[bummrush]

Duets Robb Wasserman Outstanding stuff

[ted_b]

Duets Robb Wasserman Outstanding stuff

Agreed!  The imaging and dynamics on stuff like Angel Eyes is outstanding.  Also, the Jennifer Warnes "Ballad of a Runaway Horse" here is even better than her Famous Blue Raincoat Special Ed version.

[alotaklipsch]

MFSL-PATRICIA BARBER
MFSL-GRATEFUL DEAD/MARS HOTEL
DCC-JONI MITCHELL/COURT SPARK
SACD-DEEP PURPLE/MACHINE HEAD
SACD-AEROSMITH/TOY IN ATTIC
SACD-BOWIE/ZIGGY STARDUST
SACD-TELARC 1812
SACD-MFSL/MUSSAGORSKY-PICTURES
DVD-AUDIO-GRATEFUL DEAD/WORKINGMAN;S DEAD
DVD-AUDIO-DOORS/LA WOMEN
DVD-AUDIO-HEART/DREAMBOAT ANNIE
STEVE HOFFMAN/MONTROSE
STEVE HOFFMAN/DEEP PURPLE
LOT'S MORE TOO, 

[MLS]

So far every Keb Mo CD I have listened to is awesome.

Jack Johnson also has some fantastic sounding CD's and LP's.

Cowboy Junkies Trinity Revisted is an awesome sounding CD and DVD.

Scott

[ted_b]

Sounds like a direct plug in to the master console.  It energizes all the air in the room.  Very dynamic, very cool (and i'm just talking the redbook layer of this hybrid SACD).

[bluemike]

Check out Musica nuda all their cd's are exceptional 

[KS]

Everything I've heard so far from MapleShade Records has been superbly mastered.

The recordings sold by Archiv Music recommended with a #10 Sound Quality rating have been excellent.

[TheChairGuy]

I've found nearly every XRCD (haven't heard the 24 bit ones) and Mapleshade Records CD's to be vastly overrated.

On the other hand, Ben Harper and Keb Mo (as previously mentioned) are commercial CD's that sound really decent.  Steely Dan, too (the more recent ones...the earlier ones from analog masters didn't transfer too well).

John

[TerryO]

So far the best that I've heard is "Passion" by Mercedes/AMG, which unfortunately isn't for sale to the general public as it's only available when you buy an AMG. It's a sampler format, produced to the very highest standards in the world, the BLER or Block Error Rate has been documented and verified as being no higher than 10. The best Audiophile labels on the market are between 50 and 20.

There is one other CD that is at this time, the "best" mastered CD in existence (TTBOMK). It's "The Puget Sound! 2008 DIY Speaker Contest" compilation. This is a special edition of the music available to the judge's for evaluation of the entries. While the Judge's only listened to 2-3 minutes of the choices they selected, this disc has the complete piece. It was produced as a joint effort by Winston Ma of First Impression Music, Gary Leonard Koh of Genesis Advanced Technology and Bruce Brown, Mastering Engineer and owner of Puget Sound Studios.

All the stops were pulled to produce this disc and it has a BLER of between 0.5 and 0.3, which is perhaps the lowest ever produced outside of JVC's R&D laboratory in Japan. It utilizes a proprietary multi-step mastering technique that is not yet economically viable and was burned onto a MAM-R Audio Master 1x-12x mastering disc after special preparation and a proprietary damping material was applied to the top of the disk. The disk was also balanced and trued to prevent vibration prior to recording.

There is only one copy in existence and it was the Grand Prize for "Best Sound in Show" at the speaker contest, going to John Nail for his 3-way speaker entry ("The Purple Puppies.")

Just in case you're wondering, I haven't sent it to John yet and have listened to it twice myself  

Best Regards,
TerryO

[JerryM]

Just in case you're wondering, I haven't sent it to John yet and have listened to it twice myself  

Best Regards,
TerryO

Sweet!!! 

[chrisby]

Just in case you're wondering, I haven't sent it to John yet and have listened to it twice myself  

Best Regards,
TerryO

Sweet!!! 

so Terry, when will you be negotiating with the appropriate powers for official   small scale release of this gem?

[TerryO]

Just in case you're wondering, I haven't sent it to John yet and have listened to it twice myself  

Best Regards,
TerryO

Sweet!!! 

so Terry, when will you be negotiating with the appropriate powers for official   small scale release of this gem?

Chris,

I only wish it were within my limited powers of persuasion to bring this about. The sad truth is that it would take a major manufacturer to even begin to bring this about. The MAM-R Audio Master 1x-12x mastering disc costs $25 apiece and are sold in minimum quantities of 1000. It was then treated in a special ultrasonic bath of de-ionized water to remove "any" traces of the parting compound used in producing the disc. The disc was then turned on a lathe to true it, a special proprietary anti-resonance compound applied to the top surface and finally, balanced to eliminate any dynamic vibration.

At this point a fair amount of labor and effort, not to mention cost is involved to just prepare the disc. I seem to remember during the discussion that the figure was $45 for a single disc thus prepared, and even then, that was a special price for club members.

We haven't even gotten to the multi-step process of mastering and burning the disc which is rather involved compared to the usual notions entertained by duffers like myself. I might mention that the actual burning was done on an external burner, powered by it's own highly regulated precision power supply, while mounted on a anti-vibration roller bearing platform (in this case it was a FIM product).

The long and the short of all this is that it would cost between $300 and $400 each to produce, for what would probably be a very limited market.

Best Regards,
TerryO

[jbtrio]

I have a lot of ECM jazz artist CD's ,they all sound excellent. Very spacious and natural sounding.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Does anyone listen to XRCD's or XRCD24's? I find that the recording quality and fidelity to be excellent on these disc's, much better in many instances than redbook CD's, although they are expensive- $20-40 per CD. 

http://www.xrcd.com/tech/xrcd24a_e.html
http://www.dagogo.com/JVCXRCD24SAJLodwick03264.html

I also like to buy hybrid SACD's as I have found the recordings to be of better quality even when played on standard CDP's.

[saisunil]

DIVERSITY 2003 SAMPLER GOLD CD-R

I happen to own TRL equipment and trust what Paul does.
Some of the music on this CD is not my type but the recording is excellent.
It is an excellent example of how to make live audiophile recordings
The bass is excellent too.
http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo.asp?number=DIVGCD2003

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Patricia Barber- Cafe Blue

Sara K- Hell Or High Water  XRCD24

Shelby Lynne- Just A Little Lovin'

Diana Krall- The Girl In The Other Room SACD Hybrid

Jane Monheit- Never Never Land

Cannon Re-Loaded

[TerryO]

Does anyone listen to XRCD's or XRCD24's? I find that the recording quality and fidelity to be excellent on these disc's, much better in many instances than redbook Cd's, although they are expensive- $20-40 per CD. 

http://www.xrcd.com/tech/xrcd24a_e.html
http://www.dagogo.com/JVCXRCD24SAJLodwick03264.html

I also like to buy hybrid SACD's as I have found the recordings to be of better quality even when played on standard CDP's.

I've listened to (and own) many XRCD and XRCD24 disks and like them very much. However the "new" K2 mastered disks are even better and in fact, they're better than just about any SACD I've heard. The best part is that they can be played on any CD player. Please note that the K2 mastering technique is actually the 3rd iteration of an evolved technology. It's referred to as K2 because the original scientists at JVC's R&D Lab that developed it both had family names that started with "K". It has absolutely nothing to do with skiing or mountain climbing :^)

Winston Ma of FIM was honored by JVC to introduce the new K2 mastered disks this last year. He has had a "personal relationship" with many of the key JVC record division executives going back several decades and was the first to introduce XRCD, and later XRCD24. It's my understanding that JVC's R&D Lab has very tight security and only nine research scientists and two Company Executives are allowed entry.... plus Winston Ma.

Here's some testimonials on the K2 disks: http://www.fimpression.com/fim_news.htm

Best Regards,
TerryO

[jimdgoulding]

K2 is perty good, IMO.  Yeah, Mapleshade gets a bad rap a lot.  The guy is a purist who records it like it is.  He sets em up, they play, that's what you get.  The groups never sound too terribly rehearsed, do they?  And he has a distain for compression.  That's probably why I like some of his stuff so much.  I been in a lot of clubs in my day and a lot of his stuff reminds me of a table very close to the stage.  You ever hear Elvin Jones like I've heard Elvin Jones and you may have some respect for the sound the ole Mapleshade maestro allows.  It's perty nekkid.

[TerryO]

K2 is perty good, IMO.  Yeah, Mapleshade gets a bad rap a lot.  The guy is a purist who records it like it is.  He sets em up, they play, that's what you get.  The groups never sound too terribly rehearsed, do they?  And he has a distain for compression.  That's probably why I like some of his stuff so much.  I been in a lot of clubs in my day and a lot of his stuff reminds me of a table very close to the stage.  You ever hear Elvin Jones like I've heard Elvin Jones and you may have some respect for the sound the ole Mapleshade maestro allows.  It's perty nekkid.

I agree with you about Mapleshade, they utilize a very purist approach to recording. My problem is that I'm not a fan of the music that comprises the bulk of their catalog.

However, the Mapleshade recording of the ARC Gospel Choir "Walk With Me" is, IMHO, an indispensable recording for speaker evaluation and design. The soundstage and imaging on this recording are excellent, as good as any recording I've come across. My copy is the only Gospel music that I own, but if something were to happen to it, I'd be ordering a new copy the same day, it's that good.

Best Regards,
TerryO

[BradJudy]

The ARC choir one is excellent.  One of my reference tracks is from one of their Blur Rider Trio CDs (harp, steel and guts) - Death have no Mercy in this Land.  Particularly the harmonica which is very clean and pure.  I play this a lot when I attended the RMAF and each year there were usually two or three rooms where the harmonica part was almost indistinguishable from someone playing in the room. 

The only K2 I have is their release of Cantate Domino, which is excellent, but I don't have any other versions to compare it with.