HD Tracks Adds Led Zeppelin to Hi Def Music Library

HDTracks is currently about the only place audiophiles can locate and download high definition music files for streaming on home systems. We’ve been fans of the service since it came out, and it’s good to know that playing back compressed music isn’t the only choice for those of us who still crave reference quality tracks. Now, for the first time, HD Tracks adds Led Zeppelin to the mix of high definition audio tracks it offers for download. For a lot of the music, these tracks are available as remastered 96 kHz/24-bit files that should sound every bit as good as they did in the studio…provided you’re not playing them back on tiny cube speakers.

This is a big coup for HD Tracks, and with the release of these highly-anticipated reissued and remastered Led Zeppelin albums, fans are getting an opportunity to hear them like never before. The available downloads include the deluxe edition of Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II and Led Zeppelin III from Atlantic Records. There are also new live versions of songs and even alternate takes included in the mix. As more companies agree to finally release high-resolution versions of their music, HDtracks should continue to grow and expand its collection. The thing is, with artists receiving almost nothing for online streaming sales of their music, and barely enough off traditional digital downloads, HD resolution tracks like those found on HDTracks.com represent one of the highest margins for recording studios and artists right now. They should be marketing the heck out of these products and albums. It’s also important to know that as HDTracks adds Led Zeppelin to its mix, these releases are DRM-free and available as CD or DVD-Audio quality downloads, so you’re getting the music at the highest possible bit/sampling rates.

To give you an idea of what’s available, HDtracks released high-fidelity versions of classic rock staples such as Aerosmith’s “Toys in the Attic,” “Get Your Wings,” and “Rocks,” and Cream’s “Goodbye,” “Disreali Gears,” and “Fresh Cream,” as well as “Indie Cindy” from the influential Pixies—and this in just the last few weeks. HDTracks also announced the release of remastered albums from Echo and the Bunnymen (Meteorites) as well as new and remastered releases from Camper Van Beethoven (El Camino Real), Meshell Ndeeocello (Comet, Come To Me), plus downloads from Creedence Clearwater Revival, Faces and Soundgarden.

For a company that was founded in 2008 (by David and Norman Chesky), HDtracks.com has created an outlet and reason to continue production of consumer music in these high resolution audio formats. While iPods and smart phones are dumbing down users with compressed music files, HD Tracks is giving an outlet to audiophiles everywhere. HD Tracks was really the first company to get the major labels to understand that there was a real market for high resolution audio. Today, the company has tracks from every major label and hundreds of independent labels.

High resolution audio may just be here to stay.

For more information check out HD Tracks online.