# Where to buy songs in .flac or .wav lossless format?



## Ted J

Curious if anybody knows of a site to buy songs in .flac or .wav lossless format?

I've found some sites that sell .flac or .wav files in lossless format but it's normally not that popular of music on them and also they sell the album and not just single songs.


----------



## crazhorse

Hdtracks.com is the only site I have used... Most are album only though


----------



## lizardking

What is iTunes format?


----------



## SkizeR

lizardking said:


> What is iTunes format?


itunes sells their music as AAC


----------



## crazhorse

AIFF or alac


----------



## subterFUSE

Therein lies the issue. Lack of material in hi res.

The biggest stores are: 

HD tracks
Pono



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## crazhorse

allflac.com has single tracks but I couldn't get my cc to allow charges


----------



## lizardking

SkizeR said:


> itunes sells their music as AAC


Is that the successor to MP3? Higher sampling rates or something like that?


----------



## Manic1!

lizardking said:


> Is that the successor to MP3? Higher sampling rates or something like that?


No just a Apple format.


----------



## SkizeR

lizardking said:


> Is that the successor to MP3? Higher sampling rates or something like that?


no, just apple putting their own spin on **** as usual.


----------



## sunshinefc3s

some less-than-ethical folks use torrents.


----------



## crazhorse

Others use newsgroups.....


----------



## subterFUSE

sunshinefc3s said:


> some less-than-ethical folks use torrents.


And get ****ty quality downloads.


----------



## SkizeR

subterFUSE said:


> And get ****ty quality downloads.


theres sections of torrent sites just for lossless files in case you didnt know


----------



## subterFUSE

SkizeR said:


> theres sections of torrent sites just for lossless files in case you didnt know


Yes, but often times you can't trust the source. It might say "hi-res", but is just a recode of a poor quality source.

It's like banging a prostitute and saying: "It's OK, she promised me she was clean." :laugh:



That's why I generally purchase my music on CD and rip/encode myself.


----------



## SkizeR

subterFUSE said:


> Yes, but often times you can't trust the source. It might say "hi-res", but is just a recode of a poor quality source.
> 
> It's like banging a prostitute and saying: "It's OK, she promised me she was clean." :laugh:
> 
> 
> 
> That's why I generally purchase my music on CD and rip/encode myself.


not gunna lie, i torrent A LOT of my music. i will buy it if i like the album though. kinda like a try before i buy deal. if i say "yeah, ill listen to this again" ill buy it. if i think "yeah i highly doubt ill ever listen to this again", i just get rid of it


----------



## subterFUSE

SkizeR said:


> not gunna lie, i torrent A LOT of my music. i will buy it if i like the album though. kinda like a try before i buy deal. if i say "yeah, ill listen to this again" ill buy it. if i think "yeah i highly doubt ill ever listen to this again", i just get rid of it


At least the consequence isn't an STD.


----------



## Phil Indeblanc

I stopped using torrents since I started doing business with my computers 10 years ago. 

I legalized all my software and don't mind paying a couple few bucks if I like a song and the money now goes straight to the artists. 

Making a good recording does take some costs and if we want more great music people should support the work being done. The one thing greedy minded and opportunistic shysters are great at is exploiting talent. Help stop this exploitation by paying for talent direct. Not having it treated like nothing and minimized.

Talent should be rewarded and recognized. At the least it should not be stolen, abused and used by marketers and thieves that make money because of the talent. 

Don't buy an extra soda, or a candy bar and buy a song directly from the artists instead, and enjoy that song for many times to come! But don't feel entitled that music is free just because you can reach out and grab it. Expose yourself to different artists. Amazon may have a better contract with artists than Apple does. Look for alternate sources that are fair to artists.

Many things are within our reach to grab and take. Have a code for yourself and others artistic and "making a living" work. 

Sure there are grey areas that can have you justify things, so take it for what its worth.


----------



## xrdcarbon

i suggest Hdtracks.com


----------



## subterFUSE

xrdcarbon said:


> i suggest Hdtracks.com



Also look at Ponomusic. 

Some things are on Pono that HDtracks doesn't have. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Beckerson1

Most the stuff can be found on youtube. Sample the songs or albums and then buy the cd. Grab a good quality ripping software such as EAC (Exact Audio Copy) and rip in wav. Or MP3, whichever floats your boat. 

I use Spotify and pay for premium as I can then download songs I like to my phone and play them that way. If I like the songs or album I will buy the cd and do as I said above.


----------



## rossonero

plenty of sites offer torrents that you can get .flac files


----------



## subterFUSE

rossonero said:


> plenty of sites offer torrents that you can get .flac files



True, but you can't trust that they are quality sources. They could just be crappy MP3 rips encoded as flac.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## juiceweazel

In Through The Out Door (Deluxe Edition) | HDtracks - The World's Greatest-Sounding Music Downloads
I'm in the same boat and willing to buy music I like but I don't know how I feel about paying $30 for an album, WOW!


----------



## juiceweazel

I just purchased Zepplin 4 in WAV format from hdtracks as I was looking for something to test out my new car stereo. While it sounds good, it's not oh my god I've got to buy the entire collection at $20+ a pop good. I guess most of the older recordings don't sound as good as the new stuff due to technology advancing? On the flip side most of the new stuff sounds over synthesized...


----------



## maggie-g

I just look for CDs and rip them myself. If you want some older stuff, look for used discs in good condition. I was at a goodwill outlet storfe in portland the other week and they had bins of CDs for $1 a piece. Found some spin doctors, metallica, marky mark and the funky bunch, and vanilla ice! hells yea.


----------



## Pseudonym

i use what.cd. a site where its not uncommon to have the flac files tested for authenticity. its a music based community where only the highest quality rips from the best sources are allowed to stay.


----------



## Phil Indeblanc

Its not a matter of old vs new sooo much, but surely has a factor. If you read cd's used to mark AAD, ADD, DDD. DDD being the all digital, and the AAD was at the low point.

This is when they were trying to convince you that CD's are great! Now I don't see that marking on CD recordings, which is a shame/sham.


----------



## juiceweazel

So is there anywhere you can buy separate tracks in good quality? I've got dozens of songs on my wish list, but I'm not buying the whole album for that one song...


----------



## subterFUSE

juiceweazel said:


> I just purchased Zepplin 4 in WAV format from hdtracks as I was looking for something to test out my new car stereo. While it sounds good, it's not oh my god I've got to buy the entire collection at $20+ a pop good. I guess most of the older recordings don't sound as good as the new stuff due to technology advancing? On the flip side most of the new stuff sounds over synthesized...



The problem is that most of the Hi-Res music downloads are remasters.

Just because something is remastered doesn't mean it's better. The person who mastered the original album might have done a better job. The new mastering studio maybe jacked up the levels, or applied EQ, compression and/or limiting. Who knows?


It so unfortunate, because we have the technology today for such outstanding sound quality in recordings yet so few musicians and engineers take advantage of it.


----------



## subterFUSE

juiceweazel said:


> So is there anywhere you can buy separate tracks in good quality? I've got dozens of songs on my wish list, but I'm not buying the whole album for that one song...



Not really. Most of the Hi-Res download sites sell albums. Only a few rare instances when I've seen solo tracks being offered.


----------



## juiceweazel

subterFUSE said:


> The problem is that most of the Hi-Res music downloads are remasters.
> 
> Just because something is remastered doesn't mean it's better. The person who mastered the original album might have done a better job. The new mastering studio maybe jacked up the levels, or applied EQ, compression and/or limiting. Who knows?
> 
> 
> It so unfortunate, because we have the technology today for such outstanding sound quality in recordings yet so few musicians and engineers take advantage of it.


I guess I was just expecting a lot better quality for a $20 digital download & 1.37gb of space on my SD card.

Fully agree here. I'm guessing they don't bother because most people listen to music on a car factory system (gasp) or their cell phone, which most have less then desirable qualities.


----------



## SkizeR

Pseudonym said:


> i use what.cd. a site where its not uncommon to have the flac files tested for authenticity. its a music based community where only the highest quality rips from the best sources are allowed to stay.


you have any invites left?


----------



## Pseudonym

nah no invites on my end, but they're out there. im sure there're a few on here that have some.


----------



## SQBimmer

ProStudioMasters.com offers contemporary music in AIFF, FLAC and DSD. Unfortunately, they don't sell individual tracks, but they do have a decent selection. Also, BlueCoastRecords.com offers some amazing audiophile recordings from independent artists.


----------



## brumledb

I buy CD lots off of Ebay for about $1-3 per CD, rip CD to lossless, and then resale CD's. 

Rinse, Lather, Repeat


----------



## subterFUSE

Ripping CDs is still the best method if you are looking for music that you actually want to listen to. :laugh::laugh:

All the hi-res websites have mostly stuff that no one actually wants to hear other than for the technical aspects of the recording.


----------



## muzikmanwi

Check your local library for Cd's mine has a bunch available and can get others from other library's. I can get 50 at a time for 28 days just rip and return. I rip to Flac files and from there I can transfer them to whatever I want.


----------



## Tiago729

I get my CDs for free from the library. Order it online, if any of the libraries in my network has it they ship it right to my local library (free). If the cd is checked out, they'll send it to me as soon as it becomes available. Lately I've been kinda lazy so I downloaded a free trial for Tidal ($20/month). I'm actually pretty impressed with it!


----------



## credible

Phil Indeblanc said:


> I stopped using torrents since I started doing business with my computers 10 years ago.
> 
> I legalized all my software and don't mind paying a couple few bucks if I like a song and the money now goes straight to the artists.
> 
> Making a good recording does take some costs and if we want more great music people should support the work being done. The one thing greedy minded and opportunistic shysters are great at is exploiting talent. Help stop this exploitation by paying for talent direct. Not having it treated like nothing and minimized.
> 
> Talent should be rewarded and recognized. At the least it should not be stolen, abused and used by marketers and thieves that make money because of the talent.
> 
> Don't buy an extra soda, or a candy bar and buy a song directly from the artists instead, and enjoy that song for many times to come! But don't feel entitled that music is free just because you can reach out and grab it. Expose yourself to different artists. Amazon may have a better contract with artists than Apple does. Look for alternate sources that are fair to artists.
> 
> Many things are within our reach to grab and take. Have a code for yourself and others artistic and "making a living" work.
> 
> Sure there are grey areas that can have you justify things, so take it for what its worth.


I enjoyed this.


----------



## mrpeabody

subterFUSE said:


> Ripping CDs is still the best method if you are looking for music that you actually want to listen to. :laugh::laugh:
> 
> All the hi-res websites have mostly stuff that no one actually wants to hear other than for the technical aspects of the recording.


Livingston Taylor all day!


----------



## Chris1320

Kind of an old post but , Tidal has supposedly started selling them. I haven't figured out how to buy them on the site yet. Though I only briefly looked when I saw the announcement


----------



## Ted J

Chris1320 said:


> Kind of an old post but , Tidal has supposedly started selling them. I haven't figured out how to buy them on the site yet. Though I only briefly looked when I saw the announcement


No worries from me on bringing up an old post. Thank you for the post!


----------



## Vadim

Nobody mentioned it, but bandcamp.com!

You can choose different formats to download, such as FLAC. As far as my ears can tell, it is actually FLAC.

Now, Bandcamp is mainly indie music so some people may not be pleased. I personally have found some beautiful musicians on that website. The site also support musicians more than Amazon or iTunes/Apple ever will.

Other than that... I still buy CDs new or used. Anybody remember Columbia House? I remember browsing the catalog and getting those little cardboard CD cradles in the mail.


----------



## Ted J

Vadim said:


> Anybody remember Columbia House? I remember browsing the catalog and getting those little cardboard CD cradles in the mail.


Oh wow, that's a blast from the past. Totally remember that and brings back memories of being a kid looking through it wishing I had some of the titles. :laugh:


----------



## juiceweazel

I was a member of BMG because they were a little cheaper. I still remember the level of excitement as a teenager when I received that 1st box of 10 CDs. The good ole days! (Showing my age :laugh


----------



## xOttox

Bringing this back from the dead...anyone heard of used Flacit.com


----------



## bradknob

xOttox said:


> Bringing this back from the dead...anyone heard of used Flacit.com



Dude....

Almost seems too good to be true. Where the hell else can you find August burns red and pantera .flac albums for $3.09?


----------



## xOttox

I know. Paranoid to even try it out.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk


----------



## subterFUSE

Just because it's FLAC doesn't mean it's good quality.

You have to consider the integrity of the original file and the quality of the conversion.


----------



## Phil Indeblanc

subterFUSE said:


> Just because it's FLAC doesn't mean it's good quality.
> 
> You have to consider the integrity of the original file and the quality of the conversion.


True DAT(remember that format?)...errr True that....

And if its not a clean direct conversion maybe a source file, it would be good. Even then you need to hope the production is also of quality. Some recordings are so crystal clear, and so well balanced using all the individual channels, it sounds amazingly live. Sadly, you don't always get that. Far few than the standard.


----------



## juiceweazel

So someone try it out & report back LOL


----------



## garpt

flacit looks sketchy like allflac because of the pricing. allflac is out of the Ukraine and gotten bad reviews for incomplete downloads, poor quality, and possibly ripping CC info. I'd keep my CC in my pocket.


----------



## Lord Raven

HDTracks


----------



## Lord Raven

Or maybe allmusic.com


----------

