[johnnylexus]

I am on a quest to find the most AWESOME recordings of rock/jazz/blues/classical, etc. I can find to build up my collection.

I am only interested in CD's with impeccable sound quality. I don't mind spending a bit extra on high-end stuff like SACD titles, MFSL, DCC (?) and some of the other supposedly excellent stuff.

What CD in your collection fits that description, incredible music, incredible quality, something you can't live without???

p.s.
I'm not into rap, techno or hip-hop, but if that is your favorite, then go for it.

 

[aeberbach]

Paganini's violin concertos (box, 1-6) with Salvatore Accardo as soloist, on Deutsche Gramophon.

 

[carlo]

Favorite albums of mine that I especially enjoy listenening through via headphones (both on vinyl and cd) for the added detail:

Radiohead - Kid A and Amnesiac
Air - Moon Safari and The Virgin Suicides Soundtrack
Stevie Wonder - Hotter Than July

 

[pigmode]

Random picks:
Weather Report-- Black Market
--this is a great fusion piece with a sometimes dark atsmosphere

Haydn-- Cello Concertos 1 & 2-- Yo-Yo Ma-- Sony Classical
Haydn-- Cello Concertos 1 & 2-- Rostropovich-- EMI Classics
--great performances by great Celloists, excellent sound quality.

 

[Ross]

A couple of CDs I always enjoy listening to on headphones for some reason are Everything But the Girl's "Walking Wounded", and the Dvorak Piano Concerto played by Andras Schiff on Decca.

Ross

 

[Xevion]

Pink Floyd - The Wall
Liquid Tension Experiment - 1 and 2

I need to find a distortion free version of Holst's The Planets. Mine sounds fantastic except when the timpani play, then I get a load of distortion, on everything I play it on. Very annoying.

 

[KR...]

When it comes to classical always try to get it from audiophile record labels.

Which version of Holst's The Planets do you have?

 

[Xevion]

It is Telarc Digital, has these 20 bit! symbols all over the place and it seems to be exclaming that because it is a 16 bit CD copied off the 20 bit masters

, it also says it is surround sound, but as I don't have a real CD player yet it is hard to say exactly what that means because my reciever is telling me it is decoding a standard PCM signal, and with the DSP on "normal" (It turns dolby pro logic on and matrixes the stereo to a mono real channel or something like that), it dosen't do anything different then when I use an mp3 as a source. I hope my soundcard isn't just spitting out raw PCM when it should be spitting out something else (SB Live Platinum, using optical on livedrive).

It is performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and composed by Yoel Levi.

Looking in the book reveals a small biography of Holst, and *gasp* a list of the equipment they used! It was recorded on the following microphones: Schoeps CMC-6/MK-2, and Neumann KU-100, they apparently used monster cable, a Mitsubishi 20 bit DAT recorder, their monitor speakers were Waveform Mach 13s that were bi-amped using Bryston and Krell amps. With all that equipment I don't know what was going through the mixer's head with the distortion, but it is there, and it is VERY bad, the sound breaks up entirely when the timpani are pounding. The first time I heard it I thought I blew my speakers for a moment, then I listened on a different source with different speakers at a low volume and it was still there. Then I listened on the headphones, amped an unamped, and it was still there.

 

[mcbiff]

Guns n' Roses - Use Your Illusion I (MFSL)

I have II too, but I haven't opened it yet. I is an incredible album, and incredible sound quality.

 

[wasifazim]

Quote:

Originally posted by carlo Favorite albums of mine that I especially enjoy listenening through via headphones (both on vinyl and cd) for the added detail: Radiohead - Kid A and Amnesiac Air - Moon Safari and The Virgin Suicides Soundtrack Stevie Wonder - Hotter Than July

I'm a Radiohead fan, but Kid A and Amnesiac, stunning records that they are, can't claim to have "impeccable sound quality"..background hiss can be heard on almost every track. Some of the well-recorded compact discs I own include Marciac Suite (Wynton Marsalis), Spirit Song (Kenny Barron), The Optimist LP (Turin Brakes), There is Nothing Left to Lose (Foo Fighters) and This is Hardcore (Pulp).

 

[rickfri]

Appalachian Journey is a very good SACD.

 

[carlo]

wasifazim said:

Quote:

I'm a Radiohead fan, but Kid A and Amnesiac, stunning records that they are, can't claim to have "impeccable sound quality"..background hiss can be heard on almost every track.

I'm actually listening to Amnesiac through my analog setup right now (moderate levels) and hear no background hiss. I've heard some on the first four tracks of the CD release, but it wasn't distracting to me at all.

As far as sound quality goes, the dynamics of both Kid A and Amnesiac makes them both reference recordings in my eyes. I'm actually convinced that the former was recorded through tubed equipment - the micro dynamics are startling.

I do seem to have missed the original poster's mark though in terms of absolute well-recorded disks. Here's two to add to the list (CD format):

Joni Mitchell - Blue (DCC Gold) - the album's amazing and the sound quality is top notch.

Ani Difranco - Revelling/Reckoning - not one of my favorite albums by her but great dynamics and soundstage. Another album that sings through tubes.

 

[TerriblySorry]

David Gray - White Ladder
Meatloaf - Bat Out Of Hell II
Mike Oldfield - Ommadawn
Mike Oldfield - The Millenium Bell
Beth Orton - Central Reservation
Jocelyn Pook - Deluge
Wendy Stark - Child Of Transference

 

[Braver]

Bozzio Levin Stevens - Situatoin Dangerous

can't really tell how good the soundquality really is, but it sounds great to me. bit plain with lesser heapdhones, but will really shine with a setup with good transient response, quickness and seperation. besides, Levin rocks

I'll also second the vote for LTE.

 

[chadbang]

This is old news around Head-Fi, but a great, recording that was being shared around here recently and is probably one of the year's best is the Gladiator soundtrack. Amazing through headphones. Just check the archives