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

[Ralf11]

I think no single recording can serve as a reference.

[bobbmd]

both dvd-a versions of workingman's dead and american beauty especially in a true multi-channel system with a bass manger

for the time it was released the first multi disc box set ever the one by Bruce and e street band

[cjf]

Adding a few more I've come to rely on  over the years since my last posting in this thread:

 

Mariah Carey - Mariah Carey

 

Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine

 

Sade - Diamond Life

 

Don Dokken -Up From The Ashes

 

Gatecrasher Global SoundSystem (Y2K)

 

[Tinnitus Andronicus]

Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection 2004 SACD. It was the first SACD I bought and the first recording I listened to on my new system when I played it for the first time two years ago. I don't typically buy music for the sound quality, I buy it for the music and I've always thought this was a great record even though I'm not the world's biggest Elton John fan. The engineering, mastering, performance, writing and arrangements. It's perfect. And the sound is like being in the room with the performers. It was a revelation hearing that on SACD for the first time, the music just breathes... When I read that they were releasing new remasters of Elton's recordings I just thought, "How could they possibly improve on this master?"

 

Also, I recently signed up for Qobuz hi-res streaming and followed up on a suggestion to listen to the 24/96 version of Steely Dan's Gaucho (my least favorite of their albums) and that blew me away.

 

But having a good system to listen to music on has made such a big difference (both in hearing how good some releases sound and how bad mastering can ruin the experience). Just yesterday I was listening to the Cavaliers Anthology of Cockney Rebel and marveling at what a great remastering job they did with those records from 1973-74. I think that era of the early 70s was kind of a golden age of analog studio recording, I don't know how much was a question of equipment or style or expertise but especially the acoustic instruments of the best recordings of that era are unequaled. But I'm sure there's a lot out there I haven't heard, and many listeners more knowledgeable than myself and with better aural discrimination.

[fas42]

As stated in posts here, there is no single recording that can tell you everything - but if I had to grab a single album to use for testing a whole range of setups, I would probably go for the original mastering of Led Zeppelin I ... this would tell me in 30 secs whether the system was anywhere in the range of getting the sound right - ability to handle dynamics, subtle treble, complex mixing, intense music making, extracting the finest details, etc.

[oso]

On 3/25/2019 at 3:01 PM, christian u said:

I think a new classic is born, it's live, it's recorded in DXD with only 1 microphone, completely phase coherent, and it sounds fantastic. Highly recommended.

https://www.soundliaison.com/

New equally impressive one mic recording just released; Braskiri Live at MCO (One Microphone Recording)

[PAP]

Nothing like a tuba for the low end!

[fas42]

6 hours ago, PAP said:

Nothing like a tuba for the low end!

 

Reminds me ... at the local community hall, years ago - on stage, no PA of course, a quartet of, ahem, tuba players playing arrangements of pieces to suit the instrument; what got me was that the smallest, youngest, girl, was playing the big daddy instrument, a whopper of a thing! ... It was fabulous to listen to - huge sound filling the space ...

[oso]

Steffen Granly , the tuba player from Braskiri looks a bit bigger😁

[PAP]

He looks like a real Viking! 😀

 

[PAP]

On 3/25/2019 at 3:01 PM, christian u said:

I think a new classic is born, it's live, it's recorded in DXD with only 1 microphone, completely phase coherent, and it sounds fantastic. Highly recommended.

https://www.soundliaison.com/

 

Yes but it is a special 3 channel microphone, so NOT mono. I even think you'd be hard pressed to find recordings with a wider sound stage than these "One Microphone" recordings.

[bobbmd]

My two DEAD dvd-audio discs American Beauty and Working

ans Dead but alas I no longer have  a. Surround Sound system but still play them through my Yamaha dvd-audio changer to Schitt Yggdrasil gs to Schitt Raggy 2 to legacy studio had monitors

[Milan]

On 3/8/2016 at 7:17 PM, oso said:

testikhof has analyzed both downloads; technically After Silence is a notch above Road to Memphis

less ambient noise, but both albums have a superior SQ.

Still need testikhof to have a go at the ''One Mic'' recordings from the same label, but anyway the whole catalogue is on a 20% sale at the moment. https://www.soundliaison.com/

These albums shows the great variety but superb musician ship of the labels output. SQ is unsurpassed.

[orresearch]

[oso]

On 4/30/2020 at 3:47 PM, Milan said:

Still need testikhof to have a go at the ''One Mic'' recordings from the same label, but anyway the whole catalogue is on a 20% sale at the moment. https://www.soundliaison.com/

These albums shows the great variety but superb musician ship of the labels output. SQ is unsurpassed.

Yes, but don't forget to fill in the coupon code; RAINBOWS

[TRHH]

Over 200 tracks:

 

https://play.qobuz.com/playlist/13470221

 

Torben