The biggest fans of music and those who rarely listen to it are always on the lookout for a way to experience it in its purest form. When the CD (compact disc) was first introduced in the 1980s, it was a huge achievement and the biggest technological leap forward for musical enjoyment in decades.
Yet, and with the passage of time, we don’t need to settle for anything thanks to the continuous development of technology. Now we’re living in a time when it’s possible A better listening experience and this is called high-resolution audio or hi-res audio,
After years of distinguished status in the music world, Hi-Res Audio has finally entered the mainstream, thanks to a Heavy support from streaming services and some Android devices.
In this report, we’ll explain the basics of high-resolution audio and discuss the benefits of listening to your favorite music in this exciting new format.
What is Hi-Res Audio?
High-resolution audio (sometimes called HD) is a lossless sound Capable of reproducing the full range of recordings obtained from high quality CD-quality music sources.
In simple terms, high-resolution audio usually refers to music files that have a low sample rate and/or bit depth. more than cdwhich is specified at 16-bit/44.1kHz.
And that is, the more bits there are, the more accurate the measurement of the signal will be. High-resolution audio files typically use a sample rate DE 96kHz or 192kHz and 24bit.
Although it is gaining popularity now, it is fair to say that it has been around for over a decade and has a growing number of fans who are willing to spend a little more money for the privilege of listening to great quality music. The difference from the first is basically accessibility.
Hi-Res Audio Format
Present Various high-resolution audio file formats to choose from, all with their own compatibility requirements.
Popular among them are the FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) formats, both of which are compressed but in such a way that, in principle, no information is lost. Other formats include uncompressed WAV and AIFF, DSD, and more recently MQA (Master Quality Certified).
We are not going to go into the discussion of pros and cons related to each format, but the important issue is the compatibility of the file with the chosen devices and software.
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What are the main benefits of these new audio files?
The main advantage attributed to high resolution audio files is Better sound quality than compressed audio formats like MP3 and AAC.
Downloads from sites like Amazon and iTunes, and streaming services like Spotify, use compressed file formats with somewhat lower bitrates. For example, Spotify (which, unlike Amazon Music and Apple Music, has not yet ventured to improve the quality) uses 320 kbps Ogg Vorbis streams.
Using lossy compression means that the data is lost in the encoding process, meaning that resolution is sacrificed for convenience and small file size. This affects sound quality, so this is where hi-res audio comes into play.
on one hand we have MP3 format with those 320Kbps and, on the other hand, Hi-Res Audio with 24bits, or whatever is the same, 9216Kbps (Just for further comparison, CDs are 1411kbps).
By having more information in the file, hi-res audio has more detail and texture, bringing listeners closer to the original performance, provided your system is transparent enough.
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Are there any drawbacks?
Hi-Res Audio has one downside: file size. Despite sounding great, music files are much larger than mp3 and acc, for example. This means that they will take longer to download and can dangerously drain the storage of mobile devices.
We can find songs that reach 200 or 300 megabytes in weight, and disks that can occupy one or two gigabytes of storage space.
Also, if we compare it with older formats, tracks are more expensive to buy and most popular digital music providers don’t even sell hi-res audio songs, at least not yet.
it is also true that Appropriate hardware and software required To be able to experience it. However, the barriers are starting to ease.
What do I need to play hi-res audio?
There are a variety of products that can play hi-res audio. It all depends on how much budget you have and what method you are mainly going to use to listen to your songs.
The positive of all this is that at present Supports most of the streaming and digital ecosystem Hi-ResThat includes popular streaming platforms like Apple Music, Deezer, Tidal or Amazon Music HD.
For mobile devices, they are increasingly compatible with high resolution playback. However, it is still somewhat limited High-end Android modelsBecause Apple iPhones do not support Hi-Res Audio from the beginning.
Huawei P30 Pro, Samsung Galaxy Note 10 or Oppo Reno 2 are just a few examples of the many available in the market. We leave links to all of them for your consultation.
If we talk about the computer, then your laptop, whether it is Mac, Linux or Windows, will be the storage base of this content and you should also make sure that The software you use to play music also supports playback in higher resolutions. For example, your MacBook may be compatible but we already warned you that iTunes is not.
Of course here we include portable music players from Sony or Cowan, DACs (Digital Analog Converters) like the AudioQuest Dragonfly Cobalt or loudspeakers like the Naeem Mu-So2.
What can we expect for the future?
Knowing that there are more and more devices that support this method of listening to audio, it This is becoming a viable option for anyone interested in quality.
There are plenty of affordable ways to get into the world of high-resolution audio, even without support for Spotify and Apple hardware.
loss immersive audio format Like Sony 360 Reality Audio, Dolby Atmos Music and Apple Spatial are also moving to provide higher quality music experiences, though not necessarily higher resolution, although they are certainly options.
Hi-Res Audio is the next and biggest obstacle to overcome incompatibility with lossless bluetooth transmission And so with wireless headphones.
Despite these small relics, thanks to increasingly affordable storage, high-quality playback hardware, and faster and more affordable 4G and broadband downloads, it’s safe to say that HRA is no longer too expensive, and neither does its file download and download. Too big to store. for mp3.
Of course, it’s important to choose your equipment carefully and understand what makes Hi-Res Audio different.
