What is your personal reference audiophile recording (best sound quality)?

[pooger]

I listen mainly to smaller scale works, with occasional bouts of Opera and Gomez. I'm typically less interested in gross dynamics than other aspects of a recording—correct harmonics, tonal balance, and, ideally palpability and soundstage. If I'm using specific pieces as tests, to see what changes get wrought by whatever it is I'm comparing, then along with being a great recording, it also has to be something that I will enjoy, repeatedly, over and over! (As an aside, this is so much easier now than it was in the LP days—I tried not to play the same cut more than once in 30 minutes, to allow the grooves to normalize.)

 

In any case, I have my Audirvana demo playlist so I can do this so easily now. These first two cuts are ones I have really been relying on a lot lately—but the entire albums are great if you like the genres. These three are all Bluebook.

 

1. Gauceim Faudit- Troubadour Music of the 12th -13th Centuries, Keckés Ensemble, Hungaraton. My test cut is "Chant e deport." This is really well recorded male vocal, with old instruments accompanying. Great palpability and a large, deep and tall soundstage. Truly beautiful music, to boot. Besides the vocal quality, there is a bowed instrument that plays counterpoint—the string sound and how well the voice and string separate are very fine tests. If you don't know if you will like this type of music—but like folk music, or music with microtonality, give it a shot!

 

2. Come Into My House, Junior Wells, Telarc. Favorite test cut is "Whatever Momma Told Me." Starts with just harmonic, then vocal, then the (electric) band comes in. The bass has lovely growl that propels the song forward. This is a well recorded session. I'm sure it's multi miked, but I get a much stronger sense of where everyone is sitting and standing, with a good deal of cohesive, if not palpable, imaging.

 

3. Lately, Salt for Salt, Brown Bird has been playing a lot. "Thunder and Lightning" has much syncopated kick drum and bass plucking going on, with a lot of frequency overlap. Great slam, and getting that balance of slam and distinctness is the goal here.