[uriz3n]

This one is a bit more mainstream, but a good, well produced album: Serj Tankian - Elect the Dead.
Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead World sounds very good on speakers.

 

[Dublo7]

Opeth's Blackwater Park has a bit of distortion, but otherwise it sounds very good.

Like people have said, Lateralus and AEnima (by Tool) both sound pretty damned great.

 

[Krackatus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer /img/forum/go_quote.gif OSI - Blood is definitely the best-sounding (from a pure audio point of view) heavy album I've heard this year, if not in quite a while. No over-compression, nice dynamics, and excellent instrument sounds all around. Highly recommended!

Thanks for suggesting that. Never heard of them before, but i'm listening to it now and this album is excellent.

 

[MaxK]

I'm loving this discussion, as I'm a bit metal fan.

How about Earth? Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull is a favorite of mine.

The style of Wolves in The Throne Room is a little bit more on the Black Metal noise assault side, but I love kicking back and listening to Two Hunters.

 

[PWilson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by uriz3n /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead World sounds very good on speakers.

I agree. I think this album carries the dynamic feel well without distortion.

I'm late to the Cynic party, but good god, Traced in Air is a fantastic album (music wise). Excellent recording quality as well.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krackatus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for suggesting that. Never heard of them before, but i'm listening to it now and this album is excellent.

Glad you like it! Their previous albums are nice too, although not quite as "audiophile."

 

[Packgrog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Glad you like it! Their previous albums are nice too, although not quite as "audiophile."

I'm surprised to see this comment, as OSI has always seemed pretty audiophile-friendly, as have the artists' previous projects (Fates Warning, early Dream Theater, and ESPECIALLY Chroma Key). Kevin and Jim both seem pretty anal about sound quality, and I haven't been disappointed with the sound quality of any of their albums from the past 15 years. Granted, I haven't broken out any of the Fates on my better hardware, but I do recall that Parallels was recorded with Q Sound.

Also, you should pick up the limited editions with bonus discs of the previous OSI albums before writing them off as non-audiophile. The cover of "Set Your Controls For The Heart of the Sun" on the debut's bonus disc is delightfully creepy and sounds marvelous.

Blood does sound great, though. I haven't managed to buy the CD yet, but the MP3's I grabbed for sampling are inexplicably encoded at 48kHz. Probably just a goof on the encoder's part, unless they had a better-than-CD source to encode from. Heheh. But yes, great music and great sound quality.

 

[Packgrog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PWilson /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm late to the Cynic party, but good god, Traced in Air is a fantastic album (music wise). Excellent recording quality as well.

Ah, Cynic! Still need to listen to the new one (heard one track and was pleased). Focus is a classic album, and one of the few that REALLY benefited from a remaster. The original mastering of the CD was terrible, and I think they used the wrong master for the initial pressing (same problem with Queensryche's Rage For Order, where the vinyl master was used for the CD on the initial pressing, though the remaster for that one is too damn loud). The remaster of Focus, while loud, is a dramatic improvement on the original pressing. Good stuff.

 

[MaZa]

I think latest Obituary sounds pretty good. Too bad music is bit average so I havent given it more accurate listening session yet.

 

[Zombie_X]

I think 'Iced Earth's' two newest albums sound very good on my K701's. The their first album was incredibly compressed though...

All my Opeth stuff sounds good, but I didn't like the original version of 'Black Album'. It sounded very bright and thin.

 

[PWilson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Packgrog /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ah, Cynic! Still need to listen to the new one (heard one track and was pleased). Focus is a classic album, and one of the few that REALLY benefited from a remaster. The original mastering of the CD was terrible, and I think they used the wrong master for the initial pressing (same problem with Queensryche's Rage For Order, where the vinyl master was used for the CD on the initial pressing, though the remaster for that one is too damn loud). The remaster of Focus, while loud, is a dramatic improvement on the original pressing. Good stuff.

I haven't yet heard Focus (apart from a few youtube vids, and I found the vocoder stuff horribly off-putting, though I'm sure I'll get over it). I'll make a note to get the remaster. Thanks.
You'll find that TiA is excellently recorded and mastered. Great dynamics and very clean.


Quote:

Originally Posted by MaZa /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think latest Obituary sounds pretty good. Too bad music is bit average so I havent given it more accurate listening session yet.

I was surprised to see new Obituary out. I was considering picking it up when I saw it, but I figured my money'd be better spent on their old stuff >_<.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Packgrog /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm surprised to see this comment, as OSI has always seemed pretty audiophile-friendly, as have the artists' previous projects (Fates Warning, early Dream Theater, and ESPECIALLY Chroma Key). Kevin and Jim both seem pretty anal about sound quality, and I haven't been disappointed with the sound quality of any of their albums from the past 15 years.

I think you might have taken my comment a bit too strongly. I wasn't suggesting that the two previous albums don't sound good, but just not QUITE as good as Blood. Once you get that on CD, I'm sure you'll see what I meant.

 

[MaZa]

Quote:

I was surprised to see new Obituary out. I was considering picking it up when I saw it, but I figured my money'd be better spent on their old stuff >_<.

Yeah, Slowly We Rot and Cause Of Death are faaar superior to what obituary has released after them. Their music seems bit stall nowadays. :/

 

[LarsP]

I must say that I really like the sound of the latest Anaal Nathrakh CD; In the Constellation of the Black Widow

Youtube "sample"

 

[acidbasement]

Thought I'd resurrect this thread having recently picked up Heaven & Hell - The Devil You Know on vinyl. I was disappointed upon listening - despite the fact that it is split into two 180g discs (only 3 of the 4 sides were used though, the 4th one having a design etched on it), from about the midpoint of each side to the end, it sounds muddy and distorted. Not the greatest pressing. I guess I should have gotten the CD, which was noted elsewhere in this thread for sounding good.

Is Rhino Records crappy in general, or is my experience anomalous?