Best Audiophile Album in terms of Dynamic Range and Mastering Quality?


This seems like a good list: https://www.headphonesty.com/2025/04/audiophile-albums-show-off-systems/

but most of them were released more than a decade ago. Are there really no new albums that can match them?

tippydi

I have to add Return to Forever, Romantic Warrior to this list. Fabulous recording for showcasing your system. 👍🏻

I set up the cartridge on my turntable to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon UK pressing. 

OP list consists of reliable audiophile familiars that everyone has used for decades: Dark Side, Graham Parsons, etc.. Personally I incline to After The Gold Rush over Harvest, and to FM's 1975 eponymous LP over Rumours -- two glorious, colossal hit LPs overshadowed among reviewers by these artists' rabidly anticipated succeeding work. Can't Buy a Thrill would be another example. Meanwhile, Forever Changes gets "newly discovered" by every generation, while its impressive sonic virtues are rarely mentioned.

For dynamics in NEW pop recoding, my go-to is Katie Pruitt, "Expectations" -- the title cut in particular is off the charts.