The best sounding (produced/mastered) tracks/albums

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'That Wasn't A Dream' by Pino Palladino and Blake Mills is worth a listen on a decent system.... very nicely recorded and produced.

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Funk said:

a phenomenal vocal by Geoff Castelucci:

Gregory Porter records some very nice sounding vocals - the track Illusion is worth finding - there are a few more besides that.

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Funk said:

NDA said:

Funk said:

a phenomenal vocal by Geoff Castelucci:

Gregory Porter records some very nice sounding vocals - the track Illusion is worth finding - there are a few more besides that.

I'll check him out tonight, thanks for the recommendation!

If you don't know him, you're in for a treat.

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Funk said:

Ooh, this is very much up my particular alley!

Talking of which:

https://open.spotify.com/track/0DjqeHoh1hGY8dqKXAf...

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andy_s said:

VSKeith said:

Absolutely.

There's something about just sticking a mic in a room in front of some musicians and forgetting about the whole studio thing

I think Neil Young does a lot of stuff like that - on Tonight's the Night they definitely forgot about the whole studio thing and probably most other things too, maybe that was the point... They've just released a 50th anniversary pressing - I've ordered the vinyl version, even though I don't usually chase rereleases/special eds, as there are a few more tracks than the original [Joni Mitchell is on one of them], but let's see about the 'added clarity...'

'I've Got The Music In Me' by Thelma Houston is one such album - recorded live to master disc in 1975, quite a feat. For those that might follow such things, Larry Carlton and Michael Omatian feature too along with Tom Scott and Jim Gordon.

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Church of Noise said:

(and I know we've mentioned Dire Straits a lot already........)

I can't stop listening to Ride Across the River - there's so much going on. I love the opening lyrics too.

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M138 said:

Brothers In Arms was the last album tracked on the custom Neve console in Air Montserrat. The console got sold to A&M in LA and was used on many hit records whilst there. It now resides in Subterranean Sound Studios in Toronto. If you watch the Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (Police) video the console plays a big part in the video with Andy Summers dancing on it.

That's interesting. That must have been quite a big ticket item to purchase and install back in the day.

I sat next to and chatted with George Martin on a flight many years ago - it was not long after Hurricane Hugo, which was devastating for Montserrat.

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Focused said:

A few more I like, all quite different. Second and third have good bass

Pat Metheny

https://open.spotify.com/track/3UEu7wdJkq8pyEinqCc...

One of my favourites by an artist I've loved for many years. I saw him at Ronnie Scott's a few years ago.

The album 'Offramp' has even higher production values and is worth checking out if you haven't listened to it.

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M138 said:

Yeah, great music
My favourite is Court And Spark but just mentioned the live album has Pat Metheny on it.

The Shadows and Light concert is worth looking at (there are some videos on YouTube) - Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Lyle Mays, Michael Brecker etc.

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Nico Adie said:

Listened to Swordfishtrombones and Rain Dogs over the weekend and they're both spectacularly good sounding albums. The percussion (and there's lots of it) absolutely slaps you in the face.

Recorded in 192/24 bit loveliness.

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Nico Adie said:

I'm presuming you mean Remastered rather than Recorded? The albums were originally recorded on 2" multitrack tape as far as I know.

Yep

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Church of Noise said:

Do you notice the impact of the 192kHz resolution NDA?
I'm not entirely sure I can pick it up...

If I had to stand up in a court of law, I'd say no. I often think something is 192/24 and it isn't. However....

I do have a revealing and neutral system with a wide (11Hz to 24kHz) frequency response which should extract higher resolution easily. I also have tinnitus. Hahaha.

But I do listen, really listen and there is - or seems to be - more instrument separation when doing an A/B test on the same music, slightly more weight too.

Is it my imagination, like those troubled souls who have directional speaker cable talking about the 'thin veil of gauze' being removed from their mid range?

There's no question that there is more data contained in the higher resolution, can you hear it? Who knows? I enjoy knowing there's more data and maybe that's part of it.

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StescoG66 said:

I know 'Bubbles' - almost like a hifi demo track. It probably is....

I don't know Submotion Orchestra, will give that a proper listen later.

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Funk said:

Tord Gustavsen Trio - The Other Side:

https://open.spotify.com/track/5smnTPDfrFkuvXkEOQo...

This track is beautifully mic'd, the drums in particular sound incredible - the delicate snare and ride cymbal sound like they could be in the room with you.

A Manfred Eicher (founder of ECM) production. He rarely puts a foot wrong.

I don't know this recording - listening now - it's beautifully done. The double bass is lovely too, giving my sub something to chew on.

I think I posted a few pages ago the Wolfgang Haffner album 'Silent World' - worth a go.

Also Manu Katché and Jan Garbarek 'Twelve Moons' and the track 'Gautes-Margjit' which has a great drum groove (and sound) running through it. One of my favourites. I met Manu and said I enjoyed that track "oh that was years ago" was his only reply!

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I've just moved house - I don't think I'll be set up again for weeks... if not months.

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Funk said:

If anyone's interested here's my reference track playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2nrldGGFb489icXV...

Thanks for that... I've just set up my speakers having moved house recently. I had a browse through this last night and there are many tracks I don't know - I've saved the list, moved it to Qobuz and will enjoy going through it.