The RIAA Introduces A Hi-Res Music Logo And Some Confusion To Go With It

The RIAA has stipulated that “Hi Res” now means recording music at a sample rate of 48khz and 20 bits of depth, as “originally intended” by the creators.

Well that’s just weird, because most home recording interfaces produce a better signal than that right out of the box (most go to 24 bits).

You can buy hi-res music if you want, but make sure your playback gear is capable of reproducing the sounds it contains (you are a true audiophile, right?). If you have a cheap stereo, buying hi-res music is a waste of money, in my opinion.

If you really want to get into the nerdy evidence of why I say this, read this article on Sample Rates and Bit Depths in recording. some good info there.

I personally think that listening on any upscale playback devices you can buy in the mainstream today, 48khz/24 bit records are as good as you will be able to discern with both that equipment and  your ears. Unless you are willing to drop tens of thousands of dollars on playback gear, don’t waste your money on formats greater than that. Besides, higher quality music makes larger (huge, in fact) files, and it will just take you that much longer to download them. Buying physical media is a better option, in that case.

Thanks to Music 3.0 Blog for the original post,
The RIAA for the logo,
and Applied-Acoustics for the tech.

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