[rock&rollfrenchfries]

wow this thread is kinda giving me a headache. but here are some of my best sounding albums in my opinion. not just music that i like but consider to be very high sound quality as well.
 
future sound of london: dead cities (maybe not their very best production quality but still very good and an excellent album)
 
future sound of london: papua new guinea translations
 
future sound of london: from the archives volumes 1 thru 6 (all of them), and environments 1 thru 3 (all of them)
 
future sound of london: lifeforms path 1-6 EP, and cascade EP
 
massive attack: 100th window
 
beastie boys: hello nasty
 
im not even sure that these are valid answers because none of them pertain to capturing actual instruments in a studio so to speak. but they sound very good nonetheless
 
oh yea also alice n chains unplugged

 

[AlexRoma]

 
Omnia
World of Omnia (limited Edition)
2009
(Celtic/Folk)
 
Ridiculously awesomely mastered album...

 

[CrystalT]

Is there any known prog/power with a high level of production, or is it all super compressed? Most music I listen to, there is almost zero difference between 192 and flac.

 

[white_feather]

I am a complete newby. What about the raw energy of Van Halen I?

 

[Radioking59]

One album that blows me away every time I listen to it is Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road MFSL CD.  Awesome is an understatement.  Some others that are in print are Beck Sea Change MFSL CD and the recently released James Taylor Sweet Baby James Audio Fidelity gold CD.

 

[John2e]

Rolling stones 
 
Let it Bled Remastered 
Hot rocks Remastered

 

[AlexRoma]

Thanks guys for your comments, but there is nothing ‘ridiculous’ getting great recordings from bands like The Rolling stones or Elton John.
 
It becomes quite ridiculous when some not very known folks like Disturbed, Omnia, Aloe Blacc (etc) bring recordings that make you think Muse or Nightwish are so poor guys, that a decent studio is way too expensive for them

.   

 

[Radioking59]

I thought we were talking about masterings and not recordings.  I've heard other Elton John Cds that sound no where close to the MFSL masterings but yet come from the same recording. 
 
It's not the studio that make Muse recordings sound awful, it's the mastering.

 

[AlexRoma]

Ok, my mistake, I suppose you've got the essence of my previous post... Anyway, thanks for posting. 

 

[LFF]

Quote:

I thought we were talking about masterings and not recordings.  I've heard other Elton John Cds that sound no where close to the MFSL masterings but yet come from the same recording. 
 
It's not the studio that make Muse recordings sound awful, it's the mastering.

The reason that MFSL recording sounds good is because it wasn't mastered. Ironic huh? It's just a flat transfer of the master tape.
 
Muse sounds bad because of the mastering...that's true.
 

 

[Radioking59]

Quote:

The reason that MFSL recording sounds good is because it wasn't mastered. Ironic huh? It's just a flat transfer of the master tape.
 
Muse sounds bad because of the mastering...that's true.
 

I know it was a flat transfer, but every time I listen to it I am in awe. Someone knew what they were doing when they were "mastering" that CD and left it untouched.  It is one of the best sounding CDs I have heard out of the thousand or so I have.

 

[LFF]

Quote:

I know it was a flat transfer, but every time I listen to it I am in awe. Someone knew what they were doing when they were "mastering" that CD and left it untouched.  It is one of the best sounding CDs I have heard out of the thousand or so I have.

Exactly! A mastering engineer changes things to help the sound. A great mastering engineer knows when NOT to change anything.
 
I have always told budding engineers at studios that not doing something to the master tape is just as valid a decision as doing something to the master tape. Learning to decide what to do is half the battle.