Thank you Viridian. Why anyone would use this recording as a "reference" is beyond me.
Quick Story: The first time I heard Cafe Blue was while purchasing a preamp from a fellow AudiogoN'r. He wanted to demo his system for me. As shrill as this cd can sound, you ain't heard nothing 'til you you've heard it through Audio Physic Virgo IIIs driven by a Krell KST-100...NEARFIELD! Whew! That was brutal.
Priz - In reference to Counting Crows August and Everything After" - I just listened to it a few nights ago (for the first time on my new system) and noticed a few things. First, as a whole, it's not a bad recording. Up until Hard Candy was released, it was their best sounding album. Hard Candy, while highly "produced" is a better recording, but still not great. Anyway, August and Everything After varies greatly from track to track. I haven't looked at the liner notes, but I'd guess that some tracks were recorded in different studios. "Omaha" is the best track, sonically by a long shot. "Anna Begins" is a close second. The hiss that you refer to is primarily found on the opening track and is quite noticable. Either it gets better as the album progresses, or the neurons stop firing and I don't hear it anymore :)
