Thanks for that - have found the "Internationa Rrecords" website that's a bit5 closer and they have a lot of the good recordings.
It's a pity that all the newer SACD mastering studios have such varied sound - fresh start an' all that - understand that the K2 remastering is rather "analogue" in sound - be good if something like this found it's way into our agonising computer music programs.
It's a pity that all the newer SACD mastering studios have such varied sound - fresh start an' all that - understand that the K2 remastering is rather "analogue" in sound - be good if something like this found it's way into our agonising computer music programs.
jameshillj said:
I don't know if this will help you, but FIM has a distributor in Oz.
Australia: Fine Audio International
61-3-98864889 (phone)
61-3- 98847915 (Fax)
Best Regards,
TerryO
I hope that K2 HD technology will be spread more than SA-CD... if it delivers the sound performance it states...
How come no one mentioned Steely Dan yet? I think those reissues on cd are amazing, for example 'Gaucho' and 'Aja'. Someone somewhere wrote the original vinyls sound better, but I can't comment on this as I haven't heard those.
How come ?
Because you did not speak out until now...
Thanks for contribution,
Any of the proposals is being tested at 2 or more of the audio fan team we have initiated and feedback will be given on proposals in some time.
I believe that each participant has a view on the subject that may not be shared by the whole community. We are then voting an those CD, and then after no negative feedback from 3 or more participants, the proposal is entered into the GOLD list.
Let us digest the proposals and come back on the subject ASAP.
Thanks to all
Because you did not speak out until now...
Thanks for contribution,
Any of the proposals is being tested at 2 or more of the audio fan team we have initiated and feedback will be given on proposals in some time.
I believe that each participant has a view on the subject that may not be shared by the whole community. We are then voting an those CD, and then after no negative feedback from 3 or more participants, the proposal is entered into the GOLD list.
Let us digest the proposals and come back on the subject ASAP.
Thanks to all
Maybe it's a bit late for my contribution, but you might enjoy some of the following CD's. They fit the title of this thread; very good sound quality, but also excellent music (in no particular order):
- Hamilton Pool: Return to Zero
- David Sanborn: Hideaway
- George Winston: Plains
- Andreas Vollenweider: White Winds
- Alan Parsons Project: Pyramid
- Sophie Zelmani: Sing and Dance
- Joan Baez: Diamonds and Rust (MFSL)
- Tom Petty: Wildflowers
- The Roches: Can we go Home Now
- Pentangle: One More Road
- Ry Cooder: Jazz
- Hamilton Pool: Return to Zero
- David Sanborn: Hideaway
- George Winston: Plains
- Andreas Vollenweider: White Winds
- Alan Parsons Project: Pyramid
- Sophie Zelmani: Sing and Dance
- Joan Baez: Diamonds and Rust (MFSL)
- Tom Petty: Wildflowers
- The Roches: Can we go Home Now
- Pentangle: One More Road
- Ry Cooder: Jazz
Some of my top favs are...
1) The Hot Club of San Francisco "The Hot Club of San Francisco" (Clarity Recordings)
2)King and Moore "Potato Radio" (Justice Recordings)
3) Paolo Fresu "Melos" (BMG-RCA Victor)
4) Ensemble Perceval "Minnesänger, Troubadours, Trouvères" (Arte Nova) - sad I never managed to get info on the recording engineer Jean-Michel Davy from Ateliers du Frêne - if anyone can help out...
5) The Weavers "Reunion at Carnegy Hall" part 1 and 2 (Vanguard) - just amazing for a 1965 soundtake
I also like "Italian Café", a Putumayo World Music compilation which just sounds very natural, to check the tonal balance when working on crossovers.
See also the various CDs of Chris Jones (and others) the editor Stockfisch (www.stockfisch.de); very spectacular soundtakes like "Roadhouses and Automobiles" (sometimes too much but that's how we like it...).
For classical music Dorian, Aliavox, Pierre Verany, Opus111, RCA Living Stereo, Arcana, MA Recordings are usually (very) well done.
Some Gold-, Super-Remastered-, XRCD- and the like disc editions can be an improvement, but to my taste they can also sound harsh, metallic, badly re-equalized and thus becoming imbalanced compared to the "basic" CD, even if the latter is an old edition.
I agree with previous posts that the Studio/sound engineer can be a good indicator for a good quality recording.
1) The Hot Club of San Francisco "The Hot Club of San Francisco" (Clarity Recordings)
2)King and Moore "Potato Radio" (Justice Recordings)
3) Paolo Fresu "Melos" (BMG-RCA Victor)
4) Ensemble Perceval "Minnesänger, Troubadours, Trouvères" (Arte Nova) - sad I never managed to get info on the recording engineer Jean-Michel Davy from Ateliers du Frêne - if anyone can help out...
5) The Weavers "Reunion at Carnegy Hall" part 1 and 2 (Vanguard) - just amazing for a 1965 soundtake
I also like "Italian Café", a Putumayo World Music compilation which just sounds very natural, to check the tonal balance when working on crossovers.
See also the various CDs of Chris Jones (and others) the editor Stockfisch (www.stockfisch.de); very spectacular soundtakes like "Roadhouses and Automobiles" (sometimes too much but that's how we like it...).
For classical music Dorian, Aliavox, Pierre Verany, Opus111, RCA Living Stereo, Arcana, MA Recordings are usually (very) well done.
Some Gold-, Super-Remastered-, XRCD- and the like disc editions can be an improvement, but to my taste they can also sound harsh, metallic, badly re-equalized and thus becoming imbalanced compared to the "basic" CD, even if the latter is an old edition.
I agree with previous posts that the Studio/sound engineer can be a good indicator for a good quality recording.
For those who can read French, here is the link to the best CD's after 1300 votes.
On Page 1 of this thread, you can read the SELECTION "OR" (this means "GOLD" in French).
This is the list of the best recordings as tested there.
The suggestions provided here are being taken into account also. This can make the list even more international (in fact, it is already)
http://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=29880652&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
On Page 1 of this thread, you can read the SELECTION "OR" (this means "GOLD" in French).
This is the list of the best recordings as tested there.
The suggestions provided here are being taken into account also. This can make the list even more international (in fact, it is already)
http://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=29880652&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
Re: Some of my top favs are...
Jim Anderson is one of them: he recorded a few best PATRICIA BARBER and also Kenny BARRON "Live at Bradley's".
elac310 said:
Jim Anderson is one of them: he recorded a few best PATRICIA BARBER and also Kenny BARRON "Live at Bradley's".
(cont'd: sound engineers/recording studios)
Thanks for the tip on Jim Anderson.
Gerard de Haro (Studios la Buissonne, located in the south of France) is perhaps another solid reference; all soundtakes I have from them are remarkable. They publish on their website some CDs they've been working on (see http://www.labuissonne.com/ang/index-ang.htm ), including for ECM, Harmonia Mundi etc.; the list is far from being complete. Bauer Studios (Ludwigsburg, Germany - http://www. bauerstudios.de), Nicolas Bartholomée (French, mostly classical music, see a news at http://www.dpamicrophones.com/), Pauler Acoustics (the "monstruous" sound signature for the German Stockfisch recordings - see http://www.pauleracoustics.de/) are also worth mentioning, besides the more internationnally famous sound magicians.
Thanks for the tip on Jim Anderson.
Gerard de Haro (Studios la Buissonne, located in the south of France) is perhaps another solid reference; all soundtakes I have from them are remarkable. They publish on their website some CDs they've been working on (see http://www.labuissonne.com/ang/index-ang.htm ), including for ECM, Harmonia Mundi etc.; the list is far from being complete. Bauer Studios (Ludwigsburg, Germany - http://www. bauerstudios.de), Nicolas Bartholomée (French, mostly classical music, see a news at http://www.dpamicrophones.com/), Pauler Acoustics (the "monstruous" sound signature for the German Stockfisch recordings - see http://www.pauleracoustics.de/) are also worth mentioning, besides the more internationnally famous sound magicians.
3 further recommended recordings
There are two recordings that I find very interesting (although I must confess I do not necessarily like the whole of the albums):
1) Jimmy Smith: "Bashin' "; this Verve record was originally released in 1962 and it is not as fantastic as the currently produced reference recordings, but one should definitely listen to track one "Walk on the wild side". Even at loud levels, I believe a good system should be able to reproduce the whole dynamic range of this track without becoming harsh.
2) Eddy Louiss: "Sang Mêlé" (Nocturne publ., 1987), track entitled "Blues for klook"; this fabulous track was a top seller for HIFI equipment in France in the 1980s'... I thing later editions are available. This CD can easily push the equipement to its limits.
I very much like big bands and the most "audiophile" (read: demonstrative) record I have in this department is an older Telarc CD entitled "Big Band Hitparade" (1987); it is rather unknown and the tunes played are all (very) classical standards; but musicians include Brubeck, Ray Brown, Cab Calloway, Eddie Daniels, Gerry Muligan, Doc Severinsen, Ed Shaugnessy, accompanied by the Cincinatti Pops directed by Erich Kunzel... I haven't seen it re-released (and possibly remastered) but I might be wrong.
There are two recordings that I find very interesting (although I must confess I do not necessarily like the whole of the albums):
1) Jimmy Smith: "Bashin' "; this Verve record was originally released in 1962 and it is not as fantastic as the currently produced reference recordings, but one should definitely listen to track one "Walk on the wild side". Even at loud levels, I believe a good system should be able to reproduce the whole dynamic range of this track without becoming harsh.
2) Eddy Louiss: "Sang Mêlé" (Nocturne publ., 1987), track entitled "Blues for klook"; this fabulous track was a top seller for HIFI equipment in France in the 1980s'... I thing later editions are available. This CD can easily push the equipement to its limits.
I very much like big bands and the most "audiophile" (read: demonstrative) record I have in this department is an older Telarc CD entitled "Big Band Hitparade" (1987); it is rather unknown and the tunes played are all (very) classical standards; but musicians include Brubeck, Ray Brown, Cab Calloway, Eddie Daniels, Gerry Muligan, Doc Severinsen, Ed Shaugnessy, accompanied by the Cincinatti Pops directed by Erich Kunzel... I haven't seen it re-released (and possibly remastered) but I might be wrong.
Some of my best friends...
...use also the following CDs as reference recordings:
1) Günter Sommer "Sächsische Schatulle" Hörmusik III (Intakt recordings); mostly percussions and thus could be totally boring; but this is a must have CD for tests and demo. Large dynamic and ultra-bass available. Can be difficult to find; try amazon.fr or amazon.de if amazon.com don't have it.
2) Petra Magoni (voice) and Ferruccio Spinetti (double bass) have made a couple of recent CDs entitled Musica Nuda; they include many pop standards; musically and technically very pleasant, especially at high volume. Just as an example: "Come together", the track 1 of their second CD (Musica Nuda 2).
3) Andy Summers "Charming snakes" (Private Musik Ed, 1990); nice musique and well done CD. Some tracks are an excellent (infra-) bass test.
4) Al Di Meola "Worlds Sinfonia - Heart of the immigrants" 'Tomato, 1993); the absolutely beautiful track 8 "Heru Mertar" 'sung by the percussionist Arto Tuncboyacian deserves to be better known; technically and musically: it gets the hair of my arms and back in the upright position every time...
5) Monty Alexander trio "Montreux Alexander Live", MPS 1977; the vinyl version is probably better, but track 6 "battle hymn of the republic" remains a demo-track for dynamics even on CD.
6) Michel Jonasz (a French singer who is also very meticulous with recording quality) double CD "Live à l'Olympia" (can't remember date - late 1990s?); the track called "Bolero".
7) Mary Coughlan "Tired and Emotional", Mystery Records 1987; extremely natural and smooth, good resolution recording. Her many other records are nice too in fact, but this one deserves a special mention.
8) Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn, vol. 2 featuring Sonny Rollins; recorded in stereo in 1958, Atlantic digipack re-issue 1998; we've had strange evenings with this CD, whilst drinking beer or cognac; on some tracks (track 5 or 6 maybe?), it feels like the music is unusually "present" and there are a few unexpected sounds (infra-bass generated by the stage etc.); excellent despite its age.
9) Just in case nobody else mentions this one: Deep Purple "In Rock", Anniversary edition 1995 remastered from the tapes; really excellent on CD; the 20th century classic tune "Child in Time" is on track 3.
...use also the following CDs as reference recordings:
1) Günter Sommer "Sächsische Schatulle" Hörmusik III (Intakt recordings); mostly percussions and thus could be totally boring; but this is a must have CD for tests and demo. Large dynamic and ultra-bass available. Can be difficult to find; try amazon.fr or amazon.de if amazon.com don't have it.
2) Petra Magoni (voice) and Ferruccio Spinetti (double bass) have made a couple of recent CDs entitled Musica Nuda; they include many pop standards; musically and technically very pleasant, especially at high volume. Just as an example: "Come together", the track 1 of their second CD (Musica Nuda 2).
3) Andy Summers "Charming snakes" (Private Musik Ed, 1990); nice musique and well done CD. Some tracks are an excellent (infra-) bass test.
4) Al Di Meola "Worlds Sinfonia - Heart of the immigrants" 'Tomato, 1993); the absolutely beautiful track 8 "Heru Mertar" 'sung by the percussionist Arto Tuncboyacian deserves to be better known; technically and musically: it gets the hair of my arms and back in the upright position every time...
5) Monty Alexander trio "Montreux Alexander Live", MPS 1977; the vinyl version is probably better, but track 6 "battle hymn of the republic" remains a demo-track for dynamics even on CD.
6) Michel Jonasz (a French singer who is also very meticulous with recording quality) double CD "Live à l'Olympia" (can't remember date - late 1990s?); the track called "Bolero".
7) Mary Coughlan "Tired and Emotional", Mystery Records 1987; extremely natural and smooth, good resolution recording. Her many other records are nice too in fact, but this one deserves a special mention.
8) Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn, vol. 2 featuring Sonny Rollins; recorded in stereo in 1958, Atlantic digipack re-issue 1998; we've had strange evenings with this CD, whilst drinking beer or cognac; on some tracks (track 5 or 6 maybe?), it feels like the music is unusually "present" and there are a few unexpected sounds (infra-bass generated by the stage etc.); excellent despite its age.
9) Just in case nobody else mentions this one: Deep Purple "In Rock", Anniversary edition 1995 remastered from the tapes; really excellent on CD; the 20th century classic tune "Child in Time" is on track 3.
Hello again,
I have a question for anyone who would have this Jazz album
Kenny Barron : Live at Bradley's I & II
Everyone agrees this is high-class recording. The drums, the piano are much above average. The rest also... from most of the critics in our team.
Only 2 remarks though, and one is from me: the double-bass is not perfectly distinct at some times. The critics, though, say the play of the double-bass is voluntarily as such.
Which I am not sure, because the sound is somewhat "hazy".
Now, it could also be my Hifi equipment... although it does well in most of the (difficult) cases.
Anyone of you has an idea ?
I have a question for anyone who would have this Jazz album
Kenny Barron : Live at Bradley's I & II
Everyone agrees this is high-class recording. The drums, the piano are much above average. The rest also... from most of the critics in our team.
Only 2 remarks though, and one is from me: the double-bass is not perfectly distinct at some times. The critics, though, say the play of the double-bass is voluntarily as such.
Which I am not sure, because the sound is somewhat "hazy".
Now, it could also be my Hifi equipment... although it does well in most of the (difficult) cases.
Anyone of you has an idea ?
I do happen to have this CD (as a single album though: "Everybody loves my baby...", "Solar", "Blue Moon", "Alter ego", "Canadian Sunset", recorded April 3 and 4, 1996). On my system, the double bass also sounds somewhat distant and like it was played overly smoothly, at least in comparison with the piano. (Part of) the drums sound quite distant too, to my taste.
Could indeed be a deliberate option from the recording/mixing engineer (I noted it's THE Jim Anderson you mentioned earlier...), or a result of the recording conditions: I can see only two mikes on one of the leaflet pictures (one between the drums and bass, the other between the latter and the piano); if it was recorded with minimalist equipment, direct to 2 track, and if the piano and drums exhibited more dBs, there was perhaps little headroom to improve the balance between instruments during the studio mastering. Just a (very extrapolated) guess...
Could indeed be a deliberate option from the recording/mixing engineer (I noted it's THE Jim Anderson you mentioned earlier...), or a result of the recording conditions: I can see only two mikes on one of the leaflet pictures (one between the drums and bass, the other between the latter and the piano); if it was recorded with minimalist equipment, direct to 2 track, and if the piano and drums exhibited more dBs, there was perhaps little headroom to improve the balance between instruments during the studio mastering. Just a (very extrapolated) guess...
I find that anything by The Cinematic Orchestra has good sound quality.
Also - Dead Can Dance seem to manage a decent production.
I second Ry Cooders Jazz album which Javin5 mentioned, i have it on vinyl and it sounds amazing, it highlights whats wrong with most of my collections sound.
Anything by the Eurthmics or Annie Lenox on her own.
lastly an album which i use as a test for my system - Simply Red's Picture Book, if all recordings where this good there would be no need to even discuss quality.
Also - Dead Can Dance seem to manage a decent production.
I second Ry Cooders Jazz album which Javin5 mentioned, i have it on vinyl and it sounds amazing, it highlights whats wrong with most of my collections sound.
Anything by the Eurthmics or Annie Lenox on her own.
lastly an album which i use as a test for my system - Simply Red's Picture Book, if all recordings where this good there would be no need to even discuss quality.
"Best" sounding recording ?
This CD (or DVD) is an absolute sonic treasure...totally lifelike
Check out www.Soundkeeperrecordings.com the album is called "LIFT"
Here is what some "golden ears" are saying:
In the July 2007 issue of Stereophile,
Wes Phillips used the 24/96 DVD-R version of Lift
as one of his reference recordings
for his review of the Sonics Anima loudspeaker:
"...I'd admired Soundkeeper engineer Barry Diament's wonderfully recorded disc on CD, but his higher-res DVD is an ear-opener......
"Lift" sounds about as lifelike as any recording I've ever heard..."
Read the review on SoundStage!
"...Simply, this recording picks you up and brings you into the hall where the Music has been recorded. The "being there" sensation is perhaps the strongest I've ever felt while listening to a disc..."
Read the review on TNT-Audio.
"Mastering engineer Barry Diament decides to show the major labels how it should be done."
This CD (or DVD) is an absolute sonic treasure...totally lifelike
Check out www.Soundkeeperrecordings.com the album is called "LIFT"
Here is what some "golden ears" are saying:
In the July 2007 issue of Stereophile,
Wes Phillips used the 24/96 DVD-R version of Lift
as one of his reference recordings
for his review of the Sonics Anima loudspeaker:
"...I'd admired Soundkeeper engineer Barry Diament's wonderfully recorded disc on CD, but his higher-res DVD is an ear-opener......
"Lift" sounds about as lifelike as any recording I've ever heard..."
Read the review on SoundStage!
"...Simply, this recording picks you up and brings you into the hall where the Music has been recorded. The "being there" sensation is perhaps the strongest I've ever felt while listening to a disc..."
Read the review on TNT-Audio.
"Mastering engineer Barry Diament decides to show the major labels how it should be done."
I hope it's not a re post, but as far as standard CD's go, the remastered version of "A Charlie Brow Christmas" is amazingly clean.
It's UPC 88807230066 if anyone is interested.
I love my 180 gram, 200 gram vinyl and SACDs, but the remaster on this CD is just amazing. It sounds better then a CD should.
It's UPC 88807230066 if anyone is interested.
I love my 180 gram, 200 gram vinyl and SACDs, but the remaster on this CD is just amazing. It sounds better then a CD should.