Best Sounding CD Ever?

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2004 3:54 pm

ANY STEELY DAN CD AVAILABLE, BY THE WAY DID ANYONE KNOW THAT THE NAME "STEELY DAN" CAME FROM THE NAME OF A DILDO? Though that was interesting..

Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2004 12:35 am

I think the truest test of of the sonic quality of a recording is the juke box at the local bar. From these emperical observations I have deduced the following, but first let me say that this in no way my criteria for my taste in style.

1: Recordings made at Trident Studios on the A Range they built. When "Candle in the Wind" or Queen or TRex or Bowie comes on the juke, it seems like a veil has been lifted. These recordings also preserve the dynamics, not cramming all of the RMS into the last 15%.

2: When Abbey Road/EMI was in its prime...the Beatles hold up to this day, not to mention Darkside. They built their own gear, too.

3: Putnam recordings, like Sinatra.

This is from the era where engineers were EE engineers. There was a different ethic back then.

So go out, have a few pints and observe the jukebox. It will give you tons of reference.

BH
1: EMI/Abbey Road recordings stand up. Listen to the Beatles or Darkside.

Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2004 6:58 am

I Like:

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magic (Fantastic drum sounds)
Muse - Absolution (An Epic)
Jeff Buckley - Grace (Beautiful tone)
Coldplay - Politic (Can't describe it)
Radiohead (Amazing sounds)

I definitly recommend a listen to all the above albums! Smile

Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2004 11:56 pm

Actually, Mr. Evans, the name Steely Dan came from a fictional sexual device from William Burrow's Naked Lunch.

...as for the albums I reference... well, I havn't decided on those, yet. The albums I've enjoyed the production of simply for the production have been Pink Floyd's The Wall (the album which really got me into all of this), the multiply mentioned Wallflowers (LOVED the snare's ring fading in and out of intensity on 'It's good to be King.'), and Devo's The Mongoloid Years, Live 1975-1979(Not the best sounding, but the performance is sheerly amazing, and after trying to seamless some other live stuff, I know how hard it can be to do without those annoying pops and skips...).

Many have mentioned Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon over The Wall. To compare these two, what exactly should I be listening for? Each is so rich and deep that I find it hard to really decide on the single elements to pick out of the mix.

Posted: Sun Feb 29, 2004 11:28 am

[quote]Originally posted by Treena Foster:
[b] I like the Nora Jones Cd, but it is mastered way to hot, it distorts when its played so I can't enjoy the performances as much as I would like to.

Treena Smile

Have you listened to any Eva Cassidy? if not...try the blues alley album. I wouldn't call her mellow...but she sure can belt out the lyrics. I just think more new singers should put the true raw emotion into their singing as she seemed to (of course...we're talking music now...and not sonic attributes)

For some nice recordings...you can also check out http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/index.php. You won't find the latest and greatest stars there. But you'll get some real good music, recorded in such a way that it just seems to sound natural. Clean, clear dynamic...just nice. Let me warn you tho...these recordings aren't without flaws...they aren't polished up or smoothed over. But even with the flaws...they are just very refreshing to listen to. Maybe because so much of the big production stuff coming out nowadays is muddied, compressed and has no where to go with dynamics.
Not perfect...but very refreshing.

other nice ones...Steely Dan always puts out nice recordings. The Dave Matthews Band seems to be good for newer rock...then you got various Wynton Marsalis CD's Very Happy

. Diana Krall CD's are alright...and even tho I don't care for her music...Patricia Barber - night club does have nice sonics.

take care>>>>>>>>

Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2004 11:16 am

I'm right now listening to a Ray Brown cd (the last he recorded I think) and I find it so refreshing after listening to a lot of newer stuff that is SO compressed. Is this because so many people listen to music in autos? A CD like the aforementioned Ray Brown item kind of dissapears if you are on the interstate at 80mph. Anyway the cd was recored with 4 mics. One each for guitar, bass, piano, and room. Sounds like real music.

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2004 10:18 am

In my opinion, You have to look to the classic rock albums. The best album is "Dark Side of the Moon" Pink Floyd. Genius!

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2004 2:06 pm

I'm shocked...I just went throught this whole thread..all 6 pages and unless I missed it noone mentioned *Fleetwood Mac Rumors*

This album is sonically amazing, and the production and performance are as good if not greater than the recording. Defeniatly one of my fav's for a reference disk.
I also think the Undertow album is a great reference. Aenima is a great recording also but there's a bite around 1k and 5-6k..not sure where that came from but it get's annoying sometimes. Another great rock album in my opinion is the first Rage Against The Machine album, sonically excellent and great performance also...no studio tricks on that album. Depeche Mode's Violator is a great sounding electronic album. I also like NIN's Fragile...I was amazed at the sound quality on that album. ZZ Top's greatest hit's is also full of great sounding songs. I could go on an on..but it's so hard with so many great albums out there...and seperating sound quality from production/performance can be difficult when talking about albums on the top like everyone has been...

Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 10:50 am

I would have to agree that this should be referred to as good reference albums.

Here are some of my favorite Rock references:

Porcupine Tree - In Absentina (Excellent dynamic range on this record)
Tool - Undertow
Dream Theater - Train of Thought

Matt

Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2004 4:56 pm

Tunes, not albums. Some tunes reek on albums that have killer tunes in sonics.

Pretenders "sense of purpose" (Live)
Dire Straits "love over gold"
Joan Biaz "Diamonds and Rust"
Carol King "Corazon"
Brothers 3 "Buttermilk Mary"
John Cale "Paris 1919"

I have 542 tunes documented that are all in the top 10 places in production sonics with the finals.

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 1:28 am

90125 by Yes.....

A very cool record.

Just a little too much verb in areas....

Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2004 7:32 am

I wholly echo Pink Floyd's 'The Wall'. But the content does pull you into the music so very deeply that the production becomes inextricable from the whole. It's one of those rare albums that you have to listen to from start-to-finish.

Jeff Buckley's 'Grace' album is another sonic favourite of mine. Delicate work there.

Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2004 8:00 am

Coldplay- A rush of Blood to the Head
is a very sincere record.

Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2004 10:23 pm

for emo and hardcore, how about Saosin - Translating the Name and The Bled - Pass The Flask, both produced by the amazing beau burchell.

Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2004 7:05 am

Im with you on The Bled Cd it sounds amazing The drums and Guitar tone are amazing.

This topic sponsored by: