Outstanding Demo CD's etc...

JP78 · « **Reply #360 on:** 18 Aug 2009, 11:31 pm »

alex - thanks for keeping this thread going. i've certainly benefited from several albums as a result. while not everything is my cup of tea, my rhapsody music service certainly allows me to try before i buy

.

if you haven't already, i'd like to recommend some depeche mode. my favorites are:

- depeche mode: violator
- depeche mode: ultra

also, on a totally different tangent:

- yo yo ma: the back cello suites

in truth, i'm a huge dm fan and just attended their concert with thievery corporation at lollapalooza a couple weeks ago.

k shep - i find my musical tastes align *very* closely with yours. these may be specifically more to your cup of tea:

- thievery corporation: the richest man in babylon
- dzihan & kamien: gran riserva

let me know your thoughts and we can trade some more music notes!

thanks,

jp

adydula · « **Reply #361 on:** 19 Aug 2009, 12:46 am »

Kirk,

Cool, np at all. Did that more so for the general populace

The Oppo is the very close to a high quality all around player for all seasons...

Anyhow, I will check into the Leonard Cohen stuff for sure...thanks for that one!

JP78:
Nice to meet you! Thanks for your nice comments, there is a lot of good stuff laced thru the thread and I have certainly expanded my musical horizions for sure!!

I will look into your suggestions as well....I have some DM stuff is there any in particular that are in the exceptional recording quality etc??

I just finished listening to Adele "19" this is really a great choice and very well recorded...What a wonderful voice. Demo stuff.

I also went back way in time to Dave Brubecks "Time Out" I have one of the original cd's and it was a shock to hear a really well recorded set of tracks. The imaging was more like the older 2 ch right/left stereo recordings, not that bad but its a bit towards that...but the overall cd is a joy to listen to....

Another surprise was GRPs Happy Anniversary Charlie Brown...now this is NOT classiscal music or some really great Jazz recording but there are a lot of really great recordings across a wide variety if artists on the early GRP label and this is one of those loss leaders. The cd is comprised of Patti Austin, David Benoit, Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Kenny G, Dave Grusin, BB King, Gerry Mulligan, Lee Ritenour, Joe Williams and Amani A.W. Murray. The CD is crystal clear and will make u smile!

So much more to listen to so little time!!

All the Best
Alex

aa

JP78 · « **Reply #362 on:** 19 Aug 2009, 01:03 am »

alex - i'd say that 'ultra' has some remarkable texture and mixing effects, though there is definitely some level of compression. still, i find the connection to gahan's vocals very clear and immediate. please share your thoughts so we can better align recommendations for one another. i would certainly say though it's the couple tracks that martin gore sings here that really steal the spotlight.

along the same lines, can you share your thoughts of radiohead's 'ok computer'? i'm curious to your thoughts of such tracks as 'no surprises' or 'let down'.

thanks!

K Shep · « **Reply #363 on:** 20 Aug 2009, 01:50 am »

I am amazed at the different genre's of music I am learning to enjoy. I read a review about this CD and ordered it from Azon. Very well recorded.

The Hot Club of San Francisco - Yerba Buena Bounce
http://www.amazon.com/Yerba-Buena-Bounce-Club-Francisco/dp/B000N60H5O/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1250732588&sr=1-3

Kirk

Art_Chicago · « **Reply #364 on:** 20 Aug 2009, 04:19 am »

Quote from: JP78 on 19 Aug 2009, 01:03 am

along the same lines, can you share your thoughts of radiohead's 'ok computer'? i'm curious to your thoughts of such tracks as 'no surprises' or 'let down'.

thanks!

I am hoping Alex will share his opinion about OK computer, but I just wanted to say it is a great CD. I used Climbing up the walls track to compare my Van Alstine power amp vs. NAD 340 through ST's, and the NAD basically failed to reproduce the 3-D sound stage, the range and the separate instruments voices. Tracks like Lucky and Karma police I use as bass reference. It is one of the best rock CD's, IMO.

adydula · « **Reply #365 on:** 22 Aug 2009, 02:49 am »

Ok Computer is on its way, I will post shortly..

Alex

MaxCast · « **Reply #366 on:** 22 Aug 2009, 04:06 am »

Female vocal
http://www.jennamammina.com/index2.html
Meant to Be and Inner Smile are two of my favorite.

adydula · « **Reply #367 on:** 22 Aug 2009, 01:32 pm »

MaxCast..

Thanks for the recommendation...Inner Smile on the way!

All the best
Alex
aa

Wally King · « **Reply #368 on:** 22 Aug 2009, 03:27 pm »

Here are a few CDs that contain exciting and/or beautiful music that also sound wonderful on my HT-3s:

David Finckel and Wu Han: Grieg, Schumann and Chopin ? music for piano and cello
http://www.artistled.com/Recordings/CD_Grieg.htm

Yasushi Akutagawa: Ellora Symphony, Trinita Sinfonica and Rhapsody
http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.555975

Virgil Thompson: The Plow that Broke the Plains and The River
http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.559291

Dead Can Dance: Toward the Within
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015YFOI8/ref=dm_dp_cdp?ie=UTF8&s=music

Charlie Haden and John Taylor: Nightfall
http://www.naimlabel.com/artist-charlie-haden---john-taylor.aspx

Charlie Haden and Antonio Forcione: Heartplay
http://www.naimlabel.com/artist-charlie-haden---antonio-forcione.aspx

Check 'em out.

adydula · « **Reply #369 on:** 23 Aug 2009, 08:39 pm »

Wally,

Thanks so much for the nice list!!!

I will definitely look into these selections!!

All the best
Alex

ted_b · « **Reply #370 on:** 23 Aug 2009, 08:41 pm »

Wally, Thanks. You turned me on to Naim label, which has both of your recommendations as 24/96 downloads too. I bought and downloaded the Haden/Forcione one (Heartlplay); very very nice.

K Shep · « **Reply #371 on:** 24 Aug 2009, 01:09 am »

I enjoy a couple of Sheryl Crow songs and I decided to order her Greatest Hits CD. It turned out to be much better than I expected. The reason I am suggesting it here is the recording quality is on par for this thread. Alex, if you like Ms. Crow you will dig this great demo CD.

The Very Best of Sheryl Crow
http://www.amazon.com/Very-Best-Sheryl-Crow/dp/B0000DZ3E2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1251076079&sr=1-1

Kirk

ted_b · « **Reply #372 on:** 24 Aug 2009, 01:11 am »

her self-titled (actually second release) is very well engineered, with lots of dynamics and fun.

Wally King · « **Reply #373 on:** 24 Aug 2009, 09:53 pm »

Quote from: ted_b on 23 Aug 2009, 08:41 pm

Wally, Thanks. You turned me on to Naim label, which has both of your recommendations as 24/96 downloads too. I bought and downloaded the Haden/Forcione one (Heartlplay); very very nice.

You're very welcome.

Another great recording from Naim, and another collection of duets involving Charlie Haden, is here:

http://www.naimlabel.com/artist-charlie-haden-and-chris-anderson.aspx

The pianist, Chris Anderson, is a guy I'd never heard of before I came across this album, but Herbie Hancock actually studied with him, so you know Andersons's got it going on. He passed away last year, but this album is a great testament to his talents. And, per usual with Naim recordings, the sound quality is stellar.

K Shep · « **Reply #374 on:** 25 Aug 2009, 02:47 pm »

I enjoy Madeleine Peyroux and to my ear, in my system, Careless Love sounds good, but when I received this from Azon I was grinning from ear to ear. IMO truly a demo CD worthy of this thread.

Madeleine Peyroux - Bare Bones
http://www.amazon.com/Bare-Bones-Madeleine-Peyroux/dp/B001KP2Y3K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1251211470&sr=1-1

Kirk

adydula · « **Reply #375 on:** 26 Aug 2009, 01:26 am »

K Shep....its on the way, thanks!!

I thought Careless love was good but not really stellar....if you crank it up abit its ok, good but not a great recording. (to my ears on my stuff

)...

I am checking this one out and will post a bunch of my impressions soon:
Anne McCue "Roll"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001ENXZE/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

Alex

Art_Chicago · « **Reply #376 on:** 26 Aug 2009, 02:28 am »

Quote from: K Shep on 25 Aug 2009, 02:47 pm

I enjoy Madeleine Peyroux and to my ear, in my system, Careless Love sounds good, but when I received this from Azon I was grinning from ear to ear. IMO truly a demo CD worthy of this thread.

Madeleine Peyroux - Bare Bones
http://www.amazon.com/Bare-Bones-Madeleine-Peyroux/dp/B001KP2Y3K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1251211470&sr=1-1

Kirk

Kirk,
Check page 6 of this thread-- I got slammed(

) for recommending careless love because of the compression. I have "bare bones" as well, but it sounds similar to careless love to my ears (compressed). But the truth is ... I agree with the criticism now.

K Shep · « **Reply #377 on:** 26 Aug 2009, 02:56 am »

I read this entire thread more than once and before I posted my thoughts about Bare Bones I went back to page 6. A few were a bit critical of your recommendation, but I too own Careless Love and I agree it is not in what I think Alex considers "demo" quality. The CD that I own, Bare Bones is stellar, I listened to it last might before I posted. The vocal is crisp, the instruments live in 3D hanging in air, and the sound stage is wonderful. With that said I think that there may be a difference in recording quality of the same album, in other words my Bare Bones may sound better than yours. If 5 guys on AC all post the same impression of a recording and I don't agree I need to pay great attention, perhaps admit that I may be incorrect or just move on.

Alex,
If you would, be sure to post your impressions of Bare Bones and let's know if it is worthy of the "demo list.

Art, I don't mean to sound hard here I am just in one of those, get to the point moods.

Kirk

adydula · « **Reply #378 on:** 26 Aug 2009, 12:32 pm »

Art,

Its on its way good or bad...I went back before I ordered it and relistened to Careless Love at varying sound levels.
Its still has that what we are calling 'compressed' sound...

Her voice is pretty easy to 'hear' and understand the 'words' she is singing but its like they mic'd this a bit off or is it her
real voice that is a but 'soft' or 'muddy sounding???

Could it be that this is the real deal here??

I didnt check the dates of the 2 cds' ie Careless Love vs bare Bones and maybe its a different studio, equipmnet, recording engineer etc?? It will be interesting to see.

Keep those recomendations coming!!

Alex

Art_Chicago · « **Reply #379 on:** 26 Aug 2009, 02:23 pm »

Kirk,
I will give it another try, it has been a while since I heard it. I think though that there was only one release of the CD as it is pretty fresh. I also thought that the sound stage, the space around the instruments and the voice are pretty good on the Careless Love ( the piano is too big apparently).
Alex,
my impression was that the studio and the sound engineer are the same, but I am not saying that these two CD's should sound the same' cause of that.
Art