Best recording you own?

Discussion in 'Music and Recordings' started by pila405, Aug 19, 2016.

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  1. pila405

    pila405 New

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    What is the best recording you own, regardless of its content.

    For me there is a close fight between 2 recordings:
    - Berlioz- Symphonie Fantastique; Sir John Eliot Gardiner (Philips)
    - Chick Corea - New-York Rendezvous

    On both the DR is very high, the background is black, the imaging is very good as well as the tonality.

    Low quality samples:



     
  2. burnspbesq

    burnspbesq Friend

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    Thelma Houston, "I've Got the Music in Me." First pressing of a Sheffield Lab direct-to-disc recording.
     
  3. Gravity

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    My man! I've got several of Sheffield Labs albums and they are sublime.
     
  4. robot zombie

    robot zombie Friend

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    Those are lovely. :)

    I mostly listen to shit quality recordings. I haven't had revealing enough gear that I could hear (see: appreciate) much of a difference with for long enough. I've only recently begun to seek out stuff that's particularly well-recorded and mastered. Some of my favorite albums have mediocre quality... ...hell, some of my favorite genres generally tend to have bad sound. I've always noticed it, but it's easier to overlook between all of the shit that a poor setup imparts. I've always been of the mind that any version is better than no version. I'm not gonna not listen to something I like because the recording isn't up to snuff. If that's how it sounds, that's how it sounds.

    But now that I've stepped into actual entry-level, I REALLY notice it and I find myself expecting a little more from the music I explore. So I'll be very interested to see where this thread goes...


    Only thing I can think of that I have and is of significance, for me, is Daft Punk's Random Access Memories. That is an album that I will put on even if not really feeling it, just to hear it. It's a clean, dynamic, and generally well-recorded/well-mixed album. They're mostly simple little tracks, but I'm finding a lot to sink my teeth into when I listen intently. There's a lot going on throughout the album. And the the thing is, the music makes me want to do that.

    I think the drums get me the most involved. They're perfection to me, yet they sound completely natural and real. Realer than real. You can tell they're edited, but it all just feels "right." Like, this how a drummer or a tech envisions them in their head, but they never actually wind up exactly like that. The attack on every hit, the sustain on every cymbal clash... ... every little early and late hit sliding in and out of the pocket.

    ...though I will admit that the vocoder/synth vocals kind of irk me sometimes. It's a distraction when it's in front of those airy, yet concise drums and smooth bass. It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to my ears to have these really organic instrumentals and then toss these completely unnatural, ringy vocals on top.

    Aside from that, all of the instruments mesh in a way that I can honestly say I can't recall ever hearing before.

    Maybe it's not among the best... ...perhaps it doesn't even belong in this conversation, but it's the best that I own. It ticks a lot of boxes for me. I appreciate the attention to detail put into the recording and mixing process on that record. It must've been painstaking to put together.
     
  5. eastboundofnowhere

    eastboundofnowhere Facebook Friend

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    Don't know. I can tell you the worst. Baroness-Yellow & Green. I have to specifically shuffle gear to listen to it. Love the music, hate the way it was recorded. Anything approaching entry level high end becomes unlistenable.
     
  6. liamstrain

    liamstrain MOT: The Audio Guild

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    Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 - Organ / Boston/Munch Living Stereo SACD
    Stravinsky: Firebird / London/Dorati Mercury Living Presence SACD
     
  7. slowsound

    slowsound Acquaintance

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    Audio Fidelity release of Warren Zevon's Excitable Boy. It's subtle, but it's excellent.
     
  8. pila405

    pila405 New

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    Don't you prefer the recording with Detroit? A bit cleaner, but I don't really remember the London one besides this.
    I myself prefer Boulez on the Firebird and Dorati with Detroit SO on the Rite of Spring.

    The Munch is fantastic! Do you know Francois-Xavier Roth (and Les Siecles)?


    There is really no reason to stop listening to bad recorded stuff. I know I didn't stop (except the extreme cases, like stuff from the 1930s etc' which is just a big smusch of sound), besides, I find that even badly recorded stuff sounds better on a good system (low DR, but not when it is full of noise)

    Guys, try to add some samples from YouTube or Soundcloud so we can all enjoy it.
     
  9. liamstrain

    liamstrain MOT: The Audio Guild

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    I don't think I've heard that one. Will check it out.

    Also nope. Another one to add to the list. :) Thanks.
     
  10. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
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    My favorite with no recording errors and real people playing real instruments? The original CD of Immolation's Dawn of Possession. No old school heavy metal thin sound, clipped garbage, or modern sample replaced pro tools crap here. The drums actually sound real and the guitars aren't a wall of sound.
     
  11. Peti

    Peti Facebook Friend

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  12. Larry Megugorac

    Larry Megugorac Craps on Filipino accents to ease inner poverty

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    I mostly like Smooth Jazz. Boney James to Diana Krall...not a fan Jazz music that cannot be duplicated...ie... that they just improvise while they are playing and cannot replay it....Free Form Jazz I think it's called...more of a Structured Jazz fan...
     
    Last edited: Sep 26, 2016

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