Alabama Shakes


Recently purchased Alabama Shakes first album, Boys and Girls. I purchased this on iTunes right after it came out and just loved it. Gave me hope for the moribund state of rock and roll.

Now that I have an actual hi-fi system I'm buying CDs of my favorite music to replace the iTunes versions.

I'm researching the older music and getting the best CD recordings I can find. This has been VERY gratifying. So much good stuff out there. But with newer music there isn't much choice in terms of CDs recordings. Usually just one.

And I have to say this CD is a real disappointment. The SQ just isn't there. Very tinny. Her voice is way too out front of the music. Grates on my nerves. Volume is too high.....I guess its a loudness issue. At about 1/3 volume on my line stage it is as loud (decibel-wise) as my older (and better) CDs are at 1/2 volume....and nothing is gained by going higher.

This makes me wonder about Sound and Color, their second album. I do not like it as much as the first album but at least on iTunes it sounds like a very well produced album. I wonder if that CD is as bad is this one.

I know CDs are a dying if not dead media. I get that they don't account for much in the way of sales. So my question is this: Are CDs being produced for new music all low quality? Is anyone making high quality CD recordings of new music? 
n80
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An unfortunate result of the "loudness wars" that is endemic to modern CD.

There are better CD recordings to be had of newer material but not sure how much choice you really get. There are some here with much more knowledge on that score than myself.

Of late I rarely have purchased any newer CD and the last one I did suffered exactly as you describe and was suitable for in car play only.

I stick to older vinyl, cassette and streaming mostly nowadays.
I guess I'm just an old fart stuck in a bygone time. I'm fairly tech savvy, especially when it comes to digital photography and high end image editing and printing....so its not that I'm a Luddite...I just prefer to own my stuff...and for the most part I want that stuff to be real.

When I want to read I buy books. If it is a good book I get it in hard back. When I take a digital image I make an archival print. I'd like my music to be the same. Silly I guess.

There is always HD Tracks but again, that's just 1s and 0s too. 

Oh well. 
Oh, as for vinyl....I just can't get into it. So I guess I'm not an old enough fart. ;-)