CD Quality??

[Arkay]

Chesky recordings are awesome but you might not like the music he produces.And true Most recordings either pop or rock played through A reveiling system that are compressed sound bright flat and they just suck.I prefer speakers that are forgiving because I,m A music lover and I own many poorly recorded C.D,s.

Definitely, how revealing your system is makes a difference in how your CDs will sound. My approach to this problem is to have more than one system choice; a more revealing system (esp. speakers) for the best recordings only, and a more 'forgiving' set-up for poorer-quality recordings.

For a while, I have used a "traffic light" system for CDs, using those little colored dots from the stationery store to represent the "traffic lights": A red sticker meant the recording was not very good, and should only be played on the most forgiving systems. A yellow light meant that it was okay, and would sound decent enough on a revealing system, but it might still have some audible flaws and not be too satisfying. A green light meant it was fine to play on any system, esp. the more revealing ones.

Lately I've started writing more specific notes than that on little pieces of paper and keeping them with the CDs, saying things like "this sounds good with X amp and Y speakers" or "this isn't up to being played with Z speakers", etc... and even pointing out specific things like "more forward vocals when played with X+Y gear".

These reminders help me to choose what to listen to during listening sessions, so I don't get that "EEuw, that sounds bad!" experience more often than necessary.

 

[davidk5]

The McMasters date from as far back as 1987 or so, though they continued to release the McMasters right up until the time they released the RVGs around 1998 or 1999. Another series of Blue Note remasters worth seeking out are the connoisseur series, released in the mid 90s through around the early 2000s. These were supposedly limited edition releases, though used copies don't go for any more then regular Blue Notes. Many were remastered by Ron McMaster, but I have one I am looking at right now from 1994 remastered by Larry Walsh.

I don't find them especially rare, though they are not nearly as common as the RVGs. The McMasters were not especially loved when they were issued, but compared to the RVGs, they sound (to my ears) much closer to the original lps than the reissues. This is puzzling as you would think cds remastered by the guy who did the original recordings would be a lot closer to the original sound, unless, of course he went partially deaf.

Thanks for all the info , i would not be surprised if these are some of the one's sitting around used at my local store .
I have also been picking up the Fantasy/prestige remasters that were 20-bit jvc studio releases , that are pretty nice .

 

[GOYA]

Several posts in this thread have touched on it and the poorer quality CDs in recent years are a result of the loudness war. If you haven't seen it, watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ

This site gives a pretty good showing of what's going on:

http://musicmachinery.com/2009/03/23/the-loudness-war/

It's not a matter of mastering CDs that are radio-ready. It's simply trying to make the loudest CD possible and it eliminates all the great dynamic range that CDs can offer.

 

[mrt2]

Thanks for all the info , i would not be surprised if these are some of the one's sitting around used at my local store .
I have also been picking up the Fantasy/prestige remasters that were 20-bit jvc studio releases , that are pretty nice .

Do you mean the K2 remasters or the JVC? I like the JVC XRCD, not wild about the K2, though they are not all bad.

This has been discussed over at Steve Hoffman forums. The consensus over their is that the early OJC remasters of the old Fantasy catalog sound better. They are still available, but starting to be deleted.

 

[davidk5]

Do you mean the K2 remasters or the JVC? I like the JVC XRCD, not wild about the K2, though they are not all bad.

This has been discussed over at Steve Hoffman forums. The consensus over their is that the early OJC remasters of the old Fantasy catalog sound better. They are still available, but starting to be deleted.

The K2 remasters , my local store has been selling them for $3 - $6 , i'm guessing the label is just blowing out the last of them , just got Coltrane/Coltrane , Miles davis "steamin" & a few others