What is the best sounding CD available (any genre) in terms of recording and mastering job out there? I know opinions will differ, but I an wanting to buy a CD to use as a learning too (listening and learning about what I should go for in terms of sound).
Topic Tags
Comments
Some of my favs are, Boys for Pele - Tori Amos Amused to Death
Some of my favs are,
Boys for Pele - Tori Amos
Amused to Death - Roger Waters
Sargent Peppers - The Beatles
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
Fallen - Evanescence
Power Windows - Rush
Back in Black - AC/DC(the Ted Jensen remaster)
for acoustic piano and vocal check the Tori Amos recording it is sweet.
I've been listening to way much progressive metal these days, bu
I've been listening to way much progressive metal these days, but it seems to me that most pop-rock bands aren't as concerned about how they sound. Listening to the ultra-gated guitar on Powerman5000, for example, just makes the hairs on my neck stand up.
With the progressive crowd, the sound is a lot stronger.
Dream Theater's last 3 CDs (Falling Into Infinity, Scened From A Memory, and 6 Degrees) have been joint-produced by them and Kevin Shirley, and they have been just stunning. Symphony X's CDs have been good, but their last 2 (V and Oddessy) have an awesome clarity to them. And if you can find it, there's a Swedish group named Andromeda whose new CD (II=I) is equally impressive.
Kase
http://www.minemusic.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Hell with the CD sales! Download the MP3s and come to the shows!
inspiring thread! my favourites (soundwise): american garage
inspiring thread!
my favourites (soundwise):
american garage - pat metheny
pet sounds - beach boys
the wall/wywh - pink floyd (more than dsotm!)
hotel california comes to mind too!
and i must say i yesterday played 'bellybutton' (jellyfish) on my monitors... i'm impressed again!
I agree with a lot of these suggestions, but I'll offer up my ow
I agree with a lot of these suggestions, but I'll offer up my own faves:
Codeine - "The White Birch" - Of course this record is aided by the stunning consistency of Doug Scharin's drumming (how can you play that slow, yet at such a consistent volume??) this drum sound is incredible. It sounds to my ear that the reverb is only the results of room mics - if not, I wanna know what unit they used. This record is in the vein of Slint and other "soft/loud" midwestern bands, but production wise this is my favorite.
The Hives - "Veni Vidi Vicious" - Now, before you flame me... look at it this way: What is the best Punk Rock record you've ever heard, and why? I'm a fan of punk rock, and this record epitomizes the energy that is missing in so many modern "punk" records (I'm looking at you, Good Charlotte). Everything is cranked to 11 on this record, and yet it avoids being arbasive and hard on the ears - I can listen to it really really loudly, but it doesn't become taxing. Not sure what it was produced on, but I think it sounds great.
The Mars Volta - "De-Loused in the Comatorium" - Okay, sorry I didn't pick RHCP or Tom Petty for my obligatory Rick Rubin selection, but this record floors me. Yes, it suffers from the 3db of dynamic range syndrome that typifies the last 15 years of rock production, but holy shit does this record sound good... The sheer brutality of the drum sound alone is enough to qualify it for my "best of" list, but the wide variety of guitar tones from the Santanaesque to the simply Satanic also push it to the top. The vocal effects can be a bit over the top at some times, but with The Mars Volta it's kind of the point.
Plenty of others, but a man's gotta work. ;) Also, not sure why people refer to the Melvin's Houdini so much... I think it's one of their worst. I much prefer Stoner Witch, and I used to use the one with the Indian on the cover (does it have a name?) as a reference CD. To each his own, I suppose.
Some of the albums I can listen to over and over again is: U2-A
Some of the albums I can listen to over and over again is:
U2-Achtung Baby: Recorded and mixed by the one I admire the most....Flood. I love everything he touches.
Jeff Buckley-Grace is a masterpiece in every way
Smashing Pumpkins-Machina: A great rockalbum
Nine Inch Nails-The Fragile has a lot of great details
Also IMO it's worth mentioning
The The-Dusk
Aerosmith-Get a Grip
Depeche Mode-Songs of faith and devotion
Sheryl Crow-her second album
The Cure-Disintegration
Of the older stuff I have to agree, that Dark Side Of The Moon is just perfect as well as all the Beatlesalbums, but in particular The White Album. It's just so raw and edge'y.
These are some of my favorites...Cheers
Unfortunately is has been used quite a lot recently as a sample
Unfortunately is has been used quite a lot recently as a sample to many hit tunes...
Sting's "Ten Sumners Tales" and especially "Shape of my heart"... Hugh Pagham got it just right.. also, a good reference song to A/B different monitors... check out the sidestick and how it sits in the mix at its tone.
Pip
sorta OT: I went to buy the Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the the Moo
sorta OT: I went to buy the Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the the Moon" album yesterday, but I'm not sure which one is best. I found a digital remaster CD from 1992, and also a hybrid SACD remaster from more recently. Does any one know which one is better, or which is not messed up (ew'ed, compressed) as much from the original?
... Dark Side of the Moon... which one ?I'm trying to figure thi
... Dark Side of the Moon... which one ?
I'm trying to figure this out myself - I had the '92 version in my hands last night but put it back...
I'm looking for excellent examples of music, dynamics, and PCM converters. It looks like the new '30th anniversary' edition one has 5.1 SACD also. It is both a remix (in analog) and remaster...
James Guthrie - remix engineer (mastered by ?)
http://www.audiorevolution.com/news/0303/28.darkside.shtml
http://www.highfidelityreview.com/news/news.asp?newsnumber=19866834
Ed Meitner - converters
http://www.emmlabs.com/
What can I loose - I'll try it out and see but I don't have SACD yet so I'll have to suffer with CD (Ha Ha - I'm trying not to think that!) ...
kylen
Daniel Lanois' new album Shine takes the cake for me. It's done
Daniel Lanois' new album Shine takes the cake for me. It's done on a lot of old school technology and sounds killer. Pay close attention to the song called San Juan and another song called Fire. Everything on this album sounds beautiful. There was an article on it in Mix magazine a little while back, you can find it on their web site. He's also the man behind all the Grammy winning U2 albums, Emmylou Harris' Wrecking Ball, Bob Dylan's Time out of Mind and Oh Mercy, some Willie Nelson albums, a Neville Bros album, and many many more albums.
Tim
Vulgar display of power- Pantera, One of the most awesomely tigh
Vulgar display of power- Pantera, One of the most awesomely tight productions. 4 guys, great fat sounds
Rush- Power windows... 'nuff said
Tea Party- Interzone Mantras, these guys reinvent for every album. Guitars have some very Cure undertones
Insomniac- Greenday, Rock, rock and um...more rock
Alanis Morrisette- Jagged little pill, Quincy Jones apprentice Glen Ballard really pushing the envelope...awesome
I was listening to "Check Your Head" by the Beastie Boys the las
I was listening to "Check Your Head" by the Beastie Boys the last couple of days... dense mix, but lots of room for the individual sounds to get big... very ground-breaking combo of influences on that album: hip hop, punk, latin, funk, dub, etc. One of my all time favs.
I was listening to Dark Side of the Moon a couple of weeks ago and I really feel there is too much reverb on a lot of the album (the CD was bought in the mid 80s and so I think there is room here to say that the mix/mastering may not have properly dealt with the transfer to a relatively new medium, etc). I love that album and it still sounds beautiful, but man is it floating in verb. Anyone want to jump down my throat on this one? David
IN UTERO. Sounds great. Sounds great. I could listen to that
IN UTERO. Sounds great. Sounds great. I could listen to that album twice in a row and still love it. Big, big drums. Everything's very spacy, and it stays cohesive.
On the other end of things (and to fuel the dying fire of Vig vs. Albini), Siamese Dream is about the prettiest thing I ever heard. I have a feeling that drinking cream is something like listening to this album.
Originally posted by Matthew_All-the-Time: IN UTERO. Sounds g
Originally posted by Matthew_All-the-Time:
IN UTERO. Sounds great. Sounds great. I could listen to that album twice in a row and still love it. Big, big drums. Everything's very spacy, and it stays cohesive.
I actually don't like the way this record sounds, I think it's one of Albini's worst. I really dislike the drum sound, although I'm usually an Albini fan. Something about the mid-range and the woodiness of the kit just doesn't sit well with me. I don't think his style really worked with Nirvana's sound - they really don't have enough space in their compositions for his approach to work as well as it does with bands like Slint who are all about the space between the notes. There's some fabulous guitar textures on it (but they're more Albini than Cobain, IMO), but that's about it for me.
Originally posted by Matthew_All-the-Time:
On the other end of things (and to fuel the dying fire of Vig vs. Albini), Siamese Dream is about the prettiest thing I ever heard. I have a feeling that drinking cream is something like listening to this album.
Another of my favorite records, but I'm really not a fan of the production. Again, there are some killer sounding guitar tones (some of my favorite, ever), but the drums sound very 2 dimensional to me and in the end the entire production sounds very "restricted".
Takes all sorts, I suppose. :)
IMHO Siamese Dream - Love the album, however I think it is a
IMHO
Siamese Dream - Love the album, however I think it is a little muddy.
In Utero - The sound on this album was what got me into recording. As a drummer, it influenced me so much.
American HiFi - Check out their new one, "Art of Loosing". Love that sound!
Deftones - Love the new album, Abe's sound has always seemed a little muddy to me. Still love it!
Try Stealy Dan's "Two against nature" It doesn't matter what kin
Try Stealy Dan's "Two against nature" It doesn't matter what kind of thing your after. For seperation, clarity, performance, perfect mastering. You don't have to like the music to have your butt kicked by a masterwork.
For exactly the opposite, Rush "vapor trails" pretty good songs but mastered by a insane level first freak.
Dave Matthew's Band - "Before these crowded streets" All round,
Dave Matthew's Band - "Before these crowded streets" All round, sounds really good.
Macy Gray- "On How Life Is" - Very colourful album, great bottom, pretty dark by today's standards, you can't hear the compression as much as most of the other R&B and urban stuff out there.
Los Lobos- "This Time" - low end is spectacular, unbelievable amount of weight to the album.
Radiohead's albums always sound great.
Stratovarius: "Intermission" Stratovarius always has a good sou
Stratovarius: "Intermission" Stratovarius always has a good sound, but "Intermissions" is their best. Completly digital sweedish metal, all drum brained and amp modded out, except the vocal. It always sounds like they got "it" exactly as "it" needed to be.
NOFX: "Punk in Drublic"&"The Decline"
I love the way Ryan Greene compresses drums, and the gtr sounds on his albums rock.
Norah Jones: "Come fly with me", I was an assistant at the studio that she recorded this in. I didnt get to assist that session, but her engineer, Jay Newland, is about as cool as they come(WATCH OUT FOR "THE GRAPES"
Originally posted by Don Grossinger: Joni Mitchell "Hijera" R
Originally posted by Don Grossinger:
Joni Mitchell "Hijera"
Robbie Robertson "1st Solo"
Pat Metheny "American Garage"
Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" Stereo remix/box set
Hey don't get me wrong, Hejera is one of my favorite albums, but the sound quality is often muffled on the guitars on that album - which are on every song. Now if you're talking about the bass, maybe....
Some of my favourites, all a few years old and all of which I re
Some of my favourites, all a few years old and all of which I regularly use for auditioning/reviewing loudspeakers:
1. Phil Keaggy 'Beyond Nature'
A quite magical (largely) acoustic guitar recording - I've heard its equal recording-wise on acoustic, but nothing better so far. Mr Keaggy also has the odd bit of finger missing, which I believe enables him to occasionally do harmonic stuff beyond the reach of 'normal' people.
2. Gerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, Russ Barenberg 'Skip Hop and Wobble'
Another brilliant acoustic album, hard to believe it's mostly just three instruments. Worth it for the 'gorilla' cover shots alone...
3. Jan Garbarek 'I Took Up The Runes'
An outstanding world/jazz recording. Actually has dynamic range, especially the track 'Gula Gula' with a soprano sax part that's a severe loudspeaker midrange test.
4. Marcus Miller 'Tales'. Our hero is a bassist, and it shows - the first track 'The Blues' is particularly good for Stygian depth. Outstanding album credits where he thanks various small children for loud crashing noises during the quiet bits and broken bass strings.
Originally posted by theamazingninja: does anyone know any goo
Originally posted by theamazingninja:
does anyone know any good websites or books where i can learn the basics of mastering?
I see by chance I'm the first to reply, but there may be others after me who want to endorse 'Mastering Audio' by Bob Katz (Focal Press).
I got my copy of this treasure trove of a book from Amazon, and I believe you can buy direct from Bob at digido.com (itself an excellent starting point for those who wish to know more about this subject). The book is amusing, well-written and well-researched - in fact it's difficult to imagine a better treatment of the subject in written form.
I have no commercial interest here, just a desire to spread the word about a very good resource.
i may be too attached to the music to ne objective about the ove
i may be too attached to the music to ne objective about the overall sound, but these are my favorites;
1. loveless- my bloody valentine. still the most amazing thing i've heard come out of a pair of speakers
2. disintegration- the cure. so beautiful. i can't imagine anything a better sound for this band/ these songs.
3. seamonsters- the wedding present. all of the great things albini does, without the excesses. rid of me by pj harvey sounds very similar to me but i like gedges songs better.
Mark Knopfler The ragpickers dream. Fat,clear and detailed I lik
Mark Knopfler The ragpickers dream. Fat,clear and detailed I like hearing the rattling of the strings against the fretboard on the frettless base. The detail on the acoustic guitar is great but it is also very warm as well. The vocals are juicy fat and up front. Man its a great CD
Not a mastering engineer, but I'll say one of the albums that I
Not a mastering engineer, but I'll say one of the albums that I think has some of the best work-
Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited-Hondo
I don't know if you guys have heard these guys but this album is great. Many of their albums
are good from a musical standpoint, but this IMHO is one of the few that were mastered really well.
Joel
Me and Recorderman could sit around and drink beer and listen to
Me and Recorderman could sit around and drink beer and listen to recordings without any problem at all.
I read somewhere that Jeff Lynne loved using Olympic, DeLaneLea, and Abbey Road cause they had all the great old stuff.I know he went for that old sound with ElDorado which was done at DeLane Lea.That sound on that record is dark and clear as a bell.And right in yer face.Beautiful.
I agree 100% with RM's take about the 70's soundwise.Its one reason that that era of music has stood up so well.