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The best recordings, as voted by professionals

C Hart

C Hart

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I have been feeling kind of burned as I started buying vinyl again a couple of years ago. I'm sure I'm not the only one who notices but I am really disappointed in the products. The variability of quality is astounding. Some brand new albums are muddy and/or have almost no high end, but others are nearly indistinguishable from CDs.

I have been trying to figure out a reliable way to know when a record is any good, and I ran across this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Best_Engineered_Album,_Non-Classical

I have several of the winners and nominees on vinyl (more on CD) and they all sound good. But these are all mass market albums, and there are a lot of repeat nominees and winners. Is there another source where good engineering is recognized?
 
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I have some MoFi stuff but Analogue is a new one for me. That is helpful info - many thanks, responders.

I would love to know about some clearinghouse, ratings service, professional organization etc. short of the Grammies who give awards for great execution.

(BTW I will take info on great CD engineering also)
 
Audiofreak71 said:
Here’s a list of pressing plants around the world. My go to for best quality and quality control are Analogue Productions/QRP, Impex Recirds, MFSL, for inexpensive but consistent quality pressings MOV (music on vinyl) has never let me down.

https://www.livetrigger.com/magazine/underground-guides/best-vinyl-pressing-plants/


Audiofreak71
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Sony/Legacy and MOV have been good for me as well, but I have got a couple bad ones that were sent back. Dylan’s Nashville Skyline was one, as mentioned above Discogs reviews suggested another pressing from Legacy and it is one of the best sounding records I own.
I understand the frustration with buying media.
 
Steve Albini, if you're into rock, particularly alt-rock, is known for a particular sound; notably, he typically eschews compression and favors mic placement and natural ambience, over effects processing. His work on the Pixies' "Come On Pilgrim," inspired Nirvana to hire him to record their final studio album, "In Utero."

John McIntire, of Tortoise & the Sea and Cake fame is another engineer whose work I admire.

Sean O'Hagan's work on his own, as the High Llamas & Microdisney and collaborations with Stereolab is noteworthy for its effusive nods to Brian Wilson, Ennio Moricone, Jobim & Burt Bacharach.
 
That is great info - many thanks. The above mirrors my experience. Discogs user reviews are IMO also suspect sometimes but is a good starting point. MOV is another that I also found decent with the occasional clunker.
 
Gigantic said:
John McIntire, of Tortoise & the Sea and Cake fame is another engineer whose work I admire.
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Gigantic (Not to hijack this thread), Is The Sea and Cake well known for their recording/engineering SQ? I’ve heard some of their music and some of Archer Prewitt’s later solo stuff, but only on my iPhone, and liked it.

I find it interesting because I was very good friends with Archer in art school. (I haven’t talked to him in about 20 years.) He had a punk band then and sometimes wore a yellow Devo jumpsuit. We shared records and expanded each other’s music tastes. Sometimes we would DJ together with my traveling disco. He had a lot of money but, unfortunately, a really crappy stereo/TT. He introduced me to a lot of alternative music and I introduced him to the benefits of direct-to-disc records and half-speed masters and HiFidelity.
 
Gillian Welsh takes great care in her vinyl releases.

I've tried Intervention reissues of Joe Jackson (OK) and Joan Armatrading (just horrible) and it was a mixed bag at best. It seemed like a mastering issue as cover and pressing seemed OK.

Analogue Productions and QRP pressings never disappoint..
 
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Bushikan said:
Gigantic (Not to hijack this thread), Is The Sea and Cake well known for their recording/engineering SQ? I’ve heard some of their music and some of Archer Prewitt’s later solo stuff, but only on my iPhone, and liked it.

I find it interesting because I was very good friends with Archer in art school. (I haven’t talked to him in about 20 years.) He had a punk band then and sometimes wore a yellow Devo jumpsuit. We shared records and expanded each other’s music tastes. Sometimes we would DJ together with my traveling disco. He had a lot of money but, unfortunately, a really crappy stereo/TT. He introduced me to a lot of alternative music and I introduced him to the benefits of direct-to-disc records and half-speed masters and HiFidelity.
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within the context of American indie rock in the 90's, definitely, although TSAC's origins, particularly Sam Prekop and and his half brother, bassist Eric Claridge's origins in Shrimp Boat, are decidedly lo-fi. I think their beginnings, whether Shrimp Boat's diy art-rock irreverence, or Archer's lounge revival beginnings in the Cocktails, not to mention John McIntire's ground breaking and genre defining work in Tortoise melds a lot of varied influences, from 70's kraut-rock, Steely Dan, Supertramp, The Smiths, Mingus, Monk & Miles and more into a format that is decidedly hi-fi, even if their eponymous debut was still finding its way there in the early 90's. Their first 3-4 albums remain in regular rotation for me, although their later work strikes me as self indulgent audio masturbation- either my tastes have moved on, theirs have or somewhere in between, they don't seem to be making the same jazz-inflected indie pop that drew me to them 30 years ago.
 
I’m not sure if the OP is looking for a particular genre, but the single best recording that I’ve heard is Sonny Rollins ‘Way Out West’. Contemporary Records recordings from this period are just fantastic.

Another great SQ label for jazz is Pablo. Norman Granz label after he sold Verve. Count Basie ‘88 Basie Street’ is a great example.
 
Gigantic said:
Steve Albini, if you're into rock, particularly alt-rock, is known for a particular sound; notably, he typically eschews compression and favors mic placement and natural ambience, over effects processing. His work on the Pixies' "Come On Pilgrim," inspired Nirvana to hire him to record their final studio album, "In Utero."
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Nice! I introduced my son and his friend to Big Black this afternoon!

Might have to cue up some Pixies...
 
timofred said:
The variability of recording is astounding.
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Unsure of how to take this - recording, along with mastering and production, is the product, so yes I agree.

I got fed up by vinyl. For example, I could not find a good pressing of "Fleetwood Mac" after 3 tries even with AKer recommendations.

But some CDs are really terrible also. One of the biggest recent disappointments was Jon Baptiste's "We Are" (which I bought because of his fantastic Grammy performance) which has many great songs horribly reproduced. With albums costing >$30 for 35-40 minutes of music, we have to insist on better.

Great info on the jazz labels - I have had good luck with jazz generally. (Best record I ever heard: The New Brubeck Quartet "A Cut Above"). Pop is way less consistent in quality.

I am very happy to hear these recommendations but I wish there was a way to just have a star rating on the technical production of an LP or CD. I was really hoping for maybe the Society of Audio Engineers Gold Award for 1977 or Record Reviewers Guild Technical Achievement Medal for 2005 or the like (not real groups AFAIK).

But as I read the thread, I think there might be another question that's easier to answer: Is there a reviewer or site with enough audio chops to review the production also?
 
What I meant was you have to start with a quality product,
and maintain that all the way through the process.
You can't start with a bad recording.
 
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