24/96 Hindi Songs ... Even Available?

[sam9s]

Hi All,

I was just wondering has anyone ever purchased/downloaded HD FLACS (>= 24/96) for any Hindi songs preferably Rehman's. I have googled like anything and I can find loads of English numbers but nothing when it comes to Hindi Music. Do we even record on those high bit rates. 16/44 are common, could not find anything in the higher range.

What are thoughts floating on this forums. Please share

Regards
Sammy

 

[prepress]

I think hindi songs are not available at 24/96, and I guess the reason for this is very clear. We are living in the country where quality doesn't matter but money, and mostly people need things for free. Even Red Book format (ACD) is struggling here (almost no sale) that's why companies are releasing MP3 versions along with ACD. And the worst thing is, people don't want to buy that original MP3 too and prefer illegal downloads.
There are many reasons for it.
> Original MP3 doesn't include all hits because different companies own the rights for movies, so can't combine all in one. Same with Audio CD (16/44). They prefer Pirated MP3, or downloads which is absolutely free.
> Here people prefer compact things, lot of songs in mobile card and pendrive in car etc. 16/44 or 24/96 will consume their entire space, they prefer small file sizes, many songs.
> Companies want to serve better quality, and they can release 24/96 but as they are struggling to sell their low-res versions then there is no chance to adopt 24/96.
> Latest music doesn't deserve 24/96 (at least for me) and the old recording are worst (you know Saregama HMV or others), there is problem in the source or may be lost. So there is no mean to create 24/96 from them.

 

[firearm12]

Most people in India do not find any audible difference between lossless and MP3 formats, leave alone 16 and 24 bit recordings. Moreover, one will need a very advanced hifi system to hear a difference between 16 and 24 bit. On op of that, very few takers are there for audio cds. Everyone is buying/downloading 128 kbps mp3. So, there is no need for companies to adopt 24 bit formats. Furthermore, mastering engineers here are unable to take full benefits of even Audio CD format. I don't think Rahman's music is of audiophile standard. I find all his CD's too much on the treble side and everything is computerized instruments and loops, very few original instruments played. Correct, music these days do not even deserve 24 bit,

Classical music is best represented on high quality formats as it requires wide dynamic range and can take advantage of high bit rates. There are many sacd's released by foreign labels e.g by water lily acoustics. They claim to use analog tube based recording equipment for those releases.

 

[sam9s]

Thats really sad, but I dont know why you say music these days dont deserve audiophile standard, I for one believe music in India have improved by leaps n bound as compared to 90s and 2000. Some very docile acoustic numbers have been floating around for quite sometime now. Just an arbitrary example "Bin Tere (Reprise-version)" sounds awesome. I would love to pay for 24/96 for tracks like these.

Recently I was listening to Roja by rehman after a loooong time and I was blown away by the staging that I felt in the music, even though it was mere 16/44 FLAC. I just wondered how live and awesome it would feel on a high end system with 24/96 recording.

Yes I agree people are somehow satisfied by these MP3 freely available, and I do see why music industries would not invest in any high profile recording given the piracy, but one thing I say for sure, music standard in India currently does deserve HD recordings. I just hope someone would care for the music lovers and do come up with atleast some albums in HD FLAC format ......

 

[prepress]

It looks like a joke but somewhere it is true.

 

[firearm12]

I think everyone has different ears and music tastes. For me personally, Indian music is all about balance between melody, lyrics and singers emotions. Its okay to listen to a high resolution setup where we can hear even tiniest of sounds but if music has nothing in it which can move me from inside, then its worthless for me. Listen to "Kar chale hum fida" even in 96 kbps mp3 and you know what I am talking about. For me, this surely is missing from today's music.

 

[soulforged]

What is the ratio of people wanting hi-rez to people okay with 128 kbps mp3? Therein lies the answer...its all demand and supply...

Yup...the ratio is skewed in the West as well...but the difference between 1% and 10% would be a few millions...

 

[prepress]

Sam, As I and firearm12 said today's music doesn't deserve 24/96 means if you listen, MOSTLY released music is crap (can say 90%). Some decent songs released every year, either it is 2000's or 2010's but Melody/Music is lost in mostly songs, people (not singer) like Honey Singh or Baadshah are on the top, Lyrics are crap. Movie makers want their at least one song to attract the youth, may be just for promotion.

It would be great if music companies start selling 24/96 tracks at least on websites, but I am afraid what price would be per song if Saregama is selling 16/44 (some fake) at 50/- per song.

 

[sam9s]

I think everyone has different ears and music tastes. For me personally, Indian music is all about balance between melody, lyrics and singers emotions. Its okay to listen to a high resolution setup where we can hear even tiniest of sounds but if music has nothing in it which can move me from inside, then its worthless for me. Listen to "Kar chale hum fida" even in 96 kbps mp3 and you know what I am talking about. For me, this surely is missing from today's music.

Come on you sound too pessimistic, as I said music in current gen 2005+ has been pretty decent. Yes the quality of numbers in 1950-60-70 cannot be compared but the same music that has emotions and melody if ported on HD gives an altogether different feel. Another example the music from Naya Daur remasted to stereo in 2007, (Naya Daur (with Digital Stereo Sound) Songs (1957) Download through Gaana+ or Listen Naya Daur (with Digital Stereo Sound) Songs Online at Gaana.com) original music, singers, instruments just remastered to stereo sounds awsome ... My fav Dil Deke Daga Denge sounds fabulous in stereo

 

[bornfi]

Come on you sound too pessimistic, as I said music in current gen 2005+ has been pretty decent. Yes the quality of numbers in 1950-60-70 cannot be compared but the same music that has emotions and melody if ported on HD gives an altogether different feel. Another example the music from Naya Daur remasted to stereo in 2007, (Naya Daur (with Digital Stereo Sound) Songs (1957) Download through Gaana+ or Listen Naya Daur (with Digital Stereo Sound) Songs Online at Gaana.com) original music, singers, instruments just remastered to stereo sounds awsome ... My fav Dil Deke Daga Denge sounds fabulous in stereo

some of today's songs that I like and can listen anytime-

sheshe ka samandar from The Xpose
sapna jahan - from Brothers
sau aansoon - from katti batti
looka chupi - from rang de basanti

my experience says that with a decent dac, every recording has something special though the older ones may not be that sharp and focussed,

 

[firearm12]

Come on you sound too pessimistic, as I said music in current gen 2005+ has been pretty decent. Yes the quality of numbers in 1950-60-70 cannot be compared but the same music that has emotions and melody if ported on HD gives an altogether different feel. Another example the music from Naya Daur remasted to stereo in 2007, (Naya Daur (with Digital Stereo Sound) Songs (1957) Download through Gaana+ or Listen Naya Daur (with Digital Stereo Sound) Songs Online at Gaana.com) original music, singers, instruments just remastered to stereo sounds awsome ... My fav Dil Deke Daga Denge sounds fabulous in stereo

Ya maybe i sounded too pessimistic, there is indeed good music being produced today as well but as prepress said, its about 10% only. There is no dearth of talent, but people here love honey singh types, so its demand and supply. Returning to original topic, surely I too have a long list of songs that have been produced rather recently but if I still doubt if those songs are recorded with utmost fidelity. music is produced for masses in india, not to please audiophiles. Maybe the situation is changing. Even if recorded well in 16 bit, music can sound very good and even if recorded badly in 24 bit, it can sound crap. our industry needs good recording engineers. Few of albums that I find well recorded.

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