Yes 24 bit downloads

I would be very careful. There has never been an SACD/DVDA of Going for the One or the Yes album. An SACD of Close To The Edge is about to be released but Steve Hoffman who is responsible for this says that the HD tracks version is not based on the SACD. My suspicion is that these have just been upsampled and would be a waste of money. FIne albums though they are, I would stick to the ones you have.

Thanks for that. I suspected they might not be 24 bit remasters. I did have the dvd-a versions of Fragile and Magnification a few years ago but didn't have a system at that time that would have done them justice. No doubt someone will take the plunge, buy them and post a review somewhere. The theory of 24 bit downloads is great but I suspect we may not be able to realise the full benefit in practice. It would be nice if Linn or Mobile Fidelity were the only ones doing them!

Although of course they could have been mastered from the original analogue master-tapes, as HD Tracks say they were: 'Sourced from Analog Flat Master.'

Well they could, but since Steve Hoffman had the analogue master tapes to create the SACD and he knows nothing about the HD tracks version, I am somewhat dubious.

Oh well, I guess it's one person's word against another's, then. One has a vested interested in the 192/24 and 96/24 downloads, and the other in the forthcoming SACD.

Y'pays y'money, and y'takes y'choice, I guess.

Get both and compare

Please could you tell me what a 'flat master' is? Is there something different about this type of master tape from the one referred to by another member on this thread when he was talking about Steve Hoffman and the upcoming CTTE SACD. Thanks.

Flat as in not equalised as was done (for example) when making copies to use for creating the stampers when records were produced.

Thanks for that and I apologise for my lack of knowledge here. Does that mean (in your opinion) that a flat master would be the best to use to do hd remastering or would one that had been equalised first be better for that? You see a lot of stuff that says 'remastered from the original master tapes' so it appears that there may be more than one type of master tape? I know the quality of every recording is different but just as a general principle which would be the best ones to look out for? Thanks. 

Well, one assumes a flat master is the one that comes out of the studio – the working master, if you like. But copies will have been made to send to various pressing plants around the world, and these may have been equalised for the purpose they are designed to serve: after all, vinyl records don't carry a 'flat' version of the music, but rather one optimised for the deficiencies of the medium, which is then re-equalised in phono stages on playback to (hopefully) get back to the original sound.

So yes, ideally the original flat master tapes would be the best starting point for remastering.

You learn something every day! So, going back to my original post, it would seem fair to assume that if Hd tracks have sourced their Yes 24 bit files from someone who has done a proper job of equalising a flat master for the 24 bit medium then they 'should' sound better than a 16 bit file that has also been properly equalised from a flat master? 

One would hope no equalisation would be needed to release the titles as a 24-bit/192kHz – but beyond that, not knowing who did the mastering and from which tapes, it's hard to comment further.

Thanks for your help. I shall probably buy one and let you know how I get on. I don't have a disc player anymore so I won't be bothering with the SACD versions. Any chance of What Hifi? or Gramophone doing a review themselves?

Somewhat outside Gramophone's remit, I fear, but I will suggest it to my WHFSV colleagues.