[MattTCG]

Okay,hope no one has mentioned this yet so here goes...
 
Paul Simon Graceland is really really well mastered. I listened to the 2010 version and it blew me away. I just don't understand why all music isn't mastered and produced to this quality. There is lots of music that I like and listen to often that just isn't mastered very well and will never sound great on a high end setup...

 

[MattTCG]

Just listened to Barton Hollow on he-500 with lyr amp. The sound and experience defies all description. 

 

[Gwarmi]

 
 
 Here's a contribution for a reference male vocals album :-
 
 
 
 Now Kenny may not be everyone's cup of tea - slow, shooby dowap style jazz laconic vocals.
 
 His usual fanfare tends to be about some long lost love or worry into the night - drag aside,
 the recording quality alone makes this a worthwhile acquisition for most Head-Fi folk.
 
 It would easily rank as one of the most natural sounding vocal albums (male or female)
 in my collection - no wonder he ended up on a Chesky Records collection or two.

 

[MattTCG]

Funny, I bought this album over 10 years ago. Listened to it for maybe 20 minutes and then put it in a case and have not listened since. It is much better than I remember  and wonderfully recorded.
 
Fiona Apple-Tidal
 
Great female vocals. Would be great for those hd6xx owners.

 

[Austin Morrow]

While I'm still getting into it. I'm really enjoying Bassnectar's Timestretch through the HD650's and the HA-160DS.

 

[MattTCG]

About five years ago I was fortunate enough to "borrow" a music collection from a friend that had about 100 gigs worth of high quality mp3 albums. I've yet to listen to all of it!  
 
Just listened to "Hangnail-The Acoustic LP" Very well recorded. Lots of acoustic guitar and instrumentals. Very open sound stage. Certainly worth a listen.

 

[Kreyson]

Here are some great new ones from the new Two Steps From Hell album, Archangel:
 

 

 

[HighFiguy]

Alison Krauss- It doesn't matter
and I guess some random tracks from Frank Sinatra

 

[mooshimuushi]

Hmm...Tim Minchin 

?
 

 
 

 

[TheGrumpyOldMan]

Quote:

Someone mentioned Born To Die by Lana Del Ray? I like the CD but the mastering quality is beyond horrific.

Came across her in this thread, kinda liked a couple of songs, bought the CD: Yep, it's a brickwalled mess, and the better my setup got, the harder it is to listen to it, for shame.
 
Came here to let those who are interested in the new 24bit/44.1kHz version just announced at HDtracks (at least according to the email I got today): Probably not worth the bother if you have the CD...
 
I just bought one of a couple of single tracks to see if it was perhaps a more audiophile mastering than the iTunes-crowd version, but no: exact same DR rating as the lossless ripped CD track (5, and it's not even the worst on the album)... larger filesize, very slightly different peaks (the extra bits have to account for something...) Also sounds about the same on my setup, maybe a smidgeon more clarity. I strongly doubt any of the other tracks would significantly deviate in terms of mastering.
 
If you don't own the album yet maybe it's worth the couple of extra bucks to get this -very- slightly improved version (IIRC there should be a promo code to save a bit on it, search for it on the interwebs)

 

[navi86]

For classical you might try Mike Oldfield - Music Of The Spheres. On the other hand something electronic: Blank & Jones- Relax Edition Four and Edition Six. These are good for a chill out. On my set up they sound amazing, although it is nothing special (Sennheiser HD 518, Creative X-Fi Platinum, BT928(cheap, but good amp). All Relax Editions of Blank & Jones are pretty good.

 

[MattTCG]

Quote:

For classical you might try Mike Oldfield - Music Of The Spheres. On the other hand something electronic: Blank & Jones- Relax Edition Four and Edition Six. These are good for a chill out. On my set up they sound amazing, although it is nothing special (Sennheiser HD 518, Creative X-Fi Platinum, BT928(cheap, but good amp). All Relax Editions of Blank & Jones are pretty good.

Been looking for some classical to try out. Will give this a try...thanks!!

 

[navi86]

Been looking for some classical to try out. Will give this a try...thanks!!

Yeah, Music of the Spheres was released in 2008, so I think it is very well mastered and the sound is very clear and pure. I am not a very big fan of classical music, but my girlfriend is (she plays the harp and piano) and she showed me this one and to be honest I am slowly starting to like classical, especially on a decent set of headphones . Hope I was helpful.

 

[tribestros]

Orgy-Vapor Transmission
 
You know you liked them.

 

[mikek200]

"Mike Oldfield - Music Of The Spheres."
 
NIce stuff Matt...
Never knew this guy wrote the music to the Exorcist
Thanks for the link