Best Mastered CD's

markmarc
markmarc Posts: 2,309
edited October 2007 in 2 Channel Audio
As audio fanatics we can appreciate a well recorded and mastered cd, free of distortions. Please list your favorites, eher are a few off the top of my head:

Steely Dan: Aja, Gaucho, Two Against Nature
Donald Fagan: The Nightfly, Morph the Cat
James Taylor: October Road, Hourglass
Dan Fogelberg: No Resemblance Whatsoever, The Wild Places
Joe Jackson: Body and Soul
Supertramp: Even in the Quietest Places
The Who: Quadrophenia
Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited September 2007
    Anything from Michael Jackson.
    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 19,029
    edited September 2007
    Two come to mind off the top of my head, The World's greatest Audiophile Recordings by Chesky Records SACD. Songs are kinda lame, but the sound is incredible and Sarah McGlachlan Afterglow Live. The album I have includes one CD and one DVD of the concert. Good stuff.
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
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  • rskarvan
    rskarvan Posts: 2,374
    edited September 2007
    Time Warp by Telarc!
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited September 2007
    Great;

    AC/DC, "Ballbreaker"

    The Police, "Every Breath You Take, The Classics" although this is a bit thin in the bass compared to the LPs.


    Absolutely Horrible;

    Eric Clapton, "Slow Hand"

    This actually sounds like a comforter was thrown over the speakers.
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited September 2007
    I like Slowhand SACD.

    I also like the redbook version of Eagles Desperado. I am digging this Tom Petty I just got in the mail, redbook, starts with Rockin Around and ends with American Girl, I do not have my glasses and cant read the little print of the title if there is one.:confused:

    RT1
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited September 2007
    reeltrouble1 wrote: »
    I like Slowhand SACD.

    This is leaps and bounds better than the Red Book!
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited September 2007
    rskarvan wrote: »
    Time Warp by Telarc!

    Also, Star Tracks by Telarc!
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited September 2007
    hearingimpared wrote: »
    This is leaps and bounds better than the Red Book!

    I like the Layla SACD the most though, its a hybrid and the redbook layer is pretty good as well.

    RT1
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited September 2007
    I've been trying to relieve my crappy Red Book CDs with the SACD versions and am finding it as expensive as replacing old LPs with new or newer ones.
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  • Midnite Mick
    Midnite Mick Posts: 1,591
    edited September 2007
    Eric Clapton - Back Home is terrible as well....not even listenable..the music is ho hum anyway.

    However, his unplugged cd is quite good.

    A couple of what I regard as phenomenal redbooks are Neil Young - Unplugged and Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall.
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited September 2007
    Neil Young always cared about the sonics of his final products. This is one of the reasons he always put his work to vinyl.
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  • Systems
    Systems Posts: 14,873
    edited September 2007
    rskarvan wrote: »
    Time Warp by Telarc!
    Thats a woofer killer in a couple of parts.The dynamics on that disc are amazing.I think Fagens Morph the Cat is the best sounding CD in my collection.
    Testing
    Testing
    Testing
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  • schwarcw
    schwarcw Posts: 7,337
    edited September 2007
    Try any of the ones mastered or remastered by Steve Hoffman. Check out a list Here
    Carl

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  • schwarcw
    schwarcw Posts: 7,337
    edited September 2007
    More Steve Hoffman Here

    Carl
    Carl

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  • schwarcw
    schwarcw Posts: 7,337
    edited September 2007
    and some more Here
    Carl

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  • schwarcw
    schwarcw Posts: 7,337
    edited September 2007
    If you are into the 45 RPM 10" vinyl, look Here
    Carl

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  • schwarcw
    schwarcw Posts: 7,337
    edited September 2007
    Check your SACD's. Bob Ludwick at Gateway Studios in Portland Maine has done a lot of the SACD's for Sony and others. He's one of the recording industry's most respected engineers. Here is an interesting interview with him, look Here
    Carl

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  • Ricardo
    Ricardo Posts: 10,636
    edited September 2007
    Dave Brubecks's "For All Time" set; awesome.
    _________________________________________________
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    2008 & 2010 Football Pool WINNER
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  • know nothing
    know nothing Posts: 24
    edited September 2007
    Here are a few good recordings, all Redbook CDs. A pretty broad mix of music but no heavy metal or rap

    Dave Mathews: Under The Table Dreaming
    Joss Stone: The Soul Sessions
    Jack Johnson: In Between Dreams
    Bela Fleck & The Flecktones: UFOTOFU (the bass on this recording will challenge your speakers and your neighbors)
    Tony Toni Tone: Sons Of Soul
    Cassandra Wilson: New Moon Daughter
    Bruce Cockburn: Nothing But A Burning Light
    Shawn Colvin: Steady On
    Rickie Lee Jones: Pop Pop
    Bettye LaVette: I've Got My Own Hell To Raise

    Miles Davis: Kind Of Blue (Columbia Jazz Masterpiece)
    Dave Brubeck: Time Out (Columbia Jazz Masterpiece)
    Charles Mingus: Mingus Ah Um (engineered by Teo Macero who also did Kind Of Blue)
    Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington: The Great Summit/The Master Takes (a classic)
    Dianna Krall: From This Moment On (try to count the pieces in the big band on the uptempo cuts)
    Branford Marsalis: Eternal

    Almost any late fifties recording re-engineered by Rudy Van Gelder and re-released by Blue Note or Columbia

    Janine Jansen: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons Violin Concerto in F Minor (one of the best recordings of any style or format that I have heard)

    kn
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  • Ricardo
    Ricardo Posts: 10,636
    edited September 2007
    Here's another one that's always on my top 10's (and my favorite from her):

    Diana Krall -Stepping out
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    2008 & 2010 Football Pool WINNER
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  • hypertone
    hypertone Posts: 150
    edited September 2007
    schwarcw wrote: »
    Try any of the ones mastered or remastered by Steve Hoffman. Check out a list Here

    I noticed he did the Best of the Doobie Brothers. That one is outstanding.



    All the Pink Floyd stuff that I have has top notch sonics.
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  • schwarcw
    schwarcw Posts: 7,337
    edited September 2007
    hypertone wrote: »
    I noticed he did the Best of the Doobie Brothers. That one is outstanding.

    If you go to buy an album from the list of Steve Hoffman remasters,
    make sure that you get one that he worked. Read the cover or look at the dates. Some of these may cost you a little more.

    Carl
    Carl

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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited September 2007
    hypertone wrote: »
    I noticed he did the Best of the Doobie Brothers. That one is outstanding.

    I have this and yes it is very very good. It comes close to the MFSL LP of "Takin it too the Streets."
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited September 2007
    Awesome; Steely Dan, "A Decade of Steely Dan"

    Pretty good; Willie Nelson, "Stardust"

    Somewhat good; Bob Seager, "Greatest Hits," although a song or two sounds like the master was compressed.

    Bass thin and harsh; David Bowie, "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars," however on the recommendation of our local SACD master F1Nut, I purchased the SACD of this and it is really fantastic.
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  • snow
    snow Posts: 4,337
    edited September 2007
    hearingimpared wrote: »
    Great;

    AC/DC, "Ballbreaker
    Yes I have that one and its very good, I also like AC/DC The Razors Edge. Shania Twains UP album. Maroon5 Songs about Jane. Ashamed to admit I own this... :o Lindsay Lohan SPEAK.

    Best DVD AUDIO. ELP Brain Surgery Salad. Hands down the best I have ever heard on this format.

    REGARDS SNOW
    .
    Well, I just pulled off the impossible by doing a double-blind comparison all by myself, purely by virtue of the fact that I completely and stupidly forgot what I did last. I guess that getting old does have its advantages after all :D
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited September 2007
    snow wrote: »
    Yes I have that one and its very good, I also like AC/DC The Razors Edge. Shania Twains UP album. Maroon5 Songs about Jane. Ashamed to admit I own this... :o Lindsay Lohan SPEAK.

    Best DVD AUDIO. ELP Brain Surgery Salad. Hands down the best I have ever heard on this format.

    REGARDS SNOW
    .

    I love ELP as a matter of fact a well mastered CD is;

    ELP, "Best of"
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited September 2007
    Awesome;

    Pink Floyd, "Meddle"


    Yuck;

    Pink Floyd, "A Saucerful of Secrets"

    These from the Shine On box set.
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  • m00npie
    m00npie Posts: 697
    edited September 2007
    hypertone wrote: »
    I noticed he did the Best of the Doobie Brothers. That one is outstanding.

    I'm trying to track down a copy of this but can't find one or at least the Gold version anyway. I tried the usual places (Music Direct, CD Universe, Amazon, etc… but it is either unavailable or out of stock. I tried eBay as well but there were none listed.

    The search continues…
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited September 2007
    Lindsy Buckingham's,,"out of the cradle"
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • beardog03
    beardog03 Posts: 5,550
    edited September 2007
    I would like to find a good version of some old Jeff Beck
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