HD Ingame Music (320kbps)

This replaces the game's 128kbps music with 320kbps versions of the same tracks from the Morrowind Special Edition soundtrack. Should be a win-win no-brainer replacer.

There are two versions: Matched Volume, and Untouched. For the volume-matched version I have roughly matched the volume of each track to the original game's music. To do this, I had to put about two-thirds of the files through Audacity's MP3 exporter, which may have incurred a slight generational loss, despite using "320kbps Insane" quality. Thus, if you'd prefer the untouched files without any volume alterations, they're also available - just bear in mind that if you do pick the untouched version, some tracks will be significantly quieter than you're used to.

There's also an optional file which replaces the main title music (on the main menu, not ingame) with Jeremy Soule's reprise of it, apparently composed just before the Skyrim soundtrack.

I uploaded a "modder's resource" containing the background music for the cutscenes too. I don't think clean audio exists for Azura's narration, so I can't put this into the cutscenes.

Are these actually better?

Comparing the spectrograms suggests that this replacer is indeed higher quality than the 128kbps files that shipped with the game. The frequencies cut off at around 20khz rather 16khz. Luckily you can't hear frequencies above 20khz most of the time, so that cutoff should be alright. I hope this mod will please Pherim, unlike an earlier "HD" music mod.

There are also some dynamics differences. For instance, some of the loudest peaks of the original music are not as dramatic. I think these tracks may have been differently (re)mastered, or perhaps the change was made to make the OST easier to listen to. The UESP suggests these may be Soule's Remastered files from DirectSong due to the titles, but I have heard that those may not have been real 320kbps files, whereas I'm fairly certain these are.

Can you hear the difference?

Maybe? I have fairly poor hearing, and am currently using a pair of £20 headphones, so I'm absolutely no authority on the matter. Disclaimer aside, I think they do, just a little bit. I'm not sure I could reliably distinguish them in a blind test though. Let me know your experiences in the comments.

Is this piracy?

No more than this is. All the music is in the game's files anyway, albeit in a lower quality than this.