Does Beatport offer the best quality wav ?

tintin2085 · Post by **tintin2085** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 1:01 am

Hi all,

Does anyone know if beatport or any other digital shop offer the best quality wav ?
Because the wav file is the raw version of a track.
Beatport offer 16bit wav files and generally the tracks just finished and masterd are in 24bit but it's not a big difference.

A friend of mine as talked me that Beatport just decode the 320kbits/s mp3 in wav. I want to have the confirmation of that, but I think it's almost not believable. Pay almost 2x the price for having a wav... You can decode mp3 alone with for free with just a freeware.

BlueFog · Post by **BlueFog** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 1:40 am

beatport offers whatever labels upload.

16 bit wav is the standard in almost every download portal.

oblioblioblio · Post by **oblioblioblio** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 1:47 am

I would imagine the wavs are direct from the label.

The handling fee is ridiculous though, and I don't think any of it goes to the label.

Depressing.

I think the difference between 16 and 24 bits is mostly significant when producing/mastering, and once the track is all finished the difference is pretty insignifcant (tho I'm not 100%)

patrick bateman · Post by **patrick bateman** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:50 am

labels deliver 16bit wav to beatport who then decodes to 320 mp3's.
Beatport and label split the extra fee for the wav quality.

Broken · Post by **Broken** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 11:54 am

Yeah we upload 16bit Wavs,

(understandable as has been the Redbook Cd standard for years, although im not condoning that either hah it was forced upon the music industry by the film industry....anyway thats a different convo)

They encode there mp3s, so theres no transcoding of mp3 to wav, thats silly.

tintin2085 · Post by **tintin2085** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 6:36 pm

ok cool, thanks for your answers

Personally I buy MP3, The difference between a WAV is too little for me.
I find that a 24bit WAV as better dynamic than a 320 MP3, but 320 MP3 is really good almost as good than 16bit WAV, Personnaly i don't find any difference when I listen the 2. For some people it's more psychologic, Bigger file, WAV, more expensive, it must be better

If you record a 12" you will loose all the dynamic and infrabasses from the original record, even if it's WAV 16 bit or 320 MP3. Just 24Bit WAV will be almost as good than the original.

Anyone as an opinion about ?

tone-def · Post by **tone-def** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 6:55 pm

I can hear a difference between 320kbps and 16bit WAV in the high frequencies sometimes.

steevio · Post by **steevio** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 8:53 pm

tintin2085 wrote:ok cool, thanks for your answers

Personally I buy MP3, The difference between a WAV is too little for me.
I find that a 24bit WAV as better dynamic than a 320 MP3, but 320 MP3 is really good almost as good than 16bit WAV, Personnaly i don't find any difference when I listen the 2. For some people it's more psychologic, Bigger file, WAV, more expensive, it must be better

If you record a 12" you will loose all the dynamic and infrabasses from the original record, even if it's WAV 16 bit or 320 MP3. Just 24Bit WAV will be almost as good than the original.

Anyone as an opinion about ?

i disagree, to me there is a very discernable difference between 320 mp3 and 16bit, and virtually no difference between 16 and 24 bit wavs.

the mp3 has been compressed, and i can hear it, although its subtle.

generally i prefer the sound of a 12" vinyl recording to that of a Wav of the same tune, and if i had a choice between DJing a CD or the vinyl of a tune, i'd choose the vinyl every time, unless it was a particularly bad cut or press.
its not all about dynamic range, most of the dynamic range you lose on vinyl is in the inaudible part of the spectrum anyway, and more than compensated for by the analogue warmth and reproduction quality.