[Abouna]

I'm in the market for some new CDs after deciding vinyl isn't for me (I'm 47 and listened to lots a vinyl as a kid but don't want to start a new hobby now!  Plus I already have hundreds of CDs).  
 
I've looked now for a couple weeks with no luck to find some kind of database or review site that ranks pressings and reissues of any given album.  
 
Anyone know of such a thing?

 

[Mython]

Sorry it's not a complete answer, but it may serve as a stepping-stone, on your quest:
 
 
www.head-fi.org/t/800879/best-route-for-high-quality-audio-files#post_12403396

 

[Muinarc]

It would be nice if there were a good site for this kind of information but I haven't been able to find it all in one place. There are some good sites for reviews on whether the MoFi or Audio Fidelity gold CDs have re-masters that are worth the premium price. Then you have forums like this one where people may talk about specific albums.
 
I have found a combination of discogs https://www.discogs.com/ and dynamic range measurements from Loudness War http://dr.loudness-war.info/ has given me some decent results. It's an unscientific method for sure but it's better than nothing most of the time.

 

[Abouna]

You'd think after all these decades there would be a site for this!
 
I don;t want to start replacing all my CDs but a handful of my favorites I wouldn't mind upgrading especially since I've now got a new 2 channel system set up with speakers that blow away anything I've ever owned.
 
I signed up over at Steve Hoffman because they have a music forum but after doing a little browsing that place looks like a hotbed of trouble.  
 
Maybe we could petition for a dedicated forum here !?  Seriously, without the music this website would have no purpose.

 

[wuwhere]

Keith Hirsch.
 
http://www.keithhirsch.com/

 

[Abouna]

  Keith Hirsch.
 
http://www.keithhirsch.com/

OK that guy is a nut!  Nothing wrong with that though.  
 
It's something anyhow.

 

[Mython]

  OK that guy is a nut!

 
 
Aren't we all?  

 

[veloroad]

Regarding CD reissues, check out the Music thread 'HDCD List'; a number of reissues in the past used Pacific Microsonics AD converters during the remastering process, and it's been fairly accepted that those converters sounded good. You'll find a good number of titles there in the thread, and while there is the matter on what classifies as a 'true' HDCD (you can read all about it starting around page 35 on), it's reasonable to say the engineers probably won't have used those Pacific Microsonics boxes if they didn't sound better than what was available at the time. (It seems HDCDs were more available - labeled or otherwise - around the mid-late 1990s to the mid 2000s). 
 
Also, if you're interested in sound quality in the physical form (at least theoretically - of course it all depends on the mastering, right?), you could check out reissues in SACD and Blu-Ray Audio. For example, I have a Blu-Ray Audio disc (24/96 LPCM and the latest hi-def Dolby & DTS formats) of Ella and Satchmo and it sounds great! My hybrid SACD copy of the Kleiber Beethoven #5&7 has the beauty of surround sound, and IMO both stereo and surround SACD layers sound better than the CD. Finally, the landmark Miles Davis' Kind of Blue as been reissued in several iterations.