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The absolute best and worst-sounding CD you own ?

This could be a tricky one. Many audiophiles and music lovers will care more for an artist they like in mediocre sound than a artist they can't stand no matter how great the recording is. Still, I am interested in finding out what truly outstanding recordings there are out there. Of course there are listening biases and all that can be said about the equipment.

My personnal best: Harry Belafonte at Carnegie Hall

My worst: The standard cd issue ''YES-Fragile'' just plain bad no matter on what you play it on. OK so this is a ''rock'' cd and they are all supposed to sound bad right?, still, there is no excuse for this turkey.

Let's have your choice...
sonicbeauty
gullahisland
83 posts
 
Best - Lyle Lovet "Joshua Judges Ruth" Maybe not the absolute best recording that I own, but when considered as a complete package, it's a phenomenal piece of work AND it sounds good! Unfortunately, a lot of the really great recordings are just plain BORING.

Worst - Patricia Barber "Cafe Blue" I know that a lot of people think this is a great recording, but PLEASE! High frequency distortion abounds. My dog runs for cover!
wellfed's avatar
wellfed
690 posts
 
The ones that come immediately to mind

Best: First Impression Music - River of Sorrow

2nd Best: Reference Recordings - Dick Hyman: From The Age of Swing

Worst: B.B. King Songs of Praise (content is great, recording is terrible, bad bootleg type sound)
priz
49 posts
 
Mdomnick, August and Everything After is the only CD I own by The Counting Crows. This recording is actually very good for rock music. Mine is not the Mobility Fidelity disc.

My only compliant was that there was background hiss during the softer passages (noticable because I listen quite loud). As I’ve refined my components, I was amazed at how much lower this hiss became. I would rate this recording very high.

If you want superb, Steely Dan’s latest, Eveything Must Go.
I think sonically it is their best—better than Two Against Nature, which was also very, very good.

Another well recorded rock disc by a lesser known band is Bring It On by Gomez.
Post removed 
eddaytona
216 posts
 
Best; Ricki Lee Jones's first album. Better than the LP IMHO.
Worst: A live recording of Joan Sutherland that i bought at Border's Books. It apparently is some sort of bootleg type CD that was obviously recorded by someone in the audience with a stereo tape recorder in their lap and sounds like you would expect for someone in the rear of the hall. You can hear people next to the recorder moving in their seats and the sound kind of warbles and drifts. It is copyrighted and sold commercially however so not sure what gives.
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