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Your 3 BEST SOUNDING albums

post #1 of 69
9/16/09 at 3:08am
Thread Starter 
So here is the plot. I really love music (like you all do) with great gear on my ears, however many times I find poorly made or average recordings. Here I would like you to list the three albums sounding the best in your collection!

THIS IS NOT YOUR FAVORITE 3 ALBUMS! This is about sound, recording, studio work. You might like Miles Davis's Kind of Blue or The Doors or Pink Floyd, but that is hardly qualifies here (the latter may be). So? Which 3 amazes you the most? Here is my three:

- Chick Corea Electric Band II: Paint The World (1993)
- Pat Metheny: Imaginary Day (1997)
- Al Di Meola: Consequence of Chaos (2006)

It would be nice to have a few great sounding albums head-fiers find worth listening to... no mind the genre! Anything goes, classical too!
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post #2 of 69
9/16/09 at 3:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Mono View Post
THIS IS NOT YOUR FAVORITE 3 ALBUMS! This is about sound, recording, studio work. You might like Miles Davis's Kind of Blue or The Doors or Pink Floyd, but that is hardly qualifies here (the latter may be). So? Which 3 amazes you the most? Here is my three:
WHAT!

Kind of Blue is a highly audiophile worthy addition depending upon which version of the album you own. I have heard KOB 100's of times and it still blows me away - not to mention the few people who have heard the version I own.

Have you heard a properly mastered version of any of The Door's albums? If so, you wouldn't have said the above. Same goes for Pink Floyd.
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post #3 of 69
9/16/09 at 3:26am
Thread Starter 
Well, I have seen Casablanca many times, but no matter how much I like it, it won't measure up to X-man 4 as a 21st century movie experience. Sure you can remaster Bela Bartok 200 times from the 40s, it won't be the one recorded in the past decade. But be it! For ya, it is Kind of Blue.... and... The Division Bells may be? Say it, you'll get a point! I love Pink Floyd, but their albums are far from those I mentioned sound wise (to my ears). The idea of mastering changed so much since Pink Floyd. And yes, I have The Doors 40th Ann. I love it a lot but come on now! Be serious! That's your best sounding album.... and Kind of Blue?
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post #4 of 69
9/16/09 at 3:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Mono View Post
Well, I have seen Casablanca many times, but no matter how much I like it, it won't measure up to X-man 4 as a 21st century movie experience. Sure you can remaster Bela Bartok 200 times from the 40s, it won't be the one recorded in the past decade. But be it! For ya, it is Kind of Blue.... and... The Division Bells may be? Say it, you'll get a point! I love Pink Floyd, but their albums are far from those I mentioned sound wise (to my ears). The idea of mastering changed so much since Pink Floyd. And yes, I have The Doors 40th Ann. I love it a lot but come on now! Be serious! That's your best sounding album.... and Kind of Blue?
I seriously can't believe you actually wrote this on an audiophile website...but then again...I can see your a newbie. FYI, Casablanca is a movie. If you want to discuss the soundtrack - then that's fine but movie references don't really translate to audio. Also - Casablanca doesn't measure up at all to X-men 4. In fact, Casablanca is usually in a separate category called "Classic Cinema" or "Masterpieces". As much as I do like them, I don't think any of the X-men movies belong there.

Your right in that mastering has changed. Mastering has changed and it's changed for the worse. I would much rather take a recording from the 50's or 60's than a modern one in most cases. In fact, I think some the very best recordings I have EVER heard come from the 1950's and 1960's. One of my all time favorite recordings in terms of performance and sound quality was recorded in the late 1940's by Bing Crosby.

FYI, the Doors 40th Anniversary albums sucks. If you really want to hear The Doors, try THIS VERSION or THIS VERSION. There are other versions currently out of print from a company called DCC. Track down those versions as well.

I hope someone who has heard my Kind of Blue or the reel-to-reel or a classic records pressing will chime in because it is definitely one of the best recordings I own - both sonically and artistically. Even the cheap $7 version on the shelves sounds great.
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post #5 of 69
9/16/09 at 4:06am
Thread Starter 
Well, Casablanca as an analogy could go to any website, even an "audiophile" one. Newbie or not, I can't and don't listen anything before the 70s... Elvis, may be, rarely. If you think that sound mastering in the 50s and 60s was superior to the one we have today, that really sucks as you have a sound studio of some sort I assume and do this work professionally. An other analogy for ya: A 1965 Ferrari is a nice car, a masterpiece if you wish, but just go into the auto-saloon on the corner and try a new Ford! You'll be amazed! So you like the Ferrari from 1965 better? Be it! Just don't tell me it is a better car and don't try to race. Back to SOUND! You being an uber master head-fi user, would you share your three best sounding album with me (at least) so I learn, go get them and listen to them, enjoy or dismiss... audiophile means nothing my friend, it is just a made up word for mostly half deaf snobs who love to use it so much. Let's hear the music! What do you suggest?
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post #6 of 69
9/16/09 at 4:23am
Your Ferrari analogy is an epic fail. Also, who told you I was an uber anything?

*sigh*

Sound recording techniques and practices were much better in the 1950's and 1960's. Better technology does not equate to better sound. I do have a "studio of some sort" as I work as a mastering engineer. My main draw is that I try to master much like they did back in the 1950's and 1960's and rarely using limiting, compression and other unnecessary processing that, most often than not, degrades sound quality.

If you can't listen to anything pre-1970's because it's hard to find, etc, I can understand that and sympathize. If don't want to listen to anything pre-1970's, then that's just ignorance at it's finest. Your missing out on what most music lovers define as the golden age of sound not to mention a lot of fine performances and excellent recorded music and sound reproduction.

Anyway, here are some of my best sounding albums. Live and learn my friend - you need to!


Bing Crosby - Bing Crosby Sings Again


Nat King Cole - The Very Thought of You


Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
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post #7 of 69
9/16/09 at 4:43am
Thread Starter 
Now isn't that more welcoming like that? For the Newbie! I practically grew up in a sound recording studio (yes with the compressor-limiters) and that influences my listening habits. I'll see after Bing Crosby..... and here is a killer for you: My favorite Miles Davis is DOO BOP... but the recording is way too loud, even for me, and it is not really MD anyway.... but then I see you are into the early ages.

A 1965 Ferrari vs a 2010 Ford is not an epic fail... it is just reality... see you on the autophile forum about that!

Thanks for the suggestions! Anyone else? Best sounding albums?
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post #8 of 69
9/16/09 at 4:57am
Michael Hedges - Aerial Boundaries
The Dresden Dolls - The Dresden Dolls
Pink Floyd - DSOTM
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post #9 of 69
9/16/09 at 6:20am
Robert Johnson - love those 78rmp ticks and pops
Nelson Eddie - any one of his recordings a terrific
Al Johnson - beautiful!
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post #10 of 69
9/16/09 at 6:43am
Steely Dan - Aja
Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
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post #11 of 69
9/16/09 at 8:33am
1.The Ultimate Demonstration Disc - Chesky Records. Track 3 Rebecca Pidgeon singing Spanish Harlem is a wonder to hear.
2. Friday Night In San Francisco. John McLaughlan, Al Di Meola, & Paco De Lucia. A "Must Have" for anyone who loves guitar.
3. Sheherezade - Nicolai Rimsky-Koraskov. The Tone Poem of classical tone poems.
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post #12 of 69
9/16/09 at 12:18pm
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia
Dream Theater - Train Of Thought
Tool - Lateralus
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post #13 of 69
9/16/09 at 12:28pm
1. To diz with love- various artists (b/c it's sooo unedited)
2. Resolution to romance- Wynton Marsalis (very forward, very intimate)
3. Blue-Joni Mitchell (very classic sound from its era)
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post #14 of 69
9/16/09 at 12:46pm
Nirvana- MTV Unplugged Live in NY
Switchblade Symphony- Serpentine Gallery
The Sisters of Mercy- Floodland

Yes, I like goth music. Why do you ask?

(They also tend to be absurdly well-recorded/mixed, especially compared to a lot of rock and pop albums I've heard)
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post #15 of 69
9/16/09 at 1:55pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you guys! This is exactly what I have in mind opening this thread! Keep it flowing please!
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