High quality sound albums

JerryLove

JerryLove

Audioholic Ninja
I'm pulling down the free super-master-FLAC-things Linn is giving away again for Chrismas... but the dyanmic range (avg to peak) has been 7-11db. Most of the 80s and early 90s CD's are 12-14db, and my good classicals are 14-17db.

No point getting all high-format quality if you don't use the range.
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
Well Peng, you need to get out more! Build some more reference memories. We just saw LaTraviata a month or so back here. Word has it our Symphony is planning something for DeBussy in the early spring. LaMer is one of my all time favs.

DJ
I agree I need to get out more, Toronto isn't that far either. I do go 5 to 6 times a year though admittedly I have not been to full size symphony orchestra concerts for quite some time now and is getting itchy.. Even small orchestras around 6 times a year seems enough to remind me of how each musical instrument sound like, in a relatively smaller hall anyway.:D
 
I

IanU

Audioholic Intern
These albums are nominated for best hi-res downloads of 2013 on the British Naim forum, and I must say I find them outstanding.
But they are Studio Master downloads, from the Sound Liaison cooperative;
I did manage to get a CD from Carmen Gomes as well by contacting her via her website;Carmen Gomes.
but the CD is of course 16/44 while the Studio Master download is 24/96,I just like to have the physical CD as well with the artwork and info.
But highly recommended, Rad Bennett from Sound Stage! wrote in his review, that the Carmen Gomes album was one of the best recorded and musically rewarding vocal albums to come along in along time.
The Paul Berner Band download is i.m.o.equally rewarding.Both albums has a sense of depth and placement of the instruments which surpasses even my favorite ECM albums.

here is the link:http://www.soundliaison.com/
 
little wing

little wing

Audioholic General
I've always heard that the Steely Dan, Aja CD with the MCA label, Catalog # MCAD-37214 from 1984 Mastered by Steve Hoffman was an excellent recording.
I had that disk for 15 years before I realized it was the coveted version.
I have that version, it is awesome. Most Steely Dan recordings are great.
 
I

IanU

Audioholic Intern
Andre Heuvelman/ Carmen Gomes

These albums are nominated for best hi-res downloads of 2013 on the British Naim forum, and I must say I find them outstanding.
But they are Studio Master downloads, from the Sound Liaison cooperative;
I did manage to get a CD from Carmen Gomes as well by contacting her via her website;Carmen Gomes.
but the CD is of course 16/44 while the Studio Master download is 24/96,I just like to have the physical CD as well with the artwork and info.
But highly recommended, Rad Bennett from Sound Stage! wrote in his review, that the Carmen Gomes album was one of the best recorded and musically rewarding vocal albums to come along in along time.
The Paul Berner Band download is i.m.o.equally rewarding.Both albums has a sense of depth and placement of the instruments which surpasses even my favorite ECM albums.

here is the link:Music Store

And they have a couple of give aways now, I have all ready got the tunes but for these are worth checking out.

FREE TRACKS
 
jp_over

jp_over

Full Audioholic
Nice - just downloaded and listened on the headphones. Now I need to check it out on my main system.
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
Nice - just downloaded and listened on the headphones. Now I need to check it out on my main system.
Those two tracks, free or not, are definitely of truely high fidelity quality, imo anyway.
 
E

exospire

Audioholic Intern
I've been wanting to compile a list of super good recording/mastering/smooth sounding albums for a while :)

This one is a must have,
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

It's simply one of the highest quality sounding albums I've ever listened to. So smooth, very pleasing to listen to.

Interview with Mick Guzauski on engineering the album:
Icons: Mick Guzauski on Engineering and Mixing Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories†: SonicScoop – Creative, Technical & Business Connections For NYC’s Music & Sound Community

Article I found analyzing the "science" behind the album, titled: Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories – Why does it sound so good ?
Daft Punk - Mastering Analysis of 'Random Access Memories'
 
Paudio

Paudio

Junior Audioholic

This documentary about Kind of Blue, Ah- Um, Time out and the Shape of Jazz to Come, got me thinking that these 4, very different albums, are also some of the very best sounding Jazz albums ever made, and all from 1959.
What was it with that year, were the tapes better or...?



 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
Keep them coming and I'll update the list before Christmas..:D
 
moves

moves

Audioholic Chief
Not sure if it's mentioned in any of the pages but lets not forget Dave Matthews at Radio City Music Hall BR.
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
Updated list:

Titles
1 6 and 12 String Guitar by Leo Kottke
2 A night at the opera, Queen, DVD-A
3 Aja by Steely Dan CD with the MCA label, Catalog # MCAD-37214
4 Anesthetize by Porcupine Tree (BR)
5 As It Is, Palle Danielsson Peter Erskine John (Jazz) Taylor
6 Automatic For The People, R.E.M. DVD-A
7 B&W - A sound experience
8 Baby, It's Cold Outside - Holly Cole, KOCH Records, FLAC 44.1/16
9 Batman Begins: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, CD
10 Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, "Live Art", CD
11 Borodin Symphony No.2 in B Minor - RCA Victor LSC-2298 Red Seal
12 Brain (Hybr) [Hybrid SACD – DSD
13 Breaking Silence (Gold CD, Limited Edition)
14 Broken Soul Jamboree, CD
15 Bubble Control EP, CD
16 Cake Fashion Nugget (CD/Vinyl)
17 Cantate-Domino by Oscar's Motet Choir SACD
18 Carmen Gomes Inc - thousand Shades of Blue
19 Carmen Gomes Inc - Torn
20 Carmina Burana, Telarc CD-80056
21 Chris Jones - Roadhouses & Automobiles (CD : Stockfisch Records)
22 Come Away With Me - Norah Jones, SACD
23 Concord Jazz SACD Sampler Volume 2
24 Concord On A Summer Night Dave Brubeck Quartet, CAT # SACD-1025-6
25 Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Sessions
26 CSO Brass Live - Hybrid SACD (CSO Resound)
27 Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories
28 Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg's Twin sons of different mothers (original vinyl)
29 Dancing in the Dark, Telarc SACD-63592 or any of the Tierney Sutton SACD
30 Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd
31 Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds: Live at Radio City Music Hall [Blu-ray] (2007)
32 David Benoit, Waiting for Spring, GRP
33 Depeche Mode – Violator (CD/SACD)
34 Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms (CD/SACD/Vinyl)
35 Donald Fagen-The Nightfly (vinyl, DVD-audio)
36 DSOTM, SACD
37 Dvorak New World Symphony, RCA Living Stereo, SACD
38 Eagles Hell Freezes Over, The Eagles, CD, DTS 5.1
39 Everything But the Girl, "Acoustic", CD
40 Fiona Apple - When The Pawn
41 Flute Mystery by Fred Jonny Berg [Blu-ray Audio] [Hybrid SACD - DSD]
42 Fry Street Quartet Beethoven, ISO Mike
43 Fry Street Quartet Haydn, ISO Mike
44 Gaucho DVD-A/SACD
45 Grace for Drowning BR
46 Green, R.E.M., DVD-A
47 Guitar Noir by Laurence Juber (on DVD-Audio)
48 Hearts And Flowers - Joan Armatrading, CD
49 Holst: The Planets / Elgar: 'Enigma' Variations [Limited Edition, Original recording remastered]
50 Houston Person, The Art and Soul of, 3 CD set, HighNote
51 Imogen Heap, any CDs
52 Jack White - Blunderbuss
53 Jazz at the Pawnshop CD/SACD
54 John Coltrane-Blue Train (vinyl, SACD)
55 John Elliot Gardiner conducting the Philharmonia through Holst's "The Planets" and Percy Grainger's "The Warriors", CD
56 John Mayer - where the light is Live in LA, BD version
57 Johnny A - Get Inside
58 Johnny A - Sometime Tuesday Morning
59 Karl Denson's Dance Lesson #2
60 Karl Denson's Tiny Universe
61 KEB' MO' - KEB' MO' (NUMBERED LIMITED EDITION HYBRID SACD)
62 Kind of Blue
63 Larry Goldings, Awareness, Warner Brothers.
64 Led Zeppelin albums 1,2,3, and 4 (Vinyl version)
65 Live at Royal Albert Hall, Adele, BR
66 Live in GaDansk Ship Yard, CD, DVD
67 Luis Miguel - Aries
68 Luis Miguel - Romance
69 Mahler: Symphony 8 [Blu-ray] (2011)
70 Mahler: Symphony No 5 / Abbado, Lucerne Festival Overture (BR)
71 Michel Camino, Solo, Telarc.
72 Mingus Ah Um, Charles Mingus Columbia Lp
73 Miserere/Vox Patris Caelestis
74 Mozart: Quartet & Quintets - Kuijken String Quartet
75 Mylo Xyloto by coldplay
76 Natalie Merchant, "Tigerlily" (Mo-Fi), CD
77 Nickel - This side
78 Nine Inch Nails, The Fragile
79 Out of Time, R.E.M. DVD-A
80 Paper Airplane - Alison Krauss and Union Station, CD
81 Patricia Barber nightclub UDSACD 2004
82 Patricia Barber's Cafe Blue and Companion (CD/SACD)
83 Paul Berner Band - Road to Memphis
84 Pergolesi: Stabat Mater - A tribute to Pergolesi, HD Flac 96/24
85 Pink Floyd's "The Wall" (Vinyl version)
86 Pink Floyd-Wish You Were Here (Nimbus vinyl, Analogue Productions SACD)
87 Puzzle Dust EP, CD
88 Queen, A Kind Of Magic, vinly version
89 Radiohead - all CD's
90 Radiohead - The King of Limbs Live from the Basement (BR version)
91 Russian Violin Concertos - Fischer/Kreizberg first "proper" SACD
92 Ry Cooder-Jazz (vinyl) (actually, any Ry Cooder recording is pretty high quality)
93 Saint-Saens Violin Concerto, Vieustemps Violin Concerto, London Symphony Orchestra, Kyung-Wha Chung, The Super Analogue Disc (Vinyl)
94 Sea Change, Beck, DVD-A
95 Shed Your Skin - Ray Montford, CD
96 Silk Road Journeys, Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble, Sony SS89782 (SACD)
97 Song Up in Her Head - Sarah Jarosz, CD
98 Sonny Rollins-Way Out West (vinyl, MoFi CD)
99 Surrounded, DVDA, DTS CD
100 Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14 London Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Goossens (96/24)
101 Symphonie Fantastique, Reference Recordings RR-11CD
102 Tchaikovsky 1812 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Erich Kunzel Conducting, Telarc Digital CD-80041
103 Tchaikovsky 1812 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Erich Kunzel Conducting, Telarc Surround SACD-60541
104 Tchaikovsky, Korngold: Violin Concertos, Deutsche Grammophon (SACD)
105 Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1; Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2, SACD hybrid
106 The Dark Knight Rises: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, CD
107 The Doobie Brothers - What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits Ultradisc UHR™ SACD
108 The Four Seasons - Vivaldi, Ann Sophie Mutter, CD, DVDA
109 The Girl In The Other Room - Diana Krall, SACD, CD
110 The Greatest - Cat Power, CD
111 The Harper Brothers, Remembrance, Live at the Village Vanguard. Polygram
112 The Idler Wheel - Fiona Apple, CD
113 The Last Resort by Trentemoller, CD
114 The Most Happy Fella, KOC-CD-8507
115 The Planets, Op 32, Gustav Holst, SACD, CD
116 The Shape of Jazz to Come
117 The Sky Is Crying - Stevie Ray Vaughn , SACD
118 The Who, "Quadrophenia" (Mo-Fi), CD
119 Third Eye Blind (CD)
120 Time Out Original recording remastered
121 Tokyo Kosei wind orchestra, "Year of the Dragon", CD
122 Tom Petty's Hard Promise (Vinyl version)
123 Tom Petty's MOJO (Vinyl version)
124 Tracy Chapman - Crossroads, vinyl version
125 VIVALDI. Violin Cti - La Stravaganza. R.Podger (SACD) [Hybrid SACD
126 Yo-Yo Ma & Friends songs of Joy & Peace, CD
127 Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone (Hybr) (Snys) (Hybrid SACD – DSD)
128 Yuri Temirkanov conducting the St. Petersburg Philharmonic through Shostakovich 7, CD
 
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