Just starting with high-res music files


I hope this thread is not too repetitive, as Zavato began a similar one just last month, but his was very jazz-specific and rather than try to steer that discussion in a new (and possibly unwelcome) direction, I'd like to get some input on my preferred genres, classical and late 60s rock/folk. Yesterday I downloaded the 11-track sampler from HDTracks.com in  24/96 FLAC format, transferred it to a flash-drive and plugged that directly into my Cambridge Audio 751 BD player. It was a very interesting experience, and what it demonstrated was how different these disparate tracks could sound depending on the original source material. Some of them sounded superb, for example Sonny Rollins' "St. Thomas," which had had real presence and outstanding clarity and definition. By contrast, "Bossy" from JD McPherson's album "Let the Good Times Roll" was simply unlistenable, over-processed and in-your-face. And a few of these tracks were simply average, probably not very different from the 44.1 Khz CD format and in one case, the Ying Quartet playing Schumann, downright unpleasant. I would be grateful if anybody has some suggestions for high-res recordings worth the investment. I'm seriously considering the remastered "Tommy" (The Who), a recording I bought in its initial release all those decades ago and still have. It would be an interesting comparison.
cooper52
cooper52,

I am looking to get into hi-rez downloads (only because some titles are not in physical CD/SACD) and have a question. I use a PC w/ Windows 10- only something is downloaded, where do I save/store it?

Happy Listening!
Good question, Jafant. I downloaded the files to Windows 10 through HDtracks.com's proprietary download engine (it downloads when you sign up with them). In Windows 10 which I'm also using, these files download to This PC/Music. You can probably configure your own computer to send the downloads wherever you wish though. If storage is a problem, an external HD might be the answer, as you can store quite a library of music files on a 1 or 1.5 TB drive. Will you use your computer as a streaming source to listen to these files? That's a whole new can of worms.
Interesting comment about the Bossy track from JD McPherson.  I had the same experience from the free download.....thinking "Good grief, this isn't much of a sales pitch for HDTracks!"  

Coincidently, I somewhat stumbled into seeing him in concert several months later with no other exposure to his music other than the free download.....and it turned out to be the best show I've ever seen!  Funny enough, the sound was spectacular as well.  


Unfortunately I have zero recommendations - only disappointing experiences with hi rez. I purchased more than 20 downloads. Now I am back to buying CDs and ripping them and also listening to digitized vinyl. Both work better for me on my system. I hope you have a better experience - let us know. 
The one hi-res purchase I've made so far has been equally disappointing: The Moody Blues' "Days of Future Past." I own it on LP and CD both, with the LP dating back to its initial release (yeah, I'm that old!). I vastly prefer the CD version, as I don't think the LP pressings in the US market were very good to begin with, and the CD remastering improved things noticeably. The 24/96 he-res remastering, however, has done nobody any favors. The strings sound unpleasantly waxy, voices ring annoyingly, and in total it sounds like they're trying to ramrod too much information through the system. So no, this is not a very encouraging beginning.
Thank You- cooper52

I want to burn the download to a CD-r once it is on my computer.
I do not have a computer Audio nor music streamer set-up.