Your best recorded album?

Javi A. posted:

It will be a good idea to realease albums also in "no loudness" version for audiophiles, i.e. "pub version" and "home version" :-)

I get your point about loudness, although for digital albums we already have hi-res, CD, and MP3

Mudcrutch ,Tom Petty's alternate band, released their first LP in 2008 (an all analog recording) with an included "audiophile CD". The CD came with an explanation that it had an extended dynamic range and would have to be played louder to achieve the volume of most CDs - a round about way of saying it wasn't loudness mastered. Unfortunately such endeavors are few and far between.

I don't have the remastered 'Amused To Death', merely the original CD. Have to agree with others here that it's probably the best recorded/mastered album in my collection. In terms of imaging and an all encompassing holographic soundstage it has a staggering height, width and depth. Some images sound as if they are coming from behind, others from the room next door.

Fatcat, glad to hear you are a fan of Martin Birch. From the mid '70s he used a pair of JBL 4311s for monitoring in the studio. Those same speakers now reside at my place.. 

Harry Bennett posted:

Simon, what was the issue with your Hugo? I am expecting mine back from Chord this week after 2 months (I am in Australia). Unit would not turn on even when connected to mains, returned to interstate retailer who returned to importer and then back to UK. Am yet to be advised of root cause of problem.

 

Apologies Javi for hijacking your post.

 

Harry

 

Hi, I think its internal power regulator has failed. it just sat there with a rapid blinking white light.

Cheers Simon, exact problem I had with mine so hopefully the unit will be fine for a few years to come.

Regards, Harry

Really enjoying some of these recommendations.

Though Roger Waters really isn't my bag (I dont think!) , I will give Amused to Death a good blast as it seems to come highly recommended for recording quality and from what I previewed of it last night, I can see why.

The Duke Ellington and Melody Gardot albums are total class, even though I hadn't heard them before now, and the great recording quality is a complete bonus.

From my side, probably this one is the best I have, the 192/24 version, though Im sure the vinyl would be equally amazing:

and one from the leftfield, a relative newcomer to my collection, Judas Priest's first album, really great recording quality, well worth a go, and nothing like their later stuff:-

The other albums making up my Top 5 of best recorded albums would be:-

Led Zeppelin I

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Fatoumata Diawara - Fatou

all of which I just cant stop listening to!

Very much a studio album . Brings together recordings that has 30 + years between.

Difficult to say my best quality album in terms of definition and clarity, but Bob Dylan - MTV Unplugged - USA pressing and Pink Floyd WYWH - Mastersound 1/2 speed (particular stamp number) has to be up there. They never cease to amaze me.

When testing, I refer to both my favourites, and some of my least favourites (in SQ terms), but a few of the best recorded / mixed albums in my view are....

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory

Ann Bisson - Blue Mind

Melody Gardot - My One and Only Thrill (Better than Currency of Man in SQ terms IMO)

Tori Amos - Under the Pink

Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine

The Unthanks - Last

Neil Cowley Trio - The Face of Mount Molehill

They're some of my favourites musically too, so if a system doesn't impress me with these, I'm not interested in it.

ewemon posted:

Kevin-W posted:

The SQ of some of the pop and jazz records coming out of the studios of Columbia/CBS and RCA in the 1950s and 1960s was staggering. These are three of the best-recorded records I possess:

The best version of Blues in Orbit I have heard is the MFSL disc (luckily I have 2 copies). Band in the living room experience.

I would also highly recommend the MFSL Isaac Hayes Hot Buttered Soul. I suppose if I sat down and thought about making up a list then there would be a lot of recommendations but those two spring to mind.

I've got so many that I wouldn't know where to start but those three would definitely make the list.

However I don't necessarily listen to perfect recordings when evaluating gear. There more for when I want to remind myself that my system ain't that bad.

Stevee_S posted:

   

Or some of the Steely Dan albums, notably Aja, Katy Lied, Gaucho and Two against nature

Or Live in America!

If "amused to death" is so nice in "only" 44.1kHz-16 bits... what about the HDtracks version at 192-24!??

I am thinking on buying it seriously.

...Javi

Worth adding Crossing by David Elias which is an excellent advert for DSD.  He was a pioneer of DSD recording and now has some MQA samplers available for download too.

Javi A. posted:

If "amused to death" is so nice in "only" 44.1kHz-16 bits... what about the HDtracks version at 192-24!??

I am thinking on buying it seriously.

...Javi

The HD version is distinctly inferior sound quality to the CD version - I have the CD version ripped with dbpoweramp, and as one of my initial forays into HD bought the 192-96 version and was immediately quite disappointed. From others' reported comments to the same effect, it appears to be another case of bad remastering..

TOBYJUG posted:

 

Tobyjug, Is vinyl what you have? Mine is aiff 24/192.  Have you compared both?

Great musicians treat the 'Blackness' within music with respect, showing the rhythms and tones to stark relief 

Erich posted:

TOBYJUG posted:

 

Tobyjug, Is vinyl what you have? Mine is aiff 24/192.  Have you compared both?

I do have an original issue vinyl up in the loft but no TT at the moment. Ripped from the cd boxset, so maybe not the best way to hear it .   AIFF 24/192 would sound great at bringing out the effort S & G put into it.

Here are the tracks I used to audition speakers, chosen across the various genres I enjoy and because I know them so well. Not all of them fit into the best recorded etc category, but if speakers don't reduce me to shivers or tears when these tracks play, well, 'nuff said...

use both vinyl and High res as listen to both  (FLAC 24 Bit transcode to WAV through NDX)  below are my prefered choices

Peter Gabriel releases - SO US - his 3rd album Melt stunning recordings on vinyl or The Who Tommy, The Coral, Julia Holter First Aid Kit Stay Gold

for High Res - happy to use a mix of the below

• London Grammar Hey Now
• Paul Simon either Graceland or Rythem of the Saints
• Roger Waters The Wall Live -
• Grace Jones - Slave to the Rythem - hot remix Trevor Horn
• Gary Numan The Pleasure Principal 
• Elton John Captian Fantastic and the brown dirt Cowboy
• Tori Amos The Beekeeper

Really like these:

The Monty Alexander Trio Live At The Montreux Festival LP MPS 2016 EU
Waiting To Exhale Soundtrack 2LP 2016 USA
Nitin Sawhney ‎OneZero 5LP 45rpm Box

Now that The Beatles in mono are out it brings out all the detail they put in the studio. I had a new friend over and talking about a RollingStone article about Revolver , and drugs of course, he much more experienced being in San Francisco for 20+ years. I put it on and he couldn't believe what he was hearing, then I trumped it with Sgt Peppers, what an afternoon.  I'm all for the White album being my favorite even with all the unusual songs and #9. I've always thought of that as the big knockout, showing that they were really beyond "Beatles" and John's mind on LSD.  Consider that they were into a lot of avant guard performances in London, they were going beyond R&R.  Just most people weren't ready for it, and still aren't.

On Tidal I get to hear a lot of Paul's CDs and he's gone into creating dance grooves and some of those soundscapes late career.

I agree with the ones posted that I possess . Here is another worth mentioning.  

mudwolf posted:

 I had a new friend over and talking about a RollingStone article about Revolver ... I'm all for the White album being my favorite even with all the unusual songs and #9. I've always thought of that as the big knockout, showing that they were really beyond "Beatles" and John's mind on LSD. 

I found the Rolling Stone article (The Beatles' Acid Test) very well-written and informative. Seemed grounded, though so much conjecture surrounds the Beatles who knows about the accuracy? Using similar conjecture and based on the theme of Lennon's tracks, I suspect his contributions to The White Album were more strongly influenced by heroin than acid, although as stated in the article the life altering effects of LSD can't be overlooked.

Some don't care for the ageing cracked voice but I love the honesty of this excellent recording.

G

This:

in red vinyl. Never heard an LP with such clarity and dynamics. It will even challenge your stylus or feeble tweeters (it did, with my AR4xs' left one..).