCM and DSD. This is good for consumers and in my opinion good for both HDTracks and Super HiRez. As I tell turntable manufacturers who whine about "another guy getting into my business", the more the merrier! This is good for everyone and should be seen as such. "Choosing sides" is just plain infantile—just as having two American print audio magazines is good.

How this plays out in the future remains to be seen. How they both fare will depend upon licensing agreements, titles obtained, etc. Those of us committed to vinyl can only watch from the sidelines, but for those whose systems can accommodate both high resolution digital and vinyl, these are particularly interesting and abundant times!

COMMENTS
Paul Boudreau's picture
Submitted by Paul Boudreau on Sat, 2013-09-21 06:19

...is how to get DSD files out of a computer to play them back through an analog system.  I haven't seen any discussion of that.

Michael Fremer's picture
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Sat, 2013-09-21 11:22

The new site discusses that. Pure Music and JRiver software can handle DSD files and you'd move it from there via USB to the USB input of a DSD decoding DAC. Right now I am reviewing the DCS Vivaldi and that's how I do it. There are less expensive options fortunately!

Paul Boudreau's picture
Submitted by Paul Boudreau on Sat, 2013-09-21 12:57

I was afraid of that, grumble grumble!

Hmm, I wonder whether my work-around for files higher-res than 96/24 would work:  Copy to portable hard drive & connect via USB to front of Oppo BDP-95.  Might just work since the Oppo does play SACD discs.

tnargs's picture
Submitted by tnargs on Sat, 2013-09-21 21:35

Yes, that will work. Of course, an Oppo is no more an analog system than a PC and a DAC....

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