"Reference" CD's

As I am sure all of you guys know, the quality of the source material is almost as important to the resultant sound as is the quality of the speakers and other components.. In most cases if your not using great sounding source material your wasting your money on everything else. As they say junk in, junk out...

Here's a short list of a few albums on regular CD's that I think sound as good as any LP or SACD (a format I never really understood as a CD recording using high standards can sound just as good) The content of these CD's is equally good as well..

Greg Brown--Slant Six Mind
Michael Buble--It's Time
Bob Dylan--Free Wheelin'
Eagles--Hell Freezes Over
Jesus Christ Superstar--Original Score and Soundtrack
John Fogerty--Blue Moon Swamp
Hayseed Dixie--A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC
Chris Isaak--Heart Shaped World
Diana Krall--All of You
The Legendary Marvin Pontiac Greatest Hits (he only made 1 album!!)
Michael McDonald--Blue Obsession
Sarah McLachlan--Fumbling Towards Ecstacy
Wynton Marsalis--Think Of One
Roy Orbison--Black and White Night Live
Frank Sinatra--Francis A and Edward K
Steeley Dan--Two Against Nature

I have plenty more to recommend, but these are just a few artists that I figured most of you would recognize and a couple odd-balls.

Anybody else have other any suggestions?? I'm always open to hearing another great sounding album.

agree on Eagles--Hell Freezes Over

for my speaker/system demo CD, I use "Beatles - LOVE"

Editorial Reviews

From Amazon.co.uk
It begins with a twittering of birdsong lifted from "Across the Universe." And once the triple-tracked a capella harmonies of "Because" enter, followed by snatches from "A Hard Day's Night" and "The End," leading into a fired-up "Get Back," it becomes obvious that this is far more than just another Beatles compilation. This is Love, conceived by the Fabs' former producer George Martin and son Giles as a stageshow soundtrack to Cirque de Soleil's Las Vegas spectacular of the same name, but appears to have taken on a life of its own. Whereas the Beatles' last release, 1, delivered the (over?) familiar hits in a nice, simple package, Love is a mélange of the familiar and obscure, all literally mixed together in one 78-minute audio collage which succeeds in reminding the listener just why the Beatles truly are, as Lennon put it, "toppermost of the poppermost." There's no new Beatles material per se, but the songs are all approached differently--some are cut together in a flawlessly mixed medley (check out "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!/I Want You/Helter Skelter"), some reassemble different backing tracks and vocal performances to create new spins on old classics; but all the songs are revitalized considerably. Even in its weakest moments (which probably work better in the context of the show itself), Love is still a formidable prospect, and one has to admire Martin's willingness to go out on a limb with such a project. While purists may complain that the cut 'n' paste nature of the project is simply tampering with perfection, at the very least it'll make them reach for the originals and enjoy them all over again. For newcomers and everyone else, it makes a fine listen, both in its sonic clarity (the actual tracks are the best they've sounded on CD) and audacious nature. --Thom Allott

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Originally Posted by Pointsource

Need to get myself a copy, am a HUGE Beatles fan.. Thanks for the suggestion...

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you really , really should ...its the best release that I've heard in the last year....here is the thread.

http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/s...t=beatles+love

Need to get myself a copy, am a HUGE Beatles fan.. Thanks for the suggestion...

Is the quality just as good in stereo on the standard CD release as the 5.1 version?? I have no need for the 5.1... and correct me if I'm wrong, but a standard CD cannot hold all the material needed for 5.1,,, can it??

Don't know all of them but know enough of them to say it's a nice selection.

The DVD-A is the longer version by three minutes and it has 96/24 5.1 surround. The DVD-V portion on the same disc has 5.1 surround in both DTS and DD.

The CD is 44.1 stereo. The CD sounds just fine, but this was intended to be a hi-rez 5.1 mix.

Treat yourself to Norah Jones 'come away with me' available in several different formats. It will definitely allow you to showcase the quality of your system. Can't get enough of her voice and the quality of the recording.

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Originally Posted by rww1951

Treat yourself to Norah Jones 'come away with me' available in several different formats. It will definitely allow you to showcase the quality of your system. Can't get enough of her voice and the quality of the recording.

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Downloaded a few of her songs along with "come away with me". EXCELLENT!!! will be searching for more of her stuff. I really like her style.:applaud:

The Steely Dan stuff is almost always good (as are Fagen and Becker solo stuff.) I think I heard somewhere that The Nightfly album was the first to use digital equipment from start to finish. At the time, it was considered to be a "reference" CD. Interestingly, analogue equipment has come a long way and is actually preferred by many artists, including Fagen and Becker.

At any rate, a lot of Jazz stuff is recorded well, even the stuff that dates back to the late 40's. I just love the way Dave Brubeck recordings (even live) from that era sounds. You might also try some of Linda Ronstadt albums she did with Nelson Riddle in the 1980's too; very well recorded.

And this may sound funny, but my daughter has a Strawberry Shortcake CD that is pretty impressive, even if material is silly.

Okay, I took a quick inventory of my library and came up with this list of quality recordings. A purist might say it has to be acoustic instruments to be true reference material, but even some electronic music passes the grade in my book.

ALBUMS:
Chick Corea Akoustic Band - Live
Donald Fagen - Morph The Cat
Honey Drippers - Volume One (still waiting for "volume two" - hello!)
Genesis - ABACAB (also like We Can't Dance)
Black Eyed Peas - Monkey Business
Danillo Perez - Motherland
Joss Stone - Soul Sessions
Joe Walsh - Songs For A Dying Planet
Roger Waters - Amused To Death (gotta love the bomb explosion!)
Paul Simon - Graceland
Stevie Wonder - A Time To Love

SONGS:
No Doubt - Rock Steady
Madonna - Vogue
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Walk About
Stan Getz - Soul Eyes
Dave Grusin - Fascinating Rhythm

Buena Vista Social Club

Grateful Dead Reckoning

I use those 2 cds to judge changes in my system. get them, they are phenomenal recordings.

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Originally Posted by Vintage Nut

Okay, I took a quick inventory of my library and came up with this list of quality recordings. A purist might say it has to be acoustic instruments to be true reference material, but even some electronic music passes the grade in my book.


SONGS:
Madonna - Vogue

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I’m a bit a fan of Madonna’s work my reference CD for instrumental and lyrics “Madonna the immaculate collection” it’s a bit vintage by now, but there’s some fine girly songs on it with plenty of rhythmic beat.:p

Can't belive that you don't have Dire Straits Brothers in Arms listed. :o: This excellent recording was reported to be the first "DDD" recording made and is my primary reference disk. They later did a remastered issue in DVD-Audio (and stereo) that is even better. :applaud:

As a somewhat obscure group that is comprised of the most excellent studio musicians, I recommend Ambrosia anthology that includes many (but far from all) of their best works. (I played this for Zilch and he really liked it!)

Ambrosia used to record at Momma Jo's Studio in North Hollywood and their tapes were mastered on Altec 604s with a second Altec 15" used in each channel. We were in there right after they cut one of their albums (laying down some Moog tracks), and were playing around on the Baldwin harpsicord that they had not yet removed. ;)

The Baldwin harpsicords were pretty cool being a real harpsicord with pick-ups that was all done in black metal with a plexiglass top.

I would add:

Pink Floyd: all albums, beginning with Dark side of the moon have excelent sound, with different character since timespan is so long.
Roger Waters: all albums have excellent but very different sound. Pro's and con's of hitchiking is really addictive and kind of sucks you in.
Gotan Project: Great sound on all albums, but for the music I prefer La revancha del tango and Lunatico.
Kari Bremnes: Norwegian female singer. Have made nothing but reference material.
Nick Cave: Let love in is a fantastic album. Sound is great. Favourite track is "Red right hand". The album Murder ballads sounds good too even though it is unpolished.
Chess: A bit dry, but what's there is great.

I do listen to lots of different music. The funny thing is that after a while I allways return to a period of Pink Floyd / Roger Waters. Hats off for 30+ years of fantastic music creation.

1. Pat Metheny Group - Imaginary Day (this is the one I use most often)
2. Santana - Shaman
3. Bela Fleck - Flight of the Cosmic Hippo
4. Dave Holland - Not for Nothin
5. Alan Parsons Project - On Air