Tried & tested good recording Cd's

[heliumflight]

Hi Audiogurus

Of late I have realised that no matter how an expensive system you have, everthing would be just a waste of time, efforts and money unless you don't have a quality recorded source CD.

If I could have people pen down the Cd's albumbs to they've listened too :clappingwith name of co press- sony/ bmg/ Vertigo etc.) then that could you help us all to acheive best results....


Kindest regards

 

[rikhav]

Agree to that
The source material I think is the most important irrespective of what system you have. IMO, the source material impacts the characteristics of sound the most , more then the hardware

 

[unleash_me]

If I could have people pen down the Cd's albumbs to they've listened too :clappingwith name of co press- sony/ bmg/ Vertigo etc.) then that could you help us all to acheive best results....

Shouldn't your own taste and genre of music have a say in this?

In my case, I use tone controls. This fixes the issues most of the times. Its unfortunate that the music that I like might not be available in the best of recordings. Most hindi, tamil & malayalam CDs I have has this irritating hiss Pure Direct mode is good, but it cant stand a chance in front of our locally available mainstream junk media. So tone controls are something i use a lot!

Try the Linn and Naim; they are supposed to be good. You can pick them if you travel abroad or get it through any friends coming down.

Cheers.

 

[hemantwaghe]

What kind of geneours you listen - cause what is said by unleash_me is right - what if no good recording is available in that genour? ( say classic hindi ) or YOU ARE PLANNING TO FORCE THE GENOUR ON YOU? or developing taste in some genour??hyeah:hyeah:

And important thing what is your budget for music - or per disk or per song??

Anyway I have seen ads of remastered CD's of rock- some of them available on "gold" versions ( all in Intl magazines)..Then it is matter how much you want to spend ...as you can see meatloaf's bat out of hell special edition is available @ US$ 15 + Shipping and Gold Edition On Ebay available @ US$ 40
Bat Out of Hell [Gold Disc CD] by Meat Loaf (CD, Nov... - eBay (item 260455616842 end time Aug-28-09 19:13:15 PDT)

Do you listen to western classical ? I don't think so ( me too either) In magzines many western classical CD's are praised for good recording
and JVC has special very high quality recording CD's -called XRCD

Extended Resolution Compact Disc - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and it's site is

Home Of XRCD!!! - elusivedisc

but @ 25 US$ min it is too expensive for me? Now many times there are just 2-3 good songs in an album - so are you ready to spend 7-10 US$ ( 400-500 Rs ) per song??

also heard SACD recordings are good - but prices I saw online are prohibitive I mean frankly I find Rs 500-600 a CD's expensive (still i keep collectin them! have a small collection of 200+ CD's-many bought in sale etc!)
But think how much you need to spend if you want to build collection OF XRCD & Sacd etc....I mean just 10 disks will cost more than your DAC!!Also all this good recordings require a good partnering equipment like a good CD ?SACD player which again is expensive!

In fact till next year I am planning to go to pc based system !I am in process of transfering all my music in FLAC ( frankly downloaded also a lot of flac esp all Dicographies of Pink Floyd,Dire Straits,Metallica -till 2003,U2 ,Def leppard and many more!And some Hindi flac too!)

Now frankly taste cannot be forced - I did not like premium beers like corona & ashi and prefer jack Daniels over Black label ( matter of taste!)

Now want to know -the genours you listen and some sample albums- or tracks you like so that some suggestions can be made - least recommandations like " HEIFETZ/PLAYS CHAUSSON, SAINT-SAENS, CONUS & SARASATE XRCD24" does not make sence to me ...hyeah:

P.S.- I am told that imported cd's are better -but never tested that now I have 2 cd's of Eagles "Hell Freezes over " one Indian minted and another UK /Us - i really want to do A-D testing but cause my laziness never did it!

 

[silverheart]

Talking about remastered CDs, just today I was reading on wikipedia, about Loudness War
Loudness war - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and how over the years, the comericially inclined releases have killed the high-fidelity :sad:
The Loudness War Analyzed Music Machinery

Comparing to the original recordings, has anyone actually noticed a difference between the original and remastered versions, and if yes, was it better or worse, and how?

 

[heliumflight]

unleash_me
hemant waghe

This thread is more of a generic nature and may benefit those who wants to buy ONLY good quality recorded English cd's

as to pick from the lot it is more of a lottery, so please list the albumb names


Thank you

 

[hemantwaghe]

again buddy genour?
Tell me some 10 artists so that I can trace...

anyway checked XRCD site ? I read in audio mags these recordings are good...( Never have chance to sample) also another overpraised "audiophile" label is chesky

Welcome to Chesky Records: The Premiere Audiophile Record Label

but their catalougue appears "alien: to me..

Welcome to Chesky Records: The Premiere Audiophile Record Label

anyway I really liked Hell Freezes Over as recording -but in the forum it was claimed that it has excessive bass ,another classical xample is "dark side of the moon" by pink floyd -i is used as test album -after 30 years of it's relase..
I am told that Dian Krell recordings are good - I got on Copy of Music CD -but heard just once.Eric Clampto's Unplugged recording is also my favorite one!

Indian people like bass ,and a good "bassy" recording with good vocals is "Piya Basanti".Anytime heard Peter Gabrial ? ( I have not) as he is involved with technology and recordings his recordings should be good ( EXPERTS PLESE COMMENT)

 

[heliumflight]

again buddy genour?
Tell me some 10 artists so that I can trace...

anyway checked XRCD site ? I read in audio mags these recordings are good...( Never have chance to sample) also another overpraised "audiophile" label is chesky

That the whole point, something that you've personally heard and not from others or thru a mag review for quality pressed cd's

Genre would be Smooth Jazz/ Rock/ Blues

 

[heliumflight]

The reason I started this thread was that I spent 30k on CD's in the last month for a friend of mine and have been very disappointed with the recordings.

Entire Greateful dead albumbs/ Jethro Tull etc... had with such poor recordings, could have simply listened to them on internet radio station....hence I request all who've actually listened to good recording pressed labels to pen them down.

I actually still intend to purchase the below albumbs

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Allman Brothers
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Chet Atkins
Gary Moore
Pink Floyd
Allman brothers
Allan parson project
Eagles
Direstraits
Fourplay
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Uriah heep
Chugh mann jones
Jethro Tull
Bob Marley
Hootie & blowfish
Neil Young
Vienna Teng
Chick Corea-Akoustic Band
Ella Fitzgerald
Dave Brubeck
Beeges
ABBA

 

[madjack]

Whew!...as usual..well said and comprehensively said...

What kind of geneours you listen - cause what is said by unleash_me is right - what if no good recording is available in that genour? ( say classic hindi ) or YOU ARE PLANNING TO FORCE THE GENOUR ON YOU? or developing taste in some genour??hyeah:hyeah:

And important thing what is your budget for music - or per disk or per song??

Anyway I have seen ads of remastered CD's of rock- some of them available on "gold" versions ( all in Intl magazines)..Then it is matter how much you want to spend ...as you can see meatloaf's bat out of hell special edition is available @ US$ 15 + Shipping and Gold Edition On Ebay available @ US$ 40
Bat Out of Hell [Gold Disc CD] by Meat Loaf (CD, Nov... - eBay (item 260455616842 end time Aug-28-09 19:13:15 PDT)

Do you listen to western classical ? I don't think so ( me too either) In magzines many western classical CD's are praised for good recording
and JVC has special very high quality recording CD's -called XRCD

Extended Resolution Compact Disc - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and it's site is

Home Of XRCD!!! - elusivedisc

but @ 25 US$ min it is too expensive for me? Now many times there are just 2-3 good songs in an album - so are you ready to spend 7-10 US$ ( 400-500 Rs ) per song??

also heard SACD recordings are good - but prices I saw online are prohibitive I mean frankly I find Rs 500-600 a CD's expensive (still i keep collectin them! have a small collection of 200+ CD's-many bought in sale etc!)
But think how much you need to spend if you want to build collection OF XRCD & Sacd etc....I mean just 10 disks will cost more than your DAC!!Also all this good recordings require a good partnering equipment like a good CD ?SACD player which again is expensive!

In fact till next year I am planning to go to pc based system !I am in process of transfering all my music in FLAC ( frankly downloaded also a lot of flac esp all Dicographies of Pink Floyd,Dire Straits,Metallica -till 2003,U2 ,Def leppard and many more!And some Hindi flac too!)

Now frankly taste cannot be forced - I did not like premium beers like corona & ashi and prefer jack Daniels over Black label ( matter of taste!)

Now want to know -the genours you listen and some sample albums- or tracks you like so that some suggestions can be made - least recommandations like " HEIFETZ/PLAYS CHAUSSON, SAINT-SAENS, CONUS & SARASATE XRCD24" does not make sence to me ...hyeah:

P.S.- I am told that imported cd's are better -but never tested that now I have 2 cd's of Eagles "Hell Freezes over " one Indian minted and another UK /Us - i really want to do A-D testing but cause my laziness never did it!

 

[AMITNOIDA]

My system is PC with Altec Lansing 2.1 speaker. So I can not even consider myself eligible to offer comments. But I have given preferrence in collecting audio CD albums first than selecting my 2.0 Speaker + Amp set up. During last 2-3 months I have collected about 40 albums after listening at Amazon.USA and getting advise from HFV. Thanks HFV forum members.

Helium I can PM you the list of albums, if you want. I have few good fusion recordings - Rhythmspace, Hollow Bamboo, Making of music. Also Diana Krall, Heartfelt, Dire Strait (I have Brothers in Arms and Sultan of Swing), Hell Freezes Over, Mile Davis are good recording. One album became my favourite - Live in London by Leonard Cohen. Katie Melua albums are very pleasant although recording is not of very high quality. I think the genre and songs are more important than good recordings. Ofcourse, it is very rewarding to find good of both of them. One album I am trying to get - Face to Face by Richard Clayderman and also album of Michael Borstlap. Couldn't get in India.

In Indian Classical, I have heard that 'Chanda Dhara' series are good recording. Plan to collect few especially Sarod, Sitar, Sarangi, Flute, Santoor (Ali Akbar, Amjad Khan, Ravishankar, Nikhil Banerjee, Hari Prasad Chourasia, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Vimsen Joshi) and electrifying tabla (Zakir Husain is brilliant - listened a small piece in 'Making of music' album).


Now I like to collect few Sufi albums. Can you guys suggest some good Sufi albums with good recording and 3-4 good ghazal and devotional song albums of my favoutite Jagjit Singh? Thank you Helium for this tread.

 

[suri]

pink floyd - wall - columbia = very well engineered and recorded album

coldplay - x&y -EMI = good, but not excellent

 

[unleash_me]

Now frankly taste cannot be forced - I did not like premium beers like corona & ashi and prefer jack Daniels over Black label ( matter of taste!)

Hemant, I don't think you are going to like this news.

 

[vishanv]

again buddy genour?
Tell me some 10 artists so that I can trace...

anyway checked XRCD site ? I read in audio mags these recordings are good...( Never have chance to sample) also another overpraised "audiophile" label is chesky

Welcome to Chesky Records: The Premiere Audiophile Record Label

but their catalougue appears "alien: to me..

Welcome to Chesky Records: The Premiere Audiophile Record Label

anyway I really liked Hell Freezes Over as recording -but in the forum it was claimed that it has excessive bass ,another classical xample is "dark side of the moon" by pink floyd -i is used as test album -after 30 years of it's relase..
I am told that Dian Krell recordings are good - I got on Copy of Music CD -but heard just once.Eric Clampto's Unplugged recording is also my favorite one!

Indian people like bass ,and a good "bassy" recording with good vocals is "Piya Basanti".Anytime heard Peter Gabrial ? ( I have not) as he is involved with technology and recordings his recordings should be good ( EXPERTS PLESE COMMENT)

I buy XRCD24s from First Impression Music (FIM records but actually pressed by JVC) and they are over $30 per cd (so boss at home allows only max 1 or 2 cds per month). believe me, it's worth every cent you pay. But if you are not that into western classical, normal recording standards will do. K2HD is another amazing standard.

For those who worship Mozart (like me) this Divertimenti for strings is a great addition (listen to the sample track)
Classical, jazz, and crossover music CDs, XRCDs and SACDs. Sound clips

there are other Flamenco cds both in FIM and Higher Octave recordings, if you like Flamenco genre, you can find them by googling.

Linn, EMI, Telarc and Chesky offer good quality recordings too.

I'm not trying to say here that Indian labels are not good, but I assume I dont have to tell you which Indian CDs you should buy. personally I feel many Tamil CDs nowadays are as good as the best imported labels (bar XRCD24)

 

[mausam]

where on net we can find original wav. hindi songs so that we may download the same since wav. and wma. sound better than mp3:yahoo::yahoo::yahoo::yahoo::yahoo::yahoo::yahoo::yahoo::yahoo::yahoo::signthankspin:

 

[pradski]

Hemant,
I have most of the albums which you have mentioned.
some which I remember, Dire straits (have all)including his shagrila, kill to get crimson and with emmy lou are also very good.
Allman BB gold album is good. ( I have their five disc albums copied long back)

new release two cd pink floyd album is good.
Best of CSN, Bob marley, Uraih heep, neil young are good.

Other artistes half of them I had copied long back( I don't do it now though) I should not be commenting on their quality

My question now is Is it worth buying CD s now. They still cost around 500 bucks everytime you land in music store we are loosing couple of k s

 

[hifiashok]

Friends,

Adding to a lot of the a/m:

XRCDs, yes, mind-blowing quality. Is the cost justified, to each his own.

For me, Eagles HFO and Dire Straits Sultans of Swing & Dire Straits on XRCD was a must, since these are very dear to my musical heart. Also, i picked up one of each kind, from a 'historical' perspective, i.e., XRCD, XRCD2 and XRCD24. There may now be more.

I'd love to also compare Eric Clapton 'Unplugged' on XRCD and regular CD.

Pink Floyd DSOT on SACD is a veritable treat, when compared with regular CD.

However, my RB CDP (IMHO) is far better in quality that my SACDP.

I also do not see a mention of the Water Lily Acoustics label here, among Chesky (in line with the 'genre' discussion above, since I am not too much into jazz, I would recommend 'Raven' and 'Spanish Harlem' by Rebecca Pidgeon. I'll eat my hat if you don't agree it is great.) and Chand Dhara.

Have a Chesky demo HDCD that has some very very good recordings.

IME/IMHO, good (but lesser known) Indian labels are Ninaad (hindustani classical), Mystica Music (classical, fusion and sufi) and Charsur (mostly carnatic and devotional). Times Music has some exceptional Sufi compilations.

 

[AMITNOIDA]

Times Music has some exceptional Sufi compilations.

Hi Ashok,
Can you name 3-4 good CDs of sufi songs of Times Music or other?

 

[hemantwaghe]

So Helium which CD 's you bought? Any reviews?hyeah:

 

[hifiashok]

Hi Ashok,
Can you name 3-4 good CDs of sufi songs of Times Music or other?

1. Sufi Gold - 10 Years of the Best Sufi Music, Various (Abida, Kailash, Rafaqat, etc.), Times Music.

2. Ya Rabba, Kailash Kher, T-Series.

3. Teri Deewani (14 of today's biggest sufi hits), Various (Nusrat, Kailash, Anwar, etc.), Sony/BMG.