[J-Pak]

List albums that you feel have a very interesting soundstage or just interesting instrument seperation. My two:

David Bowie - The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

 

[Ob3ron]

Just a couple very quickly off the top of my head:

The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium
The Postal Service - Give Up
The Constantines - Shine a Light

 

[la_marquise]

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Love is the Devil OST- interesting use of strings, white noise and ambient sounds. Definitely an acquired taste. Rather unsettling in a "makes you think too much" kind of way...

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Gohatto "Taboo" OST - very 3D, spatial, extreme treble and bass, not that much in the mids. Great CD for testing soundstage.

Pillow Book OST: Eclectic collection of Euro-technopop, Buddhist chants, Old Shanghai Classics....

 

[Helter Skelter]

Pretty much everything put out by Shpongle. Lots of fun trying to follow specific threads around in the stereo field.

A few others:

Ott - Blumenkraft
Paul Simon - Graceland
Amon Tobin - Out From Out Where
Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf
Pearl Jam - Ten
Poe - Haunted

 

[Aman]

Yes - Tales from Topographic Oceans

It has one of the most incredible soundstages I've ever heard on an album. The album itself is kind of sub-par, but the instrumentals (especially the up-and-down bass lines and the really high-pitched, energetic moog) are so cosmic!

 

[Thaddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aman Yes - Tales from Topographic Oceans It has one of the most incredible soundstages I've ever heard on an album. The album itself is kind of sub-par, but the instrumentals (especially the up-and-down bass lines and the really high-pitched, energetic moog) are so cosmic!

Heh, I am listening to this album right now, and was just about to post it!

 

[fante7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aman Yes - Tales from Topographic Oceans It has one of the most incredible soundstages I've ever heard on an album. The album itself is kind of sub-par, but the instrumentals (especially the up-and-down bass lines and the really high-pitched, energetic moog) are so cosmic!

Yeah, I agree. The Moog solo approximately 17 minutes into the first song is incredible. I finally have equipment that can play this part back with clarity and without much harshness.

 

[bigshot]

Every single example cited here (that I am familiar with) utilizes artificial soundstages created by phase and echo effects. No amount of "underwater Enyaesque gurgle" will match the startling soundstage of a cleanly miked live performance. For that I would suggest Paavo Jarvi's Stravinsky collection on the Pentatone label. You can play that and sit on the couch with your eyes closed and point out each instrument as it's placed right to left and front to back. *That's* a three dimensional soundstage.

See ya
Steve

 

[Glod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot Every single example cited here (that I am familiar with) utilizes artificial soundstages created by phase and echo effects. No amount of "underwater Enyaesque gurgle" will match the startling soundstage of a cleanly miked live performance. For that I would suggest Paavo Jarvi's Stravinsky collection on the Pentatone label. You can play that and sit on the couch with your eyes closed and point out each instrument as it's placed right to left and front to back. *That's* a three dimensional soundstage. See ya Steve

Actually, I get the feeling from time to time that a vertical axis also is present, creating a true 3D presentation right-left, back-front and high-low.

One of the most striking stereo effects in a well recorded piece, IMHO, is when a singer, usually in the front/centre of the orchestra, all of a sudden turns the head and sings in another direction for a brief moment, or changes position all together. If the microphone arrangement is well done, the amount of realism in the soundstage is breathtaking.

 

[bigshot]

John Culshaw used these sorts of effects to great effect in Solti's Ring cycle. If you ever see the documentary on the recording of Gotterdammerung, check it out... They had a stage constructed with marks on the floor. The singers were choreographed to move around the stage to suit the action in the opera. On a set of speakers that mesh well, the effect is uncanny.

See ya
Steve

 

[kramer5150]

Dire straits, brothers in arms
Clapton unplugged

 

[steel102]

the older beatles albums?

 

[DobsOnly]

Final Cut - Pink Floyd
I know some will disagree but to me this is the Holy Grail of Pink Floyd work.

Just had to be made for Headphones!

 

[Aman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fante7 Yeah, I agree. The Moog solo approximately 17 minutes into the first song is incredible. I finally have equipment that can play this part back with clarity and without much harshness.

I suppose you could call it a moog solo, but I think it's more of an 'everything solo' because everything just becomes so frantic and energetic at that point.

Another one that I came up with today is:

The Alan Parsons Project - I Robot.

 

[BANGPOD]

Head-Fi'ers --

Any binaural recording.

BANGPOD