[jegarn]

What defines a good recording?

How do I tell a decent from a good from a excellent?
The crappy ones are easy to detect but the rest?

 

[donunus]

For studio recordings, I would say everyone just develops a taste for whats good and whats not. For live recordings or straight performance recordings with no overdubs and mixing, I would say tonality and timbre of instruments should be the first to be accurate then second comes soundstage and imaging accuracy along with dynamics. You can judge studio recordings on tonality and timbre too but the rest are artificial anyway like the soundstage so its all a matter of taste and whats more artistically correct. Rock recordings for example are like a piece of art. There is no real absolute standard for a great sounding recording because it is very much influenced by artistic decisions for effects, etc...

 

[jegarn]

But I see every wear that better equipment will be more picky of good recordings. So that's just a persons preference?

 

[scytheavatar]

It is not easy to define what's a good recording, however it is very easy to know when a recording is garbage.

 

[progo]

Nice, philosophical lyrics; skillful performing, lots of atmosphere,

... great dynamic range, punchy drums, clear vocals.

 

[VicAjax]

the quiet parts should be quiet, the loud parts should be loud.

each instrument should sound like itself. like clear water, not like mud.

the instruments together should sound as though they are woven together like a fine rug, not mashed together like a puree.

in between the notes, there should be air, not sludge.

 

[ezkcdude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jegarn /img/forum/go_quote.gif What defines a good recording? How do I tell a decent from a good from a excellent? The crappy ones are easy to detect but the rest?

High dynamic range and SNR are the only two objective criterion I can think of. Placement of mics, instruments, etc. are all artistic choices (more or less).

 

[Permaximum]

A good musical atmosphere and a complex, creative composition

 

[donunus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jegarn /img/forum/go_quote.gif But I see every wear that better equipment will be more picky of good recordings. So that's just a persons preference?

Like I said, you just sort of know this from listening to a lot of music. everyones comments so far are correct

 

[DavidMahler]

your ears...... plain and simple

 

[funch]

An engineer that doesn't consider a cymbal as a WMD.

 

[Lamora]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidMahler /img/forum/go_quote.gif your ears...... plain and simple

Indeed. This is the only way to define a bad recording as well. For example: most black metal sounds to me like it was recorded in a public toilet on a dictaphone but this seems to be desirable to a lot of people.

 

[bigshot]

Balance.

 

[jegarn]

so a example to se if I've got it right.

Korn - take a look in the mirror isn't a great recording.. or it just me headphones

Led zeppelin - II a good one


anywhere near?

 

[Sherwood]

If you hear any (unintentional) distortion, and clipping, any "suddenly loud" section that just isn't very loud, all those things indicate a bad recording.

A bad recording could very well be the result of bad mastering or bad pressing.

There have been so many remasters and reissues of Led Zep's II that it would be impossible to say that it's simply "good" or "bad". Most are pretty good, at least most that I've heard