Although I've managed to find/rip many of my favorite hip-hop albums in FLAC format, I'm finding that most of it was poorly-recorded. A lot of classic early-90s hip-hop just sounds faded, distant, and distorted. This includes many of my all-time favorites, like Tribe, Pharcyde, Mobb Deep, De La, and Wu-Tang.
So what hip-hop albums have you heard whose recordings truly sound steller on a high-end headphone system? I would prefer to see albums that are also great based on their content (and not just the quality of the mastering), but I know that's subjective. Here's a few recordings I can think of to start the list:
1. Ice Cube - Predator (Remastered)
2. Prince Paul - A Prince Among Thieves
3. Outkast - Stankonia and Big Boi and Dre Present... (available in SHCD)
4. Blackstar - Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Blackstar
5. The Roots - Things Fall Apart
6. Big Boi - Sir Luscious Left Foot
And what about House and Trance albums that are especially well-recorded? Most of the recent releases by Armin, Tiesto, Markus Schulz, and Deadmau5 seem pretty good, what else should I check out?
