The best sounding (produced/mastered) tracks/albums

[StescoG66]

NDA said:

I was listening to the re-mastered Alf by Alison Moyet in high res.

It was close to getting a mention on here as the instruments sound great - but her voice doesn't sound good at all... not sure why, very thin sounding - yet she does have a super set of pipes!

Jazz is my thing and soooo many jazz recording are superbly done - and yet the genre is quite niche in comparison to the main stream.

I have the original album in vinyl and it blows this hi res remaster in to the rushes. What on earth have they done to it.......... it’s woeful, especially on the vocals but the entire thing is thin and grating.

Another old corker to dig out is This is the picture from Peter Gabriel’s So album, and Tracy Chapman Talkin’ bout a revolution

Betoko has piqued my interest though

[stuthemong]

Some I like

Yazoo - Only you
https://youtu.be/a4g5MeonGYM

Tori Amos - winter
https://youtu.be/_PDlGUdDF8Y

Tom Jones - Van Morrison - Sometimes we cry
https://youtu.be/P-LKH1cbAkk

[NDA]

StescoG66 said:

I have the original album in vinyl and it blows this hi res remaster in to the rushes. What on earth have they done to it.......... it’s woeful, especially on the vocals but the entire thing is thin and grating.

Another old corker to dig out is This is the picture from Peter Gabriel’s So album, and Tracy Chapman Talkin’ bout a revolution

Betoko has piqued my interest though

That's interesting on the vinyl comparison... I recall Joe Cocker's 'Sheffield Steel' being great on vinyl and just 'OK' on digital versions.

[Harry Flashman]

Otis Taylor - Ten Million slaves. The soundstage, imaging: and the amazing banjo!

Not the very cleanest, but just so interesting and really works the hifi to get that in the room feeling. And is also just a brilliant track.

[Funk]

[NDA]

Funk said:

A new album to me - thanks.

What a collection of players on that album, amazing. Shame it's not in high res.... very nice sounding though.

[Funk]

NDA said:

Funk said:

A new album to me - thanks.

What a collection of players on that album, amazing. Shame it's not in high res.... very nice sounding though.

It's available on Deezer in hi-res: https://www.deezer.com/us/album/5943701

Probably on Tidal, Qobuz etc too...?

[NDA]

It's CD quality on Qobuz - is that Deezer link definitely high res? It's coming up as CD on my system.

No great matter, it's a good album all the same.

[Funk]

NDA said:

It's CD quality on Qobuz - is that Deezer link definitely high res? It's coming up as CD on my system.

No great matter, it's a good album all the same.

Oh sorry - I thought you meant 'better than YouTube-quality'... CD quality is sufficient for me, I can't hear any difference with 24/96 so never bother with it.

[NDA]

Ah! I have some new speakers and can definitely hear the difference.... CD is fine but 24/96 or 192 usually sounds better.

Here's one that's not high res, but sounds good:

Blue Bossa by Brian Bromberg. Just a double bass, nothing else. Quite interesting.

[Funk]

NDA said:

Ah! I have some new speakers and can definitely hear the difference....

Ooh, what you got and what are you driving them with..?

[tberg]

Fifty years ago or so when I listened to a lot of vinyl recordings, the Sheffield Direct to disc pressings were unquestionably the highest quality vinyl records available. Their sound exploded out of the speakers (in my case, they were JBL L-100s). My first Sheffield disc and still phenomenal was Thelma Houston and Pressure Cooker on an album called "I've Got the Music in Me." Its recording quality is unparalleled and still a joy to listen to.

Edited by tberg on Tuesday 25th April 01:51

[NDA]

Funk said:

NDA said:

Ah! I have some new speakers and can definitely hear the difference....

Ooh, what you got and what are you driving them with..?

I have a pair of KEF LS60's - they replaced a very good pair of Ruarks driven by Musical Fidelity mono blocks with a variety of front ends, most recently an NAD M10.

The KEF's are active and have 3 dedicated amps per speaker along with 6 drive units per speaker. They are very revealing in terms of production and mastering - some things sound great, not always high resolution recordings, but most of the time it's the higher res stuff that sounds better... more detail, more dynamic.

[MC Bodge]

belleair302 said:

Slave to the rhythm Grace Jones

I've just listened to this album again. It sounds great and best with the volume turned up a bit to pick out the various sounds.

[Timothy Bucktu]

Harry Flashman said:

Etherwood's eponymous drum and bass album.

Beautifully done. I am currently trialling a subwoofer with my system, and it's just gorgeously done production that really lets me play with the sub and see exactly what it is up to.

It's also good, chilled music, yet with plenty of attack in mids and treble, and a decent level of complexity with different elements going at different places. And the vocals are good too.

Edited by Harry Flashman on Wednesday 22 March 22:37

I've never heard of Etherwood...but having listened to everything of his on Spotify since you mentioned him...he's really excellent. Thanks.

[AdamV12V]

Timothy Bucktu said:

I've never heard of Etherwood...but having listened to everything of his on Spotify since you mentioned him...he's really excellent. Thanks.

Im another fan of Etherwood - silky smooth liquid D n B

Another electronic favourite of mine whos recent albums have all been recorded excellently are "Gus Gus". The group has been going for decades but the members morph every few years with just a couple of guys are the core. The consistently make outstanding music though.

Here's a two seperate live performance on KEXP a few years ago (2011 and 2015), when IMHO they had their very best line up of members and vocalists.

Tracks on these live performances are mostly from the Albums "Mexico" and "Arabian Horse" - both performances and both albums are truly superb and very well recorded too!

Edited by AdamV12V on Friday 28th April 12:14

[Portia5]

This one's a great example of excellent early 70's production

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ASclrPGJqo

[AdamV12V]

The very talented Hania Rani....

I challenge anyone to watch the first 2 mins of this and not end up watching the whole hour of her performance and then looking for more...

She is mesmerizing!

[SeanyD]

Enjoyed that, good post, thank you. She must have military grade finger muscles, playing normally weighted keys like that.

AdamV12V said:

The very talented Hania Rani....

I challenge anyone to watch the first 2 mins of this and not end up watching the whole hour of her performance and then looking for more...

She is mesmerizing!

[NDA]

Bunny is a Rider - Caroline Polacheck from the album Desire, I Want To Turn Into You