High-Quality Audiophile Download Services

How To Get High Resolution Music Files Without Lossy Compression

Oct 13, 2009

Compressed audio downloads means poorer audio for quality conscious listeners. Here are some sites selling downloads of lossless compressed CD quality or better audio.

The term CD quality is often misused to mean compressed downloads that are reckoned to be close enough to CD that listeners cannot hear the difference. Audio data compression has made many things possible, and has revolutionised causal listening. It makes download and streaming services like Itunes, Rhapsody, Spotify and the like commercially possible. However, as a replacement for the CD these lossy formats are unsatisfactory for audiophiles.

What CD Quality Really Means In Terms of Sound Files

For a quarter of a century, CD has offered uncompressed digital audio in stereo, 16-bit 44.1kHz sampling rate. Any lossy data compression such as MP3, WMA or AAC is a step backwards, though it is possible to reduce the amount of data by about 33% without losing data by using lossless compression, such as FLAC and indeed Apple Lossless.

CD Quality, High Definition Audio and Surround Sound Download Sites

There are sites selling true CD quality downloads and more. Many recordings are available sampled at 96kHz and 24-bit per channel, which should offer better sound than CD on really high quality systems in a quiet environment. Most of these sites focus on classical music, though not exclusively - a number of rock classics are also available in HD, where high-resolution masters exist.

High definition audio downloads offer listeners the chance to break out from the constraints of the CD format set more than two decades ago, which defined two channel stereo sampled at 44.1kHz 16 bits/channel.

The only form of compression high quality sites use is lossless compression, where the audio file can be reconstituted exactly the same as the original sound data, which is not generally true for streaming sites like Spotify or most of the tracks on iTunes.

This means that high-def audio is normally downloaded rather than streamed, as the data rate is higher than many broadband connections can sustain at present. Prices are usually higher than for compressed downloads, though tracks can be previewed and sometimes ordered in MP3 format at a lower price.

Music Download Sites offering True CD Quality and High Definition Audio

This is a selection of sites offering lossless CD resolution or better downloads

Audiophile High Definition Downloads - Conclusion

Classical music listeners are clearly better served with high-quality downloads than fans of pop and rock, presumably because many record companies are still bruised from fighting illegal downloads. At the moment the market seems fragmented into numerous formats and policies.

Many of these providers seem to be coming down on unencumbered FLAC files, which can then be transferred to any high end hard disk or home streaming solution. Suitable home players that can do justice to the higher resolution of these files include Logitech's Squeezebox, Sonos, Meridian Sooloos, Naim HDX, Naim DAC or a Linn Digital Stream player. 44.1kHz 16-bit stereo files such as those from DG can, of course, be burned to an audio CD and played in a regular CD player.

The copyright of the article High-Quality Audiophile Download Services in HIFI Stereo is owned by Richard Mudhar. Permission to republish High-Quality Audiophile Download Services in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.