104 of The Very Best Sound Quality Recordings
A short while ago I set out to find the best sounding recordings in order to take advantage of my newly purchased audiophile stereo system. I’m all about quality of music and sound so I wanted the best I could afford.
The criteria was simple, the recording had to be as close to master quality as you can get or a recording where you can hear the clarity, the frequency range and the sonic details that was originally intended. At first I wanted to acquire the physical albums but I quickly found that was not always possible. So alternatively there are plenty of master quality music available at places like the following (no worries, we’ll get to the list in a minute):
Bowers and Wilkins Society of Sound
Keep in mind if you purchase some of this music you will need to know what file format your audio player supports (watch for AIFF, ALAC, WAV, FLAC , DSD and new and arguably the best MQA).
Remember also that to listen to this music you do not have to have special speakers or headsets but the point here is to be able to hear the quality of the sound from the input source and to do that you need good quality output devices.
The above listed services are not free and they range significantly on the monthly and yearly costs. You will need to decide how much music quality of sound is worth to you.
My search turned up the following albums. They are not listed in any particular order or genre (that’s on purpose…my way of forcing you to listen to something new or different). These albums were recorded meticulously and sound great on their own but if you can get a master, or hi-res quality and play it on a system that can read and translate the media’s sound quality then you are off to the races. So find these albums, download them from a hi-res site or stream them from a HD audio streaming service. Your ears will love you.
One more thing… This is about sound quality not musical taste or about who’s music is better. We all love different types and styles of music. If you listen and you don’t like the music that’s fine but someone else might. My concern for this article is how it sounds. Try to listen to as many as you can. Happy listening.
So enough blah blah blah..Here we go…
The Beatles – Abbey Road
Daft Punk – Random Access Memories
Stevie Wonder – Inner Visions
Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On
Gustav Holts – The Planets – London Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra with Vladimir Jurowski
Darkside – Psychic
Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral
Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um
Thundercat – Drunk
Crosby, Stills and Nash – Day light Again
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
Michael Jackson – Thriller
Paul Simon – So Beautiful or So What
Steely Dan – Goucho
Dave Brubeck – Time Out
Neil Young – Roxy – Tonight’s The Night Live
Kendrick Lamar: Damn
Radiohead: OK Computer
Nirvana – In Utero 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
Dr. Dre – 2001
R.E.M. – Automatic For The People
Burial – Untrue
Rage Against The Machine – Rage Against The Machine
Joni Mitchell – Blue
Miles Davis – Kind of Blue
Prince – Sign of The Times
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
Massive Attach – Mezzanine
U2 – The Joshua Tree, Remastered Deluxe Edition
J.S. Bach – The Brandenburg Concertos,Jordi Savall – Le Concert Des Nations
Duke Ellington And His Orchestra – Afro Bossa
Jerry Garcia and David Grisman – So What
Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan – In Session
Jazz at the Pawnshop
Dire Straits – Dire Straits
The War On Drugs – Deeper Understanding
Norah Jones – Come Away With Me
Pink Floyd – Animals
Miles Davis – Bitches Brew
Nils Frahm – Spaces
Aphex Twin – Syro
Wagner – Der Ring Des Nibelungen – Wiener Philharmoniker, sir Georg Solti
Steely Dan – Aja
Porcupine Tree – Stars Die (Remastered)
Pat Metheny – Letter From Home
Mozart – The Piano Concertos – Murray Perahia
Deadmau5 – Where’s The Drop?
Keith Jarrett – After The Fall
Nirvana – Nevermind
Tool – Lateralus
My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
The Black Keys – Brothers
Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness
Deftones – White Pony
Arcade Fire – Funeral
Dusty Springfield – Dusty In Memphis
Howlin’ Wolf – The Memphis Sessions
Modern Jazz Quartet – Third Stream Music
FKA Twigs – LP1
The Congos – Heart of The Congos
Boards of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest
Pink Floyd – Dark Side of The Moon
Talking Heads – Talking Sense
Joni Mitchell – Court And Spark
The L.A. Four – Going Home
Stevie Wonder – Innervisions
Buena Vista Social Club – Buena Vista Social Club
Bill Evans Trio – Portrait In Jazz
Tom Waits – Rain Dogs
Yes – Close to The Edge
Keith Jarrett – The Koln Concert
Harry Connick Junior. – She
Anne Bisson – Blue Mind
Mickey Hart, Airto, Flora Purim – Dafos
John Hassell – Fascioma
James Blake – James Blake
Manu Katche – Third Round
Sara K And Chris Jones – Live In Concert
Peter Gabriel 4 – (‘Security’)
Andre Heuvelman – After Silence
Doug MacLeod – There’s A time
Peter Erskine Trio – As it is
Bobby Timmons Trio – In Person
John Coltrane – Crescent
Sam Cooke – Night Beat
Muddy Waters – Folk Singer
The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed
Jeff Beck – Wired
Bob Marley and The Wailers – Exodus
Grace Jone – Night clubbing
Depeche Mode – Violator
LSO, Les Troyens Berlioz – Sir Colin Davis
Bjork – Homogenic
Madeleine Peyroux – Careless Love
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly
Gomez – In Your Gun
Bob Dylan – Love And Theft
Thomas Dolby – Aliens Ate My Buick
Steven Wilson – The Raven That Refused to Sing
Anne Sophie Mutter – Vivaldi – the Four Seasons
Eric Clapton – Unplugged
Santana – Ceremony
Muki – Quiet Riot
Toni Braxton – Secrets
Now this is not a final or definitive list. This is just what I found in my research. No doubt there are plenty more out there. I would love to hear what you think I’ve missed (always willing to listen). Put your thoughts in the comment box at the bottom of the page.