The best sounding albums - The Bear and Badger

[Deleted User]

Facewon wrote:

Elbow: Seldom Seen Kid.

Good shout but if we're talking production I'd go with Asleep in the Back.

Tempy wrote:

Bjork - Post

Any Bjork is gonna be awesome, production wise. Post works, yeah, as does Homogenic, Vespertine and Medula. Can't go wrong.

And finally, my addition:

The Cure - Disintegration

Very spacey, synthy sounding album that came out between eras. Incredible sound.

afgavinstan

Michael Jackson - Off The Wall.

Just been re-released this past week with a new Spike Lee doc packaged with it.

Tempy

Good call on Disintergration Cinto, that opening is a belter. I have it on an incredibly wonky vinyl.

Dark Soldier

Liveinadive wrote:

Ah mate wish you could have seen the orchestra doing it. It was genuinely something special.

I've seen the clips, proper hair on end stuff. Watched the Roni Size attempt at it but its nowhere near as good.

Facewon

Speaking of off the wall, gotta mention a few albums from that 70s 80s period.

Al jerreau: jerreau. Immense.

Skerret

Steely Dan are a go-to exemplar as is the DSD rip of Thriller if you can find it. WYWH by Floyd (DSD or there's a gold disc release that's pretty clean) plus the DSD of DSotM is remarkable. You haven't heard the album til you've heard that mastering. Repeating myself but that vs 25th anniversary CD; CD is like listening through a sock, like one of those explorer socks too, not a ballet sock.

Slowdive Souvlaki is a good shout but avoid (I think) the remaster, dynamics are off.

The Vennart album I proposed some time back is lovingly produced, plus Tim Hecker and Jon Hopkins for electric noodling.

Facewon

Steely Dan are a great call. There's some cracking isley brothers too, but they're hit and miss, production wise.

[Deleted User]

Oh, shit. If we're talking straight up production then you can't go wrong with...

Cornelius - Point

And

Kanye West - Yeezus

Can't believe I forgot to add those.

Brooks

Despite being pretty fascinated about how music is recorded and processed, my collection of recorded and processed music would suggest I give slim-to-zero shits about the outcome.

I can't think of a single time I've dismissed a record on the basis of 'shit production'. Arrangements, sure, but not the way they make it through desk or DAW really.

This is my excuse for being absolutely no help in this thread.

Facewon

Brooks wrote:

I can't think of a single time I've dismissed a record on the basis of 'shit production'.

Gotta admit it can be a nice cherry on top though?

Ive not dismissed any albums, but reckon I've been frustrated by poor production.

Not that they'd be your bag, but the various Metallica albums are pretty well a mixed bag of the best and worst of how production can effect enjoyment I would have thought.

Facewon

Actually, I guess we should distinguish between production and mastering.

Someone talk about bob Ludwig.

Brooks

I'm not sure that's so easy to do, several tactics fall into both categories. All the more so since so many musicians have to self-produce for cost reasons.

Moot_Geeza

Skerret wrote:

Jon Hopkins for electric noodling.

I ripped Diamond Mine yesterday, looking forward to the opening tracks.

So (divvynoob question) DSD/SACD stuff, can I rip it from a cd with my standard PC drive as I would a normal album, or is it like a proprietary Bluray format for albums and I'd have to go digital to get hold of the files? Also, where's the best place to go digital? Occasionally I find a cd that's out of my price range, even second hand. Taking gambles on new/new old albums seems to be my main hobby, but I try to cap my music purchasing at £40-50 per month.

Moot_Geeza

One more - I ripped Ziggy Stardust yesterday, and the cd case had '24-bit' on a sticker. I'm flac'ing at 16-bit, partly because you told me to (Skerret!), and partly because Seeeegaaaa. Am I doing it wrong?

ShabbyMcCrabby

I think SACD stuff needs a drive that can run it and not sure if PC drives can.
From my understanding DSD is only good from downloads as they're from special masters or other super high res sources. Or at least the dsds that are worth getting as a CD can only go so far.

I could be totally wrong of course.

ShabbyMcCrabby

Also, feel like turning the first post into a list of the albums mentioned?

ShabbyMcCrabby

Also Rage Against The Machine is pretty bangin'

Moot_Geeza

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

Also, feel like turning the first post into a list of the albums mentioned?

Will do.

Skerret

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Skerret wrote:

Jon Hopkins for electric noodling.

I ripped Diamond Mine yesterday, looking forward to the opening tracks. So (divvynoob question) DSD/SACD stuff, can I rip it from a cd with my standard PC drive as I would a normal album, or is it like a proprietary Bluray format for albums and I'd have to go digital to get hold of the files? Also, where's the best place to go digital? Occasionally I find a cd that's out of my price range, even second hand. Taking gambles on new/new old albums seems to be my main hobby, but I try to cap my music purchasing at £40-50 per month.

HOKAYE. There are sites like HD Tracks where you can get all sorts of stuff, have a look. There are others but they're reasonably prominent. There are tones of wee labels woth a small selection of goodies, plus there's bandcamp.

For DSD/SACD there is apparently only one way to do it and that's to run the SACD in a certain vintage of PS3 and rip it via that. There's more to it than that. Basically, just go torrent hunting as there a fair whack of SACD stuff. Thriller is an excellent starting point, plenty of Dire Straits and Floyd too. Old people music basically. There's a DSD rip of Alice In Chains best of but it is dreadful, avoid.

Skerret

Moot_Geeza wrote:

One more - I ripped Ziggy Stardust yesterday, and the cd case had '24-bit' on a sticker. I'm flac'ing at 16-bit, partly because you told me to (Skerret!), and partly because Seeeegaaaa. Am I doing it wrong?

It might say 24bit (24/96 I expect) but that's largely meaningless. You're not doing it wrong, though it can't hurt to rip at native specs if possible bar a small increase in filesize. There's a whole mess of stuff around about DACs not being to prperly represent 24bits of information anyway until you get into proprietary multibit DACs which is where the silly money is. Anyway fuck that, rip at 16 and be damned.

davyK

No idea what good production is all about.

I have noticed newer CDs being louder but that's probably something to do with the recording process and how the data is processed & compressed re different channels etc?

Always thought DecksAndDrumsAndRockAndRoll by Propellerheads sounded rich - not sure how it's aged though. Very turn of the century. Whored out to Matrix and one track was even used by The Graham Norton Show when he was on CH.4 - but still sounds good.

Wish you were here and Kind of Blue already listed in the OP.

4Hero's Creating Patterns might be a shout.

Remaster of Welcome to the Pleasuredome?

ShabbyMcCrabby

I'd like to listen to the surround sound mix of Sea Change that they did.
I think there's also a surround sound Bjork album too.
Not that that's good for headphones.

davyK

There's an SACD version of Dark Side of the Moon that is probably reference material for many.

Moot_Geeza

davyK wrote:

I have noticed newer CDs being louder but that's probably something to do with the recording process and how the data is processed & compressed re different channels etc?

Yes, most modern cds are victims of the loudness wars y'see.

I'm learning!

Spoiler:

Kow

Extreme limiting is the modern thing to do.

Skerret

davyK wrote:

There's an SACD version of Dark Side of the Moon that is probably reference material for many.

Yes we did cover that do try to keep up there's a good chaplol

Loudness wars refers to recordings being compressed to fuck meaning dynamics are crushed to fuck and UTS all around the same volume. See here. There are recording artists who master their music to be played out of a phone and I mean the phone speaker, not via headphones.

Yossarian

It's not CDs specifically so much as modern production techniques regardless of format. Compressed to buggery.

Skerret

Yerp. Check out dis business
Find your favourite album and weep, though certain music works better with less dynamics I think. Still plenty of stuff being recorded well.

Supposedly, this all dates back to records being played in bars and the louder the record the better it would tend to do for obvious reasons so this carried over to radio.

Skerret

What is particularly interesting is comparing multiple releases of the same album via the DRDB I linked to there. Many remasters are compressed to shit.

Moot_Geeza

Skerret wrote:

Yerp. Check out dis business Find your favourite album and weep, though certain music works better with less dynamics I think. Still plenty of stuff being recorded well. Supposedly, this all dates back to records being played in bars and the louder the record the better it would tend to do for obvious reasons so this carried over to radio.

AMAZING.

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