advertisement


Audiophile music

LazyHammer said:
I'm assuming you meant Sade, in which case she actually does have some really good sounding albums. Audiophile quality.
Click to expand...
"Old Shady" as Steve Wright used to call her. Yes. Quality.

More generally my audiophile selections would be :-


Grace and Danger John Martyn

Open the Door Pentangle

Planets Suite Stokowski on mfp

On Every Street Dire Straits

Old Devil Moon Carmen Lundy

Bill Plays Bud Bill Cunliffe

I could go on forever but also include nearly everything on Blue Note from 1950s to early 60s
And a lot of female jazz singers from that era like Julie London, June Christy, Carmen McRae, Lorez Alexandria etc etc.
 
tricky1 said:
For me, an audiophile recording has to test a system. Try this for starters Levitation - Against Nature, the opening track from their debut album Need for Not.
On the wrong system, this can sound a mush or a cacophony at times but on the right system, you should be able to hear all the individual musical strands, the drummer driving the melody along; the timing should be just on it; and it should sound grand at the right moments. If you're not foot tapping or playing imaginary drum sticks to this, your system is hopeless.
Click to expand...
Listening to this...great drumming!
Nifty guitar too!
 
Waxxy said:
Threads like this continuously draw out the worst of the audio and music snobs...it's both hilarious and disheartening.
Click to expand...
What’s a music snob? Someone who ventures off well trodden music path?
 
Mike Hughes said:
I am strangely reassured by your list that audiophile music is nothing to aspire to at all. Roughly 10 shockingly bad albums in there that I could never listen to again if they were the finest quality recordings known to mankind but the inclusion of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers album is especially bewildering.

The album which defined the loudness wars. It has a massively reduced dynamic range; has been normalised to within an inch of its life and audibly distorts in a very bad way on multiple occasions across multiple tracks. I look forward to your detailed explanation as to its audiophile qualities.
Click to expand...
Maybe there are later masterings but originally the RHCP album is not like that all.
 
"The album which defined the loudness wars" makes me think Mike was thinking of Californication which got a lot of flack for that very thing when it was released. Both produced by Rick Rubin but from Caklifornication onward Rubin's output was generally plagued by heavy-handed compression.

Another album of note renowned for this was Death Magnetic by Metallica (DR3 on CD).

Oasis in the mid 90's where among the first popular artists to do this.
 
Grace & Danger is John Martyn’s best album, it also happens to sound really good.

The whole concept of Audiophile albums is utterly nuts.
 
Speaking of guitars and guitarists I have a 1984 1st LP press of Aerial Boundaries by Michael Hedges that sound great. Recorded live to 2-track digital master at Windham Hill Farm. Original master Bernie Grundman.

Amazing technique.

 
I would define Audiophile music as music which sounds great - where the timbre of the instruments sounds realistic (noting that electronic instruments should sound like they do from their respective amps and not acoustically), where I can hear a great soundstage and hear into the mix and follow individual lines. The music should have dynamics and not be monotone in volume levels.

Not everyone will agree with that definition.

I have lots of music I love which does not meet this definition and there is certainly lots of music which meets this definition which I have no interest in musically.

Having said that there is plenty which meets the definition and I enjoy the music.

Acoustic music has a good chance of meeting this definition, hence a lot of classical music would - but I am not that much of a classic fan. Folk music meets this definition and I would put forward some of Gillian Welch music as an example (possibly even early Mary Black). Also jazz music - but some of the recordings don't capture the non-horn instrument timbre all that well (piano in particular can sound poor). I remember hearing a good recording of early Ella Fitzgerald and the tone of her voice was exquisite (and I loved the music) - If they can do this in the 1950's what has happened since to make modern recordings sound so bad?

"Audiophile" record labels also have some music I really like (and a lot I do not). The first of these I got was Thelma Houston and Pressure Cooker on Sheffield Lab. The label also has a Tower of Power Album and several Harry James big band recordings - all fantastic. Opus 3 has several Eric Bibb albums which are wonderful.

Albums by more modern artists can often sound awful - but then every now and again there are albums which sound great. e.g. Rikkie Lee Jones Pop Pop, Daft Punk Random Access memories, Soundtracks (by people like Olafur Arnalds, Ludovico Einaudi, Max Richter - just put on a good mastering of Star Wars Soundtrack) and most Holly Cole albums sound great (Temptation in particular).

Having said all of that, I listen to the music I feel like - if it sounds Audiophile, then that is a bonus, if not I enjoy it anyway.
 
Lowgroove said:
I would define Audiophile music as music which sounds great - where the timbre of the instruments sounds realistic (noting that electronic instruments should sound like they do from their respective amps and not acoustically), where I can hear a great soundstage and hear into the mix and follow individual lines. The music should have dynamics and not be monotone in volume levels.

Not everyone will agree with that definition.

I have lots of music I love which does not meet this definition and there is certainly lots of music which meets this definition which I have no interest in musically.

Having said that there is plenty which meets the definition and I enjoy the music.

Acoustic music has a good chance of meeting this definition, hence a lot of classical music would - but I am not that much of a classic fan. Folk music meets this definition and I would put forward some of Gillian Welch music as an example (possibly even early Mary Black). Also jazz music - but some of the recordings don't capture the non-horn instrument timbre all that well (piano in particular can sound poor). I remember hearing a good recording of early Ella Fitzgerald and the tone of her voice was exquisite (and I loved the music) - If they can do this in the 1950's what has happened since to make modern recordings sound so bad?

"Audiophile" record labels also have some music I really like (and a lot I do not). The first of these I got was Thelma Houston and Pressure Cooker on Sheffield Lab. The label also has a Tower of Power Album and several Harry James big band recordings - all fantastic. Opus 3 has several Eric Bibb albums which are wonderful.

Albums by more modern artists can often sound awful - but then every now and again there are albums which sound great. e.g. Rikkie Lee Jones Pop Pop, Daft Punk Random Access memories, Soundtracks (by people like Olafur Arnalds, Ludovico Einaudi, Max Richter - just put on a good mastering of Star Wars Soundtrack) and most Holly Cole albums sound great (Temptation in particular).

Having said all of that, I listen to the music I feel like - if it sounds Audiophile, then that is a bonus, if not I enjoy it anyway.
Click to expand...
This, maybe?


And it's in glorious mono!
 
RJohan said:
This, maybe?


And it's in glorious mono!
Click to expand...
I can't quite recall which album now. It could have been one of the albums with Louis, or it could have been the Gershwin songbook.

Great song you chose though. Also love the band that backs them - Herb Ellis is having a good day on this track. Mono can sound great as well.
 
Brian S said:
Maybe there should be a definitions thread: I am utterly perplexed by what is meant by 'fun' when applied to speakers, amplifiers etc.,.
Click to expand...

If you don’t know what fun is, when applied to hi-fidelity equipment and the reproduction of music, I would suggest that you should not bother trying to find an answer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top