by Michelle
Updated on May 9, 2023
For high-demanding music enthusiasts, this article has rounded up the top five sites for Hi-Res audio downloads and purchases. And for people who just want to have a taste of Hi-Res audio, this article has also curated the best five sites for high-quality music downloads free. Please enjoy!
Hi-Res audio is favored by audiophiles and many others for its pristine sound quality. If you want to experience Hi-Res quality and want to know where to download Hi-Res audio, follow this article to know the best sites to buy and even download HD music for free.
Also read: Download Music from Websites l Best YouTube Music Downloader l YouTube to FLAC l DSD vs FLAC
High-Resolution Audio is a general term for any digital audio file that is better than CD quality. More specifically, Hi-Res audio is a lossless audio file or format that uses a sampling frequency of 96kHz/24-bit at least. This means that you can call all audio files above 24-bit/96kHz Hi-Res Audio. Compared to standard CD 16bit/44.1kHz, Hi-Res audio is designed to capture more detail and maintain the originality of the music, presenting you with a sound almost equal to the source studio recording. Hi-Res audio is usually stored in FLAC, ALAC, AIFF, WAV, DSD, MQA and other formats. There are now sites that stream high-res music, and you can access this content on Tidal, Qobuz, and Amazon Music HD. Some online stores offer hi-res audio downloads, read on to learn about these sites.
https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/shop
In addition to being the sweet spot for Hi-Res Audio streaming (join for a free one-month trial), Qobuz is also the first music service to retail 16-bit/44.1kHz CDs and 24-bit Hi-Res Audio files. It offers quality sound and a unique style designed to create a paradise for highly professional music lovers.
Available File formats: WAV, AIFF, ALAC, FLAC, MP3, WMA, AAC
Highest resolution: 24-bit/192kHz
Music Genres: Pop/Rock, Electronic, Soul/Fusion, Rap, Blues, Soundtrack, Classical, Jazz, Word, Children
Pricing: Mostly between 10£ - 20£
http://store.acousticsounds.com/index.cfm?store=SuperHiRez
The site sells high-quality music downloads of mainstream titles from major labels, primarily in DSD and PCM audio formats. It has a large collection of high-quality recordings available for download.
Available File formats: FLAC, ALAC, and DSD (Single Rate)
Highest resolution: 24-bit/192kHz, DSD up to 2.8 MHz
Music Genres: Blues, Pop/Rock, Classical, Female Vocalists, Folk, Jazz, New Age, Christmas/Holiday, Soundtrack, World and many more.
Pricing: Between $15 - $40
https://www.hdtracks.com/
Launched in 2008, HDtracks offers one of the largest selections of studio-quality high-resolution audio downloads with liner notes. For audiophiles looking for the best sounding music, look no further than HDtracks.
Available File formats: AIFF, ALAC, WAV, FLAC, and DSD
Highest resolution: 24-bit/352kHz, DSD up to 5.6 MHz
Music Genres:Rock, Pop, Jazz, Classical, and many more.
Pricing: $17 - $30 (typical album)
https://www.prostudiomasters.com/
ProStudio Masters offers high-resolution music received directly from record labels. It features the highest audio quality up to 24bit/352kHz and offers DSD (Single Rate) titles at 2.8 MHz, 5.6 MHz and 11.2MHz.
Available File formats: AIFF, FLAC, MQA and DSD / DSF
Highest resolution: 24-bit/352kHz, DSD up to 11.2MHz
Music Genres: Alternative, Blues, Classical, Country, Electronic, Francophone, Hip Hop, Jazz, Pop, R&B, Rock, Soundtrack, and others.
Pricing: $10 - $20
https://www.nativedsd.com/
NativeDSD offers Hi-Res audio downloads only in DSD formats. If you’re an enthusiast for DSD music, then you can’t miss this site which offers the best Hi-Res music downloads in DSD formats.
Available File formats: DSD
Highest resolution: 1-bit/22.6MHz(DSD 512)
Music Genres: Acoustic, Classical, Folk, Jazz Compilation, Rock, World, Blues, New Age ,etc.
Pricing: Price is variable with selected quality and channels
Tips: These are not particularly music download websites, and most of them offer sample downloads only.
https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28format%3A%2824Bit%20FLAC%29%20OR%20%28flac24%29%20OR%20%2824-bit%29%20OR%2024bit%29%20AND%20collection%3Aetree
Internet Archive is a digital library that archives all kinds of digital materials and provides free public access to these files. And it's easy to find a huge collection of 24 bit FLAC music and download the FLAC music free here.
http://www.2l.no/hires/
This site is in fact a test request initiated by 2L the Nordic Sound to do the evaluation of different lossless audio formats. You can download sample FLAC and WAV in 24-bit/96 kHz, 24-bit/192 kHz files, 24-bit/352kHz; and DSD 64, DSD 128, and DSD 256.
https://dcsaudio.com/
DCS offers only WAV music downloads, and you can have the recommended tracks downloaded to give your system a great workout or just purely enjoy the fabulous recorded performances.
https://anadyomene-records.com/download.htm
This site offers only 24-bit/96 kHz FLAC sample audio downloads and these files are fully original and legal.
http://www.soundkeeperrecordings.com/format.htm
Soundkeeperrecording provides Hi-Res audio download free in WAV format. It also presents Audio-CD quality downloads from the same album, same mastering session, etc as the Hi-Res audio, so you can have an intuitive comparison between CD and high-resolution music.
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