More hi-rez download experiences - mostly good, but not all - Chris from Lafayette

Hi-Rez Highway

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More hi-rez download experiences - mostly good, but not all

To get the "but not all" part of the subject line over with first, I discovered a new (to me) download site in Germany, "hd-klassik.com". I was particularly excited to find this site, because it offers multi-channel downloads, while many other download sites (HD Tracks, eClassical, etc.) are still stuck in 2-channel-only mode. As mentioned in a couple of my previous posts, I've received indications from a couple of sites (eClassical, ProStudio Masters) that they plan to offer multi-channel downloads in the future, but they haven't implemented multi-channel thus far.
Anyway, I downloaded the 24/96 5.0 FLAC files for Mehta's Schönberg album with the Bavarian State Orchestra on the Farao label. Cost was about 21 Euros. Download speed was good, but playback was a bit rough sounding and the level was extremely high - bad signs. I checked with Spek spectrographic software, and sure enough: there was hard limiting visible at about 24kHz. Yup - I've been burned! This was the first time I've encountered hard limiting like this in a classical download. Of course, I've run into hi-rez reissues of older recordings where there just aren't any frequencies above, say, 15kHZ on the masters, but at least those recordings have a more natural rise and fall to the plots as shown on the spectrograph software. I may give the hd-klassik site one more chance just to see if this particular download was an anomaly.
A couple of other recent downloads were much more successful. Another multi-channel album I downloaded from The Classical Shop features yet another hi-rez (24/96) recording of the Sibelius Concerto by yet another babe (in a Goth kind of way) violinist:
I think of all the orchestras currently under contract to Chandos, the Bergen Phil gets the most consistently impressive engineering - it's just great in its combination of clarity, depth (front to back, as well as side to side), and extension/evenness (dynamics and frequency). Pike plays impressively too, with a more legato-oriented approach than many other violinists in this great work. I still prefer Batiashvili (on a plain old CD) and perhaps Suwanai (on SACD), but this new performance is hugely accomplished too, with some nice fillers from Davis and the orchestra!
It's surprising that Chandos downloads can sometimes be obtained more inexpensively from other sites than from The Classical Shop (which I believe is Chandos' own site). I took advantage of a 10% off sale at the Canadian ProStudioMasters site to download an older Chandos album of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 3, "Caprice bohémien", and "Prince Rostislav", with Gianandrea Noseda and the BBC Phil. With the discount, this 2-channel recording cost $16.19 - a very good price when you consider that this same recording costs 15.99 pounds (about $26) at The Classical Shop.
There was a problem with one of the tracks on the initial download which caused me to contact customer service - which set up another download that turned out to be fine. I liked Noseda's series of recordings of Liszt symphonic poems and Casella works on other Chandos hi-rez (24/96) downloads, and even though this Rachmaninoff album is also only 2-channel, I really admired the conductor's vital, energetic approach to the Symphony, as well as the knock-out engineering. (If only it were multi-channel!)
BTW, the spectrographs of both Chandos albums look every bit (no pun intended!) as good as they sound!

Edits: 03/19/14

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Topic - More hi-rez download experiences - mostly good, but not all - Chris from Lafayette 17:04:21 03/19/14 (7)

Have always had good luck with the Chandos site - flatmap 11:42:22 03/24/14 (0)

Chris, I would appreciate your advice - PAR 09:48:35 03/23/14 (1)

PAR - I'll try - but my experiences may not apply to your situation - Chris from Lafayette 19:01:01 03/23/14 (0)

Just had a good one... - Jim Treanor 11:05:23 03/20/14 (3)

Thanks, Jim! - Russell 18:46:54 03/21/14 (1)

Hi Russell... - Jim Treanor 22:45:52 03/21/14 (0)

Thanks, Jim - don't have a DSD DAC yet (just a matter of time, no doubt) [nt] ;-) - Chris from Lafayette 16:33:52 03/20/14 (0)

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