TES III & IV soundtrack quality question

[Erich]

Hello! Big TES fan here, but I fell in love real hard when I started to listen to the soundtracks. By themselves, the OST to Morrowind and Oblivion are f-ing stunning, and I can't describe how ethereally perfect the OST to Skyrim is.

Ok, that said, I'm a stickler for file quality. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those guys that'll say "you can totally tell the difference between the 320kbps version of Standing Stones vs. the CD!", because f that, it's an ipod. However, I can losslessly backup my Skyrim soundtrack so that if the cds get eaten by third world school children when they invade, my backup is a perfect image, which I can then use to make mp3s for my portable devices if so desired.

But do cd, or digital lossless, versions of the OST to Morrowind and/or Oblivion exist for sale? This is "shut up and take my money" status, here.

[The SheoDovah]

Hello! Big TES fan here, but I fell in love real hard when I started to listen to the soundtracks. By themselves, the OST to Morrowind and Oblivion are f-ing stunning, and I can't describe how ethereally perfect the OST to Skyrim is.

Ok, that said, I'm a stickler for file quality. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those guys that'll say "you can totally tell the difference between the 320kbps version of Standing Stones vs. the CD!", because f that, it's an ipod. However, I can losslessly backup my Skyrim soundtrack so that if the cds get eaten by third world school children when they invade, my backup is a perfect image, which I can then use to make mp3s for my portable devices if so desired.

But do cd, or digital lossless, versions of the OST to Morrowind and/or Oblivion exist for sale? This is "shut up and take my money" status, here.

What the [&@%!]?

Itunes is your best bet as Bethesda released the soundtracks on there a few months ago and should be the best version of them.

[Erich]

Thanks for the response

Itunes is your best bet as Bethesda released the soundtracks on there a few months ago and should be the best version of them.

DirectSong would be where I would go if I wanted a digital copy, as 1> they're the highest bitrate you can get for an MP3 (320bps), and 2> it doesn't have the itunes drm stuff (it's just an mp3, as it should be).

But that doesn't answer my question. Does a cd quality, whether physical or digital (ie, wav or flac), version of the OSTs exist for sale?

[The SheoDovah]

I would imagine the digital version that has CD quality would be on Itunes.

[Erich]

I would imagine the digital version that has CD quality would be on Itunes.

aaaah, that's the issue. See, cd quality is *not* what you get on itunes. MP3s are not cd quality. 320bps mp3s are still files that have been compressed from the cd version by deleting info from it.

The reason i'm asking is because of archiving, not because you can hear a difference. Like I said, if my Skyrim cds get screwed up, I have a lossless (.wav) image that can restore it back to it's original, pre-mp3 quality. That way I can remake mp3s of different qualities from the source, because if i did that from an MP3 it would cause bad degradation in the sound quality.

tl;dr

You won't hear the difference between itunes tracks and a cd, but if you wanted to archive them for future storage and manipulation, only lossless can guarantee that it retains its original fidelity with no risk of artifacts (such as popping) showing up.

[GoatLiver]

You won't hear the difference between itunes tracks and a cd

You will definitely notice the difference in quality if you have good quality speakers.

Anyhow the CD format was available on amazon website, it is still listed but says its currently unavailable it may be worth sending them an email enquiry. Or you could always see if a local music store can special order you in a copy, as a last resort get in contact directly with the label/publisher I'm sure they want your money.

[Avron the S'wit]

Copies of the Morrowind soundtrack definitely do exist: they shipped with the Collector's edition. Sadly, the world is moving more toward the digital and easily accessible, so finding actual physical copies these days is pretty tough. If you find it, do tell where!