Great Recordings, Sonically Speaking - and Why.


I think many of us would accept that artists such as Pink Floyd, Steely Dan, and Dire Straits have consistently put out music that was at least originally recorded to a high technical standard. [I'm not too sure what the loudness wars may have done to subsequent reissues, but even so, the tone and timbre thankfully tends to remain intact.]

However there must be plenty of lesser known recordings out there that could be said to be of a high sonic standard.

One such recording that I like to put on in the background whilst I'm doing other things is a piano recording that features wonderfully lush timbre and some delightful tunes.

This one is The Disney Piano Collection by Hirohashi Makiko and to me it makes a lot of other piano recordings sound a little washed out.
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If it’s a great sounding recording you want, just about any direct-to-disc LP absolutely slaughters any and all recordings ever made with a tape recorder. They possess an immediacy and visceral transient "snap" not heard in recordings made by any and all other means, sounding MUCH more like live music.

If you can get your hands on a good reel-to-reel tape recorder and a pair of condenser mics, you can make recordings of live music that will surprise you with their sonic superiority to most your LP’s and CD’s.
The original Dire Straits record, and Steely Dan’s Aja and Gaucho!  And Dusty Springfield's Dusty in Memphis.