[Mr.Radar]

I just listened to Kilroy was Here by Styx through my DT440's and Toshiba and it sounded great, probably one of the best recordings I've heard through that system with tight, impactful bass and balanced trebel and mids and great instrument seperation. I'm wondering, what other recordings have you discovered to be very good sounding on Hi-Fi gear, even though they were never intended to be, or the inverse: "Audiophile" recordings you've heard that sound better on consumer-grade gear than Hi-Fi gear.

 

[soundboy]

According to Mark Knopfler, he never intend to record audiophile recordings. It just so happen that most Dire Straits albums and his own solo albums sounded good.

 

[MusicLover]

Dave Matthews Band cd's sound awesome.

 

[OneMalt]

Roxy Music's Avalon has always sounded great regardless of the playback media.

 

[Stephonovich]

My setup may not be very high end (see sig), but I'd call it a definite cut above 'normal', whatever that is.

Early Metallica (<=Master of Puppets) sounds pretty good no matter what you play it on. Also, most any Dream Theater.

(-:Stephonovich

 

[Aman]

Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and the SACD both sound better than superb - they sound just plain amazing..

And Pink Floyd's The Wall also sounds more than spectacular.

And so does Ummagumma, Animals ... - you know what? Any Pink Floyd album sounds fantastic, even the live ones!

 

[Mr.Radar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aman Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and the SACD both sound better than superb - they sound just plain amazing..

I've found the CD-layer of the SACD version to be dynamically compressed (like modern rock CDs) which IMHO sucked the life out of the recording (listening to the non-SACD version on some Koss TD-60's at a Borders on some generic 5-cd changer sounded better than the SACD version (CD-layer) played on my Chaintech AV-710 or Toshiba 3960 with my DT440's or PortaPros).

[size=xx-small]PS: does anyone want to make a copy of the SACD layer of DOSM onto a 24/96 or 24/192 Stereo WAV or FLAC file for me (via an SACD player's analog outputs to a soundcard's analog inputs)? I'd do it myself but I don't have an SACD player or a good soundcard. I'll send you my copy of the SACD as proof that I have it, a blank DVD+R disc to burn it to, some money for your trouble, and I'll pay for shipping both ways. PM me if you can do it.[/size]

 

[roadtonowhere08]

Older Dream Theater sounds fantastic; new stuff is compressed. "Damnation" from Opeth and "Laterulus" from Tool really stick out in my mind as being exceptionally well recorded. The biggest surprise: the 22bit SBM remaster of "Diary of a Madman" from Ozzy. Very well recorded. This is NOT the current remaster with the extra songs (all in this series are terrible, bleh), it is the one in the series with a nice satinish border around all the albums. My benchmark to see if another album is well recorded is Pink Floyd's "Division Bell"... outstanding quality. Obviously YMMV and IMO.

 

[Leporello]

Just to name a few:

Schönberg: Gurrelieder / Chailly (Decca)
Bach: Trio Sonatas / Koopman (Archiv)
Mozart: "Haydn" Quartets / Hagen Ot (DG)
Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia / Marriner (Philips)
Couperin : Harpsichord Works / Rousset (Harmonia Mundi)
Purcell: Ode to St. Cecilia's day /Herreweghe (Harmonia Mundi)
Peter Gabriel: 4
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Mother's Milk
Almost anything by Tom Waits (esp. Bone Machine)
AC/DC: Back in Black
My Bloody Valentine: Loveless
Cannonball Adderley: Somethin' Else (not the RVG edition, which I have not heard)
Stones: Exile on Main St. (the 25th Anniverary Edition)
Neil Young: Weld



Regards,


L.

 

[kfh227]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MusicLover Dave Matthews Band cd's sound awesome.

I hada high end car stereo several years ago. I can agree that Dave matthews recordings are very well done.

And I was actually pleasently surprised with Modest Mouse:
http://www.modestmouse.com/

Not sure if there are mp3s at the web site, but the latest CD and the older ones all sound pretty good.

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephonovich Early Metallica (<=Master of Puppets) sounds pretty good no matter what you play it on. Also, most any Dream Theater. (-:Stephonovich

huh? No they don't. Kill em' all sounds like it was recorded on some generic analog tape, ride the lightning and master of puppets sound like am radio. I'm not a fan of Dream Theater, so i can't vouch for them.

Metallica: Black album sounds great, but it's not a favorite of mine.

Others to consider:

Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms (great sound and great albums from beginning to end)

Dave Matthews: Some Devil (killer imaging and talk about an expansive soundstage, solid albums with a few standouts: tracks 8-14 are all top notch, imho)

Dave Matthews Band: Under the table and dreaming (excellent sound quality and i can't say there's one filler track on here)

Keb Mo: Just like you (a little change from the above, blues guitarist with soothing vocals, incredible imaging)

The Cranberries: No need to argue (Alternative rock, very well recorded and a mix of upbeat and slow songs, good stuff, features their hit single "Zombie")

Athenaeum: Radiance (pop-rock, these guys don't get any airplay but this debut album features well crafted pop tunes and killer sound quality to boot, definitely worth it if that's your style)

Garbage: Self titled debut album and Version 2.0 (classic alternative-rock albums and they are very well mastered as well...if you like loops, samples fiery and haunting female vocals, this is your ticket)

The list can go on and on...there's a lot of well recorded rock albums out there, feel free to ask for more rec's if you want me to list more. Out of the list i supplied above, i'd start with the Dave Matthews "Some Devil" cd, its just incredible and a damn shame not many head-fiers listen to it.

 

[Stephonovich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gloco huh? No they don't. Kill em' all sounds like it was recorded on some generic analog tape, ride the lightning and master of puppets sound like am radio. I'm not a fan of Dream Theater, so i can't vouch for them.

Analog tape is not a bad thing to be recording on. IMO, much better than a full DDD setup. Ever heard Radiohead? They record onto analog first, then onto digital for editing. They said they just can't get the right sound without analog recordings. As for RTL and MOP, I've heard 'em, and they are definitely not AM radio quality. Every song on there is very well done.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gloco huh? No they don't. Kill em' all sounds like it was recorded on some generic analog tape, ride the lightning and master of puppets sound like am radio. I'm not a fan of Dream Theater, so i can't vouch for them.

DT has perhaps some of the best recordings I've heard in metal, and I've listened to a damned lot of metal. I agree that Kill 'Em All is pretty lame sounding, but RtL and MoP are very good sounding for thrash albums, which is not exactly a high standard, but still

Other metal bands with great sounding albums:

Dio: (Holy Diver at least)
Zero Hour (all, but one is even HDCD)
Eternity X
Savatage (At least from Mountain King onward, though the last album is pretty sibilant)

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephonovich Analog tape is not a bad thing to be recording on. IMO, much better than a full DDD setup. Ever heard Radiohead? They record onto analog first, then onto digital for editing. They said they just can't get the right sound without analog recordings. As for RTL and MOP, I've heard 'em, and they are definitely not AM radio quality. Every song on there is very well done.

I never said analog tape is a bad thing, just that Metallica's albums up until the black album are not exactly audiophile grade. They sound compressed and to be blunt, RtL and MoP have quite a bit of tape hiss and other anomolies that don't sound quite right on my he60's (or even my 7506's). I own both albums on vinyl and a MFSL copy of RtL and they don't sound that pleasant to my ears. As for radiohead....yeah, you can say i listen to them. I've heard quite a few DDD recordings that are stand outs...ever listen to Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms" or Duran Duran 's "Notorious"? Both sound incredibly clean, albeit a bit light in the bass department. As for radiohead claiming they can't the sound right without a analog system, that's their preference.

As ID has pointed out, trash albums typically are not known for stunning sound quality.

 

[zachary80]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer I agree that Kill 'Em All is pretty lame sounding, but RtL and MoP are very good sounding for thrash albums, which is not exactly a high standard, but still

The DCC Gold remastered are a significant improvement