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The absolute best and worst-sounding CD you own ?

This could be a tricky one. Many audiophiles and music lovers will care more for an artist they like in mediocre sound than a artist they can't stand no matter how great the recording is. Still, I am interested in finding out what truly outstanding recordings there are out there. Of course there are listening biases and all that can be said about the equipment.

My personnal best: Harry Belafonte at Carnegie Hall

My worst: The standard cd issue ''YES-Fragile'' just plain bad no matter on what you play it on. OK so this is a ''rock'' cd and they are all supposed to sound bad right?, still, there is no excuse for this turkey.

Let's have your choice...
sonicbeauty
1741
33 posts
 
Mary Stallings "Fine and Mello" on Clarity recordings (Canadian Import version) is STUNNING. Everything from the balance between the instruments to the utter rightness of her vocals is sublime. Worst: Are you kidding? I would say at least 9 out of 10 recordings are crap.
unsound
7,329 posts
 
At the risk of being accused of stealing this thread, my best worst sounding CD is MILES Sketches of Spain. Love the music, hate the recording.
gullahisland
83 posts
 
Best - Lyle Lovet "Joshua Judges Ruth" Maybe not the absolute best recording that I own, but when considered as a complete package, it's a phenomenal piece of work AND it sounds good! Unfortunately, a lot of the really great recordings are just plain BORING.

Worst - Patricia Barber "Cafe Blue" I know that a lot of people think this is a great recording, but PLEASE! High frequency distortion abounds. My dog runs for cover!
wellfed's avatar
wellfed
690 posts
 
The ones that come immediately to mind

Best: First Impression Music - River of Sorrow

2nd Best: Reference Recordings - Dick Hyman: From The Age of Swing

Worst: B.B. King Songs of Praise (content is great, recording is terrible, bad bootleg type sound)
priz
49 posts
 
Mdomnick, August and Everything After is the only CD I own by The Counting Crows. This recording is actually very good for rock music. Mine is not the Mobility Fidelity disc.

My only compliant was that there was background hiss during the softer passages (noticable because I listen quite loud). As I’ve refined my components, I was amazed at how much lower this hiss became. I would rate this recording very high.

If you want superb, Steely Dan’s latest, Eveything Must Go.
I think sonically it is their best—better than Two Against Nature, which was also very, very good.

Another well recorded rock disc by a lesser known band is Bring It On by Gomez.
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