[tonyfiore75]

I'm *bumping* this thread because I think it's very useful to people who are perusing any of the Head.fi categories. Thanks for all of the suggestions, folks.

-T

 

[West726]

This great thread lists lots of my votes. I'd also add all 4 of the Esoteric/Teac SACD classical releases. 60 bucks a pop at elusive disc (and everywhere else), but if you can even remotely see (hear?) yourself listening to Mozart, Beethoven, Manuel de Falla, or Dvorak, the SQ is amazing.

 

[aragornmustdie]

Gotta comment on the new Rolling Stones remasters. They sound really good and not loud at all. I bought the remastered Sticky Fingers.

This is what is written inside the sleeve:

"Produced, with affection, by Jimmy Miller.

A bit of advice from Jimmy M.: Maximum cycle characteristics and frequency response at high decibel level have been set according to standards suggested in the GUY STEVENS Producer Manual, chart R-357, in index, page 304. These recommended standards were compiled by the same authority having recently measured audible damage created by supersonic aircraft- if for any reasons you do not agree with the standards- turn it up."

 

[Laokid18]

Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine
Bad Brains - Omega Sessions

 

[crazyjeeper]

Rage Against the Machine - self titled
Boston - Self titled

 

[Sordel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FalconP /img/forum/go_quote.gif With the label ECM, you're always guaranteed superb sound.

qft ... Manfred Eicher is exceptionally keen on dynamic range in his recordings, and ECM recordings are notable for their clarity. To mention just one album, Arbos by Arvo Part is almost the opposite of a "revealing" recording ... it will make just about any system sound pretty good, and is even more flattering to a high-end system.

By the way, I think that it is this particular aspect - sounding good on any system - that people are going for in recommendations of Brothers in Arms or Graceland. These wouldn't be good albums to use as reference recordings if you were buying a new piece of kit, because they sound too good. I'm sure that they scale, so that they sound proportionately better as your system improves, but what you're really looking for is a recording that really sounds bad on a bad system and then sounds great on a good system.

I think that this is why people tend to use albums with a complex sound (such as an orchestra) for analytic listening. Albums such as Brothers In Arms are very psycho-acoustically mixed (they are mixed to flatter precisely what the brain is intended to concentrate on at that particular moment), whereas a good orchestral recording tends to let the mind range amongst the instruments without favouring any particular part too much at any given time.

A well-engineered album, then, is very different from a well-recorded album or a well-mixed album. Engineering should lock together the recording and the mix with appropriate dynamic range ... it's a pretty subtle thing for a lay listener to assess.

 

[Jeff E]

I bought this CD on a whim, not having researched it at all. It floored me.

 

[tru blu]

I think jazz records are pretty well engineered as a matter of course, so I'll suggest something non-jazz…kinda…

Donald Fagen - The Nightfly

 

[httran]

Mark Hollis - S/T

Low - Things We Lost In The Fire (an Albini-engineered album)

Both of these sound fantastic.

 

[xBones]

Dream Theater - Awake
Liquid Tension Experiment
Spin Doctors - Pocket Full of Kryptonite

 

[SoupRKnowva]

in this age of over compression and lack of dynamic range, i think the new self titled Avenged Sevenfold cd sounds pretty damn good

 

[West726]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sordel /img/forum/go_quote.gif qft ... Manfred Eicher is exceptionally keen on dynamic range in his recordings, and ECM recordings are notable for their clarity. To mention just one album, Arbos by Arvo Part is almost the opposite of a "revealing" recording ... it will make just about any system sound pretty good, and is even more flattering to a high-end system. By the way, I think that it is this particular aspect - sounding good on any system - that people are going for in recommendations of Brothers in Arms or Graceland. These wouldn't be good albums to use as reference recordings if you were buying a new piece of kit, because they sound too good. I'm sure that they scale, so that they sound proportionately better as your system improves, but what you're really looking for is a recording that really sounds bad on a bad system and then sounds great on a good system. I think that this is why people tend to use albums with a complex sound (such as an orchestra) for analytic listening. Albums such as Brothers In Arms are very psycho-acoustically mixed (they are mixed to flatter precisely what the brain is intended to concentrate on at that particular moment), whereas a good orchestral recording tends to let the mind range amongst the instruments without favouring any particular part too much at any given time. A well-engineered album, then, is very different from a well-recorded album or a well-mixed album. Engineering should lock together the recording and the mix with appropriate dynamic range ... it's a pretty subtle thing for a lay listener to assess.

So what would you recommend for reference recordings/analytic listening? What is an example of something that sounds bad on a bad system but good on a good system?

 

[West726]

Bumping again. Anyone have an answer?

 

[LFF]

Art Pepper + Eleven engineered by Roy DuNann.

Hell, anything engineered by Roy DuNann is great in my book.

 

[LFF]

Quote:

Originally Posted by West726 /img/forum/go_quote.gif So what would you recommend for reference recordings/analytic listening? What is an example of something that sounds bad on a bad system but good on a good system?

Sometimes it's in the subtle details.

For this I use my remaster of Frank Sinatra's Songs For Swingin' Lovers. It sounds great on any system. On a bad system, Sinatra's voice sounds dry and fantastic.

On a truly great system or pair of headphones, you can hear Sinatra's mouth open before he speaks, you can hear a little bit of natural reverb from Capitols recording studio and you can hear all types of little nuances.