Anyway to compare CD to Hires content prior to purchasing?

I was looking at buying the Jack White album Lazaretto and I note its available in 192/24. I have purchased lots of hires stuff before but I remain unconvinced vs normal CD versions. I expect its probably different in each case and so there is no one rule one can apply.

Is there anyway to compare various versions (e.g. CD vs hires) of albums so you know what you are getting prior to buying?

That one looks to be on Qobuz at 192/24 - so you could do a trial subscription - and listen to the Hi Res version there.

Not sure how you can compare to the CD version though (as opposed to the hi res version downsampled)

If you prefer to buy the music you like (which I do) Qoboz is good because they also sell downloads of the same material. If you do this a lot that have a subscription that gives you a discount on the purchase of Hi Res downloads.

If it’s the same master - if there are differences they are usually very small.

I have that album in 24/96 and another in 24/192 but
I find little difference between CD quality and high resolution, but buy them anyway if there is little difference in price :grin:
The difference between MP3 or AAC 256/320 and CD has always been more noticeable to me (especially with Symphonic metal)

But it’s the search for the best version we can have :roll_eyes:

Take a look at the site MagicVinylDigital, it has analysis & reviews for some multi-format releases.

1 Like