There’s good news and bad news in the quest for high definition music downloads. The good news is that there seems to be a genuine move to better quality audio delivered via the web. The bad news is that the majority of “HD Music Download” services are offering only standard definition tracks. I don’t fault them for moving the fidelity bar up...we all need better music...but to claim that “CD quality” is HD is disingenuous and misleading.

Recently, there have been a number of articles published in print and online reporting on this exciting trend. If you pick up the new issue of Home Entertainment magazine, there is an article entitled, “Downloads on the Up and Up” by Dennis Burger. The subtitle is, “MusicGiants and iTrax give Internet music download an audiophile makeover.” It’s an excellent article on the emerging market for HD audio downloads.

Even TAS (The Absolute Sound), the gold-standard publication for audiophiles, placed a banner on the cover of their August issue...”The Digital Issue.” For a trade publication that caters to the very high end of the audio market and generally reserves its highest praise for expensive turntables, vinyl, tubes and two-channels, it was promising. Sadly, they missed the boat by focusing on CD quality music servers, download services and some magic potion that supposedly matches the “optical impedance” of the light reading the pits of your discs.

I do applaud Robert Harley for stating on page 59, “Although MusicGiants touts its downloads as “HD,” the files are CD quality. According to the company, the files are called “HD” because CD-quality files are “High-Definition” compared to MP3s and other lossy formats. In my view the term should refer to a sampling ate of 88.2 kHz or higher and a word length of 20 bits or more. It seems misleading to CD quality “HD audio.”

I couldn’t agree more. Audiophiles should be well beyond the world of compact discs at this point in audio’s history!  How about talking about real HD music servers and sites like Linn and iTrax. Robert even responds to a letter to the editor that, “high-res downloads are right around the corner” when they are, in fact, already here.

Even Apple’s iTunes site, the largest online store by far and the 2nd largest music retailer on the planet, is promoting its “plus” version of their catalog...encoded files at 256 kbps (remember that CDs require around 1400 kbps to achieve 44.1 kHz/16-bit fidelity).

Hardware companies are moving into this space as well. Olive Media Systems of San Francisco has focused on creating music servers and a networked home environment for distributing digital audio from a central hard drive. I’ve talked with them at length about a new piece in their Opus line of servers that will accommodate 96 kHz/24-bit playback. The new product should be available soon and will be among the first devices to handle true HD audio.

Logitech/Slim Devices has been delivering their Transporter for some months. It’s basically a high-resolution, two-channel Squeeze Box, their award-winning audio bridge device that connects a computer to your living room. It’s a solid product and runs at 96 kHz/24-bits.

If you’re more the do-it-yourself type...it’s not difficult to create a music server that can handle 96/24 stereo PCM files on a Mac or a PC. Shortly, I will begin a series of “how-to” columns that provides details on setting up a great quality music server for minimal money. I’m considering offering some hardware through iTrax to interested customers.

Linn, the UK-based hardware and record company, was probably the first to deliver recordings that were actually made using audio equipment capable of capturing a performance at better than CD quality. I applaud them for their groundbreaking move into the market with solid recordings.

Writers should be able to distinguish between “CD quality” downloads pretending to be HD and the real thing. Their job is to advance the knowledge base of music-loving consumers...not try and extend the lifespan of CDs. HD digital downloads are the future of high end audio.

John Mellencamp - Life Death Love and Freedom

John’s new album came out last Tuesday. I got a copy yesterday because I’m a fan of his music AND because of the hype over the HD presentation that is included with the package. There has been a lot of interest in the so-called “new” ΧΟΔΕ (CODE) format developed by T Bone Burnett, the producer of the project and a “team of engineers”.

As a major proponent of high definition sound recording and reproduction, I was curious about T Bone’s definition of HD audio and just how this new format was going to deliver it. Before the album came out there wasn’t much information available and T Bone wasn’t saying much...although I did hear an interview from a show called Soundcheck from June 9, 2008 where he tried to explain the concept of HD audio, 96 kHz and CDs. It’s obvious that T Bone’s motivations are well-conceived and thoughtful...who doesn’t want better sounding recordings? However, his explanations seemed a little confused and his facts at odds with the Nyquist theorem and established digital theory. But that doesn’t really matter...in fact, I agree with him that we need to put out tracks that are better than compact discs can deliver.

The problem that I have is that there is nothing new here...except maybe that T Bone Burnett has a better platform from which to preach about high definition audio than I do AND that he was able to work with a celebrity status musician to bring his “new” format to the public. ΧΟΔΕ is not a new format...it is a marketing term. The DVD included in the package is a standard DVD-Video disc with a hybrid DVD-ROM section. The actual disc format, the specifications, the format of delivery and the tracks included on the DVD-ROM section of the hybrid disc are things that have been offered previously...and for many years! So why is there such a flurry of interest around a “new system” that isn’t?

Let’s start with the information on the printed booklet. The back of the package includes the following explanation attributed to John Mellencamp & T Bone Burnett:

“ABOUT ΧΟΔΕ  (CODE):

There’s a specific reason that Life, Death, Love and Freedom is presented here on DVD, as well as on a CD. That reason is ΧΟΔΕ  (CODE in Greek letters).

ΧΟΔΕ is a new system that creates high-definition audio that is virtually indistinguishable from the original master tapes, but does not require any new or special equipment to play it. If you’ve got a standard DVD player, or one built into your computer system, you can play the ΧΟΔΕ DVD and experience this album with a resonance, depth, and presence that is unprecedented in the digital era. Additional, the DVD contains ΧΟΔΕ files that can be copied into most computer music software including iTunes, and downloaded onto personal music players, such as the iPod.

T Bone and his team of engineers developed CODE and were ready to debut it at the same time John and T Bone were putting the finishing touches on Life, Death, Love and Freedom, so it’s only appropriate that this album is the first-ever release in this format.

Life, Death, Love and Freedom on DVD also comes packaged with a standard CD version of the album for those of your playing the album in your car or in a system that doesn’t have a DVD player.

‘We are very happy that people are going to be able to experience this album in a way that’s true to our original intent. We hope you enjoy it.’”

So what’s the deal? The type of DVD disc used on Life, Death, Love and Freedom is in reality a standard DVD-Video disc...obviously nothing new. That format was established in the mid-1990s by the DVD Forum and codified in a $5000 per copy specification document...and it hasn’t changed since (with the exception of a couple of minor tweaks). If a content developer wants to release a DVD-Video title, there are rigid rules that have to be followed...or the disc won’t play in standalone players or computer DVD-ROM drives.

The audio specification for DVD-Video a disc includes stereo 96 kHz/24-bit PCM (Pulse Code Modulation). This is the audio format being delivered by the “new ΧΟΔΕ system.” Several record labels took advantage of this capability right after the DVD-Video format was released back in March of 1997 (AIX Media Group created the very first releases!). For example, Classic Records put out a line of “DAD” discs, which were in reality DVD-Video discs with music at encoded at 96 kHz/24-bits. They attempted to create a brand around “DAD (Digital Audio Disc)” but once again they used an existing format. All AIX Records DVD-Audio/Video releases include a 96/24 PCM stereo track in addition to two 5.1 mixes.

Every DVD-Video player can play a 96 kHz/24-bit PCM file...although some of the really cheap ones skip every other sample and don’t reproduce real HD audio. The DVD-Video format ushered in the digital age for the movie industry. Hollywood moved from VHS tape to CD-sized spinning discs in the spring of 1997. Most of the soundtracks on movie releases are encoded in Dolby Digital or DTS...neither of which are HD. They can however deliver good quality audio in 5.1 surround...one of the key selling points of the new DVD-Video format and a major component in the ear of home theaters.

The DVD flavor intended as the replacement for the compact disc (after all CDs were introduced over 25 years ago) is the DVD-Audio format. This is actually a new format that tried to maximize the fidelity of the audio by eliminating video (although DVD-Audio discs can accommodate tracks that are playable in standard DVD-Video machines). The DVD-Audio format was capable of delivering 96 kHz/24-bit PCM quality through 5.1 surround speakers! Listening to music recorded at HD rates and delivered through a 5.1 surround sound system is audio heaven. But, the format required a new encoding scheme to accomplish the HD audio surround trick...known as MLP (Meridian Lossless Packing). And that meant that standard DVD-Video players couldn’t read the HD audio tracks. Customers that wanted the best sound had to purchase a new DVD-Audio/Video machine (and many millions did!). But there was a competing format and a lot of the releases in the new format weren’t dramatically different from the CD version. The DVD-Audio format was not a widespread market success...although AIX Records still issues discs in the format. The future is in HD audio downloads.

So in reality, ΧΟΔΕ is not a new format but a repackaging of an existing technology...the DVD-Video format with its capability to deliver stereo 96 kHz/24-bit PCM audio using any standard DVD player. I would also dispute their claim that you can “experience this album with a resonance, depth, and presence that is unprecedented in the digital era.” I’ve listened to the entire album using a Meridian 800/861 through B&W 801 Series III speakers in stereo and it’s quite good...but not as special as they would have you believe. In fact, I had to recheck the signal routing when I played it because the first tune is in mono...both John’s voice and the guitar he’s playing are locked in the middle of the stereo field. Compare that to the solo guitar and voice on John Gorka’s tune Italian Girls to hear what HD audio can really achieve. Move to the 5.1 surround track and you get a music experience that is on a “whole new level.”
 
 

The most recent issue of Home Entertainment magazine features a couple of tracks downloaded from iTrax.com. The piece by Dennis Burger in the Show-Offs section of the magazine is entitled “hifiTunes: Looking for some sweet surround sound music to show off your system? Stop looking for discs and start looking at internet downloads.

Here’s his assessment of some of the best tracks from the site...

If you’re still looking for great high-resolution, multichannel music Show-Offs on disc, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you’re looking in the wrong place. These days, digital distribution via the internet has risen from the ashes of DVD-Audio and SCD as the format of choice for discerning audiophiles in need of a 5.1 fix. For the back story on this digital download revolution, be sure to check out my feature story in this issue, “Downloads on the Up and Up”. Then head back this way and let’s listen to a few of the best Show-Offs that iTrax.com has to offer.

JOHN GORKA: THE GYPSY LIFE (ITRAX)
BEST TRACK: “LIGHTNING’S BLUES”
(WMA LOSSLESS STAGE MIX)

Perhaps my favorite thing about this collection of John Gorka numbers is that it perfectly encapsulates everything that iTrax is about. Simply put, it’s beautifully recorded music, delivered straight to your listening room, without the extravagant production and ham-fisted processing imposed on modern music by the radio industry. If I had to pick one song at gunpoint that best demonstrates this refreshing approach music delivery, I would have to go with “Lightning’s Blues,” a rip-roaring romp that I double-dog dare you to sit through without at least tapping your toes to the beat.

I’ll admit, though, it can be a bit disconcerting at first if you’ve never experienced the way Mark Waldrep records music. When Gorka’s guitar first kicks in, your brain won’t quite know what to do with it. Something doesn’t sound right. It’s not the quacking, overly bright jangle-jungle that MTV Unplugged has us convinced guitars sound like. This--dare I say it--the sound of an actual wooden instrument.

Then the vocals kick in and, again, the sound is almost defined more by what’s missing than what’s there at first. Where’s the springy reverb? Where’s the oppressive EQ? This sounds like...a man. Singing. In the room with you. Much like the Addams Family, it’s both creepy and incredibly cool at once. Finally the bass joins in, and instead of some overpowering thing that flaps your gums and slams you into your seat, the low end is more of a viscous fluid that fills the room from the bottom up, clinging to the carpet and serving as the glue that binds the vocals, guitar, mandolin, and piano into one delicious--and disturbingly realistic--whole.

CHAMBER MUSIC PALISADES:
SHOSTAKOVICH/DEBUSSY/BROCKMAN (ITRAX)
BEST TRACK: “SHOSTAKOVICH: PIANO QUINTET OP. 57 - I. PRELUDE” (WMA LOSSLESS STAGE MIX)

Classical music has always fared well in the high-resolution multichannel formats, because of its tendency toward colossal dynamic swings, as well as the fact that it didn’t lend itself to the sort of gauche, off-putting, cacophonous mixes that plagued so much popular music in the DVD-Audio/SACD era. But even the best high-res classical recordings from other studios pale in comparison to the pitch-perfect presentations found in this collection.

You don’t have to dig any deeper than the first track, the Prelude to Shostakovich’s “Opus 57: Piano Quintet in G minor,” for a taste of what sets this one apart. From the hammering of the second note - the first still lingering in the air - you realize that the piano isn’t a point source in this recording; it’s a three dimensional entity, with weight and width and warmth. The mix doesn’t achieve this by rubbing your nose in the strings; it simply and elegantly paints the instrument to scale a few feet in front of you.

When the strings finally join in, it quickly becomes apparent that they aren’t slaves to speaker placement, as if the cellist says, “ I’m fully aware that’s where you want me but if it’s all the same to you, I think I would sound better over here.” Best of all, the meticulous direct-digital recording of Mark Waldrep picks up the ultrasonic nuances and timbre of the instruments that so many recordings miss - the airy, ethereal quality of bows on strings that often skips your ears and catches right in your throat.

Dennis Burger - Home Entertainment Magazine