[kelly]

So I don't have much classical or jazz in my collection and I'm wanting to buy more. The problem is that it's very hard to shop for classical and jazz, for me.

You see, it's not hard for me to know I like Louis Armstrong or Miles Davis and it's not hard to know I like Bach and Mozart. To take it a step further, it's not THAT challenging to know which orchestras have done them well and with a little searching on the net, it's not that hard to find someone to say that a particular recording is good.

So the REAL problem is that I'm extremely sensitive to digital artifacting and poor masterings. And with jazz and classical, I just get too many choices. Is there anyone who reviews these CDs based more on their technical merits?

Kelly

 

[edog]

The "audiophile" magazines, such as Stereophile and The Absolute Sound, have some pretty good classical and jazz reviews. Since their focus is on sound reproduction, they care quite a bit about sound quality. Most of them even have separate ratings for performance quality and sound quality.

 

[slindeman]

BBC Music Magazine talks about and has ratings for sound quality on every recording they review. They reviews 40+ cds each issue, mostly classical but some jazz too.

 

[XXhalberstramXX]

Also you can pick up a copy of Grammophone magazine. they publish in each issue a list of reccomended recordings of most popular pieces. some have unspectacular sound quality, but all are first rate proformances. in most reviews grammophone tends to mention sound quality, at least for a sentence or two. enough for anyone who's not one of those "only buy from audiophile labels" nuts. (he he)

Also, a great website is www.musicweb.uk.net they most always have great reccomendations and almost always mention sound quality. plus they review mostly new CDs, so the sound quality is generally acceptable too.

pretty much all new Naxos releases have great sound and are ultra cheap too.

 

[kelly]

Quote:

at least for a sentence or two. enough for anyone who's not one of those "only buy from audiophile labels" nuts. (he he)

I'm not one of those people, but I want to be.

What are the audiophile labels?

Kelly

 

[XXhalberstramXX]

well i think it's kinda fuzzy as to what is an audiophile label nowadays. Telarc and i think Teldec started out as audiophile labels, but now have enough clout to attract big name conductors and symphony orchestras. And big name labels like DG and EMI now have excellent sound quality in their recordings.

but i think any telarc or teldec should be a reasonable bet.

but i warn you... don't become one of those people!! worry about the music for god's sake!! i'll listen to old crappy, scratchy, coughy, mono recordings in a heartbeat before anything new depending on who's waving the baton.

of course, you can have the best of both worlds and buy one recording to work out your phones and another to work out your mind. buy the good proformance first though. then you'll see what you're missing more clearly.

 

[kelly]

Quote:

Originally posted by XXhalberstramXX well i think it's kinda fuzzy as to what is an audiophile label nowadays. Telarc and i think Teldec started out as audiophile labels, but now have enough clout to attract big name conductors and symphony orchestras. And big name labels like DG and EMI now have excellent sound quality in their recordings. but i think any telarc or teldec should be a reasonable bet. but i warn you... don't become one of those people!! worry about the music for god's sake!! i'll listen to old crappy, scratchy, coughy, mono recordings in a heartbeat before anything new depending on who's waving the baton. of course, you can have the best of both worlds and buy one recording to work out your phones and another to work out your mind. buy the good proformance first though. then you'll see what you're missing more clearly.

I'm most disturbed that you proposition this as an either/or selection. Not to put too fine a point on it, but surely there are good quality recordings of good content.

Kelly

PS By some quirk of nature, the CD I purchased today was 1968's "Disney the Satchmo Way" by Louis Armstrong and the quality is very acceptable. This was an easy choice because I wanted the particular content and there were no other box sets, alternate labels, gold CDs or exclusive imports to compare against. I can't say that for the rest of Louis Armstrong's collection--I have no idea and no way of knowing what the best sounding way to own the Ella and Louis discs is.