Skip to main content

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: So, what's the other side of the coin? (Read 30990 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Hopefully we can have a discussion that takes the opposite course as the resent thread in which everyone gave their opinions on the "worst mastered CDs"?

I've always been a huge fan of CD's that just plain sounded wonderful and throught time have had my favorites. I tend to play them till I just get sick of hearing them yet again, and I'll pop something new(or old) into the player for a short time usually only to come back to that ole favorite once again!

Then it'll happen, I'll stumble onto one that takes the first ones place and BOOM - new favorite!

I thought it would be interesting to hear everyones elses favorite CD at the moment? The one you pop into your player to show off those new speakers or that exspensive new componant you've just purchased?? I guess I should clarify this a little more.... I'd really like to hear about the CD's that have the best sound, because there's probablly those people, unlike me, who judge more on other qualities rather than strictly sound quality?(I don't know, maybe those who listen very carefully to the lyrics?)

My favorite CD in this catagory at the moment is: Godsmack - "The Other Side" EP. This one took over from my previous favorite which was Alice In Chains - "Unplugged". BOTH of these are wonderful CD's. At least I'd recomend them to a friend!

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #1
I think if a CD sounds good, and the music is good also, then you'll just end up with peoples prefered musical albums, rather than their mastering.

I can easily be put off by loads of clipping, but loads of my music is mastered ok, and then i can't make an unbiased decision as to what is best, I'll just pick my favorite album i think, hence why i am not mentioning anything  .

Kristian

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #2
I'll probably be bashed for this but I like the way Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusions CDs sound. Perhaps is just the music.

Another good album: Pink Floyd - PULSE

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #3
Donald Fagen - The Nightfly is a wonderfully produced album, as is The Nashville Sessions by Leftover Salmon. The latter probably has the most dynamic intro i've ever heard - but both are well worth listening to.

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #4
Dire Straits - brothers in arms

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #5
The aforementioned Brother In Arms
Extreme - III Sides To Every Story
Bruce Dickinson - Balls to Picasso
"You can fight without ever winning, but never win without a fight."  Neil Peart  'Resist'

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #6
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream from 1993 sounds so nice... ESPECIALLY if you were listening to RHCP - Californication right before it, haha. Rage Against The Machine's first album from the year before is pretty good too.

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #7
Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine sounds pretty good, and has a good amount of dynamic range without sounding too quiet. Their later albums are pretty much over-compressed, though.

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #8
Tool's Lateralus is a great example of being able to master "hot" and still acheive sonic balance and dynamic.
"You can fight without ever winning, but never win without a fight."  Neil Peart  'Resist'

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #9
Kino - Picture, one I bought recently (2005) was produced and mastered well and sounds great.  Lovely album to listen too, if you like that sort of music.

Edit: Actually it was 2005
Dan

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #10
Anything mastered by Steve Hoffman (i.e., the DCC label).
 
He's the master re-masterer...

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #11
Excellent! You all have given me some new discs to sample...maybe I'll come up with a new "favorite" from one of them?

As a side note: I purchased a cd from from a company called "Autosound 2000". It was a disc set up by Sheffield Lab to set amplifier gains and adjust crossover points (and more). The CD had a six "sample" tracks from different cd's of varying genres. ALL the tracks sound awsume, I wish the rest of the industry would compile their music to the same standared as this cd?...The entire disc is supposed to be a system evaluation disc. I liked some of the selections so much that I set out to buy the albums in which their test tracks came from....So far I've found exactly ZERO in any of the record stores in my area

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #12
I Mother Earth - Scenery & Fish has to be one of the best albums I've got. The expansiveness and clarity of the sound is superb. Its also a more dynamic album than most.

EDIT - By most I mean most other modern rock bands. You know the kind that doesn't know what to do with silence or subtlety.
Fire always makes it better - the Offspring

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #13
I have some from Bob Katz - Digido's Honor Roll and are really wonderful examples of good sound in very diverse genres. Before I knew about that list I thought Rage Against The Machine first album sounded great, I was very happy to see an expert sharing my amateur opinion  .
To give something original I have these good sounding Christian albums:
Pam Thum - Believe
Sarah Masen - The Dreamlife Of Angels
Andrae Crouch - Mercy
Maranahta Music - Alternative Praise
Exodus (a compilation with Jars of Clay, DC Talk, etc)
That´s the perfect combination good sound, music you like and lyrics to inspire you, WOW!

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #14
Just about anything from the Pat Metheny Group catalog is top notch in terms of production and mastering quality.

For a live performance, The Road To You is simply an amazing effort from the European leg of one of their tours. If you ever get a chance to listen to "Half Life of Absolution" from that CD, you'll understand why.

For studio work, PMG's most recent album, The Way Up, probably sets a standard in terms of production value for an instrumental album.

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #15
Eddie Money's self-titled album sounds great. It's even more impressive when you consider that it was recorded in 1977 and mastered to CD in 1986. I wish most of the newer stuff sounded that good.

Also worth mentioning are Sheryl Crow's Tuesday Night Music Club and Five For Fighting's America Town. I don't particularly like most of the songs on those CDs, so I can assure you that my opinion of the quality is unbiased.


So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #17
Tweaker - 2 A.M. Wakeup Call

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #18
Agree - Tool - Lateralus.  This is one of my reference rock cd's for auditioning headphones

Here's a few of my favorites (both mastering and as excellent CD's)
Robert Miles - Organik
Ott - 00 Blumenkraft
Amon Tobin - 4 Ton Mantis (EP) - this one particular song really stands out when it comes to speed in headphones.  If you have good fast phones, the bass drops in front, then the rest of the sound wraps around seemingly beside and behind you at the same time.
Conjure One - Conjure One.  Although much of the vocals are compressed, they got a lot, and I mean a lot of sound quality into this cd as a whole.  Check out Pandora.
Shpongle - Tales of the Inexpressible
Grandaddy - Sumday.  This is compressed, but its one of the best recent rock cd's I've picked up.

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #19
As far as classical music is concerned, i have always enjoyed chandos, decca and telarc. Uniformly well mastered. ECM varies.
I'd sorely like to hear guruboolez' "opinion" on this one.

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #20
Asia - Aura
Asia - Silent Nation

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #21
Autechre's Untilted. I of course hesitate to nominate an electronic album, but this thing has so much beautiful punch and dynamic range. It's just brilliant.

Edit: As far as rock goes, the Guapo albums Five Suns and Black Oni are very well done.

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #22
Joni Mitchell - Night Ride Home
Tongue-tied and twisted - just an earthbound misfit, I

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #23
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Very densely layered, plenty of variety.

Oh, and the lyrics are good too.

So, what's the other side of the coin?

Reply #24
Here is a good list that has been mentioned here before:
Honor Roll of Good-Sounding Pop CDs
My personal favorites are Donald Fagen (The Night Fly) & the late Kevin Gilbert (Toy Matinee & Toy Matinee Special Edition)
The Night Fly was one of the first CDs I bought back in the early 80s.
It still gives me goose bumps when I put it on.
Little did I know, for the most part, it was just downhill from there!