These are some of the best sounding CDs out there. Great music from The Beatles, Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Daft Punk, Norah Jones Dr Dre and Eva Cassidy to add to your CD collection.
Maybe it's just the age that I grew up in, but I do think that CD is the end-all be-all of physical media. Vinyl certainly has its charm, and the ritual of flipping the record and putting the needle on makes for more mindful listening, but CDs just have the best fidelity.
Yeah I tend to agree. CDs have better dynamic range, a lower noise floor, are easier to look after, don't wear out and cost a fraction of vinyl these days. I still love vinyl but CDs have a ton of advantages. Oh, and I bought a portable CD player again recently so I can play them on the move. Can't do that with my LPs!
I disagree that the CD is the end-all be-all of physical media. When done correctly, the CD is Fantastic. However, there are lps that beat the CD counterpart. Mastering is a big part of that. CDs tend to get more and more compressed each time a particular album is remastered.
I was an early adopter to cd in 1984, buying a Philips CD -101 player. It blew up me away to the point of selling off my all be it small vinyl collection by late 1986. Fast forward to 2003 and I due to the internet hype got back into the vinyl game again. Went all in buying hundreds of LP's second hand over the next 17 years. An went stupid nuts buying ever more expensive turntables, phono cartridges and phono preamps. I drank the Kool aid. Yes the nostalgia kick was fun and buying lots of albums cheap was great. I started buying new albums from oh around 2009-2020 but damn the prices started getting high for my blood. Anyway come 2020 I kinda got burned out and sick of all the money I spent on turntables and such. I began playing my CDs again, having not done much except for car audio for many years earlier. I began to the notice how frigging good most of my CDs sounded. I began to do A vs B comparisons between my LP's and their cd counter parts. I noticed that in pretty well every case the cd was in pure fidelity better. Add the fact I did not have to worry about clicks and pops made it better. So I sold off all my vinyl and turntable stuff in 2021 and have not missed it since.
@@DigbyOdel-et3xx I remember the first time I heard a CD in the 80's. Yes, no clicks and pops, but the sound quality sucked. Obviously digital has come a long way since then. When done right, it is excellent. Bottom line, it comes down to what each individual enjoys. I like both for different reasons.
CD’s do not have the best fidelity. If you’re listening to recent pressings, then yes but compared to original pressings in EX condition, by far no. I just purchased Pearl Jam’s Ten on vinyl original first press and truthfully it’s clarity and punch is more defined on vinyl than on any CD I’ve listened to. And I’ve owned Ten on many CD’s. And Dark Side’s original pressing from the UK blows away any format. Just my experience.
Just come across your channel Matt. This is brilliant stuff. I have this kind of chat with three of my real life friends (we work in record shop in the UK), and we’re endlessly debating SQ vs format vs pressing vs mastering and all points in between. Re: Abbey Road 1987, yes it’s brilliant. We were very fortunate to come across a Black Triangle Toshiba Japan Abbey Road in store, and I can testify to its magnificence, too. A notch or two above the 1987, but it had to be moved on for sale as it’s a big ticket item. Keep up this great channel. Hope I get to watch many more. Regards, Gregor.
Ah cheers Gregor! Must have been hard to let that Black Triangle Abbey Road go! I think I'd struggle working in a record store as I'd always want to keep everything for myself. I'd be out of business in a week! 🤣
Ok, I am a huge collector since cd day 1 in 1982... and I sell too. I have sold lots of Eva Cassidy never knowing who she was. Never played a cd ( she's not on a major label so I thought she was a nobody). OK, so thanks to YOU I played her time after time album, was blown away and read her Wiki page. This hobby never fails to surprise. Thanks for opening my eyes to this talent!
Love these suggestions. Some I haven't heard and need to check out. A couple I think of as the best sounding in my collection include the original release of Faith by George Michael. In particular "Hard Day" is a great stress test for almost any system. Same thing for his "Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1" follow-up, particularly "Cowboys And Angels" where the bass is playing octaves. I also really like the sound of The Cure's Disintegration. This despite looking at the files in an audio editor suggests noisy analog tapes... it doesn't sound that way coming out of my speakers. ...Speaking of audio, you might check your recording setup. Your mic audio was only coming out of my right channel. Probably an easy fix although not knowing your setup I don't know where the fix needs to be applied. I'd prefer you in the center of my speakers. 🙂
Hi 👋 I had the joy of seeing Miles Davis in concert back in the 1980s here in New Zealand. It was around the time of his Tutu album release. His back up band were very funky. I like Norah Jones. Nina Simone was one of the greatest entertainers of all time, i love her music.
Agree with Abbey Road and Dark Side of the Moon. Even the ongoing masters that keep coming out of those two sound great. Very well recorded which is where it all starts. Would add Dire Straits Brothers in Arms. One of the first “full digital recordings “ as the sticker on the jewel box said when I got it back in ‘87. The dynamics are amazing including the crescendo to start Money For Nothing. A great way to test your sound system. Thanks for the video. Hopefully more like this to come.
Thanks for the kind words! Yeah totally agree with you about Brothers in Arms. It really does sound amazing. Will be doing a part 2 on this as so many great suggestions have come forward for tremendous sounding CDs. Watch this space!
You are so right about cds that are compressed or 'bricked' and sound terrible. You can use audacity to analyze. I find that SHM Japanese cds are generally better sounding.
Nice score! I think I found that Nora Jones CD in a charity shop too. You see "Come Away With Me" and "Feels Like Home" all the time in the ones around my way, but this one turned up and I grabbed it immediately.
There are 2 versions of this, I got the original, which is less compressed than the double cd, was recorded on a Sony dat machine I believe, superb sound quality.
Yes Agreed! I purchased a few Sade Import pressings. These Remasters are significantly better sounding than the originals. So, A Highly recommended upgrade.
"Hounds of love" by Kate Bush "Songs from the big chair" by Tears for fears "Violator" by Depeche Mode "Blue lines" by Massive Attack "Black album" by Metallica are amazing albums that sound amazing on CD. This conversation could go on for days. There are many amazingly produced, mixed and great sounding albums.
Supertramp Breakfast in America is a superbly mastered album imo, Tears for fears are well mastered too. A superb jazz album which was quite hard to find is Lionel Hampton presents Buddy Rich which is superb
Thanks mate, glad you noticed the wallets. I have indeed been using them to save space. I made a video on the pros and cons if you're interested: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mQyJ2QGtKY0.html
A few of my favourites: Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms SACD 5.1 Eagles - Hell Freezes Over K2 HDCD Peter Gabriel - So ( Remastered 2013) Oleta Adams - Circle Of One (Remastered) Roxy Music - Avalon HDCD Katie Melua - Call Off The Search Fourplay (First) Tears For Fears - The Seeds Of Love
Is it just me, or is this video one channel? Is that huge speaker affecting your mic?! Anyways, I've got all of them bar the Eva and Nina albums, though I will look into those two - I never got the love for Ms Cassidy, though I will try that one based on it being included in a rather good list, though I've gone off the Dre album of late. Personally, whilst having 70s vinyl, and those early CDs of the Floyd & Beatles albums, I rather prefer the recently 'rebuilt' Abbey Road, and the Immersion DSotM (and the Quad mix in the box set).
On your recommendation regards Eva Cassidy, who i have to admit I knew nothing about, i actually found the album Songbird in a charity shop. Very good indeed, i hope to find that live album. What a tragedy she died so young.
Yes it was really a shame. So young and talented. Makes you wonder about what else she would have gone on to do if she hadn't been taken from us like that. I feel the same way about Jeff Buckley too.
I can confirm its sounds truly fantastic. When you put it on its quite startling compared to how most CDs sound. Excellent recommendation and makes you think if a little label can do this... why cant the majors.
Yep, sorry that's my fault. I was having some issues with Audacity and it wasn't mixing the mono mic into both channels. Apologies if it's annoying. Especially on headphones! Will sort out for the next one 👍
a nod to, "Tales of Mystery and Imagination: Edgar Allen Poe" by Alan Parsons Project...when i first heard this on a really nice stereo system, it blew my mind...
Alan Parsons was the sound engineer on both "Abbey Road" and "Dark side of the Moon". He's a legend. If anyone can make an album sound great it's Alan Parsons.
Another one for your ears is Stevie Ray Vaughan-Cant Stand The Weather,Ihave it on both CD and vinyl and it is just amazing especially the track Tin Pan Alley(Roughest Place In Town).
Thanks for the tip. I'm confused..Is Blu-ray Pure Audio a format? I'm not sure what the title of the recording is..or if there is one. Perhaps this is a series of recordings produced by Mr. Wilson. IDK Thanks!
We all have our favorites but for the best live recorded CD there is the Allman Brothers "Live at Fillmore East". Of course there are better fidelity modes (Mobile Fidelity vinyl or analog reel to reel) but for a CD it stands the test of time.
@@guyboisvert66 A CD is a "medium" fidelity recording/playback mode. At 16bit/44.1k Hz it may or may not please an audiophile given the quality of the original recording or the mastering. Other modes such as vinyl, SACD, digital download, open reel tape may yield superior audible results. All depends on the quality and care taken in the reproduction chain.
@@amham48 Ah ok, marketing influenced... CD quality is more than enough for human ears, higher than that bring almost nothing to the table... It's well documented that for a same master / mix source, humans are not able to distinguish from CD / SACD / "HiRes" Files. Open Reel tape is equivalent to about 13 bits, that was the best at that time but has been surpassed by digital since. I'm not saying that Otari / Studer / etc were "bad", they sounded great but there's better than that now. 24 bits / 96KHz is used for mixing but the result is downsampled @ 44.1 / 16 bits and it is, as i said, more than enough for human ears. If you have any background on digital signal theory / engineering math, you'll understand what i'm talking about. If not, here is a very good explanation for the non-engineers: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cIQ9IXSUzuM.html
Out of 1k+ cd's I have, I think Santana 'supernatural', Megadeth 'cryptic writings', Crystal Gayle's album made from the original master, and you mentioned dark side also from original master are some that come to mind.. Also frank zappa albums are well produced. When I sold stereos, I used the crystal Gayle, and supertramp 'crime of the century and the 2 dire straits albums for demos. We had insane direct to discs that were next level. Lincoln mayorga and that bunch
"Random Access Memories" is one of the few albums I have on both CD and vinyl. I have a lot of fun blind testing my friends with those to see if they can pick which is which lol
Cool thing about that album is some tracks were recorded digitally and some analog, and you can hear it. But the really really strange thing about this album that almost nobody knows about is that it was officially released in a small cotton growing town in NSW, Australia called Wee Waa. They had their record release party at Wee Waa showground. Now, Wee Waa is a small rural town with a population of about 2000 people and I'm guessing that out of those 2000 people maybe 6 maximum would have even known who Daft Punk was, hell... most people in Australia wouldn't have even heard of Wee Waa. I have no idea how Daft Punk came to release this album there, it's so bizarre
Most of The Beach Boys "two-fers" (2 LPs per CD) released on Capitol in the '80's sound great, especially on headphones. One of my absolute faves is *Kiko* by Los Lobos (prod by Mitchell Froom, engr by Tchad Blake). Speaking of remasters, I've been loving the anniversary edition of Travis' *The Invisible Band* (prod by Nigel Godrich). I suggest that fans listening via CD should keep in mind that players & DACs from the last 10 years or so often sound much better than older machines, so those older CDs may have more great sound to offer.
Greetings. I'm buying all my music on CD again these days as, as you mentioned, vinyl is just too expensive and some pressings are frustratingly warped or crackly. And £25/30 is too rich for me to discover I don't really like that album after all. In the best of both worlds, I'd have CD's in a vinyl sized sleeve, so I would get the benefit of the wonderful artwork. A subject I'm interested in, presented by a likeable, down to earth geezer without the audiophile snobbery - I'll have me some of that. Subscribed 👍
I believe Random Access Memories is actually ADD, recorded in analogue. So are most Radiohead CDs - in fact, some of those may even be AAD, like OK Computer, which definitely has an analogue master tape in existence. Although digitally manipulated parts are present in Radiohead’s music as well, so it’s more like A(D)AD 😊
Guilty of flicking through this a bit, so when I randomly clicked to 6:43, I thought that was going to be a 'wonderful wonderful life' because at a glance it looks like the Black album of the same name! I think maybe my best sounding CD was Genesis We can't dance, but that might be because it was the first one I bought...
Grace Mahya Live at The DUG, Tesla Five Man London Jam, Al Stewat Year of the Cat, Ray Charles genius loves company. And anything from Mtv's Unplugged.
I tried going back to vinyl after 20 some years on CDs and I couldn’t stand the popping and cracking that never bothered me before the CD. Some of my favorite reference CDs are Metallica Kill Em’ All Billy Idol White Wedding Rush Moving Pictures The Who Who’s Next Steely Dan Anything from Steely Dan
Not currently. I may do in the future though. I like to listen to CDs on my portable CD player when I'm out and about and I don't like taking the digipacks with me in case they get damaged in my bag, so protective sleeves may be the answer!
So I am a semi-professional musician and I had a nice promotional CD that I would give out to people and recently I thought I need to upgrade it. But then I thought who even has a player and CDs? ( I certainly do and love CDs ) but would I be laughed at handing out a CD?
While it's true that for most of the public, CDs are more or less a relic of the past, I do see tremendous value in artists selling them still. Fr a start you make more money than streaming or downloads and secondly these days (sad as it may seem) it's almost considered "merch". Fans may still stream the album but want something physical as a memento of their favourite band or a gig they really enjoyed. It's a bit like the "silent vinyl" phenomenon I suppose. Also from personal experience on this channel that talks mainly about CDs, I've had nearly 45k views in the first 3 weeks of putting out videos. To me that says there is still interest in the format.
DSOTM aside, I don't share your musical preferences but that's life Even Dream Theater sounds overproduced on some albums but that's probably as close as prog metal will ever get to the mainstream.
Yeah I think DSOTM unifies most people, regardless of musical tastes. It's such a magnificent piece of work. Being a Cambridge lad, I have a soft spot for Floyd anyway! Don't know much about Dream Theater if I'm honest. I'll check them out. I'm really enjoying all the great music people talk about on here. I'm getting so much inspiration!
HirRes audio downloaded is the best music I own for sound quality. I would agree that CD or even vinyl can sound great…..but HiRes at 192khz is hard to beat……it’s as close as you’ll get to the studio mix sound.
There is multiple versions of each album you mension, go full sacd on everything if you can. Just got a longbox with wish you were here sbm and 24k goldplated, i laught about it some years ago, not anymore😅.
Some Sacd versions are worse than the cd, as they are compressed, shame. But the Japanese Sacd of dire Straits making movies beat any other version or format in my opinion
I have some cds that were produced in the 90s that were horrible!! Fleetwood Mac Rumors, and their other album from the 70s were so bad, I couldn't listen to them. I found remastered editions in the 2000s that are so much better. I assume that remastered versions are the best.
Yeah that was my fault. I thought I'd mixed the mono mic channel down to matching stereo tracks but clearly not! Apologies if it's annoying to listen to.
I kick myself for not knowing what I had when I was a kid. Thinking new was better than the old because of the packaging looking good made me get rid of many original cds.
Sorry about the audio. For some reason Audacity wouldn't record in mono and I thought it I'd mixed the stereo track down to mono but turned out I hadn't! Apologies if it was annoying to listen to. Abbey Road does sound amazing on Vinyl. My mum had a copy she bought new and it was the first Beatles album I ever heard. Will get a copy on vinyl at some point.
Haha to be fair Aja could easily be on this list but I tried to make it a mix between the ones everyone wants to see on the list and a couple that don't usually get mentioned. Might do a part 2 and include Steeley Dan Aja, Fleetwood Mac Rumours, Beach Boys Pet Sounds, etc in the near future!
Is it just me....? There is voice only in the right channel. Nothing in the left. Are we to assume Matt's Music Channel is in fact the LEFT channel? Play some music and let's see..
Sorry mate, that might be my fault! I was having some problems with audacity and I don't think it mixed the mono mic into both channels for some reason. Apologies if it's annoying (especially on headphones). Will sort it out for the next one.
The ‘87 Beatles releases are fantastic and the only ones I’ll buy - still on the hunt for Sgt Pepper but have the rest Daft Punk is amazing For another that is very well recorded - The Tony Rich Project - Words 1996
I like your videos but looking at the flat covers of your CDs is a big turn off. They look dull and boring, nothing like opening the jewel case and taking out the booklet, it adds to the ritual.
Yeah I get it. It's purely a space thing. There's no more room for the collection to grow without doing this. I did a video on the pros and cons if you're interested.
Can’t understand why dark side of the moon is thought of so highly. I’ve tried to listen to it a couple of times and in my opinion I deem as the worst album ever. Therefore put me off Pink Floyd for good.
My point is that with all the noise effects (extreme auto-tuning, vocorders, etc.) that rap-hop uses, their recordings are no place to judge audio fidelity.@@mattsmusichannel
The album sounds fantastic on CD in my opinion and is widely recognised for the great mastering job that was done on it. If you're into Hip-Hop and want a great sounding album then this is a really good choice. If you want something to test how revealing your system is then sure, there are better options. I tried to choose a range of musical styles and what I felt sounds really good in their respective genres.
