How do you tell?

[05SRTguy]

It would be great if you guys could suggest some specific recordings with the genre's I like. I love 80's Metal, 70's rock, blues like Stevie Ray Vaughn and Tab Benoit, basically good guitar music. I love modern rock as well and have lots of it, but I find that modern rock is not usually very articulate or detailed. It often sounds muddy and smushed together. No distinction between instruments.

Now I know I'm asking a lot, but could you make some recommendations on really good Christian guitar music. I mostly listen to Christian music, but it is really hard to find anything like John Mayer Trio, or anything focused on guitars.

 

[Markw]

That's a pretty tall order, particularly sincw you've given us no standards.

How about sharing with us some recordings you've found disappointing, and why.

Again, you buy the miusic you like by the artists you like and, unless there's a choice of recordings, you hope for the best.

 

[Wigwam Jones]

In the early days of CD, I was once in a record store (remember record stores?) with a buddy and we overheard a young man telling his girlfriend to not buy any CD that had "[AAD]" on the label instead of "[DDD]" because digital recording, mixing, and mastering was best. As they searched through the stacks for a DDD version of the AAD music CD they had, we both looked at each other and laughed.

However, with that said, there are good and bad recordings on CD. There are good and bad remastered recordings that have been brought over from LP to CD. And unfortunately, as others have said, there is no way to look at a CD and know which is which.

There are, of course, labels that have a reputation for quality. That does not mean that any specific LP or CD will be of superior quality, but in general terms, I tend to trust certain labels to provide good product. However, if an artist I want to listen to is only available on one label, they I'm pretty much stuck; it's that or nothing.

As others have mentioned, word of mouth from others who have listened to the CD in question is about the best you can do.

It's worse with old movies remastered onto DVD, for what it's worth. I've got three copies of 'Trinity', and only one is any good.

 

[wizargoz]

How can you tell if a CD is a quality recording or not? I don't see any markings on the CD. Is it just a game of chance, or is there some way to tell?

Look for CD's remastered from the original tapes. About 1/3rd of my CD's are remastered discs, and the quality is excellent. I pick these up at thrifts, garage sales etc. Hendrix "Are You Experienced?" remastered CD, for example, sounds awesome...

 

[rwartner]

http://www.allmusic.com/
http://starling.rinet.ru/music/index.htm
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231

A few places I have found helpful.

 

[tpi10d]

In my opinion most recent release of rock/popular music doesn't sound good at all. Excessive compression, and other signal processing.

I've bought a few of these recommendations and all of sounded very good or excellent. Several are almost breathtaking. Many interesting comments on his website:

http://www.digido.com/honor-roll.html

Those who listen extensively to classical/jazz tend to have a much better selection of well-recorded music. Whether it's digital or analog recording, and other technical details are often meaningless when seeking good sound. Much of it can sound good if recorded, mixed and mastered competently.

Your best method of finding good recordings is reading reviews, searching google for tips on good sounding recordings, and buying inexpensive used recordings of material you may think you'll like. Although not a perfect method due to the lossy compression in the samples, you can use the preview feature on Amazon downloads to weed out the worst offenders, then get a lossless file or cd of something you like. A good recording will compress to a better sounding mp3 than a bad one. Make a habit of trying to listen through the equipment to the recording quality. Even on boombox quality playback you can still pick out over compression and a few other maladies. You may be able to pick out good recordings listening at friend's or in a public setting.

Here's a recommendation from me: Johnny Cash American V A Hundred Highways. I had heard his version of Springsteen song "Further on up the Road" on youtube. The audio was decent. Bought one cent used CD plus $3.00 shipping from Amazon. Absolutely beautiful vocal quality on the recording. Its not something you'll see in hifi showroom, no deep bass etc. but the vocals are just fantastically recorded. The song gives me goosebumps.

 

[Anubis]

Well, as mentioned, the best way to tell is by listening. Keep in mind though that sometimes remasters can sound worse than the first edition. That's uncommon though, but I've heard a few that way. It depends on who's doing the remastering. Also your electronics and speakers can make a difference. If you have a revealing system either in your speakers or electronics or both, it will be easy to tell the differences most of the time.