Suggest some great music

bazee

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hello

Can you pls suggest some singers/albums/titles that are REFERENCE material...

These CDs should test the Hi-fi gear.

Ideally they should be separate for :-

Male Voice

Female Voice

Strings

Percussion instruments

Lastly, 5.1/surround albums


thanks
 
hello

Can you pls suggest some singers/albums/titles that are REFERENCE material...

These CDs should test the Hi-fi gear.

Ideally they should be separate for :-

Male Voice

Female Voice

Strings

Percussion instruments

Lastly, 5.1/surround albums


thanks

I have always found Violins, Horns & Clarinets to be biggest challenge for speakers. Many say Piano's are more difficult to reproduce, but to my ears I can make out difference in reproduction of Violin and Horn sound easily. strings should have the weight and horns should sound uncompressed.

from the very little I heard....

6th track in Antonio Vivaldi Four Seasons - by Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Sarah Chang. There are many good recordings of the same symphony but this one is more traditional approach with good recording, IMO

1st track CD 2 Mozart: Symphonies 38-41 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Charles Mackerras, and Scottish Chamber Orchestra - this is a CD / SACD hybrid. again splendid recording from Linn. You should feel the weight of the strings to totally enjoy the sound

There are other plenty of Mahler and Handel symphonies that can be used, but for auditioning purpose these two records should give you enough material.

For percussion, I recommend Best of Fourplay (bought based on comments in pro reviews) 1st and 5th track have good examples of bass / kick drum.

male & femal voice- I use mostly tamil cds (ARR recordings) for this, so not sure if you would find them interesting. From the very little western music I heard, Hell Freezes over should be a good source for male voice. Bryan Adams Anthology - have you really loved a woman. His voice has a mild huskiness and roughness which is nice to notice when you listen.

for female voice, many reviewers say Diana Krall (Love scenes) & Norah jones (Come away with me) are best. I haven't heard those but from my exp, I can recommend Jodha Akbar - 2nd track. There is a high pitch opening by Sadhana Sargam, again the sound comes out uncompressed in the recording, IMHO.

5.1 - again a tamil movie - Godfather DTS 5.1 CD. track 2 and 3 are real work out for main speakers and subwoofer. but not sure if you will be interested. For universal acceptance, I can recommend Fifth Element DVD - the opera scene.
 
hello

Can you pls suggest some singers/albums/titles that are REFERENCE material...

These CDs should test the Hi-fi gear.

Ideally they should be separate for :-

Male Voice

Female Voice

Strings

Percussion instruments

Lastly, 5.1/surround albums


thanks

for 2.0 and 2.1

There are a lot of recordings but the 'one stop shop' is Welcome to Chesky Records: The Premiere Audiophile Record Label Most of the albums are above par in production and there is also a description of the particular emphasis on the albums.

A second option is Marantz Audiophile test CDs.

For surround sound, you can get a SACD such as the The Ultimate Multi Channel DEMO SACD Edition STS Digital index or individual albums like Pink floyd Dark side of the moon. Personally I do not feel that Yash Raj Films multi channel recordings are engineered well.
 
Chesky Records are great. Ditto for the Marantz Audiophile Test CDs. Other options are B&W Audiophile Recordings, and there is also a series titled Best Audiophile Voices and I have only Volume III of it, but great tracks to test your system.
 
Chesky Records are great. Ditto for the Marantz Audiophile Test CDs. Other options are B&W Audiophile Recordings, and there is also a series titled Best Audiophile Voices and I have only Volume III of it, but great tracks to test your system.

I once heard a CD- Best Audiophile Male Voices... though not sure if it is the same.
this one was released by Top2music in Singapore. Maybe not avlbl here.

Some titles on Top2music :
The Hi-Fi Sound Of Latin Guitar IV
Dionne Warwick - Audiophile Selection
Acoustic Audiophile Voices
Audiophile Percussions - Gabrielle Roth & The Mirrors

But how to order them?



Male voice : what about Louis Armstrong..

Strings : Armik, Ottmar, Govi, Acoustic Alchemy, Goya ( all guitar)


Here is a quote from Chesky Records website :

" Chesky Records is pleased to introduce the 192/24 series. These discs are not limited editions but one-to-one copies of our 192khz 24bit master discs. The discs contain standard 192khz 24bit .wav files that you can copy to your computer's hard drive and then play back through any device that will support this high resolution format.
THESE DISCS WILL NOT PLAY ON DVD AUDIO PLAYERS, CD PLAYERS, OR SACD PLAYERS. Each disc can contain up to 4.7 gigabytes of music."

10-12 tracks/per album - 4.7 GB space - 45 $ cost ( 2500/- per "CD")


So just PC based playback.. ??






regards
 
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The one I have is female vocalists like Sara K and so on.

Coming to Chesky Records, (I think???) they should play on DVDP. I've not ordered any of these albums though. But going by Chesky Records I'm sure the SQ will be delicious and divine...

I once heard a CD- best audiophile male voices... though not sure if it is the same. this one was released by Top2music in Singapore. Maybe not avlbl here.

Male voice : what about Louis Armstrong..

Strings : Armik, Ottmar, Govi, Acoustic Alchemy, Dan Schwarth ( all guitar)


Here is a quote from Chesky Records website :
" Chesky Records is pleased to introduce the 192/24 series. These discs are not limited editions but one-to-one copies of our 192khz 24bit master discs. The discs contain standard 192khz 24bit .wav files that you can copy to your computer's hard drive and then play back through any device that will support this high resolution format.
THESE DISCS WILL NOT PLAY ON DVD AUDIO PLAYERS, CD PLAYERS, OR SACD PLAYERS. Each disc can contain up to 4.7 gigabytes of music."

10-12 tracks/per album - 4.7 GB space - 45 $ cost ( 2500/- per "CD")


So just PC based playback.. ??






regards
 
hi friends!

try out patricia barber. one of my favourite is the album modern cool. other good ones are cafe blue, mythologies, companion, night club. great jazz music, fantastic female voice.

abhishek.
 
Any Indian CD with good vocals(raga) or instruments?classical which can be liked for ever?
 
Any Indian CD with good vocals(raga) or instruments?classical which can be liked for ever?

Instrumentals:
Zakir hussein and the Rythm Experience ( good fusion of tabla, drums and a symphony)
Pandit Ronu Majumdar & Louis Banks Fusion Yatra
Pt Hari Prasad -India meets the Caribbean
All series of : Earth, Fire, Water, Desert

Vocals :
too many...
try bhimsen joshi, etc
 
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I am listening to Michael Borstlap's album Body Acoustic right now.

Amazon.com: Body Acoustic: Michiel Borstlap: Music

"Body Acoustic, devoted to acoustic interpretations of Weather Report music, is a superfine recording! Michiel Borstlap, rising Dutch pianist, takes the challenge on this album to interpret WR material in various group formats (duo, trio, sextet) and in tempos mostly different from the originals. Program also includes two Borstlap compositions, Centurion and Coco. Full treat from a great group of musicians! A recording deserving to be listed among rare gems of progressive jazz. "

I just love it!! One of the best jazz albums I've heard in a long time!! Just when i was about to give up on jazz ... :)

Do check it out!
Regards
 
Any Indian CD with good vocals(raga) or instruments?classical which can be liked for ever?

- Album "Legacy" Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Asha Bhonsle (MUSIC TODAY). Grammy nominated album, recorded in California. One of the best albums Asha has been involved with. Her voice varies from being husky and full throated, to pretty high pitched

- "Ustaad"( 4 CD set) - Ustad Rashid Khan
- "Maestro's Choice" - Pandit Jasraj (MUSIC TODAY)
- Confluence: Girija Devi and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Jugal Bandi (NAVRAS)

- "Jab tere nain muskurate hain" by Mehdi Hasan - CLASSICAL GHAZALS - CD2 (SONY)
  • Live at the Royal College of Music London, 1990
  • Good recording at a comparatively lower volume, great dynamic range (boost the volume upfront, wait for 12th minute)

regards,
Sharad
 
Sheffield Labs - My Disc (The Sheffield/Autosound 2000 Test Disc)

"The disc begins with six carefully chosen music selections including: "Stranger In My Bed" UP FRONT and THE POWER OF SEVEN, "Dish Rag" from I've Got The Music In Me THELMA HOUSTON & PRESSURE COOKER, "Dance of the Knights" from Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet THE LEINSDORM SESSIONS, VOL 1, "Dirty Blue" from The Name Is Makowicz, ADAM MAKOWICZ, with PHIL WOODS, "Wishing Well" from Speaking In Melodies, MICHAEL RUFF, "Dock of the Bay" from LINCOLN MAYORGA & DISTINGUISHED COLLEAGUES, VOL. III. "

There are also tons of test tones to evaluate and calibrate your system. The 6 musical tracks are superbly recorded and span a good variety of musical genres and styles, and are a superb workout for any system.
 
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