Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

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Flet
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Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

Post by Flet »

Where can we purchase lossless (flac files) versions of Alter Bridges (or I suppose any other bands) albums?

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antiwal
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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

Post by antiwal »

Buy what in the what now? :shrug

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fix
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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

Post by fix »

Flet wrote:Where can we purchase lossless (flac files) versions of Alter Bridges (or I suppose any other bands) albums?
You mean CD's, brah? They are 'lossless' (in this context) you know, and you can rip 'm however you like.

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Mr. Slash
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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

Post by Mr. Slash »

No, he wants the AB albums with a quality that is not decreased due to the compression to a mp3 or wma format. Or so. I really don't know much about sound quality. Where are the music pros that always criticize Elvis' mastering?

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Flet
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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

Post by Flet »

Correct Mr. Slash. I want lossless files, and preferably one's with a better DRM value (see link as an example http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list/ ... ter+bridge).

I know you can sometimes buy stuff at hdtracks.com but there are no Alter Bridge Albums. And the idea of listening to The Last Hero with DRM 12 is interesting (vs the CD which is DRM 6 meaning LOUD!!!!). The CD in this case is not a good option, even though it's lossless. Perhaps I should have been clearer.

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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

Post by mikeyd23 »

HD Tracks would be GREAT for TLH. A lot of times, when albums are made available on HD Tracks, it's a different master (and obviously lossess goes a long way by itself).

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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

Post by chtimixeur »

In my experience, most albums sold at HD Tracks or Qobuz have the same exact mastering as the CD, which makes them absolutely worthless.
I've heard very few modern albums that had more dynamics than the CD.

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fix
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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

Post by fix »

Flet wrote:And the idea of listening to The Last Hero with DRM 12 is interesting (vs the CD which is DRM 6 meaning LOUD!!!!). The CD in this case is not a good option, even though it's lossless. Perhaps I should have been clearer.
:) We learn something every day. I would be curious to hear this as well. Tried a CD-ripped lossless wav, and it was a little better than the iTunes version to my ears, but more in a way that it had a deeper bass somehow.

I'm looking at that list and the vinyl scores better. I have the vinyl, but no record player haha... Should try that as well I suppose!

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The Plotblocker
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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

Post by The Plotblocker »

You don't buy Flac. It means FREE Lossless Audio Codec. Just get Winamp and set it to rip your CD's in Flac and presto, you have "lossloess".
HD Tracks suck. They do not get special access and just enhance the CD version. I fell for their shit once and bought the MJ Bad album from the, and it sound fucking awful compared to the original 80's standard CD and Vinyl pressings.
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The Plotblocker
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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

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Flet wrote:Correct Mr. Slash. I want lossless files, and preferably one's with a better DRM value (see link as an example http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list/ ... ter+bridge).

I know you can sometimes buy stuff at hdtracks.com but there are no Alter Bridge Albums. And the idea of listening to The Last Hero with DRM 12 is interesting (vs the CD which is DRM 6 meaning LOUD!!!!). The CD in this case is not a good option, even though it's lossless. Perhaps I should have been clearer.
So is that list saying the The Last Hero is more dynamic than Fortress? Cos, no.
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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

Post by chtimixeur »

I just looked at that Dynamic Range website, and man, some people out there have super dynamic vinyl rips of Blackbird and The Last Hero.
Usually, you get a 3 or 4 point bump with vinyl, even if it's the same mastering as the CD's. Why ? Because of vinyl artefacts. Your ears make you think it's more dynamic, even if it's not.
But going from DR5 and DR6 to DR12 makes me believe the masters are actually different, and by that, I mean more dynamic.
It's a shame we can't legally buy those "unsquashed" masters.
What's the harm ?
It can only benefit the band and the label.

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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

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chtimixeur wrote:I just looked at that Dynamic Range website, and man, some people out there have super dynamic vinyl rips of Blackbird and The Last Hero.
Usually, you get a 3 or 4 point bump with vinyl, even if it's the same mastering as the CD's. Why ? Because of vinyl artefacts. Your ears make you think it's more dynamic, even if it's not.
But going from DR5 and DR6 to DR12 makes me believe the masters are actually different, and by that, I mean more dynamic.
It's a shame we can't legally buy those "unsquashed" masters.
What's the harm ?
It can only benefit the band and the label.
Yeah I have never understood why they do not make all these things available as like you say, it would only benefit all. The band, the label and the fans all gain something from it.

I would say of the AB stuff I have, the best sounding is Blackbird on vinyl.
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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

Post by Flet »

chtimixeur wrote: But going from DR5 and DR6 to DR12 makes me believe the masters are actually different, and by that, I mean more dynamic.
It's a shame we can't legally buy those "unsquashed" masters.
What's the harm ?
It can only benefit the band and the label.
1 - Yup, it's the Vinyl one that seems to be at DRM 12, and that would be interesting to hear.
2 - It makes no sense to me whatsoever that they do not release digital versions of unsquashed masters because, even if the market is smaller, there is basically no added cost to creating them and offering them digitally to those few of us who would pay for it. It could be from their website alone (so as not to confuse iTunes regular customers) or a special website.

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Flet
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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

Post by Flet »

The Plotblocker wrote:So is that list saying the The Last Hero is more dynamic than Fortress? Cos, no.
No, that list shows that The Last Hero and Fortress are the same in dynamics. DRM 6.
It clearly shows that the Vinyl versions of both are more dynamic. DRM 11 and 12 respectively.

I'd just love to have a digital lossless version (flac file) of the Vinyl version. At least to compare.
The Plotblocker wrote:You don't buy Flac. It means FREE Lossless Audio Codec. Just get Winamp and set it to rip your CD's in Flac and presto, you have "lossloess".
Actually, you can purchase Flac files as long as it's made available in that format, which many albums are.

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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

Post by chtimixeur »

Flet wrote:It makes no sense to me whatsoever that they do not release digital versions of unsquashed masters because, even if the market is smaller, there is basically no added cost to creating them and offering them digitally to those few of us who would pay for it. It could be from their website alone (so as not to confuse iTunes regular customers) or a special website.
99% of current artists want their albums to be as loud as possible. They have all forgotten about the existence of a volume knob, and consider audiophiles as snobs.
I don't see what's wrong in wanting to hear dynamics in a modern album.
And as you said, it's not like it would cost them anything.

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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

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People pay for free stuff....... Ok that is just weird to me.
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Flet
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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

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The Plotblocker wrote:People pay for free stuff....... Ok that is just weird to me.
https://www.cnet.com/news/what-is-flac- ... explained/ Read this, may help. Again, if it's new, look up HD tracks, or Metallica's website itself...that's 2 examples.
The word "Free" in an acronym doesn't not necessarily refer to the lack of ability to purchase said item. After all, you can also convert things into an mp3 and aac etc...all for free....and pay for them too. I do hope you are being Naive and not Contraire. :)

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The Plotblocker
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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

Post by The Plotblocker »

Flet wrote:
The Plotblocker wrote:People pay for free stuff....... Ok that is just weird to me.
https://www.cnet.com/news/what-is-flac- ... explained/ Read this, may help. Again, if it's new, look up HD tracks, or Metallica's website itself...that's 2 examples.
The word "Free" in an acronym doesn't not necessarily refer to the lack of ability to purchase said item. After all, you can also convert things into an mp3 and aac etc...all for free....and pay for them too. I do hope you are being Naive and not Contraire. :)
Ah fair enough. And nah, not naive of contraire (not quite sure why you capitalised those words), just see things differently to you.

HD Tracks are a bit hit and miss. I have purchased 2 albums from them, both Michael Jackson (I am a huge fan) and one sounds amazing, the other sounds awful. It all depends on what they used to make their version. I have the Thriller and Bad albums. The Thriller version sound fucking awesome, because they used the original masters to make it. But the Bad one sounds terrible as they used the overly compressed and stupidly loud Special Edition masters for it.
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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

Post by prowler5150 »

The Plotblocker wrote:You don't buy Flac. It means FREE Lossless Audio Codec. Just get Winamp and set it to rip your CD's in Flac and presto, you have "lossloess".
HD Tracks suck. They do not get special access and just enhance the CD version. I fell for their shit once and bought the MJ Bad album from the, and it sound fucking awful compared to the original 80's standard CD and Vinyl pressings.
You absolutely can buy music in FLAC format. The format is "free" as in a license fee is not needed to use it.

The high-res retailers do not just enhance the CD version. In a way, they do get special access - the record labels give them hi-res versions of the music different from the CDs or MP3s. If music purchased from the hi-res retailers (HD Tracks, Pono, Qobuz) "sucks" from a sound quality perspective, it usually is the fault of the record label, not the retailer. If the record label provides the retailer with hi-res files that use a bad mastering or clearly contain 16/44.1 "data," there isn't much the retailer can do. (You could say the retailer shouldn't sell something as hi res that isn't objectively "better" than the CD, but this very quickly becomes a subjective argument.) If you are interested in hi-res music, you have to do your homework before purchasing. It sucks, but that's the way it is. This issue really isn't any different than the loudness wars of which AB has become a casualty - the industry doesn't place a priority on those of us who want dynamic, hi-res music. The quality depends entirely on the mixing/mastering/production and the people involved.

The 2015 Rush remasters and the 2015 Van Halen remasters (in 192, not 96) are definitely better than any of the CDs. Listen to Steven Wilson's stuff on Blu-ray and tell me the guy doesn't know how to deliver dynamic music that really *sounds* amazing. Opeth's Pale Communion on Blu-ray is a reference for sound quality. After hearing those, imagine how good AB would sound if done properly (for one thing, Flip's cymbals probably wouldn't sound like jingle bells...).

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Re: Lossless Alter Bridge Albums?

Post by chtimixeur »

Good call on the cymbals souding like jingle bells !

As to High-rez retailers, they should show pictures of the waveform and give a sample to listen to, so that potential buyers don't get fooled.

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