52 Essential Albums for Audiophiles

HAL9000

not_the_dj said:

HAL9000 said:

Wasn’t Damn The Torpedoes recorded in Tom Petty’s living room (complete with the occasional voices in the background)? And that’s still more essential than the majority of albums in that list.

It was recorded at Sound City!

Oops! I know one of TP's albums was recorded at home and has some extraneous noises. I thought it was Damn the Torpedoes. I'll do better research next time.

steveledzep

You started the thread @Rocker , you going to contribute more ?

Rocker

steveledzep said:

You started the thread @Rocker , you going to contribute more ?

True I started this thread but, generally speaking, I find audiophile records dull and boring.  The production is so clean that the reality presented sounds so unreal.

The 'best' sounds I have heard on my system came when I had a turntable front end.  'Rikki don't lose that number' by Steely Dan never sounded better than when played on a turntable.  And I heard the band perform it live in Dublin earlier this year!  And the record was much better.  Nonetheless the bass player in Steely Dan was simply exceptional and it was a pleasure to see/hear him play.

But most audiophile music does nothing for me.  These times my listening is mainly traditional Country with a spattering of Rock.  And a fair bit of classical piano.  Piano is probably one of the hardest instruments to record successfully but when it is done right, the music just flows.  Get your hands on a CD of Naum Starkman to hear how it should be done.  And the music is great too of course.

If I were forced to name a few good sounding CDs, try some of these: 'One Hot July' and 'Lake Placid Blues' by Tony Joe White, 'Folk Singer' by Muddy Waters, 'Live at the Meeting Place' by Mick Hanly, 'Batchelor No. 2' by Aimee Mann, 'Miracle' by Willy DeVille, 'Moon Safari' by Air.

steveledzep

I've never bought any audiophile LPs, always only buy music I like.  When recording quality arrives with my choice of music then that is a bonus !
I have many LPs from the seventies and in the main their quality is very good, just the compilations that sometimes lack a bit of dynamic range (too many tracks per side is the usual culprit).
The advent of CDs in the eighties was, despite the hype, a huge disappointment generally.  Despite the medium having the potential for superior quality, it was dumbed down mostly as time went on(Google "loudness wars").  Brothers in Arms was perhaps the early exception of the CDs I own.
Yes, totally agree about Steely Dan on vinyl, rarely a disappointment on the turntable.
MrsLedZep has Moon Safari and the quality is great.  Other CDs I've found to be of great sound quality are the "unplugged" series with Nirvana, Clapton and Alice in Chains.  I've amassed quite a collection of CDs from Andy Summers (ex Police) solo exploits, all are a pleasure to listen to (for me  ).
In summary, the quality of a recording will enhance my enjoyment, but a good tune is still a bloody good choon !

robgilmo

richardhomer said:

robgilmo said:

And why isnt ''Love over Gold'' in there? Brothers in arms even?

Love Over Gold is a great analogue recording - I’ve heard it used in the last couple of years at a hi fi show to demo Spendor speakers. 

The footsteps and breaking glass in Private Investigations, around 5.40 into the song, on vinyl and a good fresh record sounds sublime. 

robinbowes

robgilmo said:

The footsteps and breaking glass in Private Investigations, around 5.40 into the song, on vinyl and a good fresh record sounds sublime. 

Oddly enough, it sounds great on a lossless digital recording too - even an "not fresh" one

Jalapeno

Nothing from Deutsch Grammaphon catalogue ....

dindude

I do love a top 52 list. 

HAL9000

Litterick said:

Two slightly distorted guitars

Brize

Winny_Pooh said:

many many ECM jazz albums

Quite. Any 'audiophile' list without an ECM album indicates that he writer needs to be edumacated.

Rocker

Errrrrrr, who is ECM?

ten77guitar

Rocker said:

Errrrrrr, who is ECM?

Record label

Stuckfast

I've heard a few records that have been made in purist audiophile style using just a single pair of mics and no post-processing. That sort of approach can sound amazing on classical music, but I've never really liked it on anything with a drum kit.

robinbowes

Stuckfast said:

 but I've never really liked it on anything with a drum kit.

Kind of Blue?

Rocker

At the risk of offending everyone here, are there any good music and sound, new records, in the general rock/country mould, that are worth seeking out and listening to?  Albums that you would actually spend money buying the CD rather than playing on Spotify.  Thanks.

ICBM

Rocker said:

At the risk of offending everyone here, are there any good music and sound, new records, in the general rock/country mould, that are worth seeking out and listening to?  Albums that you would actually spend money buying the CD rather than playing on Spotify.  Thanks.

I always buy CDs. Don’t do Spotify at all...

Most recent - all 2019 albums

Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars
Heather Nova - Pearl

Bought this year but from 2018

Cowboy Junkies - All That Reckoning

Madeleine Peyroux - Anthem
Suede - The Blue Hour

robinbowes

ICBM said:

Rocker said:

Albums that you would actually spend money buying the CD rather than playing on Spotify.  Thanks.

I always buy CDs. Don’t do Spotify at all...

I use Spotify a lot - can't beat the choice of music. I listen in my car a lot, with phone bluetooth connection to car stereo so I don't need great quality (although it is more than adequate in that environment).

At home, I do my serious listening through a Slim Devices Transporter, playing FLAC audio streamed from my own internal server (Logitech Media Server, or LMS). LMS has a Spotify plugin, and I sometimes listen to Spotify on the Transporter - it sounds remarkably good streaming 320kbps OGG. In fact, the difference between Spotify on my PC and Spotify on the Transporter is very noticeable (both going into the same mixer -> powered speakers).

I often buy CDs just to support artists that I go and see live, and rarely open the CDs to play them - I just listen in Spotify, or download the lossless files (if available). If all else fails, I rip the CD to FLAC, and stream it.

R.

TheMarlin

Rocker said:

At the risk of offending everyone here, are there any good music and sound, new records, in the general rock/country mould, that are worth seeking out and listening to?  Albums that you would actually spend money buying the CD rather than playing on Spotify.  Thanks.

Rock, yes. Country, never!

Stuckfast

robinbowes said:

Stuckfast said:

 but I've never really liked it on anything with a drum kit.

Kind of Blue?

Was that recorded with just a single pair of mics?