The best sounding (produced/mastered) tracks/albums

[S600BSB]

NDA said:

Some interesting tracks... thanks. Have listened to all I didn't know. Enjoying 'Liberty'.

For jazz lovers try:

Silent World by Wolfgang Haffner. I discovered this recently - superbly recorded drums, no surprise, he is a drummer.


Bubbles by Yosi Horikawa is worth a try... it's like a speaker demo!

Thanks for the recommendation of Silent World. Had a listen then ordered the vinyl. Superb - and a fabulous vinyl pressing too.

[NDA]

S600BSB said:

Thanks for the recommendation of Silent World. Had a listen then ordered the vinyl. Superb - and a fabulous vinyl pressing too.

Oh excellent! I'm so glad you like it. I discovered it by accident and it's a favourite album now.

[StescoG66]

lily was here - Candy Dulfer live in Amsterdam

[NDA]

From the album Jazz Sabbath by Jazz Sabbath - Evil Woman.

Not high definition, but well recorded and the drums sound great.....

[Bryanwww]

Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers - Kendrick Lamar
Great production on this and some really interesting beats.

Savage Sinusoid - Igorrr
Production on all of their albums is good, love the mix of instruments and genres - fantastic seeing them live, the sopranos voice is amazing and sounds even better in real life

[dvshannow]

NDA said:

S600BSB said:

Thanks for the recommendation of Silent World. Had a listen then ordered the vinyl. Superb - and a fabulous vinyl pressing too.

Oh excellent! I'm so glad you like it. I discovered it by accident and it's a favourite album now.

Second this good background music for thoughtful activities

[Gin and Ultrasonic]

thebraketester said:

kevinon said:

SeanyD said:

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!

What talent !. I can't describe the music, but it really moves me. Thanks !

Very Einaudian. I will check it out properly when I get chance.

Thanks for this - reminds me that I got into Cercle live performances on Youtube - her set is absolutely incredible:

[Harry Flashman]

Look for Above & Beyond at Guadalupe, Colombia, on Cercle and prepare for a lovely, relaxing time with some stunning visuals.

[Harry Flashman]

Little Darling (extended mix) - Marsh.

[gmaz]

I like much of the work that Steven Wilson has done remixing older albums. It's like when an old oil painting is restored and suddenly the colours seem more rich and vibrant with details and layers that were previously obscured.

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/Casey_White/albums-...

He describes the process here

https://www.soundonsound.com/people/steven-wilson-...

The 5.1 surround/Atmos version are especially vivid, the main example being that the vocals come from a single centre speaker instead of an equal left and right mix attempting to place the track centrally. It makes a huge difference and there is always a genuine look of surprise when people hear it for the first time.

[donkmeister]

legzr1 said:

NDA said:

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

Reminds me of Imogen Heaps album Speak for Yourself.

Bit of a late response to this but as I have a toddler I find myself listening to this Imogen Heap gem with alarming regularity... I am clearly a sucker for well-layered music.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=9PhtxqKLvVc&featur...

[thebraketester]

thebraketester said:

NDA said:

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

That album is exceptional well produced/mixed. IMO

edit... It actually seems quite flat on my AirPods pro2 which is a bit odd as it sounds fab on my home Hi-Fi

Edited by thebraketester on Wednesday 7th June 12:49

Just to tag this. Sunset off that album has been been a real ear worm for me recently. Production is excellent. Having said that I did hear her live and I think there is quite a lot of "work" going into making her voice sound good on the albums, slightly different topic though.

[AC43]

Ronstein said:

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.

I've just had the final part of a £1.5k upgrade to my car audio done and almost immediately went to Fagan's New Fontier from his Nightfly album. Amazing production. The album was a vinyl staple demo in hifi shops in the early/mid 80s

[NDA]

AC43 said:

I've just had the final part of a £1.5k upgrade to my car audio done and almost immediately went to Fagan's New Fontier from his Nightfly album. Amazing production. The album was a vinyl staple demo in hifi shops in the early/mid 80s

I am a huge Steely Dan fan - and of Fagan's solo work too.

Unfortunately I overdid Nightfly when it came out - I listened to it on repeat for about 3 years. I rarely listen to it now - a bit of a shame!

If you can find Northeast Corridor by Steely Dan (2021), it's worth listening to in 96/24bit. Great production but sadly missing Becker of course.

[dickymint]

Pink Floyd "Delicate Sound Of Thunder" Re-mastered in 4K


review here https://theseconddisc.com/2020/11/24/review-pink-f...

On Youtube (you'll need 'Premium' for the full blown 4K) .........

[Jammez]

Loving this thread, just managed to get my hi fi out of storage as we've been renovating a house for what seems like a life time! It's an old Arcam & Kef set up but it's sounding a million times better than the little Bose soundlink I've had to listen to for the last few years!

The room is making things (vocals in particular) sound a bit harsh too many hard surfaces I think. There's definitely something in the music from the 80's that's sounding much better (which is my era anyway). Funnily enough quite a bit of synthwave stuff is sounding pretty good, which all has big 80's vibes.

Change Your Heart or Die by The Midnight sounds particularly good up loud and it has every 80's cliche riff in it!

[CloudStuff]

Elizium by Fields of the Nephilim. Produced by the excellent Andy Jackson.

[Magikarp]

Hourglass / James Taylor is sublimely engineered and produced. Even though, there is a soprano saxophone on it. Brass Attitude / Maynard Ferguson & The Big Bop Nouveau is also remarkably well produced.

[NDA]

Magikarp said:

Hourglass / James Taylor is sublimely engineered and produced.

It is nicely done... some interesting musicians on it too - Stevie Wonder, Sting, Branford Marsalis, Michael Brecker, Yo-Yo Ma.

[loughran]

Tin Pan Alley from Stevie Ray Vaughan's Couldn't Stand The Weather. I'm in the workshop this morning where I have a reasonable set up and I've listened to this three times now. It's so restrained, the base line is deep and mesmerising. There's a lot of space in this recording.

Also the album New Dawn by Dominic Miller and Neil Stacey. I first heard this album in the early 2000s when it was released on the Naim label and often used to demonstrate Naim equipment. My favourite track, Rush Hour, was the one that made me get my cheque book out.