Would anyone here be interested in downloading high-resolution classical music from the internet? And why isn't such a service already available? How could such high bandwidth audio best be played and archived?
Personally, I would be well up for it. I suspect the reasons it is not done so far are as follows: 1 - Bandwidth. High Rez takes up substantially more server space 2 - ISP limitations. In the UK, the vast majority of Broadband connections have serious download limitations of 2Gb and less per month. It's a lot more expensive to get unrestricted access, and even those that do offer it often have what is euphemistically termed "Fair Usage" restrictions (meaning if you D/L a lot they will cap you) As an example - for our Adaptive DSL line, with completely unfettered access, we pay £70 per month (That's around US$140) Such audio can be best played as DVD-Audio with the basic authoring tool from Cirlinca available for only $35.
At least one service is available: http://www.linnrecords.com/linn-downloads.aspx http://www.linnrecords.com/catalogue.aspx This site may also be interesting, though it will probably mostly/only be physical records: http://becausesoundmatters.com/ http://www.warnerbrosrecords.com/all_list/index.php
The Linn Records site is very interesting, as it seems to be offering 24 bit WMA Lossless. This must be at either 24/48 or 24/96 quality, I suspect the latter - it's expensive though at £18 (US$36) a throw. It also needs to be decoded, and that needs an audio application that can accept 24/96 WMA. iTunes might do the job - I will create a series of WMA Lossless & try it out to see. The Warners site will be selling physical media only, and it will be Vinyl & DVD-Audio according to Warners. Good finds.
Thanks for the replies. I'd just noticed the developments at Linn which are indeed very interesting. And I don't really think there should be too many problems playing the files. Certainly Winamp will work and I believe Real Audio player will too. Better still though, there's no reason why the files shouldn't be converted into WAVs and written to CD (the 16bit stuff) or DVDA with DVDA authoring software such as Cirlinca or Discwelder. There are a few test files on the site for anyone who wants to experiment.
RM player is a dog from hell, and best avoided as you would a dose of the clap, IMHO. Don't trust WinAmp either. 24 bit WMA Lossless is best played via WMP. Burning to DVD-A will require decoding. Cirlinca will be fine, but please bear in mind that in it's current incarnation, it is very easy to create an out of spec disc as it will burn 24/96 5.1 WAV files - despite the fact the bitrate is way too high and 24/96 5.1 - according to the DVD specifications - MUST be MLP Lossless encoded. You cannot burn WMA to a DVD-A disc.
I'd have thought it relatively straightforward to convert WMA into WAV but I have to admit that I've not used either of the aforementioned software packages - won't they create a proper MLP lossless file from a WAV? I imagine your reason for not trusting Real player or winamp is that it's unclear what they do to the file before playing it. I have similar concerns about iTunes and my (v.10) WMP won't touch 24bit audio.
The Linn WMA Lossless files vary. They are all 24-bit, but may be either of 44,1, 48, 88,2 or 96kHz. Very seldom 44,1, though. I believe the MLP Lossless encoder is now down to a mere $5,000...
Good point JJolson! As a point of fact Meridian seem to have reduced the price in the sales to $2500 - but even so... ....back in the box with that idea then.
Exactly so! Plus it's another layer of unknown DSP between me & the audio. My WMP 11 plays 24 bit audio with no problems at all. Not sure why, or what I installed to get this though - but it definitely plays 24 bit Audio. No package can create MLP Lossless apart from either A - Meridian MLP Lossless encoder, or B - SurCode MLP Lossless encoder, which also has ReBit functionality. As far as DVD-A authoring with MLP goes, only Chrome and Sonic's DAC can handle this. As long as your DVD-A is 5.1 at 24/48 or less, it is not mandated.
Audio from 48khz sources sounds great in mp3 when it is encoded at 48khz. However, it seems that Anybody who can rip from such sources (dvd pcm, scad), would not want to listen to mp3 format. Hence, little 48khz mp3 is being shared by P2P. How about some testing for a 44.1khz source vs truly 48khz sources. I can't find 48khz source tracks. I only have a few ripped from DVD-PCM.
Nothing sounds great in MP3. It's crap. It's also nothing to do with High Resolution Audio either, so I doubt you'll find anyone interested in wasting their time!
Right you are wilkes. I only listen to mp3 because that is what I have available. I find that if I only listen to mp3, I tend not to realize how crappy it can be. That said, there are some tracks, encoded with Lame, which sound better (louder, brighter) than the original .wav file. Not too many I'm sure, but it's hard to beat the price.
