Artists who care about fidelity

Peter Gabriel.
Annie Lennox.

Steely Dan were well known for it, and assisted more than ably by Roger Nichols.

Mike Oldfield's always struck me as quite keen - 90s re-releases in HDCD, sub-bass and lots of other tricks on his albums, an early adopter of recording direct to hard drive etc.

Not artists as such, but Telarc are (were) a recording label famously obsessive about fidelity.

I'm sure there are more...

Mark

Oh, London Grammar too. Superb recordings!

Neil Young, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, Paul Simon, John Mellencamp, Jackson Browne, Joe Walsh, The Eagles, Warren Zevon, The B-52's, America, The Guess Who, John Fogerty (CCR), Paul McCartney, Steve Winwood, The Band, Carole King, Suzanne Vega, Fleetwood Mac, The Cars, Boston, Sheryl Crow, Delbert McClinton, Robert Cray, Lina Ronstadt, Carly Simon, and Jimmy Buffett. Depending on the album Rush. As mentioned, Steely Dan and Dire Straits.

A few artists that manage a tight, fast, and punctual sound within the loudness mastering era are Beck, Cake, and (on some albums) Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Youn Sun Nah

Christian Scott

Roger Waters

Lee Ritenour.

Frank Zappa had his own studio - The Utility Muffin Research Kitchen.

Anything by the most marvellous Fink ............... all of his stuff is beautifully recorded, especially this live album:

  I swear the band is here, in the room. 

All Jack Johnson recordings are excellent.

Ray La Montaigne

Lucinda Williams

Donald Fagan

Yello