What Is Fake Hi-Res?
Streaming stores and download shops sell "hi-res" audio at 88.2, 96, or 192 kHz — often marketed as studio quality. A genuine hi-res recording captured at that rate contains musical harmonics and noise above the 22 kHz CD ceiling. If a file declares 96 kHz but its spectrogram hits a sharp brick wall at ~22 kHz, it was almost certainly upsampled from a 44.1 or 48 kHz master — you paid for bandwidth you didn't get.
Worse, some "hi-res" files are upsampled from a lossy MP3 first. The cutoff then sits even lower (16–20 kHz), but the sample rate tag still reads 96 kHz.
What Is Fake 24-Bit?
A separate scam: files tagged as 24-bit where the sample values are really only 16-bit, with the low byte zero-padded. The file is larger but carries no extra resolution. This tool checks whether decoded samples align to 16-bit quantization steps — the same test built into our Spectrogram Analyzer, focused here for hi-res buyers.
How to Read the Spectrogram
Look for a horizontal brick wall at 22 kHz on a file claiming 96 kHz — empty black above it means upsampling. Genuine hi-res extends well above that line with a natural rolloff, not a sharp shelf. Drag on the overview to zoom a one-second window if you want to inspect detail. The automated checks are a screening hint; your eyes on the image are the final word.
Not Looking for MP3 Transcodes?
This page focuses on hi-res upsampling and bit-depth padding. To check whether a "lossless" FLAC was made from an MP3, use the full Spectrogram Analyzer & Transcode Detector — it includes folder batch with spectrogram ZIP export and MP3 block-artifact zoom.