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Topic: 2L has retired their hires "test bench" (Read 1816 times) previous topic - next topic
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2L has retired their hires "test bench"

... might be missed among those who test encoders. Quoting from http://www.2l.no/hires/ :

Quote
As we’re renovating the functionality of www.lindberg.no and moving the site to a new host, our free Test Bench is currently not available. The functionality might come back in a condensed version at a later point in time, but the Test Bench has served its purpose well for over a decade, allowing audiophiles and fellow engineers worldwide to compare digital formats and resolutions directly from a verified common source. We have now reached a time when music in high resolution formats are readily available in our 2L Music Store. Thank you all for your critical listening, evaluation and constructive feedback.

Also, the studio/label has moved on beyond 5.1 to channel configurations that were not represented in the free downloads. I guess one can safely say that the number of channels could make for more audible difference per extra byte than going 352.8/24.

Re: 2L has retired their hires "test bench"

Reply #1
Weren't they all in for thiis MQA crap?
Is troll-adiposity coming from feederism?
With 24bit music you can listen to silence much louder!

Re: 2L has retired their hires "test bench"

Reply #2
Also, the studio/label has moved on beyond 5.1 to channel configurations that were not represented in the free downloads.
Interesting. It seems for some reason the Dolby Atmos files are the cheapest for the albums where that is an option, even cheaper than MQA stereo. Apparently they are using lossy Dolby Atmos (DD+) instead of the lossless variant for some reason, probably licensing?
Music: sounds arranged such that they construct feelings.

Re: 2L has retired their hires "test bench"

Reply #3
Just picking one of their recent releases, there is also a lossless Atmos option.
https://shop.2l.no/products/lyden-av-arktis?variant=41448958165175 should get you the right item from the dropdown menu: an option that includes Atmos TrueHD at €28.
And an €80 option for a 12 channel ("7.1.4 Immersive" configuration) in DXD resolution. Too many channels for FLAC, so ... WAVE, rather than .mkv, .oga (or .wv).

And, DXD at same price tag as MQA, I wouldn't call that all in for MQA - rather it looks like "sure, if you really want that ...". But if you are tired of all this, you can get the music from iTunes & elsewhere: https://orcd.co/lyden-av-arktis

The physical disc set - one hybrid SACD/redbookMQA and one Blu-Ray - has some "practical" content on the physical Blu-Ray:
https://www.pureaudio-bluray.com/mshuttle/ 
Including FLAC (presumably un-MQA'ed) - and MP3 and WAV. Why not, Blu-Ray has space.