Top 10 Albums for Sound Quality - In discussion - Page 3

FWIW the most sultry of all of the above titles is the OP's Adele: 21

Which is a CD disc.

Thanks. Shall look out for that.

Some of my recent favorites for both musical content and SQ.

Any of Patricia Barber's SACDs or Gold HDCDs. The SACDs are OOP and quite expensive but the Gold HDCDs can be found at importcds.

Jennifer Warnes is another artist that comes to mind. There are three titles The Hunter, The Well and Famous Blue Raincoat available on Impex Gold CDs from importcds.

If you are a Donald Fagen fan I would recommend Nightfly Triology box set. It has MVI-DVD versions of The Nightfly, Kamakiriad and Morph The Cat. The MVI-DVD discs have DTS/DD 5.1 and Advanced Resolution PCM Stereo mixes. Both the surround and stereo mixes sound excellent IMO.

If you are a Dire Straits fan check out Mark Knopfler's Shangri-La and Sailing To Philadelphia DVD-As. Both of these DVD-As are I believe OOP and hard to find at decent prices. I got both of these last year for under $15.00 each. The Shangri-La SACD is still available for under $15.00.

If you like the Blues then I would suggest Mighty Sam McClain's Blues for the Soul and Soul Survivor SACDs. Both of these SACDs sound excellent IMO.

As mentioned earlier the Nat King Cole Analogue Production SACDs are outstanding for musical content and SQ. My favorite is Where Did Everyone Go? which is also the lowest priced one on Amazon. I was never a NKC fan but bought one of the AP SACDs to give it a shot. That one hooked me as I went out and bought the other six SACDs.

There is so much good music out there in both musical content and overall SQ. I have been buying alot of SACDs and DVD-As but there are many excellent sounding RBCDs out there as well. I would suggest to anyone seriously interested in music that they join the Steve Hoffman forum. I joined the SH forum over a year ago and I have learned so much about music since becoming a member.

Bill

I would proceed with caution, to SHF; I find it OVERWHELMING, there's so much music talk!

CD

Well it is a forum about music so there will be much music talk. So I'm not sure why you would think one would have to proceed with caution. I personally don't find it overwhelming but I guess some might. Some real nice very knowledgable music people over at the SH forum IMO.

A simple thing like finding out what might be the best sounding version of a specific title one might be looking for. I have almost bought specific titles on SACD only to find out there is RBCD version that sounds just as good for much less. As someone that enjoys music as much as I do being a member on the SH forum has been a great education. It is like any forum as you can get real involved or just observe what goes on and learn that way.

Bill

Just throw away the BIA SACD and get the original CD instead. Much better dynamics and sound.

Bill, not to say you aren't...but I am sooo curious about music, I just find too much of interest to even go there. To me...if I can't spend hours...which I can't...then it's hardly worth a few minutes.

I said it tongue in cheek, and think it's a GREAT forum; but it truly is about the most heavily posted to forum around. I mean...you can get 1,000 posts on which Ringo song was best, or 2,000 on the best of the 100 masterings of DSOTM released.


Well...I have the original, Japanese pressing as well.

CD

I have posted this link, Honor Roll of Dynamic Recordings, to a similar thread some time ago. I think it has relevance here. If nothing else, a good read.

I have the box set 'Citizen' by Steely Dan mentioned on that list.
The quality is very good.

Cool. Some time ago I saw list like this and could never find it again when I was trying to find the info for someone else for Gabriel's Security. Big difference in the two CDs. And I'm pretty sure the SACD was made from the inferior remaster.

larry

Larry,

I have the Security SACD and the SACD layer sounds excellent. Although I do not have a RBCD version to compare it to the SACD layer.

Bill

I think there's a BIA XRCD as well. Any idea how that compares to the original RBCD and SACD?

There is an XRCD version of BIA which is still available. I have the DualDisc and the SACD but I haven't compared the two. From what I have read the DualDisc version is the preferred 5.1 version. Below is a link from the Hoffman forum that discusses the BIA XRCD.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/sh...d.php?t=163521

Here is another link to a lengthly thread discussing different versions of BIA.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/sh...=brothers+arms

Bill

I think the original CD is the best choice.
Something that is funny is that I have seen many "I hear big difference between CD-players" saying that the SACD is better than the original. Funny that they cannot hear the loss of almost 10 db in dynamic peaks.

Tears For Fears- Sewing the Seeds of Love

Donlad Fagen- Morph the Cat

Brian Bromberg- Downright Upright

Doves- Lost Souls

Big Phat Band- Swingin' for the Fences (DVD-Audio)

The Seeds of Love is a beautiful album, in content and sound quality. I'm glad I bought the CD when it was first released in 1989, before the loudness wars. It is lush and deep and moving in parts, and deserves particular mention because it introduced everyone outside of Kansas City to the wonderful, angelic Oleta Adams. Thanks, Roland, for giving her career the boost it so richly deserved.

Morph the Cat, like everything Fagen is associated with, sounds spectacular.

Herbie Hancock - River: The Joni Letters

2007 Album of the Year Grammy
Superb sound quality
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UVLK1M/

24/96 FLAC @ HDTracks:
https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?f...00602517448261

Kelly Joe Phelps - Tap the Red Cane Whirlwind

Eva Cassidy - Live at Blues Alley

Great, great CD's that are also well recorded.......

Dire Straits "Brothers In Arms"
Steey Dan "Aja"
Nine Inch Nails "The Downward Spiral" (SACD)
Diana Krall ANY (SACD)

I just finished two iterations of speaker audition for two separate rooms (2 channel, music only) and put together quite a diverse list, many of the albums have been mentioned. Two others I might add:

Big Head Todd & The Monsters "Sister Sweetly" - perhaps not in the category of several others listed here, but excellent for speaker auditions. His voice has incredible range with normally deep, haunting midrange. Great bass and lead guitar fill out lows and high end nicely.

This one will probably get me kicked out of the club, but I have to mention Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Like his music or not, he attracted the best engineers in the business, and his albums reflect it. For both separation and imaging, many of the cuts on this album can't be beat.

I haven't seen much love for hip hop other than Stankonia. The Idelwild soundtrack is my top hip hop album for sure. Outkast does a better job than most hip hop artist when it comes to quality. The Roots have some good ones too. Their newest albums undun is a good one to check out.

I've been listening to some of the recommendations tonight on spotify (sorry I don't have a Sacd player). I had never heard Muddy Waters the folk singer. This album is amazing. I've been listening to it for the past hour and I'm loving it. This will be a go to album for a very long time. Thanks for that one.

I'm not sure if SACDs count...and obviously there are a great many titles that I think belong on this kind of list (which is one of the reasons it's a bit trite...but I digress). But I contribute ones that I think might otherwise go unnoticed; the SACD of Elton John's Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy is reference-quality Rock, in terms of SQ...and a damn fine listen too, IMO.

CD

Matt, I still don't like the fact that Beck's Mutations is missing from the OP. Can't you cut the whole thing, delete it, and replace it with a complete post?

BTW...what did you think of it?

CD

For sure, Beck is not for everyone; but the SQ is outstanding, IMO...especially for redbook.

CD

Doing it again...lol. Here...use this:

1: Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone - SACD - Link to View

Outstanding CD with simply amazing imaging, sound quality, and talented musicians. Shut your eyes with a good system, and the walls of your house fall away and you find yourself sitting in a concert hall with Yo-Yo Ma and an accompanying orchestra. Beautiful album, and a must-own.

2: Adele: 21 - CD - Link to View

"While relatively new to the music world in the scheme of things, this girl has a stunning voice. She is not your prototypical 21st century vocalist, seeing as she can actually sing without multiple computer aided supplements. For a pure voice that has a wide vocal range and a sultry voice, look no further." (Thanks, mgproudfit)

"I agree with Adele's album that you've mentioned; it's a great sounding disc. The sound quality is great but the album's substance is even better...The level of talent that she demonstrates is far beyond what the other women were showing." (Thanks, StinkPiece)

3: Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms - CD - Link to View

"The Instruments are really easy to define, they are just clearer and easier to pick out, more so than any other titles I own. The sound also envelopes you (soundstage?) and brings you right into the performance. No matter how many times I listen to these, I find myself going back to them often just to remind myself why I spent all that money on all that gear." (Thanks, MCATUCCI)

4: Steely Dan: Gaucho - CD/SACD - Link to View

"Boy am I glad you asked; a re-sounding yes! Not because they're miles apart in SQ, but because I get so sick of so-called audiophiles listing Sea Change...like it's the one and only good-sounding title from Beck (truth be told, it's the one that got a lot of pub, and that may be the only reason some audiophiles even know about it).

I even have the DVD-A of Sea Change, and it sounds great; but I still prefer the redbook Mutations. The recording feels less "processed", and very natural. YMMV" (Thanks, CDLehner)

"I have a lot of great-sounding titles; some MFSL, SHM-CD, DVD-A, SACD, SHM-SACD, etc. (that's the whole point, right)...but among the best-sounding redbook CDs I've ever heard, is Beck's Mutations. It's been in my testing rotation for years." (Thanks, CDLehner)

6: Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here - SACD - Link to View

Pink Floyd in hi-fi. Not much else needs to be said.

7: Miles Davis - Kind of Blue - CD - Link to View

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8: Muddy Waters - Folk Singer - CD - Link to View

"Muddy Waters "Folk Singer - There is a depth to Waters' voice and dynamic range captured from this acoustic studio session that is unrivaled in any other blues recordings. Always on my go to list when demo'ing for realism." (Thanks, Theonetruegreg)

9: Donald Fagen: Nightfly - CD - Link to View

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10: Nat King Cole - Nat King Cole's Story - CD - Link to View

EDIT- WoW, you're right; when I cut your post...it's there. But when you post, NOT! Weird.