mjb Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 <sarcasm>Thanks for all the excellent recommendations. I own many of them, but to be honest, can’t really hear much of a difference.</sarcasm> Link to comment
mjb Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 4 hours ago, GUTB said: For example, @mjb thinks that Norah Jones album is the "gold standard" -- but when you check his system he has a class D amp so female vocal albums probably all sound the same to him. I’ve just switched out 100kg of Classé gear with 12kg of Devialet. Believe me, in the last couple of weeks I have instensly scrutinized that decision with many of the albums here, and I don’t regret the change. Link to comment
GUTB Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 31 minutes ago, mjb said: I’ve just switched out 100kg of Classé gear with 12kg of Devialet. Believe me, in the last couple of weeks I have instensly scrutinized that decision with many of the albums here, and I don’t regret the change. There must be something wrong with the Classe amp if you prefer a class D over it. wgscott 1 Link to comment
Ralf11 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 4 hours ago, Screwdriver said: ...why would you troll a thread about what music people listen to? Was it just to bait people into another Class D sucks discussion? did you ever take a class in abnormal psychology? wgscott 1 Link to comment
Screwdriver Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 7 hours ago, Ralf11 said: did you ever take a class in abnormal psychology? Funny that you ask. I took a cognitive psychology class in college...... ? Link to comment
fas42 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 If I want to listen to female voice purely for the joy of the texture of that type of "sound maker" I would use any album by someone like Doris Day ... Link to comment
TubeLover Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 On 8/9/2018 at 2:31 PM, Screwdriver said: On 8/9/2018 at 2:31 PM, Screwdriver said: Fine choices all.......... Link to comment
TubeLover Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 On 8/9/2018 at 4:15 AM, Blackmorec said: You’re probably like me and love discovering great new music.....this is what this post is all about. Imagine that next week you are getting a visit from a couple of Hi-Fi News editors who have asked to listen to your system playing 3 of your favourite albums. Great Music and sound quality are the criteria. Which 3 albums would you select to demonstrate your system at its finest? Here are my choices: Rodrigo y Gabriela (the lizard eye album) Deep Forest - Music detected. (Recently discovered from CA ‘best recordings for system evaluation’ thread) Malia - Convergence Bonus album Leonard Cohen - 10 new songs So which albums do you love listening to that do a great job demonstrating your system’s abilities? Definitely agree on either of the two Rodrigo y Gabriela albums I've heard on Tidal. Listened after they were noted in Records To Die For Iin Stereophile last time around. Sadly, I had ordered both from Amazon, and they were delayed six months before Amazon cancelled the order saying they were no longer available in print! A number of Mr. Cohen's albums could be included on this list. JC Link to comment
TubeLover Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 On 8/9/2018 at 8:25 AM, TheAttorney said: I would certainly consider your Rodrigo y Gabriela album. And as a Leonard Cohen fan, I may choose You Want it Daker, or Old Ideas, simply becuase I prefer them to 10 New Songs. But if pushed for only 3, off the top of my head I'd go for: Laura Marling - Once I was an Eagle (Simply the most natural, life-like, female vocals I've ever heard, particularly on the 2nd half slower tracks. Warning: this is a sombre album) Lambchop - Is a Woman (The original recording is better than the louder remaster) Holly Cole - Temptation (Superb covers of Tom Waits songs) PS. I'm a heahphone-only listener. Holly Cole's Temptation is a brilliant recording, as are several of her albums. I just found out that an all new remastering from the original tapes is due out in January on vinyl. Hopefully there is a Hi Rez version released too. I also just discovered that Temptation is also available on SACD from a few years back. Wondering how good that recording is, and tempted to buy it. JC Musicophile 1 Link to comment
sandyk Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 13 minutes ago, TubeLover said: Holly Cole's Temptation is a brilliant recording, as are several of her albums. I just found out that an all new remastering from the original tapes is due out in January on vinyl. Hopefully there is a Hi Rez version released too. I also just discovered that Temptation is also available on SACD from a few years back. Wondering how good that recording is, and tempted to buy it. JC From HDTracks (I have also seen it in 24/96) Holly Cole Available in Audiophile 88kHz/24bit Title: Holly Cole Artist: Holly Cole Genre: Jazz, Audiophile Picks, Engineers' Picks Label: 2xHD Release Date: 2014 Album/Track Details About This Album Buy Album Album Name Length Format Sample Rate Price Holly Cole 43:24 AIFFALACFLACWAV 88/24 $17.98 Add to Cart Buy Individual Tracks # Track Title Length Format Sample Rate Price 1 Waters of March 04:21 88/24 Album only 2 Alley Cat Song 04:04 88/24 Album only 3 Larger Than Life 03:39 88/24 Album only 4 Be Careful, It's My Heart 02:09 88/24 Album only 5 It's Alright With Me 03:53 88/24 Album only 6 You're My Thrill 05:47 88/24 Album only 7 Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries 03:04 88/24 Album only 8 Reaching for the Moon 04:09 88/24 Album only 9 I Will Wait for You 04:32 88/24 Album only 10 Charade 03:28 88/24 Album only 11 The House Is Haunted by the Echo of Your Last Goodbye 04:18 88/24 Album only Musicophile 1 How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file. PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020 Link to comment
TubeLover Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 32 minutes ago, sandyk said: From HDTracks (I have also seen it in 24/96) Holly Cole Available in Audiophile 88kHz/24bit Title: Holly Cole Artist: Holly Cole Genre: Jazz, Audiophile Picks, Engineers' Picks Label: 2xHD Release Date: 2014 Album/Track Details About This Album Buy Album Album Name Length Format Sample Rate Price Holly Cole 43:24 AIFFALACFLACWAV 88/24 $17.98 Add to Cart Buy Individual Tracks # Track Title Length Format Sample Rate Price 1 Waters of March 04:21 88/24 Album only 2 Alley Cat Song 04:04 88/24 Album only 3 Larger Than Life 03:39 88/24 Album only 4 Be Careful, It's My Heart 02:09 88/24 Album only 5 It's Alright With Me 03:53 88/24 Album only 6 You're My Thrill 05:47 88/24 Album only 7 Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries 03:04 88/24 Album only 8 Reaching for the Moon 04:09 88/24 Album only 9 I Will Wait for You 04:32 88/24 Album only 10 Charade 03:28 88/24 Album only 11 The House Is Haunted by the Echo of Your Last Goodbye 04:18 88/24 Album only But that can't be based on the new remastering releasing in September that I mentioned? Link to comment
sandyk Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 13 minutes ago, TubeLover said: But that can't be based on the new remastering releasing in September that I mentioned? Since when are the Remasters usually better than the originals ? (except perhaps for some Japanese SHM releases) Do you already have this album in 24/88.2 ? If not, you could always purchase a single track to see how it sounds, and what the DR is like. How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file. PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020 Link to comment
sandyk Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 The 24/96 which appears to be from the SACD Master doesn't appear to be too promising . There is no clipping though, with mainly one peak at -1.2dB How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file. PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020 Link to comment
Blackmorec Posted August 11, 2018 Author Share Posted August 11, 2018 On 8/9/2018 at 1:25 PM, TheAttorney said: I would certainly consider your Rodrigo y Gabriela album. And as a Leonard Cohen fan, I may choose You Want it Daker, or Old Ideas, simply becuase I prefer them to 10 New Songs. But if pushed for only 3, off the top of my head I'd go for: Laura Marling - Once I was an Eagle (Simply the most natural, life-like, female vocals I've ever heard, particularly on the 2nd half slower tracks. Warning: this is a sombre album) Lambchop - Is a Woman (The original recording is better than the louder remaster) Holly Cole - Temptation (Superb covers of Tom Waits songs) PS. I'm a heahphone-only listener. This is exactly the kind of response I was hoping to get. All nail the SQ criteria 100% and while Laura Marling is indeed a little too melancholy for my taste, the Holly Cole is right up my street. A gem of an album beautifully and creatively recorded. The nice thing about this is that I can read your posts, go into Qobuz, add your albums to my favourite and be basking in their sonic glory a few minutes later. So come on, ignore the cheap shots from people who seem to only come here for an argument and post your favourite (music & SQ) albums. daverich4 1 Link to comment
TheAttorney Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 8 hours ago, TubeLover said: Holly Cole's Temptation is a brilliant recording, as are several of her albums..... I also just discovered that Temptation is also available on SACD from a few years back. Wondering how good that recording is, and tempted to buy it. I have only redbook files and CDs, but I did get the Analogue Productions hybrid SACD versions of Temptation and Don't Smoke in Bed. In both cases, the redbook layer of these "audiophile" remasters are better than the original, losing some hash and splash, but the difference is quite subtle, partly because the originals were pretty good to start with. I've heard bigger improvements by upgrading my hifi system. Probably the SACD layer would have been better still. Continuing the thread of jazz/pop cross-over artists with demo quality recordings, two other contenders are: Patricia Barber - I wasn't convinced at first, but now I love her minimalist/moody/aloof style. Based my 3-CD retrospective, no albums are more moody, or better recorded, than Modern Cool and the live Companion. If you're looking for a demo quality fretless bass solo, then go straight to the Use Me track on Companion. Her Mythologies album may well be the best recording of the lot, with some real wow moments, but I find it rather "intellectual" musically and not so easy to get into. Diana Krall - The Girl in the Other Room. This is the album to get if you reckon you don't like Diana Krall. It's mostly her own compositions (co-written with hubby Elvis Costello) and a couple of modern covers. Just short of true demo status IMO because the rather hotly recorded vocals will show up any brighness in your system. But try it if only to compare Diana's sultry/sexy version of Temptation against Holly's darker, almost paranoid, interpretation. I love both versions. Musicophile 1 Link to comment
chrisc Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 The Cape Town Hi-Fi Club need a selection of well-recorded music for 10 out of 12 meetings and this is what we have compiled, through many trials and errors There are other compliations, used for comparing DACs, etc 01 Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes 02 Zbigniew Preisner - Milsoc Od Pierwszego Wejrzenia 03 Andre Rieu - The Godfather; Godfather Waltz 04 Karen Souza - Tainted Love 05 Madeleine Peyroux - La Vie en Rose 09 Bourbon Street Stompers, The - Doghouse Blues 10 Joseph Hasty - When Swing Was King 10 Vittorio Monti- - Vittorio Monti-Csardas 11 Dave Grusin - Suite from the Milagro Beanfield War; Coyote Angel 12 Dave Grusin - Suite from the Milagro Beanfield War; Pistolero 13 Dave Grusin - Suite from the Milagro Beanfield War; Milagro 14 Dave Grusin - Suite from the Milagro Beanfield War; Fiesta 15 Giorgio Conte - Cannelloni 16 Ain't No Sunshine 17 Chris Jones - No Sanctuary here 18 Eli Yamin Blues Band – I Feel So Glad - 01-HoundDog 19 Gyuto Monks - Praising Chakrasamvara 20 Holly Cole - Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries 21 McKinley Black_My Diamond Mine miguelito 1 The Cape Town Hi-Fi Club. Achieve astonishing sound Listening stuff: Mercury Pi2, Devialet 440CI, B&W DB1, LF-8ba, 2 x Dachshunds Link to comment
chrisc Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 On 8/9/2018 at 8:10 PM, mjb said: I thought this is the gold standard.... It is an excellent recording to be sure, but some guys felt it was a bit processed. I have the 24 bit 192KHz version The Cape Town Hi-Fi Club. Achieve astonishing sound Listening stuff: Mercury Pi2, Devialet 440CI, B&W DB1, LF-8ba, 2 x Dachshunds Link to comment
Popular Post miguelito Posted August 11, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted August 11, 2018 On 8/9/2018 at 4:15 AM, Blackmorec said: You’re probably like me and love discovering great new music.....this is what this post is all about. Imagine that next week you are getting a visit from a couple of Hi-Fi News editors who have asked to listen to your system playing 3 of your favourite albums. Great Music and sound quality are the criteria. Which 3 albums would you select to demonstrate your system at its finest? Here are my choices: Rodrigo y Gabriela (the lizard eye album) Deep Forest - Music detected. (Recently discovered from CA ‘best recordings for system evaluation’ thread) Malia - Convergence Bonus album Leonard Cohen - 10 new songs So which albums do you love listening to that do a great job demonstrating your system’s abilities? A few albums: Amber Rubarth - Sessions from the 17th Ward (DSD128 from HDTracks) Great vocal capture and space. Milcho Leviev - Man From Plovdiv (CD rip) Amazing jazz, and one of the most amazing recordings I own in terms of piano tonality, it will show very clearly whether your system can reproduce piano properly Dick Hyman - From The Age of Swing (CD rip) Fun swing music, great recording Daft Punk - Random Access Memories (88/24 from HDTracks) Great electronica Arnesen - Magnificat (2L download, highest PCM rate, around 352 or so) Amazingly beautiful piece, great choral recording, space and depth A few tracks: Moby - Flying Foxes (CD rip) Incredible analog synths Nina Simone - Mood Indigo (DSD64 ripped from latest Analog Productions SACD) Sara Bareilles - Gravity (live) (HDTracks) Buika - Mienteme Bien (CD rip) But I have to say there are so so so many great recordings, I’m just posting what I remember right now. There’s a great Carmina Burana recording I cannot recall right now (not home) which in my system will just take the air out of your lungs... elcorso and kumakuma 1 1 NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul system pics Link to comment
miguelito Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 On 8/9/2018 at 2:10 PM, mjb said: I thought this is the gold standard.... I have this in DSD64 ripped from the SACD. I also listened to high res versions. I find this album very good but I would say her voice is ever so slightly “enclosed” if that makes sense, as if it was miked very very closely, which is probably the case actually, and I don’t quite love that. NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul system pics Link to comment
miguelito Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 40 minutes ago, chrisc said: The Cape Town Hi-Fi Club need a selection of well-recorded music for 10 out of 12 meetings and this is what we have compiled, through many trials and errors There are other compliations, used for comparing DACs, etc 01 Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes 02 Zbigniew Preisner - Milsoc Od Pierwszego Wejrzenia 03 Andre Rieu - The Godfather; Godfather Waltz 04 Karen Souza - Tainted Love 05 Madeleine Peyroux - La Vie en Rose 09 Bourbon Street Stompers, The - Doghouse Blues 10 Joseph Hasty - When Swing Was King 10 Vittorio Monti- - Vittorio Monti-Csardas 11 Dave Grusin - Suite from the Milagro Beanfield War; Coyote Angel 12 Dave Grusin - Suite from the Milagro Beanfield War; Pistolero 13 Dave Grusin - Suite from the Milagro Beanfield War; Milagro 14 Dave Grusin - Suite from the Milagro Beanfield War; Fiesta 15 Giorgio Conte - Cannelloni 16 Ain't No Sunshine 17 Chris Jones - No Sanctuary here 18 Eli Yamin Blues Band – I Feel So Glad - 01-HoundDog 19 Gyuto Monks - Praising Chakrasamvara 20 Holly Cole - Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries 21 McKinley Black_My Diamond Mine Make a TIDAL playlist and share it! NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul system pics Link to comment
semente Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 On 8/9/2018 at 9:15 AM, Blackmorec said: Imagine that next week you are getting a visit from a couple of Hi-Fi News editors I'm sure they wouldn't come for free... To get even, I'd bore them to death with a CD I have of music from Laos or perhaps I'd just download a High Res version of a Jean-Michel Jarre album. "Science draws the wave, poetry fills it with water" Teixeira de Pascoaes HQPlayer Desktop / Mac mini → Intona 7054 → RME ADI-2 DAC FS (DSD256) Link to comment
Rt66indierock Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 On 8/9/2018 at 1:15 AM, Blackmorec said: You’re probably like me and love discovering great new music.....this is what this post is all about. Imagine that next week you are getting a visit from a couple of Hi-Fi News editors who have asked to listen to your system playing 3 of your favourite albums. Great Music and sound quality are the criteria. Which 3 albums would you select to demonstrate your system at its finest? Little Feat Waiting for Columbus Deep Purple Made in Japan The Band Rock of Ages Link to comment
Mayfair Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 2 hours ago, miguelito said: "... There’s a great Carmina Burana recording I cannot recall right now (not home) which in my system will just take the air out of your lungs..." Could that breathtaking recording be Eugen Jochum's 1967 DG ? Link to comment
elcorso Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 2 hours ago, miguelito said: A few albums: Amber Rubarth - Sessions from the 17th Ward (DSD128 from HDTracks) Great vocal capture and space. Milcho Leviev - Man From Plovdiv (CD rip) Amazing jazz, and one of the most amazing recordings I own in terms of piano tonality, it will show very clearly whether your system can reproduce piano properly Dick Hyman - From The Age of Swing (CD rip) Fun swing music, great recording Daft Punk - Random Access Memories (88/24 from HDTracks) Great electronica Arnesen - Magnificat (2L download, highest PCM rate, around 352 or so) Amazingly beautiful piece, great choral recording, space and depth A few tracks: Moby - Flying Foxes (CD rip) Incredible analog synths Nina Simone - Mood Indigo (DSD64 ripped from latest Analog Productions SACD) Sara Bareilles - Gravity (live) (HDTracks) Buika - Mienteme Bien (CD rip) But I have to say there are so so so many great recordings, I’m just posting what I remember right now. There’s a great Carmina Burana recording I cannot recall right now (not home) which in my system will just take the air out of your lungs... Since you mentioned (Concha Buika) I like to add her best album (for me) And another from Spain. Nice Latin Romance and very well recorded: Roch miguelito 1 Link to comment
Musicophile Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 13 hours ago, sandyk said: From HDTracks (I have also seen it in 24/96) Holly Cole Available in Audiophile 88kHz/24bit Title: Holly Cole Artist: Holly Cole Genre: Jazz, Audiophile Picks, Engineers' Picks Label: 2xHD Release Date: 2014 Album/Track Details About This Album Buy Album Album Name Length Format Sample Rate Price Holly Cole 43:24 AIFFALACFLACWAV 88/24 $17.98 Add to Cart Buy Individual Tracks # Track Title Length Format Sample Rate Price 1 Waters of March 04:21 88/24 Album only 2 Alley Cat Song 04:04 88/24 Album only 3 Larger Than Life 03:39 88/24 Album only 4 Be Careful, It's My Heart 02:09 88/24 Album only 5 It's Alright With Me 03:53 88/24 Album only 6 You're My Thrill 05:47 88/24 Album only 7 Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries 03:04 88/24 Album only 8 Reaching for the Moon 04:09 88/24 Album only 9 I Will Wait for You 04:32 88/24 Album only 10 Charade 03:28 88/24 Album only 11 The House Is Haunted by the Echo of Your Last Goodbye 04:18 88/24 Album only I tried the 2xHD version of Temptation and Don’t Smoke In Bed during my free trial of the Highresaudio streaming service and was quite impressed. Check out my blog at musicophilesblog.com - From Keith Jarrett to Johannes Brahms Link to comment
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