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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).

Comments

anonymous Tue, 01/20/2004 - 11:01

A couple of my favories are:

Hard Rock CD. Nickleback's "The Long Road"
Dance/Pop CD. No Doubt's "Rock Steady"
Adult Conteporary CD. Steely Dan's "Two Against Nature"

So What's the deal with the new Metallica Record
I heard the thing for the first time and couldn't believe it. When I was taught to mix I was told to always reference my mix back to mono. When I do that to Metallica's new CD everything gets crazy. Guitars somewhat go away and the mix just sounds wierd. I understand that they wanted to do something raw with this album but????

Ammitsboel Tue, 01/20/2004 - 23:43

So What's the deal with the new Metallica Record
I heard the thing for the first time and couldn't believe it. When I was taught to mix I was told to always reference my mix back to mono. When I do that to Metallica's new CD everything gets crazy. Guitars somewhat go away and the mix just sounds wierd. I understand that they wanted to do something raw with this album but????

Have you ever converted a X/Y recording to mono and see what happens? ;)
Not everything has to sound good in mono.

anonymous Wed, 01/21/2004 - 15:29

[list]

  • Have you ever converted a X/Y recording to mono and see what happens?
    If X/Y is done correctly in mono it shouldn't sound "out of phase". At least that's the idea with "stereo miking" techniques. They are phase coherent. Now, I'd really like to know how it was done so I can understand it a little better. Was it a production call and intentional? Was it screwed up in mastering? Actually is it possible to be screwed in mastering?
  • anonymous Fri, 01/23/2004 - 12:57

    I am a novice at recording, but these are some of my favorite sounding CDs:

    Radiohead 'OK Computer' - This is my reference point for most of my recording/mastering.

    Mars Volta 'Deloused in the Comatorium' - Great guitar sounds, glad someone else here likes it, too.

    Stereolab 'Dots and Loops' and 'Emperor Tomato Ketchup' - Great synth sounds and vocals, with some dense, yet well mixed arrangements.

    Tortoise 'TNT' - Simple at first listen, but the more you listen the more you hear.

    anonymous Fri, 01/23/2004 - 23:57

    I love many cd's that I think sound superb ...such as the following...Sarah Brightman's(eden,la luna, harem), Dream Theater's( image and words,scenes from a memory), Madonna's(ray of light, music), Linkin park's(hybrid theory, meteora), Evanescence(fallen), Korn's(untouchables), Mandy Moore(and yes this album too...if you want a great production...don't limit yourself musically), most hip hop cd's have a great sound too, I always loved the production of Queensryches empire cd and Metallica's the black album, modern country music cds sound great too like the Dixie Chicks, Garth Brooks, Rascal Flats, etc..., and older metal or rock albums such as Journey(frontiers,escape,raised on radio), Def Leppard(hysteria, adrenalize, x), Bon Jovi(slippery when wet, bounce, crush), Winger(1st cd or in the heart of the young), and here are some modern rock cds i love the sound of too, Matchbox 20(mad season), Goo Goo Dolls(gutter flower,dizzy up the girl), Creed(human clay, weathered), all Nickelback cds...anyhow the list goes on and on...i'll just keep it as these albums...good luck :D

    anonymous Sat, 01/24/2004 - 17:58

    Originally posted by Keith H:
    I know what the worst sounding CD i've heard in a long time is,Metallica's new album,i think the recording engineer must have been drunk when he made this one,worst audio quality i have heard in a long time.I liked it better when recording studio's where analog,back then i think engineers took more time to make great recordings.Now i think they just crank up the levels push a button and walk away.I think studio's are in a hurry to get the things out to the public instead of taking the time to make a good product.Of course this is purely my observation or opinnion and your miliage may vary..PEACE and Happy 4th of July everyone..Keith H.

    Metallicas new cd can only be described as intolerable. I have made several attempts to listen to each track, I just cant do it. One would be hardpressed to do worse.

    anonymous Sat, 01/24/2004 - 18:20

    Stratovarius: Intermissions
    ^this is some baddass finnish power metal. Every guy in the band is a virtuoso, even the singer has tremendous range and control, no autotuning detected. I belive these guys are all digital, even their piano, and WOW it sounds good. The drums, DEFINALTY digital, and WOW, double WOW their drummer can play.

    Blink 182- Blink 182(their newest one)
    ^a band member of a band I record dropped me a copy of this. H*ly Sh*t, what amazing sounds!!! The drums are live as hell, yet totally in place not taxing any space from the guitars. Now the guitars are just about the biggest guitar sound I have ever heard in my life. Punk rock is what I do best, and just when I was about to get a little ego going on I heard this album: EXTREME humiltity check.

    The Mars Volta - "De-Loused in the Comatorium
    ^Refreshing new band. They get Flea and John Fruscante from RHCP on a few takes, so that had me.(I spent my teenage years as a Flea wannabe on bass)

    Beastie Boys: Pauls Botique&just about everything they did. Cant find fault w/ anything the Beasties do.

    Norah Jones - Come away with me. Not what I typically listen to, but I worked at the studio she recorded this at. The album that one all those grammies was actually a demo, if you can belive that! I guess when they listened to the actual "album", they ended up liking the demo more!!

    DJ Spooky - Optomotry
    Unbeliveable genius. This label recognized how bad ass Spooky is with a sampler. They hire the best jazz musicians in NYC to come jam out for a day, then Spooky cuts it all up his way. Great sounds. Matthew Shipp is the main keyboard player on this album, he is on some next level type stuff.

    I love music!!! I will definatly be picking up some of you's all's recomendations!

    anonymous Tue, 01/27/2004 - 00:27

    There are so many awesome sounding cds out there but here are a few I recommend.

    for pop music
    (Sarah Brightman)la luna, eden, harem
    (Madonna)ray of light, music
    (Tori Amos)boys for pele, little earthquakes, under the pink
    (Matchbox 20)mad season
    (Goo Goo Dolls)dizzy up the girl, gutter flower
    (Train) drops of jupiter

    for rock or metal
    (Linkin Park)hybrid theory, meteora
    (Dream Theater)images and words, awake, scenes from a memory
    (Creed)human clay, weathered
    (Tool)aenema, laterals
    (System Of A Down)toxicity, steal this album
    (Queensryche)empire, operation mindcrime
    (Korn)untouchables,issues
    (Def Leppard)hysteria, adrenalize,x
    (Metallica) black album, and justice for all
    (Megadeth)countdown to extinction
    (Pantera)cowboys from hell, vulger display of power, far beyond driven
    (Nickelback)silver side up, the long road
    (Evanescence)fallen :D

    anonymous Wed, 01/28/2004 - 09:45

    Awsome Topic... I am currently faced with trying out new monitors and have dug out a few CDs (and some clean records).....

    In No Particular Order......
    The Police Syncronicity
    Audio Slave latests Album (very hot)
    Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood Sex Sugar Magic

    Its all about what makes your ears happy and what you are comfortable with. When setting up my listening area I listened to alot of differnt music in and out of the space for obvious reasons. It sounds differnt everywere but, the key is to know your speakers, room and music. You certainly don't want to use questionable Recordings.

    "Open Up Your Ears And Clean Out Your Eyes Its So Nice To Be Alive!!" Beastie Boys

    anonymous Mon, 02/02/2004 - 15:26

    here are some of what I think are the best sounding cd's

    tio jeepy bradford marsalis columbia
    storyville robbie robertson geffen
    famous blue raincoat jennifer warnes cypress
    kick out the jams mc 5 electra
    dire straits dire straits warner bros

    then there is this lp which is great sounding

    king james harry james sheffield labs

    anonymous Sun, 02/22/2004 - 22:35

    I think the truest test of of the sonic quality of a recording is the juke box at the local bar. From these emperical observations I have deduced the following, but first let me say that this in no way my criteria for my taste in style.

    1: Recordings made at Trident Studios on the A Range they built. When "Candle in the Wind" or Queen or TRex or Bowie comes on the juke, it seems like a veil has been lifted. These recordings also preserve the dynamics, not cramming all of the RMS into the last 15%.

    2: When Abbey Road/EMI was in its prime...the Beatles hold up to this day, not to mention Darkside. They built their own gear, too.

    3: Putnam recordings, like Sinatra.

    This is from the era where engineers were EE engineers. There was a different ethic back then.

    So go out, have a few pints and observe the jukebox. It will give you tons of reference.

    BH
    1: EMI/Abbey Road recordings stand up. Listen to the Beatles or Darkside.

    anonymous Sat, 02/28/2004 - 21:56

    Actually, Mr. Evans, the name Steely Dan came from a fictional sexual device from William Burrow's Naked Lunch.

    ...as for the albums I reference... well, I havn't decided on those, yet. The albums I've enjoyed the production of simply for the production have been Pink Floyd's The Wall (the album which really got me into all of this), the multiply mentioned Wallflowers (LOVED the snare's ring fading in and out of intensity on 'It's good to be King.'), and Devo's The Mongoloid Years, Live 1975-1979(Not the best sounding, but the performance is sheerly amazing, and after trying to seamless some other live stuff, I know how hard it can be to do without those annoying pops and skips...).

    Many have mentioned Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon over The Wall. To compare these two, what exactly should I be listening for? Each is so rich and deep that I find it hard to really decide on the single elements to pick out of the mix.

    anonymous Sun, 02/29/2004 - 09:28

    Originally posted by Treena Foster:
    I like the Nora Jones Cd, but it is mastered way to hot, it distorts when its played so I can't enjoy the performances as much as I would like to.

    Treena :)

    Have you listened to any Eva Cassidy? if not...try the blues alley album. I wouldn't call her mellow...but she sure can belt out the lyrics. I just think more new singers should put the true raw emotion into their singing as she seemed to (of course...we're talking music now...and not sonic attributes)

    For some nice recordings...you can also check out http:// You won't find the latest and greatest stars there. But you'll get some real good music, recorded in such a way that it just seems to sound natural. Clean, clear dynamic...just nice. Let me warn you tho...these recordings aren't without flaws...they aren't polished up or smoothed over. But even with the flaws...they are just very refreshing to listen to. Maybe because so much of the big production stuff coming out nowadays is muddied, compressed and has no where to go with dynamics.
    Not perfect...but very refreshing.

    other nice ones...Steely Dan always puts out nice recordings. The Dave Matthews Band seems to be good for newer rock...then you got various Wynton Marsalis CD's :D . Diana Krall CD's are alright...and even tho I don't care for her music...Patricia Barber - night club does have nice sonics.

    take care>>>>>>>>

    anonymous Mon, 03/01/2004 - 09:16

    I'm right now listening to a Ray Brown cd (the last he recorded I think) and I find it so refreshing after listening to a lot of newer stuff that is SO compressed. Is this because so many people listen to music in autos? A CD like the aforementioned Ray Brown item kind of dissapears if you are on the interstate at 80mph. Anyway the cd was recored with 4 mics. One each for guitar, bass, piano, and room. Sounds like real music.

    anonymous Wed, 03/10/2004 - 12:06

    I'm shocked...I just went throught this whole thread..all 6 pages and unless I missed it noone mentioned *Fleetwood Mac Rumors*

    This album is sonically amazing, and the production and performance are as good if not greater than the recording. Defeniatly one of my fav's for a reference disk.
    I also think the Undertow album is a great reference. Aenima is a great recording also but there's a bite around 1k and 5-6k..not sure where that came from but it get's annoying sometimes. Another great rock album in my opinion is the first Rage Against The Machine album, sonically excellent and great performance also...no studio tricks on that album. Depeche Mode's Violator is a great sounding electronic album. I also like NIN's Fragile...I was amazed at the sound quality on that album. ZZ Top's greatest hit's is also full of great sounding songs. I could go on an on..but it's so hard with so many great albums out there...and seperating sound quality from production/performance can be difficult when talking about albums on the top like everyone has been...

    Big K Thu, 03/17/2011 - 16:49

    Although it is not new and it is not my favourite music on this particular album it sound extremely good..excellent:

    Steely Dan.. Two Against Nature

    I have my problems with many productions, of the last years, which lead to that I hardly buy any CD, anymore.
    I listen to many songs of a wide area, but as to "ear candy" I would not know one right away matching my old all
    time favs...

    audiokid Thu, 03/17/2011 - 17:13

    I never buy CD. I stopped after they started saying they were digitally mastered around 1998 lol.
    An "album" that stands out to me as sounding so excellent is Donald Fagen, The Nightfly.

    Listen to the difference between these two. We don't need more trouble. Its has balls but you can clearly hear the leveling we are doing now. This sounds like Pro Tools to me: )

    song4gabriel Thu, 03/17/2011 - 20:21

    Hi everyone- sorry been mia for 2 weeks.

    My fav's:

    Current
    Artistic Production- Daniel Lanois' "Where Will I Be?" from his 'Here is What' is album. That song to me, is completely dizzying in its production genius (2 drum tracks, 1 panned left, 1 panned right- I mean c'mon), the bass is so friggin full and harmonic, and guitar sounds that are p90's at their best. Listen to it with headphones if you can

    Technical Production- Sugarland's last record

    All time
    Artistic Production- Radiohead, OK Computer. The bar was raised through the roof with this one

    Technical Production- (don't laugh) Eddie Brickel "What I Am is What I am etc..." I have used this track to test cd players, stereos and my monitors for years. It is crystal clear.

    I also think Peter Gabriel's So is a spankingly amazing production effort.

    BobRogers Fri, 03/18/2011 - 06:23

    I'm another fan of the sound of the old Fagen/Steely Dan albums. Perhaps my favorite "recent" CD is Mark Knopfler's Shangri-La. I's more aggressively limited than older albums, but it still has nice dynamics. With that said, I love the mix. I love the sound of Knopfler's guitar, and the way the organ is recorded and mixed.

    Speaking of Knopfler, it's very interesting to give Brothers in Arms a listen after 26 years. It's one of the earliest "all digital albums," so it's a good demonstration of how you can record a great album with harsh, crappy converters, plugins, etc. On the other hand it's a demonstration of how much people were taken with the signal to noise ratio of digital. Is that the quietest pop album of all time? It's like the reverse of the volume wars. "We don't have to worry about tape hiss, so let's keep all the dynamics!" It's an excellent collection of songs, but it's an even more interesting audio artifact.

    BobRogers Fri, 03/18/2011 - 06:44

    Just a side story for those of you too young to remember the early days of CDs. I was a pretty early adopter and had a CD player in late 84. There weren't that many CDs in the record stores in those days. I can remember one audiofool friend coming over and being appalled that half of my CD collection (less than a dozen disks) were in mono. Some of the earliest CDs were Japanese masters of classic jazz disks from the 50's that had been hard to find on vinyl. He was really excited when Brothers in Arms came out [[url=http://[/URL]="http://en.wikipedia…"]DDD.[/]="http://en.wikipedia…"]DDD.[/] Me, I just like Knopfler's guitar.

    Now get off my lawn.

    audiokid Fri, 03/18/2011 - 08:44

    BobRogers, post: 366555 wrote: Just a side story for those of you too young to remember the early days of CDs. I was a pretty early adopter and had a CD player in late 84. There weren't that many CDs in the record stores in those days. I can remember one audiofool friend coming over and being appalled that half of my CD collection (less than a dozen disks) were in mono. Some of the earliest CDs were Japanese masters of classic jazz disks from the 50's that had been hard to find on vinyl. He was really excited when Brothers in Arms came out [[url=http://[/URL]="http://en.wikipedia…"]DDD.[/]="http://en.wikipedia…"]DDD.[/] Me, I just like Knopfler's guitar.

    Now get off my lawn.

    I'm a Mark Knopfler nut. Brothers in Arms is one of the last albums I bought. I remember how disappointed I was with parts of the sound. That zzz sound. I remember reading how it was digitally produced, thinking wow, this is going to be great! and not liking this after a short while. I remember being impressed how clear it was but an awareness that something was changing that made it hard to listen to music for long periods.
    After that, I started looking for Digitally Mastered as a warning sign.

    Big K Fri, 03/18/2011 - 08:48

    The BiA of Direstraights is a fine album, too. I love DS music from the moment I heard their 1st album in '78.
    The CD copy of BiA I own has a rather high headroom that is completely unused. I re-mastered it, mainly to obtain a standart volume level.
    Anything else I softly tweaked was purely to meet my personal taste and can't be recognized by any consumer, I suppose.

    POCO's album "Legacy" featuring the original line-up is also a fine musical production.

    Btw., same albums on CDs often sound different to each other, depending on the CD plant or other peculiarities.
    This goes from excellent to ??? what the heck... differences.

    Big K Fri, 03/18/2011 - 09:21

    Hello Chris,
    I can't agree. DDD is not the sign for eternal happyness and quality but also it is not a warning sign for me.
    After all, I do many CDs in DDD and I can't say that I master them to become warning signs, can I?? lol...

    The BiA Album I listened to on an insanely expensive and excellent Stereo system quite a few times as well as my own, which I consider more then adequate.
    On those there is no zzz to be heard. But it is well possible that, depending on eqipment & placement it comes foreward too much.
    I smoothed the sound out by only the slightes touch...

    Kapt.Krunch Sat, 03/19/2011 - 03:44

    Wow...talk about resurrecting an old thread! I've always liked the deep, punchy clear sound of Harry Connick, Jr's "She" CD...plus, it has some pretty funky rollicking N'Awlins-influenced stuff on there.

    Speaking of CD sound quality, this just came up yesterday, in fact. A young friend at work, who has just recently expressed an interest in playing guitar (and is progressing rather well, I might add) seems to have a fondness for the Christian rock band "Skillet". He handed me the "Awake" CD (their latest), and said "You gotta listen to this. Two guys, two girls, and they ROCK!" (As far as the music itself, it's kind of like a lot of other Christian rock bands...sort of generic..but to each his own). I suppose it could inspire some folks to immediately yell "Geezus!!", but I doubt that is their aim for inspiration.

    Anyway, I popped it into my car CD player after work. (It's a fairly decent system that can sound really good). Because I had been listening to some of my own stuff for evaluation, I had all the EQ's set flat, and my stuff sounded clean, crisp, punchy and clear...(with just a micro-tad too much high-end that later got tamed by lowering the highs a squidge). Put in "Skillet". YIKES!!!!! "OK"...I thought..."this sounds like ****. Start EQing".

    Nope. Nada. Zilch. Could NOT un-harsh that stuff. I figured I'd go home, rip the first song "Hero", and see if it's what I suspected. Yep. Flat-lined top and bottom on the waveform, with just the tiniest below-clipping dips showing.

    The CD has absolutely NO high end. When you can actually tell a cymbal has been struck, it goes something like "Ch..ch...ch" EEEK! The vocals are sibilant-extraordinaire. Something like "said" would come out "Sshed", and those were the only things even psychoacoustically hinting at any high end. The vocals, keyboards and super-distorto guitars all melded into one big mass of mid-range mush, lying on a bed of uninspiring bass.

    I haven't told my friend what I thought about it, yet, but if he's serious about music, I suppose I'll have to tell him the truth so he'll be aware. What I can't understand is why a national act that has actually gotten airplay would approve a mastering job like this for release. Their CD LOOKS professional. They even included an annoying 'website link-and-download-crap" extras that pops up when you put it into your computer. Maybe they should have spent less on that garbage, and more on mixing/mastering?

    I'd be embarassed to put out something that is as lifeless, squashed and harsh-sounding as that CD. I'd have backed it up to find out where in the process someone completely mangled my music, and demand they fix it...or give my money back and I'll find someone who can do it properly. I'd have been pissed! If I was my friend, I'd contact the band, and demand a properly remastered copy to trade for this eardrum-assault copy that I paid money for. (In fact, I think I'll suggest that to him).

    The blonde is kind of hot, though.

    Kapt.Krunch

    BobRogers Sat, 03/19/2011 - 04:14

    Kapt.Krunch, post: 366631 wrote: ....Maybe they should have spent less on that garbage, and more on mixing/mastering? ...

    I'm betting that the problem isn't the money spent. It's that someone (the band? the label?) kept telling the ME to "make it louder." Contemporary Christian radio is in the same type of competition that all other radio stations are. There are a lot of people who believe that turning your music into big bricks of sound gives you an edge. (One of these days I'm going to start a thread on the CC market over in the Music Business forum. It is a quirky market. Maybe someone can explain it to me.)

    BobRogers Sat, 03/19/2011 - 05:20

    Big K, post: 366573 wrote: Hello Chris,
    I can't agree. DDD is not the sign for eternal happyness and quality but also it is not a warning sign for me.
    After all, I do many CDs in DDD and I can't say that I master them to become warning signs, can I?? lol...

    I agree with Big K on this. First thing, if it is on CD the last letter has to be D no matter what analog equipment was used in the mastering process. I guess if it is on vinyl the last letter has to be A no matter what digital equipment was used in the process. More importantly, my bet is that given the current state of technology a good engineer can produce good sound on whatever tools he or she chooses. Engineers who like hybrid systems will produce their best efforts on those systems. Engineers who like working with tape will work best with that. Engineers who like to use digital will do best with that.

    Chris - How well do you think you would do at a Leonard Feather style blindfold test where we play CDs for you and ask you to identify the signal chain? I doubt that anyone would do all that well.

    The BiA Album I listened to on an insanely expensive and excellent Stereo system quite a few times as well as my own, which I consider more then adequate.
    On those there is no zzz to be heard. But it is well possible that, depending on eqipment & placement it comes foreward too much.
    I smoothed the sound out by only the slightes touch...

    I listened to BiA yesterday morning on a bad stereo and I felt that there was some harshness that should not be there in the most distorted guitar parts of Money for Nothing and The Man's Too Strong. Now maybe that's the way Knopfler wanted it, or maybe the fact that I know that all of the digital signal chain in 1984 had worse specs than my Digi 002 affected my judgement. In any event, the next time I think I NEED to upgrade my interface/DAW/converters I'll put on BiA.

    DrGonz Sat, 03/19/2011 - 05:47

    You'll all probably laugh at me after I say this... I hope you laugh at everything I ever say... Anyhoo... I have not bought many CD's in the last decade and feel that is just a shame. Either I am too blame or the latter. However, I do like the Modest Mouse "Good news for people that like bad news" I have listened to it on all media types from stereo home systems to car to studio's to headphones, on good and bad sound cards. It is a square wave that I can live with and for me that is saying a lot.

    Also, I like that Daniel Lanois song that was on a few previous posts ago on this thread, and also agree with all the music that poster appreciated. Peter gabriel "So" is amazing and I like the old CD that I have w/ all this headroom on it. Sounds perfect.

    I also like the latest Black keys CD that I bounced onto my studio computer. The last song sums it up for me. I think the album was brothers, but a bassists I work w/ just gave me the disk to put on a hard drive. I listened to it for a while and I loved it. Also, a great CD to listen to is by the band Firehose "Ragin', Full on" It is really flat and sounds great!

    I love this band called lymbyc systym>>> And this video sounds good to me. Each time I hear a new song it sounds better and better. They are simple but yet still complex to me. I love them

    audiokid Sat, 03/19/2011 - 19:43

    Big K, post: 366573 wrote: Hello Chris,
    I can't agree. DDD is not the sign for eternal happyness and quality but also it is not a warning sign for me.
    After all, I do many CDs in DDD and I can't say that I master them to become warning signs, can I?? lol...

    The BiA Album I listened to on an insanely expensive and excellent Stereo system quite a few times as well as my own, which I consider more then adequate.
    On those there is no zzz to be heard. But it is well possible that, depending on eqipment & placement it comes foreward too much.
    I smoothed the sound out by only the slightes touch...

    I don't feel this way now, digital technology is superior sounding from back then. The last 6 years have been getting better. I can produce much better music now then 6 years ago.

    There are some tracks on that album that are much better. It's been years since I reviewed it so I could be off a bit but I do remember not liking anything that was DDD back then.
    Not to turn this in the opposite direction but to place a date on this historical time when it all went to ZZZZZ, I think one of the worst mastered albums (that was not produced by Quincy Jones) (Digitally remastered by Bernie Grundman maybe sounds better?) is the Dangerous Album 1991. Pro Tools TDM at its best mess and the beginning of the loudness war.