Most Realistic Recordings


I was recently listening to my daughter practice the piano and I was enjoying quite a full-body sonic experience. I later went to my system and picked out a few piano recordings that I suspected were recorded well, but as I listened, I just didn't have anything close to the same experience. The piano just didn't sound right, nor nearly as full as I had just experienced while listening to my daughter. I know what pianos sound and feel like. I grew up playing many different types and understand their differences. I've done some research on recording pianos and have learned they are particularly difficult to record well.

As I've delved deeper into this audio hobby/interest and acquired more respectable gear, the more general question that keeps coming to my mind is this: How did this music sound at the time it was recorded? (presuming it was a person playing an instrument, not something "mixed" or electronic). Meaning, if I had been in the room, would I have heard or felt the same? Or is there something about the recording setup/micing/mixing/etc. that has failed to capture the moment? Or has the audio engineer intentionally filtered some of that out?

Now, being an audiophile (i.e., a music lover) has many paths and many goals. For me, I love lots of different kinds of music and am not too caught up in the ever changing landscape of audio gear and the need to try something new. I hope to get to the point where a well-captured recording sounds realistic in my room on my system. I like full-spectrum sound (i.e., if the note/sound is in the track, I want to hear it). I know that accurate, realistic reproduction through any system is depends a great deal on the equipment and the room it's being played back in. I don't expect my system to give me that jaw-dropping "I'm there" experience (yet), but some day I hope to get there.

So, to my question above, I would very much love to hear if anyone feels they have heard an album, a track, a recording of some kind that could be used to test out the "realism" of one's system. What would you say is a recording that more accurately captured the sonic hologram of the moment it was performed. Any genre is ok. And if you think a particular studio/company does this well, I'd love to hear about it!

And, please, I don't want the conversation to about gear or room treatment. This is about the recording itself, the source material, and how accurately the entire moment is captured and preserved. I respect everyone's personal experiences with your system, whatever it's comprised of. So, please don't argue with each other about whether a recording didn't sound realistic to you when it sounded realistic to someone else. Let's be civil and kind, for how can you deny what someone else's ears have heard? Thank you! I'm excited to learn from you all!

tisimst

+1 for "Jazz At The Pawnshop".  A truly outstanding reference recording that is surely one of the best live music recordings ever.  If you want to know if your system can drop a vibraphone or clarinet into your listening room right in front of you, this is the recording that will tell you.  The 30th Anniversary hybrid SACD contains bonus material previously available only on limited editions and an extra DVD of the vibe and bass players talking about the performance.  The liner notes detailing the recording engineer's philosophy and methodology are interesting to say the least.  

Little Feat's "Waiting For Columbus" is also an excellent, "realistic" recording.  

Vivaldi: "Concerto for Hartbois, Basson et Cordes" (CD-Astree label-shockingly good sounding)

@larryi 

Nice post, but could you please identify this (soloist, conductor, etc) so that we may find or stream it?

Thanks.

Always love these types of threads for confirmation of some of my favorites and lots of new sounds to investigate. My suggestion for piano, and that I use as a test for my system, for piano dynamics, sustain, presence, plus generally for reproduction of cymbals, bass and male vocals is Jamie Cullum's - Twentysomething on CD. (It's also on SACD for DSD reproduction, but I have the CD). The test track I use is track 5 -  'But For Now' but the whole CD really shows what your system can do. More info here: