Audiophile Neuroscience Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 What's your vote for the best singer or vocalist of all time, and why? One male, one female. It could be from any time or any genre. Doesn't have to be an audiophile quality recording. Sound Minds Mind Sound Link to comment
fas42 Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Frank Sinatra ... for all the obvious reasons - how to do so much, with so little apparent effort. Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Morgan James... Although, I don't think this is a question that can be answered because there are so many that are amazing in their own ways. No electron left behind. Link to comment
Popular Post sphinxsix Posted August 23, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted August 23, 2020 8 hours ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said: Best Singer of All time is... Singer with a capital 'S', right.? I would say - probably Isaac Bashevis Singer.. As for singers - this is not a sane question..😜 May I kindly remind you that you're using the word 'neuroscience' in your nick. It'some kind of obligation, don't you think.? 😉 botrytis, christopher3393 and MrMoM 1 1 1 Link to comment
botrytis Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 WOW - this is a loaded question. It depends for me. mav52 1 Current: Daphile on an AMD A10-9500 with 16 GB RAM DAC - TEAC UD-501 DAC Pre-amp - Rotel RC-1590 Amplification - Benchmark AHB2 amplifier Speakers - Revel M126Be with 2 REL 7/ti subwoofers Cables - Tara Labs RSC Reference and Blue Jean Cable Balanced Interconnects Link to comment
jcbenten Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Lisa Gerard and Robert Plant QNAP TS453Pro w/QLMS->Netgear Switch->Netgear RAX43 Router->Ethernet (50 ft)->Netgear switch->SBTouch ->SABAJ A10d->Linn Majik-IL (preamp)->Linn 2250->Linn Keilidh; Control Points: iPeng (iPad Air & iPhone); Also: Rega P3-24 w/ DV 10x5; OPPO 103; PC Playback: Foobar2000 & JRiver; Portable: iPhone 12 ProMax & Radio Paradise or NAS streaming; Sony NWZ ZX2 w/ PHA-3; SMSL IQ, Fiio Q5, iFi Nano iDSD BL; Garage: Edifier S1000DB Active Speakers Link to comment
mav52 Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 A question with NO real answer. To many variables, age of listener, music type, recording period, live vs recorded etc.. I can say my sister or a friend vs a professional, botrytis 1 The Truth Is Out There Link to comment
Popular Post JoeWhip Posted August 23, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted August 23, 2020 Nat King Cole. FIndingit, ducatirider and cambridgehank 1 2 Link to comment
EdmontonCanuck Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Eva Cassidy CAPS Pipeline with HDPlex Linear PSU running Win10 64 bit, AO 2.0, RoonServer, HQPlayer -> T+A DAC8 DSD -> Linear Tube Audio's MicroZOTL2 Headphone Amp with Mojo Audio's Illuminati Linear PSU -> Focal Utopia/Audeze LCD-3 Link to comment
pkane2001 Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Beniamino Gigli -Paul DeltaWave, DISTORT, Earful, PKHarmonic, new: Multitone Analyzer Link to comment
Albrecht Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 14 hours ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said: What's your vote for the best singer or vocalist of all time, and why? One male, one female. It could be from any time or any genre. Doesn't have to be an audiophile quality recording. Don't you have to narrow that down to genre? Of course it's subjective, - but surely you have very little criteria in common between Pavarotti & Thom Yorke. Someone like Lisa Gerard didn't really sing opera, but there were some operatic elements in her material, - so.... One other question, - (and apologies if this thread hijacking), - but another interesting question is what about crossing genri? Sometimes one finds that a rock singer was classically trained or has a great voice for opera.... Cheers, Link to comment
ray-dude Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Frank Sinatra (Capitol years) Aretha Franklin (if you were blessed enough to catch Amazing Grace last year, you'll know why) MarkS 1 ATT Fiber -> EdgeRouter X SFP -> Taiko Audio Extreme -> Vinnie Rossi L2i-SE w/ Level 2 DAC -> Voxativ 9.87 speakers w/ 4D drivers Link to comment
botrytis Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 I can think of a few Johnny Hartman - the man had the most amazing voice. Rick Astley has an amazing voice, if you can get divorce it from his music. Women - WOW - too many to count. PYP 1 Current: Daphile on an AMD A10-9500 with 16 GB RAM DAC - TEAC UD-501 DAC Pre-amp - Rotel RC-1590 Amplification - Benchmark AHB2 amplifier Speakers - Revel M126Be with 2 REL 7/ti subwoofers Cables - Tara Labs RSC Reference and Blue Jean Cable Balanced Interconnects Link to comment
Popular Post cambridgehank Posted August 23, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted August 23, 2020 Smokey Robinson and Eartha Kitt motberg, The Computer Audiophile and lucretius 3 Link to comment
joelha Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 I can't believe I'm going to offer this up as an answer since I don't even like opera, but Luciano Pavarotti. Second place would go to Ray Charles. Joel The Computer Audiophile 1 Link to comment
Allan F Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 IMO, there is not and cannot be a "best singer of all time" because there are just too many variables - era, genre, style, etc. - to make any single selection meaningful. OTOH, a survey of "favourite singer of all time" would be quite another matter. "Relax, it's only hi-fi. There's never been a hi-fi emergency." - Roy Hall "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - William Bruce Cameron Link to comment
Popular Post AudioDoctor Posted August 23, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted August 23, 2020 If no one has posted it yet, this Singer is probably the greatest of all time... https://www.topgear.com/car-news/big-reads/it-911-reimagined-singer-and-williams Audiophile Neuroscience, The Computer Audiophile and sphinxsix 2 1 No electron left behind. Link to comment
PYP Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Can't answer that, but will answer "which singers affect you the most?" (sorry). Women: Lizz Wright, Ane Brun, Karrin Allyson, Magos Herrera, (among many, many others). Men: Gregory Porter, Johnny Hartman, Milton Nascimento, (among others). Grimm Audio MU1 > Mola Mola Tambaqui > Mola Mola Kaluga > B&W 803 D3 Cables: Kubala-Sosna Power management: Shunyata Room: Vicoustics “Nature is pleased with simplicity.” Isaac Newton "As neither the enjoyment nor the capacity of producing musical notes are faculties of the least use to man...they must be ranked among the most mysterious with which he is endowed." Charles Darwin - The Descent of Man Link to comment
Audiophile Neuroscience Posted August 23, 2020 Author Share Posted August 23, 2020 3 hours ago, joelha said: I can't believe I'm going to offer this up as an answer since I don't even like opera, but Luciano Pavarotti. Second place would go to Ray Charles. Joel Hi Joel, you are hitting on what I was loosely getting at in my question and what others have commented on indirectly. Specifically you have pointed out that your vote "for best" doesn't have to coincide with your favourite singer and it raises the question what criteria are used to determine "the best" which in and of itself, at its heart, is still a subjective assessment . I anticipated that people would rightly point out that it may be impossible to declare who was the best singer if implying a consensus between many assessors or even for any one assessor comparing such different singing talents. It's interesting therefore how people might choose "the best" if "forced". It does not necessarily imply ones favourite, popularity, commercial success, genre, voice characteristics, technique, training, emotional engagement or whatever. I probably should have explained myself better in the opening post by making some analogy to singing contests. If all the great singers in the world and throughout history would turn up at a singing contest who would the judges pick, and is you were one of the judges what would be your vote? Impossible as it is, a "winner" is chosen. I actually thought about doing this but then figured why not just try and keep it simple (as some would then start debating the validity of singing contests). Some people have answered "impossible to answer", but then again that's an answer of sorts. Sound Minds Mind Sound Link to comment
Popular Post The Computer Audiophile Posted August 23, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted August 23, 2020 3 hours ago, AudioDoctor said: If no one has posted it yet, this Singer is probably the greatest of all time... https://www.topgear.com/car-news/big-reads/it-911-reimagined-singer-and-williams Saw many Singers at the Concours d'elegance last year :~) Best singer - Eddie Vedder. cjf, NOMBEDES and AudioDoctor 2 1 Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems Link to comment
Popular Post Audiophile Neuroscience Posted August 23, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 23, 2020 My vote is probably Frank Sinatra and Shirley Bassey. Like many others it's impossible to know for sure. I don't particularly listen to either one very much. I think both of them had incredible voices and incredible tone. They were both masters of their craft (whether you liked it or not). Both have impeccable timing and phrasing. Both are very popular and had commercial success. And importantly both are one-off originals and in terms of at least Frank Sinatra many have tried to copy. Shirley Bassey has one other distinction. She is singularly the only female singer with enough power in her voice to "belt" that it doesn't sound like a" belt" (maybe Judy Garland came close), or even worse sound like a strangled cat. A provocative comment I know and others will disagree fas42 and GregWormald 2 Sound Minds Mind Sound Link to comment
Audiophile Neuroscience Posted August 23, 2020 Author Share Posted August 23, 2020 Something else that I think this thread has sparked, is that there has been some interesting nominations. People I wouldn't have necessarily thought of and so I will have a closer listen. Sound Minds Mind Sound Link to comment
cjf Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 Ronnie James Dio Stevie Nicks For today 🤨 The Computer Audiophile 1 My Audio System -Last Updated May 20 2021 Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said: Saw many Singers at the Concours d'elegance last year :~) Best singer - Eddie Vedder. There is one here in Minnesota, right in the metro area. I want to make it two. The Computer Audiophile 1 No electron left behind. Link to comment
audiobomber Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 20 hours ago, fas42 said: Frank Sinatra ... for all the obvious reasons - how to do so much, with so little apparent effort. Johnny Hartman makes Frank Sinatra look like a pretender. For pop vocalist, Whitney Houston had the greatest voice, but horrible taste in music. Rexp 1 Main System: QNAP TS-451+ NAS > Silent Angel Bonn N8 > Sonore opticalModule Deluxe v2 > Corning SMF with Finisar FTLF1318P3BTL SFPs > Uptone EtherREGEN > exaSound PlayPoint and e32 Mk-II DAC > Meitner MTR-101 Plus monoblocks > Bamberg S5-MTM sealed standmount speakers. Crown XLi 1500 powering AV123 Rocket UFW10 stereo subwoofers Upgraded power on all switches, renderer and DAC. Link to comment
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