The Teller Light

I purchased the 24/96 "Rumours" yesterday and received 24 bit files. Very strange.

Upon further review, some of the tracks I downloaded sound good -- others, not so much.... I sure hope they didn't transcode some of these "lossless" files from MP3s they had lying around.<br />

The catalogue is very limited, but Burning Shed has some FLAC downloads available for some of its artists. They just recently added several full Porcupine Tree albums for FLAC download. They're a great Brit prog rock outfit, so that may be worth checking out for some of you. http://www.burningshed.com/ For classical fans, I didn't see the Philly Orchestra's Online Store mentioned above (may have missed it). They also make FLACs available of many past concerts. http://www.thephiladelphiaorchestra.com/ The sound quality from files from both sites are excellent.

I compared a couple tracks for fun and heard no differences. Since I am a newbie, here's my rig so you can judge whether my opinion is worth considering!<br /> <br /> iTunes (iMac)/CDs --> (sources) Apogee Duet /NAD C541i --> (amplification) Audio Outlaw RR2150/Headroom Micro --> (speakers/headphones) Paradigm Monitor 7 v.3, Paradigm PDR-10 v.3/AKG K701<br /> <br /> Cables: (Interconnects) Straightwire Musicable, Kimber Heros; (Speaker) DiMarzio M-path, Blue Jeans Cable subwoofer cable<br /> <br /> So far, I like the Rhino site, but don't love it. Browsing by artist is a bit cumbersome and the site layout is not as intuitive as some sites I've seen (I prefer HD Tracks' layout), but the downloads were quick (through Verizon FiOS) and they integrated into iTunes as advertised. Had no issues there. <br /> <br /> It is very cool to make each album available for download in a variety of lossless formats (just FLAC would have been enough to make me happy). I do have issues with calling Redbook "Hi Def" -- although it is true that compared with an MP3, Redbook IS high def. Just another indication as to how all things audio revolve around that horrible lossy format. I guess I should start calling my old standard def DVDs "high def" since they are higher def than my even older VHS tapes. It is odd that the video world continues to go for more resolution while audio is sliding backwards. Perhaps this Rhino site signals a trend the other way? I sure hope so....