blues man

How we tell HDTracks' customer service is bad, or basically no customer service - they just don't response. They just ignored my concerns and complaints put on CA or forwarded to them hoping we would shut our mouth because of no response from the other side. You see David Chesky did not make response to our questions and suggestions.

So HDTracks would not like to speak up. So HDTracks can not speak about DGG or other record companies, if any. DGG or other record companies are not interested to speak for themselves. Then customers suffer. The whole industry suffers. Is it the way to promote music download?

Hello, Chris. As HDTracks is a big customer of your website, would you a. prefer not to say anything or b. prefer not to say anything but ask HDTracks to say something for themselves? I remembered Daniel Weiss came up at CA quickly to answer question about difference between Minerva and DAC2 himself. I am glad I am using Weiss product. But HDTracks prefer to be silent. It's not the way to do business or even say to promote music download.

HDTracks posted a review of a Gilbert Hetherwick (Former President of Sony-BMG Masterworks and General Manager of Angel/EMI Classics) on DGG Carlos Kleiber - Beethoven Symphonies 5&7 file in '96kHz/24bit' ??? 'So with this 96/24 version you get a brilliant high resolution "snap shot" of the warm analog sound of the legendary Vienna Philharmonic conducted by one of the great legends of the twentieth century. Major thanks to HDtracks and Universal for bringing these gems back to life with such stunning depth and clarity. Maestro Kleiber certainly deserves it!' HDTracks is selling 24/88 instead of 24/96.

HDTracks please make a reply in this open forum. Frankly it is a golden opportunity to promote music download. You grab the very best music from record companies, you try your best to provide information on the music files, you provide good customer service, then we all win-win. HDTracks please respond.

'HDtracks monitors this and other sites, so they already know.' If my memory serves me right, there was a PCM conversion table at HDTracks/96khz/24bit store stating '88.2kHz - SACD or native...' It's gone. Yes, they monitor and they know. 'There is plenty of money to be made by a small company selling hi-res downloads . . .' I don't care whether they make plenty of money or not & I wish these websites as well as the record companies make money so that they will release more HiRez to us. BUT they have the responsibilities to declare what they are selling, know and don't know, about the product. If it was an 16/44 becoming a 24/48 then a DSD then .....24/88, DO TELL US. Let us decide we would buy it or not. It's just not fair in the current operation mode that we are told nothing about what we are paying to buy.

We should voice so they know we care.

'In this special case: It was false advertised with 96kHz. So i thought i get the "original" pcm files. It was not clear that i "only" get dsd-derived files. I do not like the idea, as the the sacd is not a straight analogue-to-DSD transfer, to have a analog master - digitalize it to pcm 96kHz- convert this to dsd - convert this to back pcm 88.2kHz.' I totally agree. I love DGG 24/96 Abbado Beethoven a lot. But I don't like buying files just converted from DSD files or at least the music source is stated clearly for customers to decide themselves. It is not fair we don't know whether a 24/88 file posted on HDTracks is from SACD (DSD master) or native 24/88 music file. If it's the former, rather buy a cheap SACD players and SACD discs. Besides, many guys out there might have bought the original SACD discs already. Please understand I support HDTracks myself. That's the reason why I waited so long for their reply before posting on this forum. They should state more what they know about the music they are selling.

Hello, jerryct. I also bought the Kleiber file together with Mutter based on the fact they were claimed to be 24/96 not likely to be ripped from SACD. The reason why I raised only the question about Mutter was that I didn't have any audio analyser software to test the Kleiber. Hello, Chris. So how about the Mutter file - the audio format was originally 24/44.1 for SACD layer per the liner notes? What's the point to change it to SACD format years ago and then to be converted back to 24/88.2, and claimed them as 24/96 or 24/88.2, and said it was a big offering to audiophile? You support CAS and HiRez download very much like we do. So what do you say about the service of HDTracks? Is the service unsatisfactory or just say 'bad'? It does not help for them to tell us they do not upsample any content whilst they don't care what they are offering online and do not answer to our enquiries or complaints whatsoever. Chris, are you confident what you buy from these download websites are what they are claimed to be?

Seemed not many people care about what are offered to them from the record companies or the download websites. May be that's the reason why I did not hear any reply from them.

You know it's kinda awkward to see many guys talked about the fishy resolution issue of Rolling Stones thing on another thread but no one seems to be interested in whether the 24/88 Mutter-Carmen Fastasy file downloaded from HDTracks may be made from the original SACD using 24/44 audio source format. What I would want to say is that if we have more concerns and ask for more information about the music we pay for then the record companies and the download sites would show more respects to us. I am willing to pay more for HiRez which I have confidence that they are really what they are claimed to be.

I bought the so-called 24/96 DGG 'Mutter - Carmen-Fantasie' from HDTracks a few weeks ago. The PDF file came along stated that 'Audio Content Source Material' (of the original SACD) is, for SACD layer, '44.1kHz/24Bit PCM Stereo Audio' & '44.1kHz/24Bit PCM5.1 Surround Sound Audio' whilst the CD layer '44.1kHz/16Bit PCM Stereo'. As a non-technical man not knowing why a 24/44 would become a 24/96, I asked HDTracks about it. A guy there soon thanked me 'for bringing this issue to our attention'. In turn, they sell the file stating it is '24/88' instead of '24/96'. After I raised again the native resolution issue to them, another person there told me they were investigating and were waiting for official words (from DGG?). I have been waiting for 2 weeks since then but HDTracks told me there's still no 'official words' coming out. They reassured me HDTracks does not upsample any contents. So, can anyone have a reasonable explanation on this except, what I think is, someone has upsampled the content and sell it as 24/88?!