Best recorded CD's - Best sounding

[zeno333]

Originally posted by cratz2
Pink Floyd (esp circa Dark Side, Wish You Were Here, Meddle, Animals) is in my top five musical artists of all time but I've never understood why any of the issues of Dark Side (and I own three) are mentioned in 'best recordings of all time' discussions. Other than the very deep bass opening and very wide stereo seperation, I've never found anything exceptional about the actual engineering, recording, mastering. I know I'm in the minority so I usually keep quiet about it.

Is one of the 3 DSOTM CDs you own, the Harvest black one from Japan??

[jbpfrance]

Hello, I am a bit late on this post. However, I am very, very interested in your comments.

I have conducted the same survey in France regarding the same item: to know from listeners what they think is the best recording ever. I have had more than 1000 answers which I compile below.
You will see that, although from different cultures, we agree on many CD's !! (a few are French of course, probably no interest for you)

Please note the number before the title means the number of positive votes (the first has 21 so far), then you read a letter. If "A", this means all voters agreed on the excellence of the recording. If "B", at least one voter had a doubt or limitations. If "C", there was at least one negative vote...

There are some more interesting votes with 11 (as the message is too long, I will put it in the next).

Hope this is of use to you !

Here is the list.

21 . A . Hadouk Trio . x . LIVE A Fip (2 CD) . 2004 . . . MELODIE

20 . B . Francis Cabrel . 5 . SAMEDI SOIR SUR LA TERRE . 1994 . . . SONY

19 . A . Patricia Barber . x . CAFE BLUE .1994, 2004. . . KOGH/PREMONITION

16 . A . Hugh Masekela . 5 . HOPE (Live) . 2002 . . . TRILOKA

15 . A . B.B King . 5 . BLUES ON THE BAYOU . 2000 . . . MCA DISTRIB.
15 . A . Michel Polnareff . . LIVE AT THE ROXY . 2007 . . . UNIVERSAL
15 . A . Patricia Barber . x . COMPANION . 2003 . . . MOBILE FIDELITY KOCH

15 . B . Michael Jackson . 5 . DANGEROUS .1997-2001. . . EPIC
15 . B . Radiohead . 4 . AMNESIAC . 2001 . . . PARLOPHONE

14 . A . Erik Truffaz . 5 . ARKHANGELSK . 2007 . . . BLUE NOTE
14 . A . Fabrice Eulry . x . BOOGIE PASSAVANT . 2006 . Fabrice Eulry . . PASSAVANT
14 . A . Kenny Barron . 4 . LIVE AT BRADLEY'S . 2002 . . . SUNNYSIDE
14 . A . Lo'Jo . x . BAZART SAVANT . 2006 . . . IRL
14 . A . Shirley Horn . 5 . YOU'RE MY THRILL . 2001 . J. Mandel, C. Domanico C. Ables . . VERVE

14 . C . Erik Truffaz . x . FACE A FACE . 2006 . . . BLUE NOTE

13 . A . Bojan Z Quartet . 5 . BOJAN Z QUARTET . 2002 . B. Zulfikarpazic et Cie . . LABEL BLEU
13 . A . Diana Krall . 5 . LOVE SCENES . 2004 . . . VERVE
13 . A . Dire Straits . 4 . ON EVERY STREET . 2000 . . . VERTIGO
13 . A . Divers . 4 . ALTRE FOLLIE, 1500-1750 . 2005 . Jordi Savall R. Lislevand . . ALIA VOX SPAIN
13 . A . Guillaume de Chassy . x . FAR AWAY SO CLOSE . 2008 . S. Kerecki F. Moreau . . WARNER Music
13 . A . John Rutter Requiem - Five Anthems (plage 7) Turtle Creek Choral . . Reference Recordings
13 . A . Mark Curry . 5 . It's only time .1992-2001. . . VIRGIN
13 . A . Maxime Le Forestier . . Plutôt guitare (Live) . 2002 . . . COINCIDENCES
13 . A . Mighty Sam McClain . 3 . Blues for the Soul . 2000 . . . TELARC
13 . A . Patricia Barber . 5 . Live (A fortnight in France) . 2004 . . . BLUE NOTE
13 . A . Patricia Barber . 5 . Mythologies . 2006 . . . BLUE NOTE
13 . A . Pink Floyd . 5 . Dark Side Of The Moon (SACD Hybride) . 2004 . . . EMI
13 . A . Richard Bona . x . Munia: The Tale . 2003 . . . VERVE
13 . A . Stefano Bollani . x . I visionari . 2006 . . . LABEL BLEU
13 . A . Various Artists . . The E.S.E. Sessions . . BLUE COAST
13 . A . Vivaldi - Geminiani . 5 . Sonatas for violoncello and basso continuo (Enr. 1991 remasterisé) . 2008 . R. Dieltiens R. van der Meer . . ACCENT
13 . A . William Sheller . . Sheller en solitaire (Enr. En public) . 1991 . . . PHILIPS

13 . B . Eric Clapton . 5 . Unplugged . 1992 . . . REPRISE

13 . C . Jean Michel Jarre . 5 . AERO . 2006 . . . WARNER
13 . C . Mino Cinelu . x . Mino Cinelu . .
13 . C . Rebecca Pidgeon . 5 . The Raven . 1994 . . . Chesky Records
13 . C . Various Artists . x . JAZZ AT THE PAWNSHOP (Enr. 1977) . 2007 . Arne Domnerus . . PROPRIUS

12 . A . Air . 4 . 10000Hz LEGEND . 2001 . . . ASTRALWERKS
12 . A . Antoine Hervé . 5 . ROAD MOVIE . 2006 . . . NOCTURNE
12 . A . Avishai Cohen . x . As is - Live at the Blue Note . 2007 . . . RYKO
12 . A . Bach (J. S.) 1 . 5 . Six suites pour violoncelle solo . 2007 . P. Wispelwey . . CHANNEL
12 . A . Beatles . 4 . Love . 2006 . . . APPLE
12 . A . Ben Webster . x . The Soul Of Ben Webster (Enr. 1957) (*CD 1 Plages 1-7 !) . 1995 . Johnny Hodges Ray Brown . . POLYGRAM
12 . A . Dead Can Dance . 5 . Spiritchaser . 2000 . . . 4AD
12 . A . Dhafer Youssef . 5 . Electric sufi . 2001 . . . ENJA
12 . A . Divers . 5 . Du temps et de l'instant . 2005 . J. Savall Montserra Figueras . . ALIA VOX SPAIN
12 . A . Emilie Simon . 5 . Vegetal (Enr. 1999) . 2006 . . . BARCLAY
12 . A . Eric Clapton avec BB KING . . Ride with the KING . .
12 . A . Fauré . 5 . Requiem . . HARMONIA MUNDI
12 . A . Francis Cabrel . 5 . Sabarcane . 1989 . . . SONY
12 . A . Francis Cabrel . . D'une Ombre à l'Autre . .
12 . A . Frankie goes to Hollywood . x . Welcome to the Pleasure dome . 1984 . . . ZTT
12 . A . Gerry Mulligan Quartet (The) . x . Gerry Mulligan meets Ben Webster sessions . 2003 . . . VERVE
12 . A . Hives (The) . . Black & White album . 2007 . . . UNIVERSAL
12 . A . Jacques Loussier . 4 . The best of Play Bach (SACD hybride) . 2004 . . . TELARC
12 . A . Joël Grare . . Paris - Istanbul - Shanghai . 2008 . . . ALPHA-PROD
12 . A . Juliette . . Mutatis Mutandis . .
12 . A . Kari Bremnes . . Manestein . . ARS
12 . A . Les Ogres de Barback . . Irfan, le héros . 1999 . . . PIAS
12 . A . Marin Marais . 5 . Pièces de Viole du Second Livre, 1701 . 2007 . J. Savall P. Hantaï . . ALIA VOX
12 . A . Mozart (Wolfgang) . 5 . Mozart am Stein Vis-A-Vis . 2007 . Andreas Staier Christine Schornsheim . . HARMONIA MUNDI
12 . A . Patricia Barber . x . Night club . 2004 . . . ORKHESTRA
12 . A . René-Marie . 5 . Vertigo . 2001 . . . MAX JAZZ
12 . A . Sera una Noche . 5 . Sera una Noche . 2000 . . . LABEL BLEU
12 . A . Shirley Horn . 5 . You won't forget me (Enr. 1990) . 2006 . . . VERVE
12 . A . Tobias Hume . 5 . Musicall Humor, London 1605 . 2004 . Jordi Savall . . ALIA VOX SPAIN
12 . A . Trentmoller . . The Last Resort . 2006 . . . POKER FLAT
12 . A . Youval Micenmacher . . Café Rembrandt . 2005 . . . ENJA
12 . A . Zakir Hussain, Shivkumar Sharma . x . Raga Purya Kalyan . 1991 . . . Network

12 . B . Bjork . . Homogenic . 2006 . . .
12 . B . Erik Truffaz . . Mantis . .
12 . B . Liane Foly . . Acoustique (dit somptueux) . 1998 . . . VIRGIN
12 . B . Michael Jackson . 4 . Thriller . 2001 . . . SONY
12 . B . Shoji Yamashiro . 5 . Akira Symphonic Suite (Enr. 1990) . 1995 . Geinoh Yamashirogumi Shoji Yamashiro . . ANIME TRAX
12 . B . Stan Getz . 5 . Bossas And Ballads: The Lost Sessions . 2003 . Kenny Barron . . UNIVERSAL A&m

12 . C . Bojan Z Trio . 5 . Transpacifik . 2003 . B. Zulfikarpazic et Cie . . LABEL BLEU
12 . C . Vivaldi . 4 . Il Cimento dell' Armonia e dell' Inventione . 2001 . Europa Galante F. Biondi . . VIRGIN

[TerryO]

This is an odd topic to address because there are so many ways to interpret what is "best." Some list their favorites, other tend toward a great performance (often classical music) while others may tend towards noise floors and diverse technical issues.

I'd go for the best recorded, most life-like that I've heard. To this end I'll mention a couple that I rate very, very high. I tend to like FIM recordings, they're done to exacting standards and generally sound excellent. The best one is probably "Passion", a sampler disc that isn't sold...it comes with the purchase of a Mercedes AMG
I happen to have a copy...of the disc, not the car, but that's another story.

The new FIM/JVC K-2 mastering format promises to cause a major re-evalution of what is possible in a standard redbook configuration. The samples of these that FIM's Winston Ma presented at the Pacific Northwest Audio Society certainly were excellent, better than his XRCD24 and SACD discs with which we A/B'd the same music (on the same system!). I'm not sure that they're better than good vinyl, but the gap has been significantly narrowed.

Another topnotch recording is from Mapleshade. Walk With Me by the ARC Gospel Choir is just an outstanding recording. I'm not much of a Gospel fan, in fact this is my only Gospel recording, but this disc is a must-have for evaluation purposes. If my copy were damaged today I'd be ordering another one tomorrow.

I have some others in mind, but I'll give the forum members a chance to have their say.

Best Regards,
TerryO

[ssmith]

Lot's of great suggestions here.
Would just like to add ECM records, some of which I've been collecting lately, notably...

Anat Fort - A Long Story
Anouar Brahem - Le Pas du Chat Noir & Voyage de Sahar

amazing quality recordings.

[oshifis]

One of my favourite acoustic recording (sound-wise and also musically) is "La Tarantella":

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/...Arpeggiata.htm

[SimontY]

Thanks for your results, which are very interesting!

Originally posted by jbpfrance
13 . B . Eric Clapton . 5 . Unplugged . 1992 . . . REPRISE

This is the best combination of natural sound and amazing performance and music I've heard! I never get bored and it gets used for testing a lot. One of the few CDs that can be repeatedly relied upon for subtle CD player improvements, or to appreciate the difference between a well modified £500 player or a modified £2000 machine (in my opinion).

Simon

[SimontY]

Originally posted by jbpfrance
12 . A . Air . 4 . 10000Hz LEGEND . 2001 . . . ASTRALWERKS

What?! This album sounds simply terrible. An exercise in comically over the top compression. I truly hate it, I can't listen to it. My ears shut up and I have to turn the volume down. This would only be voted for by people using a mini system or car tape player (who might "benefit" from the maximised perceived loudness). The only other explanation is I have a different version to that sold in France (perhaps compression was applied willy-nilly by a bad engineer?)

Air's Moon Safari, on the other hand, is surely a classic album and has a warm, listeanable sound.

Simon

[jbpfrance]

Please find the following part of the votes. Those with rating 11.

[ssmith]

Originally posted by SimontY


What?! This album sounds simply terrible. An exercise in comically over the top compression. I truly hate it, I can't listen to it. My ears shut up and I have to turn the volume down. This would only be voted for by people using a mini system or car tape player (who might "benefit" from the maximised perceived loudness). The only other explanation is I have a different version to that sold in France (perhaps compression was applied willy-nilly by a bad engineer?)

Air's Moon Safari, on the other hand, is surely a classic album and has a warm, listeanable sound.

agreed agreed agreed -- we must have the same CD issue....
Air's latest one is pretty good though, I find it similar sounding in quality terms to Moon Safari.

[SimontY]

Originally posted by ssmith
Air's latest one is pretty good though, I find it similar sounding in quality terms to Moon Safari.

I've not heard the latest yet, but Talkie Walkie was quite good and not too bad sounding IMHO...

Simon