Reference recording and/or favourite recording.

[stuartypoorty]

Do you have a tape/LP/CD of consistently high standard as to warrant it your reference recording, is it an original pressing or an "audiophile" reissue ?

Some of the less obvious candidates which I listen to are Depeche Mode "Violator", Nick Drake "Bryter Layter/Five Leaves Left/Pink Moon", Ali Farka Toure and Ry Cooder "Talking Timbuktoo", Moussorgsky/Ravel "Pictures At An Exhibition".

Depeche Mode original and reissued remastered LP's, thankfully they didn't mess around with it too much. Bass synthesizer on "Personal Jesus" is very telling and effective.

Nick Drake, all Simply Vinyl reissues, probably digitally sourced. Close miking technique in the studio.

AFT and Mr. Cooder is a DMM LP, terrific atmosphere, ambience and synergy from the two players.

"PAAE" with Dr. Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, A Classic Records reissue with great dynamics.

My choices here may not be the ultimate recordings but are very good nonetheless, I know many will name "Aja" and "Dark Side Of The Moon" which have been duly praised, and rightly so, in this and other forums but I'm curious to find out about those stellar recordings that have slipped under the radar.

[TheReeler]

If you wanna tape some song to test how good or bad is a deck and/or tape... try the song "Sound in a dark room" by "Telefon Tel Aviv". It has deep bass and very bright high frequences. It's a good test for a tape.

If I must choose one album, probably it could be "The Wall" by "Pink Floyd", maybe the better recorded and with lots of details to be found. It you hear it carefully using good earphones, you'll know what to find once it has been taped.

"Dark Side of the Moon" is a very good recording, but I think "The Wall" is better.

[vinyldavid]

All LP's:

Lincoln Mayorga and Amanda McBroom-growing Up In Hollywood Town
Pictures at an exhibition-Reiner/CSO (mono)
Tubular bells-Mike Oldfield (New 200G pressing)
an LP entitled Altec Odyssey, which has quite a few wonderful recordings on it...

[Scorpion8]

The one I always take as my reference test CD is Lee Ritenour/Dave Grusin ~ Harlequin. It's a Brazilian-based jazz album, but very musical with good dynamics, great dynamic range, and has specific instruments that you can call out and say "that's not what a guitar pluck or string squeak is supposed to sound like". It may not be the best reference in terms of actually stressing a system, but it's the one that I know best and I know what it's supposed to sound like.

[clhboa]

Back in the 80's I was working in a record store that had a Marantz setup. The one lp that would blow people away sound quality-wise was T. Rex's "Electric Warrior". The acoustic guitars especially came to life.

[stuwee]

Every home should have a Marantz or 2 or 3 somewhere, either SS or tubed, ol' Saul was a genuis!

Patricia Barber, CD or 180gr LP 'Companion' but, all her stuff is unreal.

Sviatoslav Richter 'Pictures at an exhibition' Columbia Masterworks, ML 5600, recorded in Sofia, Bulgaria 25-2-1958, Harris Goldsmith-High Fidelity magazine called it the best piano performance of Pictures on record or off, says so on the cover, stuwee agrees:-)<-:-)<-

Any Early Sir Elton John on LP

[MacGyver]

"Eternal Wind" from the Anime movie "GUNDAM F-91" an excellent, dynamic song with both loud and quiet passages...

listen to it here...

http://208.53.158.138/soundtracks/gundam-singles-history-ii/ttbezugifk/11-eternal-wind.mp3

read the lyrics here...

http://www.animelyrics.com/Anime/gundamf91/eternalwind.htm

download it here...

http://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/gundam-singles-history-ii/11-eternal-wind.mp3

[no1maestro]

Lincoln Mayorga and Distinguished collegues Vol.2. Direct to disc and has some of the most realistic sounding instruments and since it was done direct to disc you can actually hear the musicians turning the pages and resetting between numbers. One of the finest recordings ever on D to D!!

[vinyldavid]

Lincoln Mayorga and Distinguished collegues Vol.2. Direct to disc and has some of the most realistic sounding instruments and since it was done direct to disc you can actually hear the musicians turning the pages and resetting between numbers. One of the finest recordings ever on D to D!!

I am always on the lookout for anything of his, but so far I have netted nothing besides Growing Up In Hollywood Town....

I know what you mean. I can occasionally hear the same thing on the above mentioned LP.

[niklasthedolphin]

I would be sad if I only had the very few reference LP's and recordings enabling me to list them all here.

I could start a list and then................later I would come to think of this and that one and it would end up being maybe 100 titles..........and if I did not mention exact label #, record company, year, vinyl weight, pressing # etc. you wouldn't have a chance to find them on the flea anyway.

The best is self made master tapes.
Made on agreements with musicians at live events on good R2R decks with simple microphone set-ups.
Not to be shared with anybody.

What I wonder is:
Some HiFi manufactures like JBL, Naim, JVC and many more made these "Test/Reference LP's or CD's" and when played, they seem to be somewhere close to the middle and not at all in top.
Does that tell me something of the level of sound quality from their top product lines?

I am not saying that all those made as reference editions are bad but a lot of them are.


What I also wonder is:
On some of those beyond 40 HiFi fora on the web, that I am contributing to and reading, many people recommend music that is in my possession and I wonder................why do thay talk about these LP's as good sounding. In my opinion (and I do not talk of all recommendations but some and estimated over 75% of them all) those they praise are down at the "common sounding club".
Does that tell me that they don't have gear or ears adequate to define sound quality?


I will recommend a few that is fresh in my menmory:
"Jazz At The Pawnshop" on LP.
"Steff & Stuff" or is it "Stuff & Steff" with Stephanie Grappeli & Stuff Smith both playing the jazz violin.
Ortofon Test Records
Benny Goodman and Friends
Papa Bue and Gustav Winckler: "All That Meat And No Potatoes"
The Gemini Ensemble & Baltazar Benitez plays JOHAN SEBASTIAN BACH, JOHAN CHRISTIAN BACH, LOEILLET/BÉON,
FAURÉ, TURINA ALBENIZ


When I go listen to HiFi gear to evaluate instead of purely enjoy, I bring some 25-50 LP's and maybe 3 CD's, a R2R tape and a cassette tape. Preferably in a lot of different genres and tempers. The tapes are rarely possible to play and if they are, it usualy is on not top players.

Music should normaly just be enjoyed and not analyzed.
When you, listening to music on your gear, find yourself tapping the rythm with your foot, humming along and maybe even dancing; trust me: It's good music sounding good.

"dolph"

[stuwee]

dolph, I'm interested, "Made on agreements with musicians at live events on good R2R decks with simple microphone set-ups."--I'm listening to Ben Folds Live on CD, big Baldwin concert grand piano, sprung wood stage, I think it's just two mics (from watching the DVD) I can't tell what kind they are though, it's one of the most realistic piano recordings I've heard in a while. I've lost the booklet so I can't tell if the recording info is in there or not... just curious, so I'll add Ben Folds to the list then.

Craig