Results 1 to 14 of 14

Thread: "Reference" CD's

  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    St. Joseph, IL
    Posts
    42

    "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.

  2. #2
    RIP 2021 SEAWOLF97's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    in "managed decline"
    Posts
    10,054
    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

    Quote Originally Posted by Pointsource View Post
    Need to get myself a copy, am a HUGE Beatles fan.. Thanks for the suggestion...
    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
    Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

  3. #3
    Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    St. Joseph, IL
    Posts
    42
    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??

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    San Jose
    Posts
    846
    Don't know all of them but know enough of them to say it's a nice selection.

  5. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Central Coast California
    Posts
    9,042
    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.

  6. #6
    Member rww1951's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Concord, NC
    Posts
    46
    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.

  7. #7
    Senior Member fotodan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Wytheville, Va.
    Posts
    182
    Quote Originally Posted by rww1951 View Post
    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.

    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.

  8. #8
    Member Vintage Nut's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    WA
    Posts
    55
    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.
    Sony N55ES (2), E1000ESD, C85ES - JBL 120Ti | Onkyo TX-SR605 - JBL L830 (4), LC1 (1) | Dell - Pioneer SX-750 - JBL 4406

  9. #9
    Member Vintage Nut's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    WA
    Posts
    55
    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
    Last edited by Vintage Nut; 11-16-2007 at 08:21 AM. Reason: Mandatory "day after" spell check.
    Sony N55ES (2), E1000ESD, C85ES - JBL 120Ti | Onkyo TX-SR605 - JBL L830 (4), LC1 (1) | Dell - Pioneer SX-750 - JBL 4406

  10. #10
    Senior Member spwal's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Boston
    Posts
    571
    Buena Vista Social Club

    Grateful Dead Reckoning

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

  11. #11
    JBL 4645
    Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Vintage Nut View Post
    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
    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.


  12. #12
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Orange County, CA
    Posts
    3,597
    Can't belive that you don't have Dire Straits Brothers in Arms listed. 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.

    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.

  13. #13
    Super Moderator yggdrasil's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Våle, Norway
    Posts
    1,014
    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.
    Johnny Haugen Sørgård

  14. #14
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Tulsa, OK
    Posts
    9

    handful of reference CDs

    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

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Recommendations for bluesy guitar CDs?
    By Steve K in forum General Audio Discussion
    Replies: 39
    Last Post: 05-17-2010, 02:48 PM
  2. running CDs through an RIAA curve?
    By louped garouv in forum Miscellaneous Gear
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 07-14-2007, 12:01 AM
  3. Copy Protected Disc Problems?
    By hjames in forum Music
    Replies: 28
    Last Post: 05-20-2006, 09:35 AM
  4. Soliciting recommendations for good/great horn CD's
    By mikebake in forum General Audio Discussion
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 12-31-2005, 03:54 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •