Looking to expand my CD collection! Input needed!
Sep 11, 2009 at 4:22 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 16

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Headphoneus Supremus
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Hey all,

I decided to start building a killer CD collection - I'm starting virtually from scratch. I budgeted $250 this month to purchase really great recordings of great music of any category. I need everyone's help as I am running into problems finding recordings mastered at a level that's clean enough for my new audio rig. What I'm looking for, specifically, is exceptionally well-recorded material - any genre or style is fine. Recommend to me your favorite audiophile-grade recording, 2-CD, or boxed set. I'm all ears and would love to expand my horizons musically through acquiring recordings that also utilize my audio rig's full potential.

I'm going to be spending some good time reading this forum. Thanks all for the input!!
 
Sep 11, 2009 at 4:57 PM Post #2 of 16
Robert Rich - Seven Veils - (Hearts of Space)



Click pic for more info ...

Seven Veils is both ancient and alien, a primordial landscape of moss-shrouded ruins and arcane ceremonial rites. Mixing keyboards and acoustic instruments, Rich exults in a swampy, techno-tribal sound. Seductive bamboo flute melodies and lap steel guitar glissandos caress throbbing middle eastern trance grooves played on udu and frame drums and rubberband marimba. Adding some effective touches in this cyber-organic creation are guitarist David Torn, cellist Hans Christian and violinist Forrest Fang. Seven Veils is the soundtrack Joseph Conrad may have heard when he explored the Heart of Darkness. ~John Diliberto, originally published in Billboard Magazine
 
Sep 11, 2009 at 5:23 PM Post #3 of 16
Favourite audiophile grade recordings

Look to the MOFI catalog.

Commercial cds, here are a few that are pretty darn well recorded, I'm going to list random genres for variety sake, there are way way more, but I'm just gonna list a few to start with

Jesse Cook - Gravity, Vertigo
Dave Matthews Band - Crash, B4 these crowded streets
Ozric Tentacles - Spirals into Hyperspace, Jurrasic Shift
Tool - Lateralus
Porcupine Tree - Lightbulb Sun, In Absentia
Dream Theater - Awake
Cowboy Junkies - Lay it down, Trinity Session
Bela Fleck and Flecktones - UFO Tofu
Dredg - El Cielo
Enya - A Day without Rain
Gojira - The Link
Amon Amarth - With Oden On Our Side
Eric Clapton - Unplugged
Alice In Chains - Unplugged
Donald Fagen - The Nightfly
Steely Dan - Aja, Gaucho,Two Against Nature
Madonna - Something to Remember
Nine Inch Nails - Downward Spiral
Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against the Machine
SRV - Sky is Crying
Diana Krall - Live in Paris, Girl In the Other Room

TELARC and Pentatone mostly have good sounding stuff, look for reviews to find out which ones to pick up

Anything by the popular speaker or amp companies like Burmester, System audio, Linn, Dali, Ultrasone, Focal, Wilson, Usher (all of these have demo cds that are outstanding)

XRCD's of Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits, Patricia Barber, heck pretty much most of the XRCD's I've heard sound excellent, start with a sampler disc if you arent sure

FIM recordings are also very good, get a few sampler discs to get a taste of their music
 
Sep 11, 2009 at 6:11 PM Post #4 of 16
Davey,

Added!

jilgiljongiljing,

I'll look into those.
 
Sep 11, 2009 at 11:05 PM Post #5 of 16
Jeff Buckley -- Grace
Beck -- Modern Guilt
Norah Jones -- Come Away With Me
 
Sep 11, 2009 at 11:35 PM Post #6 of 16
I'll just recommend my favourite albums.

Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West, The Moon and Antarctica
Porcupine Tree - Signify, Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun
Radiohead - OK Computer, In Rainbows
Tool - Lateralus
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
In Flames - The Jester Race
Sigur Rós - Ágætis Byrjun
Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
Dream Theater - Images and Words
Pearl Jam - Ten
 
Sep 11, 2009 at 11:54 PM Post #7 of 16
Sep 12, 2009 at 2:18 PM Post #8 of 16
Mapleshade has some good recordings, not all of the music is that great, so you need to listen to them first. I personally like the Blue Rider Trio (acoustical blues), Neil Larsen - Orbit is another fine recording (jazz) it's on Straight Ahead Records
 
Sep 12, 2009 at 2:34 PM Post #9 of 16
I personally think you're going about this in a terrible manner. You should be after great music first and foremost and sound quality should only be a distant concern. If great albums happen to have great recordings then fantastic, it's a nice little bonus but concerning yourself only with sublimely recorded albums that will justify your expensive gadgets not only limits you to a small pool questionable music but inverts the relationship hi-fi has to music; namely to serve it and not the other way around.

Now, with that said I'm going to suggest a bunch of albums that I love. Some are well recorded and some are not. I'll let you discover the facts:

The Devin Townsend Band - Accelerated Evolution
Strapping Young Lad - City
Katatonia - Last Fair Deal Gone Down
My Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans
Nevermore - The Politics of Ecstacy
The Meads of Asphodel - Exhuming the Grave of Yeshua
Taake - Bjoergvin
Bathory - Hammerheart
Bad Brains - I Against I
Porcupine Tree - Lightbulb Sun
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Electric Wizard - Dopesmoker
 
Sep 12, 2009 at 4:07 PM Post #10 of 16
Beatles remastered stereo boxset
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Sep 12, 2009 at 5:10 PM Post #12 of 16
I would suggest that there is a strong possibility that you don't actually like music. If you are so interested in pristine sound, you can do that for free on a street corner.

Additionally, any random suggestion on here (and many have been very random) is meaningless.
 
Sep 12, 2009 at 5:31 PM Post #13 of 16
Quote:

Originally Posted by Coltrane /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I would suggest that there is a strong possibility that you don't actually like music. If you are so interested in pristine sound, you can do that for free on a street corner.

Additionally, any random suggestion on here (and many have been very random) is meaningless.



Reporting in from Kure Beach, NC, as we do a group tear wiping ceremony live from DanJam.

Oh, by the way, a geek from Bozeman, MT? Tell me it ain't so, Tyll.
 
Sep 12, 2009 at 6:13 PM Post #14 of 16
I'd recommend picking up these books:

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Both are terrific introductions to the genres and they include lists of albums to build a library. I've got probably 90% of the recommended catalogs in each and they're wonderful. Good music, good recordings, and often, they're inexpensive.

Also, go used. Hit local junk stores, pawn shops, thrift stores, flea markets, etc., and buy used discs. At the local swapmeet, I've been finding good discs for $2-$3 each.
 

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