The best sounding (produced/mastered) tracks/albums
Discussion
Vangelis - Bladerunner and Soil Festivities
Pink Floyd - The Final Cut
Dire Straits "Love Over Gold" (the MFSL SACD is astonishing)
Any of the Erich Kunzel / Cincinnati Pops CD releases on Telarc. The Star Tracks series especially
And another vote for the eponymous Joan Armatrading album on the original CD release. When "Love And Affection" kicks in it's "wow"
Pink Floyd - The Final Cut
Dire Straits "Love Over Gold" (the MFSL SACD is astonishing)
Any of the Erich Kunzel / Cincinnati Pops CD releases on Telarc. The Star Tracks series especially
And another vote for the eponymous Joan Armatrading album on the original CD release. When "Love And Affection" kicks in it's "wow"
Anything by Alan Parsons (whether Alan Parsons Project or engineered by AP - Dark Side Of The Moon for instance)
Anything by Jellyfish (sadly only two albums)
Anything by created or re-mixed Steven Wilson (his own material is variable but the production is fantastic)
As others have said, Steely Dan or anything else that has Donald Fagen's obsessive fingers on it.
Anything by Jellyfish (sadly only two albums)
Anything by created or re-mixed Steven Wilson (his own material is variable but the production is fantastic)
As others have said, Steely Dan or anything else that has Donald Fagen's obsessive fingers on it.
Deranged Rover said:
MC Bodge said:
Oddly, this seemed to be the case even to my non expert ears, even listening to Absolute 80s in the car...
What is the "Loudness war"?
It's basically a modern method of mixing stuff 'loud' with compression applied so that the dynamic range is drastically reduced.What is the "Loudness war"?
More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war
Deranged Rover said:
MC Bodge said:
Oddly, this seemed to be the case even to my non expert ears, even listening to Absolute 80s in the car...
What is the "Loudness war"?
It's basically a modern method of mixing stuff 'loud' with compression applied so that the dynamic range is drastically reduced.What is the "Loudness war"?
More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war
thebraketester said:
I am already running for cover here…….
Billie Eilish - When we all fall asleep… I personally think the production is almost the entire USP of the album.
<whispers>My daughter was listening to Taylor Swift the other day. Not my kind of thing (and I'd never heard any of her work for years) , but it sounded surprisingly polished, even on(because of?)her rubbish little system via Alexa.Billie Eilish - When we all fall asleep… I personally think the production is almost the entire USP of the album.
<sorry>
I must get her some better speakers and a mini class D amplifier.
spoil her and make it a father daughter experience - build an Amp Camp Amp - DIYAudio forums for details.
couple it with a cheap DAC - one of those <100$ wall wart powered things like Fiio, Dragonfly, schit, emotiva little ego,.., and stream from computer
on any reasonably efficient cone speaker it sounds really nice.
couple it with a cheap DAC - one of those <100$ wall wart powered things like Fiio, Dragonfly, schit, emotiva little ego,.., and stream from computer
on any reasonably efficient cone speaker it sounds really nice.
ShortBeardy said:
spoil her and make it a father daughter experience - build an Amp Camp Amp - DIYAudio forums for details.
couple it with a cheap DAC - one of those <100$ wall wart powered things like Fiio, Dragonfly, schit, emotiva little ego,.., and stream from computer
on any reasonably efficient cone speaker it sounds really nice.
Thankscouple it with a cheap DAC - one of those <100$ wall wart powered things like Fiio, Dragonfly, schit, emotiva little ego,.., and stream from computer
on any reasonably efficient cone speaker it sounds really nice.
Funk said:
You'd think - but unfortunately the production went down the tubes on so much stuff as the Loudness War began.
I think the sweet-spot for mainstream audio production and recording is actually the mid-eighties; the benefit of digital with the careful production of analogue. CDs from that era generally sound superb. A lot of modern stuff just gets smashed to the limits unfortunately.
A really good topic, and often overlooked - loudness wars have always existed but taken to a whole new level post 2000 or so with the digital limiting available.. ruining dynamic range and sound quality.I think the sweet-spot for mainstream audio production and recording is actually the mid-eighties; the benefit of digital with the careful production of analogue. CDs from that era generally sound superb. A lot of modern stuff just gets smashed to the limits unfortunately.
For me the very peak sound quality was around the late 80s / early 90s..digital tape had matured but still analogue mixing and recording techniques (and big budgets) were prevalent. A great example being Tears for Fears Seeds of Love.
The sad reality is that most people will never hear these albums in their original form - re-mastered versions smash all this originality in favour of 'loudness', even for the new vinyl versions. It's worth seeking out the original CDs wherever possible.
The only glimmer of hope is the recent LUFS standards of level conformity, effectively ironing out the loudness differences on playback, removing the need to smash everything in the production stages (not holding my breath though).
Analogue mixing into digital always sounded better - to my younger ears at least.
It has always been a bit frustrating that only 'some' albums sound great - and this was true with vinyl too. I recall some specific pressings/recordings that were a cut above everything else when played on decent equipment. I think I mentioned Sheffield Steel by Joe Cocker earlier - the vinyl of this was in a different league. Some of Coleman Hawkins was excellent too.
I am 100% digital these days (Qobuz/Roon) and I find most recordings are OK, but not exceptional.
It has always been a bit frustrating that only 'some' albums sound great - and this was true with vinyl too. I recall some specific pressings/recordings that were a cut above everything else when played on decent equipment. I think I mentioned Sheffield Steel by Joe Cocker earlier - the vinyl of this was in a different league. Some of Coleman Hawkins was excellent too.
I am 100% digital these days (Qobuz/Roon) and I find most recordings are OK, but not exceptional.
dan98 said:
A great example being Tears for Fears Seeds of Love.
A great sounding track
dan98 said:
The sad reality is that most people will never hear these albums in their original form - re-mastered versions smash all this originality in favour of 'loudness', even for the new vinyl versions. It's worth seeking out the original CDs wherever possible.
What is the supposed point of the re-mastered versions?And what is done to add "loudness"?
MC Bodge said:
What is the supposed point of the re-mastered versions?
And what is done to add "loudness"?
Basically, heavy compression/ limiting is applied to the waveform to maximise amplitude (the height of the wave) And what is done to add "loudness"?
It’s done so you can get more volume on crappy speakers/ MP3 players/ ear buds.
If you listen to Radio 3 you will hear music quiet and loud in its full dynamic range. If you listen to Radio 1 you will hear heavily compressed music with much less dynamic range.
I like to think of the raw wave as a landscape painting with hills and valleys and streams and little fluffy bunnies and subtle colours. A smashed to the limit wave is more akin to a 2 year olds crayon scribble that you might put on the fridge. They both have their place.
There are other issues with digital such as data compression and clipping which also degrade the sound. This is why analogue generally sounds better with any distortion perceived to add warmth rather than digital rasp.
H6Nathan said:
Basically, heavy compression/ limiting is applied to the waveform to maximise amplitude (the height of the wave)
It’s done so you can get more volume on crappy speakers/ MP3 players/ ear buds.
If you listen to Radio 3 you will hear music quiet and loud in its full dynamic range. If you listen to Radio 1 you will hear heavily compressed music with much less dynamic range.
I like to think of the raw wave as a landscape painting with hills and valleys and streams and little fluffy bunnies and subtle colours. A smashed to the limit wave is more akin to a 2 year olds crayon scribble that you might put on the fridge. They both have their place.
There are other issues with digital such as data compression and clipping which also degrade the sound. This is why analogue generally sounds better with any distortion perceived to add warmth rather than digital rasp.
Thanks.It’s done so you can get more volume on crappy speakers/ MP3 players/ ear buds.
If you listen to Radio 3 you will hear music quiet and loud in its full dynamic range. If you listen to Radio 1 you will hear heavily compressed music with much less dynamic range.
I like to think of the raw wave as a landscape painting with hills and valleys and streams and little fluffy bunnies and subtle colours. A smashed to the limit wave is more akin to a 2 year olds crayon scribble that you might put on the fridge. They both have their place.
There are other issues with digital such as data compression and clipping which also degrade the sound. This is why analogue generally sounds better with any distortion perceived to add warmth rather than digital rasp.
That does match some of what I had noticed.
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