What are your "go to" recording(s)

[DaveyF]

I like a few "go to" recordings for their ability to test the system.

They include: MFSL 200 gram Getz Gilberto, MFSl 200 gram Muddy Waters-Folk singer, AP 180 gram Waltz for Debby, M&K For Duke, Opus 3 Depth of Image and Timbre, Dire Straits- Love over Gold on US pressing, Sheffield Lab My name is Makowicz and Still Harry after all these years, Sheffield Labs Track and Sheffield Labs Drum LP's.

On CD: Kirkelig Kulturverksted 30 years fidelity, MFSL Soultrane, Jimmie Lee Robinson Remember Me, Rickie Lee Jones-Pop Pop, Reference recordings- HDCD Sampler, Fi/Analogue Productions Sampler and Burmester CD-03. There are others, but these are the main one's that come to mind.

What are your " go to" recordings to test your system?

 

[LL21]

Eric Clapton Unplugged, Track 1: opening audience clapping, whistling in particular, my favorite 'voicing' test to see if system is for me...in systems i prefer, the voices/clapping/whistling are very natural, no stridency when hearing whistling...surprisingly how many highly resolving high-end systems seem to deliver this as slightly strident

Amos Lee (his first album, featuring Norah Jones,: cleanliness yet naturalness' of guitar strings, bass thwacks...distributor of Velodyne came over one day, and went out to buy this after realizing its quite a good test for his sub setups.

Jurassic Park Soundtrack : orchestral dynamic range, complexity

Vivaldi Sampler - Reference Recordings: soundstage, detail, decay, noise floor, i still have never heard this piece better resolved than at Audio Exotics in Hong Kong. Not my favorite 'voicing of system'...Clapton was again slightly strident in Track 1 audience...but the resolution o this sampler was outrageously good.

Fabric 44 : deep house, electronic...noise floor, detail, decay, deep bass

Snoop Dogg Blue Carpet : rhythm, speed, this album can sound suprisingly natural, analogue as opposed to table top radio tin canny/electronic...few systems will show this

 

[fabinho85]

Yuri Honing Trio - Walking on the Moon from their album Star Tracks (CD)

Muddy Waters - Folk Singer (Discovery Sounds vinyl)

Eva Cassidy - Songbird (vinyl mastered by Steve Hoffman)

Pink Floyd - DSOTM (i slightly prefer the Toshiba Black Triangle CP35-3017 over MFSL UDCD II, never heard the UDCD I. German vinyl is nice also. Though i have never heard it i suspect MFSL UHQR would be the grail here)

Pink Floyd - WYWH (35DP-4. I am curious about the Mastersound vinyl though)

Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms and Love over Gold (i own the german vinyl pressings. i have never heard any bad versions of these albums though)

And a vinyl reisssue of Witches Brew - Alexander Gibson conducting the New Symphony Orchestra of London. Here especially Camille Saint Saens' Danse Macabre. I'm curious about the original vinyl of this but yet reluctant to spend the $$ (or in my case €€ )

 

[rockitman]

Pink Floyd - WYWH (35DP-4. I am curious about the Mastersound vinyl though)

The CBS Half-speed mastersound is the vinyl copy you want, imo. I enjoy it the best of all copies I have heard.

 

[Steve Williams]

The CBS Half-speed mastersound is the vinyl copy you want, imo. I enjoy it the best of all copies I have heard.

The tape is even better at 15 ips

 

[rockitman]

The tape is even better at 15 ips

of course...got that covered too...

 

[Steve Williams]

I have DSOTM, The Wall and WYWH all taken from ........ ???

 

[rockitman]

I have DSOTM, The Wall and WYWH all taken from ........ ???

now where is that Animals tape ????

Oh and add Meddle to that tape wish list...

 

[fabinho85]

The CBS Half-speed mastersound is the vinyl copy you want, imo. I enjoy it the best of all copies I have heard.

I figuered as much but thanks for confirming my suspicions. I keep looking for a copy but i haven't found one yet.

As for the tapes, unfortunately i cannot play them... yet Sooner or later i'll give anything analog a try i guess

 

[rockitman]

I figuered as much but thanks for confirming my suspicions. I keep looking for a copy but i haven't found one yet.

As for the tapes, unfortunately i cannot play them... yet Sooner or later i'll give anything analog a try i guess

Near Mint copy here on eBay. This is the usual price you can expect to pay, IMO.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PINK-FLOYD-...9383361?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item416f40ab41

 

[DaveyF]

Hi Fabian, have you heard the Muddy Waters on MFSL 200 gram? If so, how does it compare to the Discovery Sounds pressing? Btw, the original Shaded dog of Witches Brew is incredible, particularly in a 1s 1s pressing....I don't own one, but have heard it. Unfortunately, the one I heard was also a pretty noisy copy. Still looking for a mint copy...BUT VERY HARD TO FIND
LLoyd, which pressing of EC Unplugged? I have the generic US CD and it is very good, BUT a little strident in places.

 

[fabinho85]

Davey,

i haven't heard the MFSL 200g (or the Classic Records 200g for that matter). I have read on a german analog forum where people had compared the different pressings and the Discovery came out on top for almost everybody. That's why i sought out this particular pressing. IIRC they used a new stamper for every 1000 copies (or was it they only made 1000 copies total?), mine is numbered 40 so the stamper was pretty friggin' new However i'm not enoguh of a techie to know whether or not this is what sets the Discovery pressing apart from the rest.

I also remember from the discussion on the analog forum that, while most people preferred the Discovery, they also said that the differences weren't all that big and the people owning MFSL or CR pressings were still content with their pressings after hearing the Discovery. Some even preferred MFSL or CR over Discovery.

If i ever run out of vinyl to buy (good one ) i could buy an MFSL pressing and compare for myself but right now it's not worth the €€ to me (maybe if i find a used copy somewhere). But if anyone lives in the north of germany or ever happens to be here i'll gladly meet up with you so we can compare pressings. Folk Singer is one of my favorite albums so i am curious.

If you or anyone esle is interested here is a Discovery Sounds pressing for sale on german ebay. I paid less than half of that so i find it overpriced. Then again this is the same as the buy it now options on sealed MFSL pressings of Folk Singer are, in germany anyway.

Oh, and Shaded Dog Witches Brew is duly noted.

Near Mint copy here on eBay. This is the usual price you can expect to pay, IMO.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PINK-FLOYD-...9383361?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item416f40ab41

Thanks for the link Christian. I've been wondering what the WYWH Mastersounds go for. I had actually feared that they would be more expensive, this price for a NM copy seems very reasonable to me.

Btw you have an awesome system

 

[DaveyF]

Davey,

i haven't heard the MFSL 200g (or the Classic Records 200g for that matter). I have read on a german analog forum where people had compared the different pressings and the Discovery came out on top for almost everybody. That's why i sought out this particular pressing. IIRC they used a new stamper for every 1000 copies (or was it they only made 1000 copies total?), mine is numbered 40 so the stamper was pretty friggin' new However i'm not enoguh of a techie to know whether or not this is what sets the Discovery pressing apart from the rest.

I also remember from the discussion on the analog forum that, while most people preferred the Discovery, they also said that the differences weren't all that big and the people owning MFSL or CR pressings were still content with their pressings after hearing the Discovery. Some even preferred MFSL or CR over Discovery.

If i ever run out of vinyl to buy (good one ) i could buy an MFSL pressing and compare for myself but right now it's not worth the €€ to me (maybe if i find a used copy somewhere). But if anyone lives in the north of germany or ever happens to be here i'll gladly meet up with you so we can compare pressings. Folk Singer is one of my favorite albums so i am curious.

If you or anyone esle is interested here is a Discovery Sounds pressing for sale on german ebay. I paid less than half of that so i find it overpriced. Then again this is the same as the buy it now options on sealed MFSL pressings of Folk Singer are, in germany anyway.

Oh, and Shaded Dog Witches Brew is duly noted.



Thanks for the link Christian. I've been wondering what the WYWH Mastersounds go for. I had actually feared that they would be more expensive, this price for a NM copy seems very reasonable to me.

Btw you have an awesome system

Hi Fabian, I have both the classic records reissue and the aforementioned MFSL. IMO, the MFSL is way better. The classic doesn't have quite the impact of Muddy's guitar compared to the MFSL. After your suggestion, I will seek out the Discovery version.
Not the one in your link, as I too think that is overpriced.

 

[mep]

The CBS Half-speed mastersound is the vinyl copy you want, imo. I enjoy it the best of all copies I have heard.

I have that version and it is really good.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

If this were the SH Forums they'd be all over you guys for liking the Columbia Mastersound Half-Speed Mastered discs. I have a few myself and they sound fine, so I don't really get the issue of their discontent.

 

[jazdoc]

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?4072-The-quot-Show-Music-quot-Thread

 

[fabinho85]

Hi Fabian, I have both the classic records reissue and the aforementioned MFSL. IMO, the MFSL is way better. The classic doesn't have quite the impact of Muddy's guitar compared to the MFSL. After your suggestion, I will seek out the Discovery version.
Not the one in your link, as I too think that is overpriced.

Good to know about the CR. From what i had read before i thought it was on par with the MFSL. Please let us know about the outcome when you compare the MFSL to the Discovery.

If this were the SH Forums they'd be all over you guys for liking the Columbia Mastersound Half-Speed Mastered discs. I have a few myself and they sound fine, so I don't really get the issue of their discontent.

I only have one, Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run, and i like it. I didn't know about the sh.tv consensus being "anti Mastersound". I'll have to read up on that.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Let me give this a shot.

Dire Straits - Love Over Gold (Japanese pressing)
Eric Clapton - Unplugged (German pressing)
Alan Parsons - I, Robot (Classic Records)
Neil Young - Massey Hall 1971 (Reprise)
David Gilmour - Live In Gdansk (Columbia)

Notice that 3 of those are "live" discs. I'm a fan of live recordings, what can I say!

 

[DaveyF]

Let me give this a shot.

Dire Straits - Love Over Gold (Japanese pressing)
Eric Clapton - Unplugged (German pressing)
Alan Parsons - I, Robot (Classic Records)
Neil Young - Massey Hall 1971 (Reprise)
David Gilmour - Live In Gdansk (Columbia)

Notice that 3 of those are "live" discs. I'm a fan of live recordings, what can I say!

Hi John, cannot remember if you have the MFSL I.Robot. If so, what is your opinion of it vs. The Classic Records reissue? I'm a fan of live recordings as well, for some unknown reason, I actually really like
the Proprius LP- Jazz at the Pawn shop

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Hi John, cannot remember if you have the MFSL I.Robot. If so, what is your opinion of it vs. The Classic Records reissue? I'm a fan of live recordings as well, for some unknown reason, I actually really like
the Proprius LP- Jazz at the Pawn shop

I have both the MFSL and Classic of I, Robot, but I give the edge to the Classic (although not by much). In fact, I should revisit the MFSL and refresh myself as to exactly why, but my initial impression was that the MFSL was a little darker sounding. Of course that's likely only preference and not a statement on either one's quality.

And I'm with you on the Proprius JATP. I find it upbeat and energetic and I love the background sounds of the club with the laughter, the tingling of the glasses, etc. It's a happy recording I think!