FREE HD tracks to download - Post your links in this thread

Hi all,

Baddog1946 mentioned in another thread about using FREE downloaded HD (24/96) tracks as test tracks to check out your music system. There are a number of places online where you can download HD tracks for free. I play FLAC files using Winamp on my computer. I think GP49 mentioned on another post that he did also. FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Decoder. FLAC files are compressed files yet are not "lossy" files like Mp3 files. You can also use the FLAC decoder to change FLAC files to WAV files and burn them to a CD. Below is a link to 158 complete albums (on 4 web pages) that you can download for FREE as 24/96 FLAC files or Mp3 files. Just click on each album and scroll down to see the download options.

FREE HD albums to download

Info on the FLAC decoder is here > FLAC decoder

Winamp which is free download is available here > Winamp

If you know of a good web sight that allows FREE downloads of HD music, post the links in this thread ?

Bob

hdtracks.com also has a nice "free sampler" of 13 96/24 tracks to be had for simply signing up at their site.

I've purchased a number of their 96/24 albums and have yet to be disappointed.

I playback my FLAC collection by way of the J River Media Center but there are any number of other FLAC players available at no cost.

It's all good. A well produced and recorded FLAC album rivals if not surpasses an "analog" recording. I've had a few albums that I've been able to compare the CD to the FLAC to the vinyl. In most cases the FLAC recording sounded better than the vinyl and simply puts the CD to shame.

OOPS... I forgot to add the link

Look here: https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=login&redirectto=samplealbumdownload&ialbum_id=13277

Thanks for the link

This thread got me off my butt and I made the leap into the world of FLAC. Downloaded WINAMP and the freebee HD tracks. Just ordered and downloaded my first two HD albums. Sorry, no other free HD stuff to report, yet. Thanks again Bob!

This thread got me off my butt and I made the leap into the world of FLAC.

Recently motivated as well! Time to move into the world of high rez digital audio. It is wonderful! WinAMP looks good. Will have to investigate further.

I've had good luck with a free playback tool (Foobar2000) driving the sound files out the USB port directly to a USB-to-S/PDIF converter (and then to a DAC). Very versatile, easy to use, and will handle a lot of sound file types. The best feature for preserving sound quality is to use WASAPI playback mode (Windows Audio Session API) for direct kernel mode playback (bit for bit) of the sound files. Otherwise the Windows sound manager can muck with the bits and change sampling rates or bit depth as set up in Windows playback audio properties. WASAPI bypasses all of that and drives the USB port directly. My Foobar setup runs on a cheap notebook lite with a large USB hard drive as the song reservoir. Foobar2000 can utilize your computer sound card as well. But these are notorious for changing data but you could have a better experience than perhaps I did.
Foobar2000

I have recently taken Foobar2000 to the next level and run Vertigo wrapper on top of Foobar2000. Vertigo (about $15) pretties up the Foobar2000 experience and has an iPad (iPhone) app that allows me to select songs, change volume, etc. from anywhere jukebox style (by remote controlling the notebook via WiFi). Really nice looking app and I don't have to get up and down to change songs. I spent the holiday break getting this going and it is sweet!
Vertigo for Foobar2000

And do check out www.hdtracks.com. Warning: Lock your credit card up before doing so... Scott {Edit} It seems HDTracks uses a lot of digital compression on some of their offerings. One of the Chesky brothers (HDTrack owners) explained in an article that the don't offer anything that is not approved by the artist or otherwise. But still look for reviews before purchasing. Hotel California is a perfect example of juiced up tracks. Sounds good but clearly louder than others in my collection.