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How to find the good CD recordings?

I'm new to high end audio but have a decent system. One of the things I've noticed with this new (old) system, is that some of my CDs which I used to think sounded fine just don't sound all that good anymore while some of them sound great. A lot of these CDs are 30 years old and came from CD clubs (remember those?) and typical record stores.

I've noticed in particular that some of my Led Zep CDs just sound a little flat and a little shallow while some of the Pink Floyd and Rush CDs sound quite good. 

Is this just a matter of Floyd and Rush having higher production quality from the beginning? 

Would later "remastered" Zep CDs sound better? Is "remastered" always an indication of better or superior quality? Is it just marketing hype sometimes?

Anyway, with this new system I am inclined to buy the best quality recordings of any newer music I buy and possible replace some of my old favorites.

So is there a place on the internet where one can go to get reviews of the actual recording quality and not just the music itself. I don't see iTunes or Amazon as particularly useful here. At this point I am not interested in pursuing vinyl or high end audio files. I'm still just getting my feet wet and CDs seem like a cheap way to do that.

Any assistance much appreciated,

George
n80
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,417 posts
 
@shadorne , I can understand your take on the RM drums. It’s the first thing I noticed when playing the new Zep. Excellent work by Jimmy Page. I bought all the remasters on vinyl to replace my worn out records (started playing them when I was a teenager). I learned many of Bonzo’s licks when playing drums in my youth.

As my digital rig surpassed my vinyl, I went a quest to find the best quality CDs. It’s a mix of US, German, and Japanese...and the 2 Targets.
The most amazing sound comes from a LZ II pressed at Teldec.


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geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
From what I can tell from the Dynamic Range Database the most dynamic range compression occurs for the 2014 remasters. It is possible that aggressive compression buys you something although I can’t imagine what.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
@geoffkait

Well you can check the Steve Hoffman forums and most folks agree - 2014 remaster are the best digital so far...so the very slightly higher compression is not a factor. I expect tidal is the high resolution version but all digital versions are good.



chemman
15 posts
 
@shadorne 

A really nice thread here.  I can't say that I really like the Zep stuff on Tidal. A great example would be something like the MQA of Led Zeppelin's "Down by the Seaside" A great song, with endless possibilities if it would have been recorded like Dylan's 1989 release of "the Man in the long black coat."   The Dylan song is full, rich and presents a wide and detailed separation of the instruments and is on their normal hifi quality. The Zeppelin track is right at you and tinny. IMO no amount of money spent on fancy equipment or so called hi-res tracks can change the original recording. You can put perfume on a pig but it's still a pig.  And as has already been said here, I am referring to the actual process that took place in the studio by the engineers, and producer and later the mixer and mastering.

I have pretty much given up on trying to make my beloved classic rock sound better. That's mainly why I was in the midst of a system overhaul, and now, because of some tweaking and all the new recordings I have discovered in different genres, I am really enjoying instrumental music or acoustic and live stuff.
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