Henderson was often under appreciated and never fully reached a level of recognition he deserved but that being said Henderson was extremely gifted and a most special artist deserving of more attention.
Thanks Steve, I love some of your videos. There is an intimacy that others lack. It feels like we’re sitting in your apartment talking audio, as opposed to being talked at. Great!
Hello Steve, nice video. Listening to the McCoy Tyner Quartet - New York Reunion right now. Thanks for the advice, one of the few McCoy Tyner albums that I don't have. Now I remember why I like Joe Henderson's tenor so much.
So cool to learn you got to meet Kenny Rankin...one of my all time favorite artists. He was very very special. The Kenny Rankin Album (not on Chesky) with Don Costa & Strings is also totally out of this world, as are most of his records. We lost him way too soon.
Yeah, but he's only talking about 'this' music because he thinks it sounds better on high-end gear. Is this music he really cares about, or is it ultimately about 'the recording'.
Steve I just got my TIN HIFI T4 in the mail and I am absolutely amazed how good they sound. You were right; $79 headphones have no business sounding this good. The shipping took longer than a month, but goddamn. Thanks for the recommendation.
@@davidcastillo1340 That's how I got my set too. Some days I like the T2s better and some days the T4s. But they are really, really good... surprisingly so for the price.
I make pure audiophile recordings. I think outside the box and even Peter Aczel at The Audio Critic was impressed with the sample of the Bridgeport Symphony that I'd sent him. Type of mic pattern and placement is essential.
@@bbfoto7248 They're mostly 'archival only' and for the soloists' portfolio. But here's a UA-cam quality sample: ua-cam.com/video/a0XFLkCtbKY/v-deo.html
The Kenny Rankin album he lists [and forgets to mention the name of ;) ] is named “Because of You;” I just clicked through to the download page, and they have even got the album cover he holds up to the camera-otherwise it was a matter of taking my best guess from a list of his album names, based on the blurry, three-word title, written in calligraphy. Enjoy!
Thx Steve, that was great. I had no idea Chesky was streaming on Spotify! Since they don't stream on TIDAL or Qobuz, I have outright purchased some of the titles based on recommendations (some yours!). I will be buying more titles now that I can listen to them (albeit in lower resolution, which I think is a good choice as David needs to make some money after all). In particular, The Persuasions - I had no idea they had so many albums, or David's own recordings. Thank you David and Steve!
The problem with Chesky Records is that their CDs are difficult to find. Amazon copies are perpetually out of stock. Their other outlet (HDtracks) is strictly digital downloads. Frankly, if I'm paying almost $30 (or more) for a CD, I want a hard copy... Not something which could pick up errors during the download process, then again while burning the downloaded files onto a blank CD.
So, is "Explorations in Space and Time" "Dafos": the Next Generation? Does't matter, I'm intrigued. Problem, Barnes & Noble, my physical media source for music (well, there is also this nice vintage vinyl shop) as well as books and magazines that I don't subscribe to (plus a Totoro plush toy for baby granddaughter's first Christmas) can't get it. Hey, Chesky! You need to expand your distribution network beyond Amazon. It wasn't always thus, I purchased "New York Reunion" on CD from them back in the the day. Support your local brick-and-mortar retailers, even if they are part of a mega-chain.
While the Amber Rubarth Sessions binaural CD sounds really good over headphones, I find it underwhelming over my system. I'm beginning to suspect binaural recordings sound worse if not listened over headphones.
I personally prefer Chesky records they did before they started using Binaural mic technique. I know most of people today listen in headphones. But I hate to listen in headphones. Also listening in headphones leeds to hearing loss.
But why?.. you shouldn’t use music to listen to your system. If you have a system that you spend good money on, it should do something good for the music that you like regardsles of the recoring. THAT is the point of being an audiophile!
God preserve me from Audiophile musak which is what it is, musak for audiophiles. Music so boring it makes you want to slit your wrist. I have most of these albums, technically and musically competent but oh my God, so incredibly dreary and boring. They show that just because something has been recorded well by someone who can play an instrument well does not mean it also has real artistic or emotional merit! Give me a poor recording of someone who actually has some soul over this any day of the week! There should be a warning sticker on the covers to say they only sound good when surrounded by other gullible audiophiles at shows!
This is excellent Steve. I feel so lucky to have worked with you, David, Bob, and Jeremy on many of these. It was a tremendous learning experience that propelled me further down the audio rabbit hole.
The Amber Rubarth also has HUGE air, space and a very natural acoustic... love it. And Dave's True Story is a great recording, I recall I was there in fact, and it IS amazing as you say. And the Persuasions, yeah man, classic.
Hey Steve, whilst I appreciate the sentiment here, I believe you've missed the brief to a point. Choosing anything 'Chesky' should be something of a no brainer for people into this type of music as the label (as you well know) was all about 'audiophile' quality recordings. It may have been more valuable to suggest music from non audiophile labels that sound really good. There must be some that you love & sound great...not everything sounds highly compressed and lacking in dynamics. I get that you like to support your friends & were involved in some of these recordings. So, perhaps a part 2 of this, suggesting some music more left of the norm that you consider to be well recorded. Whilst this type of music isn't really my thing, that said I like jazz and in this list particularly McCoy Tyner. Also the African music sounds interesting, so I'll have to rewind this to get the name again. Thank you. Cheers! *** I get the concept of these audiophile recordings having a sense of reality, in terms of minimal mixing etc, so the instruments and vocals sound to the end user as they did at the recording sessions. However, that still doesn't mean other non audiophile recordings can and do sound really good. Edit = I'm specifically thinking lessor known albums here, as if you were to ask many people they'd likely gravitate to their fav Pink Floyd album or artist/band equally well known. So, I think slightly left of centre is important as that may shine a light on some lessor known music & provide some valuable music choices for music lovers. 😎
I agree totally. But mentioning good sounding recordings from popular artist will not hurt; there must be younger people here with open minds that would appreciate artists of the 1970's and 80's. I know of recordings by Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Sarah Mclachlan, Jean-Luc Ponty; Chick Corea Electric Band, Allan Parsons Project, Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, The Beatles, Elton John......that are great sounding and emotionally engaging.
Anytime Steve recommends a recording, I'm off to find samples so I can give it a listen. The material doesn't always work for me (and that's OK), but I am finding artists to add to my collection that I actually will listen to. The Laura Nyro recording springs to mind as well as a couple of his Sinatra recommendations. This current effort at listing some of his favorite Chesky recordings is much appreciated. I'm already listening to several of them and will add several more. I would also appreciate Steve's recommendation of other recordings that manage to circumvent the heavy processing stage and that are good music. I know there is variety in taste, but I'm listening to new stuff because of Steve and I really appreciate that.
All music is audiophile music according to the listener's opinion. I enjoy the sound of my studio monitor headphones and speakers. Yes - Close to the Edge is one of my favorites.
I want to thank you for going over each in turn. I had listened to Amber Rubarth on speakers and was not that impressed. On your suggestion, I put on the HD6xx headphones and was wowed by the expansive sound stage and clarity of each instrument.
Man, the Cheskey stuff sounded horrible. I think you like atmosphere more than sound quality. I am a musician and everything sounded absolutly horrible. I have been playing drums for 38 years. The recording sucks. It sounds nothing like what drums and cymbals sound like. If it sounds that way in that room, its horrible.
Steve I have most of the Chesky catalog and still today enjoy them . As my digital front end components improved exponentially I realized more so how good my favourite Chesky recording’s sound which adds much more to the overall thrill and enjoyment.
A great recording of jazz instrumental band Oregon in that church. And prob. out of license, but Dr. Reiner's recording of Brahms 4th symphony which he proclaimed his most beautiful from the Readers Digest recordings-put out also as a special Gold Chesky CD as recorded by Wilkerson in England.
I don’t consider myself an audiophile, and I don’t consider anything in my music collection “audiophile” (even though I have a few Chesky recordings). Some of my favorites, recordings from Columbia 30th St Studio, are the ones I return to time and time again to bring out the best experience in my audio system.
@Merlin Agreed. I play drums/percussion & saxophone, and I prefer Mappleshade's "live sound" over most of the Chesky recordings. In a lot of the Chesky recordings, I feel that there is a bit too much of "the room". But there definitely are some gems in the Cheeky discography.
I love this so much. Thank you for turning us on to such great music and such wonderful recordings. Your enthusiasm for music really drives your interest in good sound, which is exactly where I come from. Love the channel!
Nice collection too!! I find the Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs on the Gain 2 system are recordings that really dig out the best for most competent systems. :)
Steve, a couple of my personal favorites from a pure sound quality standpoint are the RCA and Columbia 3 Channel Stereo SACDs. Particularly the Jazz albums and some of the classical. I'm not a classical guy at all, but have grown to appreciate it once in awhile. I listened to the 3 Channel Stereo SACD of the Nutcracker last night and that was simply stunning over my system and perfect for this time of year. However for me a system has to be able to make ones favorite music sound its very best, because if it doesn't people tend to not be honest with themselves and start to gravitate towards more of that Gearophile demo music stuff if it makes their system sounds good. Much of it while technically impressive isn't particularly great music IMHO.
What are the differences sonically between LPs that are recorded direct to disk and those that are recorded and pressed later? Sheffield labs used to do this.
Thinks for this list; I've created a playlist on Amazon HD with as many of them as are available. My initial impression; especially on "Space and Time", the imaging goes well left of the left speaker, and well right of the right speaker. However, on all these recordings, there doesn't exist the depth (behind the speakers) I routinely get with many other recordings, especially with some classical recordings where instruments seem to be coming from far beyond my front wall (my speakers are 7 feet from my front wall). With those classical recordings, the images are locked to the left and right boundaries of the speakers however. To date, one of the few recordings which "does it all" is Diamond Mine by King Creosote and John Hopkins, and Raindamage by Nordic Affect.
In another video you recommend Bruce Springstreen and the E-Street Band "Hammersmith Odeon London 75" ... I am really not a fan of the Boss, but I really enjoy listening to that specific one, just sounds great!
I'm losing respect for your opinion. "When its sleepy time down south" Clark Terry. This god-awful recording puts the trumpet solely in the right channel which might not be so annoying if other instruments were placed left and center. The trumpet is about 50 db louder than the piano which is kind of center left, but the worst, most unbearable thing is the horrible grainy hiss through the entire thing. Maybe you've listened to too much vinyl and are used to ridiculous amounts of background noise like that. That is NOT an audiophile recording. Music played well and recorded well is an audiophile recording. And since played well is a matter of opinion, that pretty much leaves us with recorded well. No awful ambient noise. No post production alteration, just an honest reproduction. Not even going to waste my time on the rest of your list.
And the Babatunde Olatunji record he holds up, but does not list below the video, is the *original* “Drums of Passion,” which seems to have been *both* rereleased *and* borrowed in naming at least one, if not more, future record; I came across something like “Drums of Passion Beats,” which appears to have an entirely different track listing from the original-the one Steve says he fell in love with as a kid when it hit the Top 40 charts on AM radio!
Can someone explain to me what is audiophile grade music besides the bitrate? I don’t consider myself an audiophile because I don’t know much about dynamic range and other things that come with being an audiophile, but I do appreciate (lossless files) high quality distortion free music. I do like a lot of hip hop music and unfortunately, majority of the genre releases a lot of content with distortion which I despise so much, but it’s nice when you come across tracks that have no distortion.
Do you have a similar list for recordings which highlight the benefits of a subwoofer or deep bass fronts? I mean in terms of how a sub can reveal the size of the venue in a way you can never quite hear on modest front speakers - not just adding more thump to techno.
Enjoying your videos. I'm somewhat new to all of this but love music. Question: I recently got several HI Res 24 bit recording of Sinatra songs that were probably recorded in the 50's. Is this largely a waste of money? It would seem to me that this would be akin to trying to straighten a tree that has been crooked for decades. While it may sound better than the standard FLAC file, you can't improve on the technology that was present at the time. Also, when did recordings really start getting really good? 70's, 80's???
@Steve Guttenberg Audiophiliac Steve, thanks for (partially) fullfilling my request from my comment in one of your previous videos. I guess that I should have worded it a bit more carefully. While I have many Chesky recordings and enjoy most of them, there is A LOT MORE MUSIC out in the world! As a side note, I actually prefer the Mappleshade recordings overall...but again, it is a VERY Limited catalog. And even though most of your viewers would probably consider themselves "audiophiles", I doubt that they *only listen to ''audiophile'' recordings* on a daily basis. The oceans of music are Vast & Deep. I'd like to see you expand your horizons with other suggestions for "well-recorded" and emotionally involving music. Thanks for getting the "ball rolling".
zippymagee Yeah it does look good I have one just like it somewhere ,but that’s where we draw the line because my hi-fi equipment is probably a fraction of what his is worth. but even so I have to admit it my hi-fi it sounds really really really good so I mustn’t be complacent compared to some other people all my equipment is probably what they aspire to own. Anyway I’ve drowned on long enough have a happy Christmas and a great New Year all the very best 🎼🔊🔊
zippymagee If you’re happy with your system that all that matters I have built my system up over many years and I am happy with it, have a great Christmas and a better New Year and a lottery win so you can get the best system in the world
Thank you for all this recommendations! I have set all of them in Spotify. I have listened a sample of each one and liked almos all recommendations! This tells me that it seems that quality of original recording is most important than audio file format. Regards from Buenos Aires!
Love the choice of Macy Gray, like to know if you have heard the Frank Black and the Catholics records (not Pixies) done in live stereo, I think he refers to them as his country records
Would you recommend any of these titles (CD's) on LP? Would they sound just as good? Some of these are hard to locate in the cd format and if found, prices are way too high...thanks.
4 роки тому+24
Only one problem: so-called "audiophile" recordings usually suck.
Well, some do and some don’t. The truly amazingly talented musicians with highly developed skill levels will not suck. In these types of live recording sessions the “wheat is separated from the chaff”. That what makes for special events captured in time on Recordings of archival land historical levels.
I will say....that often audiophile recordings sound sterile or lacking in emotion. I like jazz amongst a wide variety of other music, but it always seems like something is missing here, regardless of how great the music sounds. I'm not 'knocking' this selection of Steve's because I've not heard any of the chosen for myself. Notwithstanding, I know many of the artists mentioned. The key to my music listening pleasure is typically it's about drawing emotions from the listener. And when the music sounds sterile that key component is lost. I'm not specifically interested in technical prowess. I often use the anology of many a technically strong guitarist practising in their homes (who don't play in bands). Sure they are great, they can play almost anything...but something is always missing....emotion. By contrast & (I'm thinking rock based music now), some guitarists aren't so technically sound, yet they can make their instruments really 'sing' & pull at your heart strings. And I think that's why so much of audiophile recordings don't attract more listeners. Something is missing, it's not just the style of music per se 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
Steve do you think it makes sense to listen these on Spotify (lossy)? I mean is there a difference on Spotify between best audiophile recordings and good quality rum-of-the-mill ordinary crowd
Capturing the reality of what 'went down'. The artists that Chesky label recorded are worthy of this ideal. Thanks for your passion and enthusiasm in sharing this Steve!
I tried a few times, but there is nothing more boring than chesky - music its not a question of technology- its a question of GREAT musicians chet, jimi, coltrane, miles, cohen, they don't need cheesky, they are great , malgré the tecnique, what's technique worth, if there are no great musicians..... what's the greatest million $ set worth , if u listen to lady kaka or the sick madonna ?
Hey Konrad et al, try: "Whenever We Wanted" - John Mellencamp, "To Be Still" - Alela Diane, "Por Vida" a tribute to the songs of Alejandro Escovedo, "When it Falls" - Zero7, "Eye to the Telescope" - KT Tunstall, the self titled Sarabeth Tucek and "Amused to Death" - Roger Waters. Caveat - These albums contain production values and still sound great.
Yeah, Chesky is boring as shit but so are the dead artists you named. Im sorry but Jazz as a whole is maybe exciting for someone half dead. Id take Lady Gaga and Madonna over pretending to be sophisticated with John Coltrane any day. Unless you enjoy walking around an empty city street at 3am in the pouring rain crying like a pathetic man. Then yeah Chet Baker all day. Sounds good! Zzzzzz
@@bbfoto7248 all Chet Baker, miles Davis, Rammstein/videos, grateful dead, oophöi, free, eagles, jj cale, barefoot jerry , Joni Mitchell, John Coltrane, Elvis, van Morrison, just to mention a few, specially , if poetry comes with it, plus mostly west-coast groups...💕🥂👍
Thanks again Steve. I too grew up listening to Larry Coryell. My favorite album is Basics. Alas I lost that lp in a move a few years back. Wonderful video. Will be looking for these titles for sure.
Henderson was often under appreciated and never fully reached a level of recognition he deserved but that being said Henderson was extremely gifted and a most special artist deserving of more attention.
New York Reunion just kills me. It’s one of my all time favorite albums of any genre. The playing is sublime, and the sound is awesome.
Steve!! Being an old guy in my 70’s I am impressed by the denim shirt. Like the retro look😆
He is from the
Hippie era 😄
It’s typically called a “jean jacket” in the US.
Thank you Steve! This was one of your best. Real music that sounds great.
Thanks Steve, I love some of your videos. There is an intimacy that others lack. It feels like we’re sitting in your apartment talking audio, as opposed to being talked at. Great!
The new folk sound of Terry Callier is among my test records. Chris Isaac Baja Sessions and Forever Blue as well. And of course, On every street.
Thanks for the recommendations. Always looking for new, quality sounds.
Thanks for all the tips on albums to check out. Never heard about most of these. It will be a treat 😁👌
Hello Steve, nice video. Listening to the McCoy Tyner Quartet - New York Reunion right now. Thanks for the advice, one of the few McCoy Tyner albums that I don't have. Now I remember why I like Joe Henderson's tenor so much.
So cool to learn you got to meet Kenny Rankin...one of my all time favorite artists. He was very very special. The Kenny Rankin Album (not on Chesky) with Don Costa & Strings is also totally out of this world, as are most of his records. We lost him way too soon.
I listened to part of it today and really enjoyed it.
I love the fact that you are actually more excited talking about music than talking about gear.
Yeah, but he's only talking about 'this' music because he thinks it sounds better on high-end gear. Is this music he really cares about, or is it ultimately about 'the recording'.
Steve I just got my TIN HIFI T4 in the mail and I am absolutely amazed how good they sound. You were right; $79 headphones have no business sounding this good. The shipping took longer than a month, but goddamn. Thanks for the recommendation.
I thought the Drop price was $10 more. Did you buy them on Drop? When were they that low?
Still waiting for mine to arrive . . .
@@martytoo It was an early bird special on Indiegogo in November
@@davidcastillo1340 That's how I got my set too. Some days I like the T2s better and some days the T4s. But they are really, really good... surprisingly so for the price.
Thank you for sharing this on your great channel.
That was very , very cool.. Thank you Steve.
This was one of your best sessions. Thank you so much and Happy New Year.
Steve, my sediments exactly. Couldn't have said it better. Thanks for your music suggestions.
I make pure audiophile recordings. I think outside the box and even Peter Aczel at The Audio Critic was impressed with the sample of the Bridgeport Symphony that I'd sent him.
Type of mic pattern and placement is essential.
@basspig
Nice. Where can we purchase and download your recordings?
@@bbfoto7248 They're mostly 'archival only' and for the soloists' portfolio.
But here's a UA-cam quality sample: ua-cam.com/video/a0XFLkCtbKY/v-deo.html
Thank you Steve, I very much enjoyed your enthusiasm. You didn't mention my favourite Chesky release - David Johansen and the Harry Smiths. :-)
GenWivern2 No that was a fun session! David was so into it
The Kenny Rankin album he lists [and forgets to mention the name of ;) ] is named “Because of You;” I just clicked through to the download page, and they have even got the album cover he holds up to the camera-otherwise it was a matter of taking my best guess from a list of his album names, based on the blurry, three-word title, written in calligraphy. Enjoy!
This guy knows exactly where everything is in his house.
Yeah it’s true. I have Meiko plays Favourites. That is a good one. Nice Way to hear vocals.
Thx Steve, that was great. I had no idea Chesky was streaming on Spotify! Since they don't stream on TIDAL or Qobuz, I have outright purchased some of the titles based on recommendations (some yours!). I will be buying more titles now that I can listen to them (albeit in lower resolution, which I think is a good choice as David needs to make some money after all). In particular, The Persuasions - I had no idea they had so many albums, or David's own recordings. Thank you David and Steve!
The problem with Chesky Records is that their CDs are difficult to find. Amazon copies are perpetually out of stock. Their other outlet (HDtracks) is strictly digital downloads. Frankly, if I'm paying almost $30 (or more) for a CD, I want a hard copy... Not something which could pick up errors during the download process, then again while burning the downloaded files onto a blank CD.
So, is "Explorations in Space and Time" "Dafos": the Next Generation? Does't matter, I'm intrigued. Problem, Barnes & Noble, my physical media source for music (well, there is also this nice vintage vinyl shop) as well as books and magazines that I don't subscribe to (plus a Totoro plush toy for baby granddaughter's first Christmas) can't get it. Hey, Chesky! You need to expand your distribution network beyond Amazon. It wasn't always thus, I purchased "New York Reunion" on CD from them back in the the day. Support your local brick-and-mortar retailers, even if they are part of a mega-chain.
I just wish I could find them on Tidal...
Found them on Amazon's service.
While the Amber Rubarth Sessions binaural CD sounds really good over headphones, I find it underwhelming over my system. I'm beginning to suspect binaural recordings sound worse if not listened over headphones.
Do the new prototype Magnepans have dynamic range? (Like Klipsch or Tekton? Or nearly?)
I personally prefer Chesky records they did before they started using Binaural mic technique.
I know most of people today listen in headphones. But I hate to listen in headphones. Also listening in headphones leeds to hearing loss.
Hey what does Bob have in his office system other than that Spectral pre?
Magnepan? Not Cornwalls???
Where are your Christmas decorations?
None on tidal!
But why?.. you shouldn’t use music to listen to your system. If you have a system that you spend good money on, it should do something good for the music that you like regardsles of the recoring. THAT is the point of being an audiophile!
God preserve me from Audiophile musak which is what it is, musak for audiophiles. Music so boring it makes you want to slit your wrist.
I have most of these albums, technically and musically competent but oh my God, so incredibly dreary and boring. They show that just because something has been recorded well by someone who can play an instrument well does not mean it also has real artistic or emotional merit! Give me a poor recording of someone who actually has some soul over this any day of the week!
There should be a warning sticker on the covers to say they only sound good when surrounded by other gullible audiophiles at shows!
I hope this is true or i have to visit you
I can imagine Steve buying books every day and standing in the middle of the room when he comes home: "I'll just put them down here."
Hahahaha
Nonsense!
They're arranged acoustically (by ear;-)
Amazon sorts books by their frequency of absorption. Little known secret. He buys books strategically by measuring his room response!
This week on Hoarders.
@Stimpy&Ren u know it! I wonder how often she fantasizes bout killling him & having a very large auction!😅🍻
This is excellent Steve. I feel so lucky to have worked with you, David, Bob, and Jeremy on many of these. It was a tremendous learning experience that propelled me further down the audio rabbit hole.
The Amber Rubarth also has HUGE air, space and a very natural acoustic... love it. And Dave's True Story is a great recording, I recall I was there in fact, and it IS amazing as you say. And the Persuasions, yeah man, classic.
Hey Steve, whilst I appreciate the sentiment here, I believe you've missed the brief to a point. Choosing anything 'Chesky' should be something of a no brainer for people into this type of music as the label (as you well know) was all about 'audiophile' quality recordings.
It may have been more valuable to suggest music from non audiophile labels that sound really good. There must be some that you love & sound great...not everything sounds highly compressed and lacking in dynamics.
I get that you like to support your friends & were involved in some of these recordings. So, perhaps a part 2 of this, suggesting some music more left of the norm that you consider to be well recorded.
Whilst this type of music isn't really my thing, that said I like jazz and in this list particularly McCoy Tyner. Also the African music sounds interesting, so I'll have to rewind this to get the name again. Thank you.
Cheers!
*** I get the concept of these audiophile recordings having a sense of reality, in terms of minimal mixing etc, so the instruments and vocals sound to the end user as they did at the recording sessions. However, that still doesn't mean other non audiophile recordings can and do sound really good.
Edit =
I'm specifically thinking lessor known albums here, as if you were to ask many people they'd likely gravitate to their fav Pink Floyd album or artist/band equally well known. So, I think slightly left of centre is important as that may shine a light on some lessor known music & provide some valuable music choices for music lovers. 😎
I agree totally. But mentioning good sounding recordings from popular artist will not hurt; there must be younger people here with open minds that would appreciate artists of the 1970's and 80's. I know of recordings by Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Sarah Mclachlan, Jean-Luc Ponty; Chick Corea Electric Band, Allan Parsons Project, Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, The Beatles, Elton John......that are great sounding and emotionally engaging.
Anytime Steve recommends a recording, I'm off to find samples so I can give it a listen. The material doesn't always work for me (and that's OK), but I am finding artists to add to my collection that I actually will listen to. The Laura Nyro recording springs to mind as well as a couple of his Sinatra recommendations.
This current effort at listing some of his favorite Chesky recordings is much appreciated. I'm already listening to several of them and will add several more.
I would also appreciate Steve's recommendation of other recordings that manage to circumvent the heavy processing stage and that are good music. I know there is variety in taste, but I'm listening to new stuff because of Steve and I really appreciate that.
I thought Steve was clear that THIS episode is about Chesky... That's a valid topic no? He talks about great recordings in just about every episode!
I prefer these music reviews to hardware reviews. I don't buy new speakers or electronics very often but I still buy lots of music.
The Chesky reissues of RCA "classical" Living Stereo LPs are ineffably good!
Steve, this is terrific. I’m listening to a lot of these. Like others, I love your storytelling.
Harry Belafonte at Carnegie Hall freaks me out
Is this the "New Steve", or is it shirt laundry day at the Guttenberg household?
All music is audiophile music according to the listener's opinion. I enjoy the sound of my studio monitor headphones and speakers. Yes - Close to the Edge is one of my favorites.
I want to thank you for going over each in turn. I had listened to Amber Rubarth on speakers and was not that impressed. On your suggestion, I put on the HD6xx headphones and was wowed by the expansive sound stage and clarity of each instrument.
Man, the Cheskey stuff sounded horrible. I think you like atmosphere more than sound quality.
I am a musician and everything sounded absolutly horrible. I have been playing drums for 38 years. The recording sucks. It sounds nothing like what drums and cymbals sound like. If it sounds that way in that room, its horrible.
(1) One year late, From MTV gen here, 10,000 Maniacs Unplugged. Portishead Roseland
I have cheap knockoff HiFi man Planar Headphones, yes the Amber Rubarth is awesome for headphones, down to the sniffs in the audio!
The classical recordings by Earl Wild for the Chesky label are superb, not just I'm sound but in performance as well.
Cool. Also try Budgie they are really good on vinyl.
Steve I have most of the Chesky catalog and still today enjoy them . As my digital front end components improved exponentially I realized more so how good my favourite Chesky recording’s sound which adds much more to the overall thrill and enjoyment.
A great recording of jazz instrumental band Oregon in that church. And prob. out of license, but Dr. Reiner's recording of Brahms 4th symphony which he proclaimed his most beautiful from the Readers Digest recordings-put out also as a special Gold Chesky CD as recorded by Wilkerson in England.
Doesn't Chesky also produce classical music recordings? Do you have any favorites?
Steve, for a good vocal track check out "Draw your Swords" by Angus and Julia Stone.
I don’t consider myself an audiophile, and I don’t consider anything in my music collection “audiophile” (even though I have a few Chesky recordings). Some of my favorites, recordings from Columbia 30th St Studio, are the ones I return to time and time again to bring out the best experience in my audio system.
Put on Rush 2112 or Moving Pictures. If that don't sound good throw your system away. Boston's first album also will work.
Jazz music may sound great but it just makes me sad and depressed reminds me of old people but that is just me .
The best recordings (space, instrument etc.) I've come across have been Mapleshade Audio.
@Merlin
Agreed. I play drums/percussion & saxophone, and I prefer Mappleshade's "live sound" over most of the Chesky recordings.
In a lot of the Chesky recordings, I feel that there is a bit too much of "the room". But there definitely are some gems in the Cheeky discography.
I love this so much. Thank you for turning us on to such great music and such wonderful recordings. Your enthusiasm for music really drives your interest in good sound, which is exactly where I come from. Love the channel!
Nice collection too!!
I find the Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs on the Gain 2 system are recordings that really dig out the best for most competent systems. :)
Steve, a couple of my personal favorites from a pure sound quality standpoint are the RCA and Columbia 3 Channel Stereo SACDs. Particularly the Jazz albums and some of the classical. I'm not a classical guy at all, but have grown to appreciate it once in awhile. I listened to the 3 Channel Stereo SACD of the Nutcracker last night and that was simply stunning over my system and perfect for this time of year. However for me a system has to be able to make ones favorite music sound its very best, because if it doesn't people tend to not be honest with themselves and start to gravitate towards more of that Gearophile demo music stuff if it makes their system sounds good. Much of it while technically impressive isn't particularly great music IMHO.
What are the differences sonically between LPs that are recorded direct to disk and those that are recorded and pressed later? Sheffield labs used to do this.
Like and shared with my audiophile friends!
I stumbled in, but I'm glad I did - m.
It's a pity that none of them is in Tidal
Thinks for this list; I've created a playlist on Amazon HD with as many of them as are available. My initial impression; especially on "Space and Time", the imaging goes well left of the left speaker, and well right of the right speaker. However, on all these recordings, there doesn't exist the depth (behind the speakers) I routinely get with many other recordings, especially with some classical recordings where instruments seem to be coming from far beyond my front wall (my speakers are 7 feet from my front wall). With those classical recordings, the images are locked to the left and right boundaries of the speakers however. To date, one of the few recordings which "does it all" is Diamond Mine by King Creosote and John Hopkins, and Raindamage by Nordic Affect.
Rammis Frammis s
Steve, what is your take on Jazz Side of the Moon? It is from Chesky Records. It is one of my favourites.
You're right, it's stellar!
I’m intrigued by the prototype Magnepan/ what’s going on there?
Go to Audio Excellence Canada's UA-cam posts of the very recent interview with Wendell of Magnepan re: the prototype Mini 30.7
Thanks!
Streaming these albums on SPOTIFY? What kind of sound and music lover considers that kind of shitty service? Give me a break...
In another video you recommend Bruce Springstreen and the E-Street Band "Hammersmith Odeon London 75" ... I am really not a fan of the Boss, but I really enjoy listening to that specific one, just sounds great!
I'm losing respect for your opinion. "When its sleepy time down south" Clark Terry. This god-awful recording puts the trumpet solely in the right channel which might not be so annoying if other instruments were placed left and center. The trumpet is about 50 db louder than the piano which is kind of center left, but the worst, most unbearable thing is the horrible grainy hiss through the entire thing. Maybe you've listened to too much vinyl and are used to ridiculous amounts of background noise like that. That is NOT an audiophile recording. Music played well and recorded well is an audiophile recording. And since played well is a matter of opinion, that pretty much leaves us with recorded well. No awful ambient noise. No post production alteration, just an honest reproduction. Not even going to waste my time on the rest of your list.
And the Babatunde Olatunji record he holds up, but does not list below the video, is the *original* “Drums of Passion,” which seems to have been *both* rereleased *and* borrowed in naming at least one, if not more, future record; I came across something like “Drums of Passion Beats,” which appears to have an entirely different track listing from the original-the one Steve says he fell in love with as a kid when it hit the Top 40 charts on AM radio!
Can someone explain to me what is audiophile grade music besides the bitrate? I don’t consider myself an audiophile because I don’t know much about dynamic range and other things that come with being an audiophile, but I do appreciate (lossless files) high quality distortion free music. I do like a lot of hip hop music and unfortunately, majority of the genre releases a lot of content with distortion which I despise so much, but it’s nice when you come across tracks that have no distortion.
Ambert Rubarth album it is magnificently recorded , thanks for the recommendation Steve!
Do you have a similar list for recordings which highlight the benefits of a subwoofer or deep bass fronts? I mean in terms of how a sub can reveal the size of the venue in a way you can never quite hear on modest front speakers - not just adding more thump to techno.
Enjoying your videos. I'm somewhat new to all of this but love music. Question: I recently got several HI Res 24 bit recording of Sinatra songs that were probably recorded in the 50's. Is this largely a waste of money? It would seem to me that this would be akin to trying to straighten a tree that has been crooked for decades. While it may sound better than the standard FLAC file, you can't improve on the technology that was present at the time. Also, when did recordings really start getting really good? 70's, 80's???
@Steve Guttenberg Audiophiliac
Steve, thanks for (partially) fullfilling my request from my comment in one of your previous videos. I guess that I should have worded it a bit more carefully.
While I have many Chesky recordings and enjoy most of them, there is A LOT MORE MUSIC out in the world!
As a side note, I actually prefer the Mappleshade recordings overall...but again, it is a VERY Limited catalog.
And even though most of your viewers would probably consider themselves "audiophiles", I doubt that they *only listen to ''audiophile'' recordings* on a daily basis. The oceans of music are Vast & Deep.
I'd like to see you expand your horizons with other suggestions for "well-recorded" and emotionally involving music.
Thanks for getting the "ball rolling".
Cool Video! Thanks.
it's your system that should be making recordings sound better not the other way around .after all that's why your buying hifi isn't it ?
Never mind the records where’s the fancy shirt. But good vid anyway 😂😂
that jacket looks great though
zippymagee Yeah it does look good I have one just like it somewhere ,but that’s where we draw the line because my hi-fi equipment is probably a fraction of what his is worth. but even so I have to admit it my hi-fi it sounds really really really good so I mustn’t be complacent compared to some other people all my equipment is probably what they aspire to own. Anyway I’ve drowned on long enough have a happy Christmas and a great New Year all the very best 🎼🔊🔊
@@ianyates7742 i am sure some would be disgusted by my system. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
zippymagee If you’re happy with your system that all that matters I have built my system up over many years and I am happy with it, have a great Christmas and a better New Year and a lottery win so you can get the best system in the world
You’re my fav channel on UA-cam
For sheer consistent quality of insight, Steve is becoming the one to beat.
I wrote down your picks. I'll try them later on my Klipsch 600m / Yamaha rx-a880.
Thank you for all this recommendations! I have set all of them in Spotify. I have listened a sample of each one and liked almos all recommendations! This tells me that it seems that quality of original recording is most important than audio file format. Regards from Buenos Aires!
Love the choice of Macy Gray, like to know if you have heard the Frank Black and the Catholics records (not Pixies) done in live stereo, I think he refers to them as his country records
Who cares!
Would you recommend any of these titles (CD's) on LP? Would they sound just as good? Some of these are hard to locate in the cd format and if found, prices are way too high...thanks.
Only one problem: so-called "audiophile" recordings usually suck.
Right. But...the point is that these don't.
Well, some do and some don’t. The truly amazingly talented musicians with highly developed skill levels will not suck.
In these types of live recording sessions the “wheat is separated from the chaff”. That what makes for special events captured in time on
Recordings of archival land historical levels.
I agree content wise, they may as well be ua-cam.com/video/Hw-FGZMR-TU/v-deo.html
I will say....that often audiophile recordings sound sterile or lacking in emotion. I like jazz amongst a wide variety of other music, but it always seems like something is missing here, regardless of how great the music sounds.
I'm not 'knocking' this selection of Steve's because I've not heard any of the chosen for myself. Notwithstanding, I know many of the artists mentioned.
The key to my music listening pleasure is typically it's about drawing emotions from the listener. And when the music sounds sterile that key component is lost.
I'm not specifically interested in technical prowess. I often use the anology of many a technically strong guitarist practising in their homes (who don't play in bands). Sure they are great, they can play almost anything...but something is always missing....emotion. By contrast & (I'm thinking rock based music now), some guitarists aren't so technically sound, yet they can make their instruments really 'sing' & pull at your heart strings.
And I think that's why so much of audiophile recordings don't attract more listeners. Something is missing, it's not just the style of music per se
🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
No it does’nt. The musicgenre may be boring and it’s all the same. But the soundquality hold water!
Have owned Dave`s True Story cd for a number of years .It is such an enjoyable, interesting recording. I store it in the Jazz section.
This was good. Nice work.
Steve do you think it makes sense to listen these on Spotify (lossy)? I mean is there a difference on Spotify between best audiophile recordings and good quality rum-of-the-mill ordinary crowd
Capturing the reality of what 'went down'. The artists that Chesky label recorded are worthy of this ideal. Thanks for your passion and enthusiasm in sharing this Steve!
Paul Simon is one pop-star exhibiting concern with good sound quality.
I tried a few times, but there is nothing more boring than chesky - music
its not a question of technology-
its a question of GREAT musicians
chet, jimi, coltrane, miles, cohen, they don't need cheesky, they are great , malgré the tecnique,
what's technique worth, if there are no great musicians.....
what's the greatest million $ set worth , if u listen to lady kaka or the sick madonna ?
@konrad herrmann
Okay, Konrad, so what are YOUR Audiophile Reference Albums or individual Tracks that you ENJOY listening to???
Hey Konrad et al, try: "Whenever We Wanted" - John Mellencamp, "To Be Still" - Alela Diane, "Por Vida" a tribute to the songs of Alejandro Escovedo, "When it Falls" - Zero7, "Eye to the Telescope" - KT Tunstall, the self titled Sarabeth Tucek and "Amused to Death" - Roger Waters. Caveat - These albums contain production values and still sound great.
Yeah, Chesky is boring as shit but so are the dead artists you named. Im sorry but Jazz as a whole is maybe exciting for someone half dead. Id take Lady Gaga and Madonna over pretending to be sophisticated with John Coltrane any day. Unless you enjoy walking around an empty city street at 3am in the pouring rain crying like a pathetic man. Then yeah Chet Baker all day. Sounds good! Zzzzzz
@@bbfoto7248 all Chet Baker, miles Davis, Rammstein/videos, grateful dead, oophöi,
free, eagles, jj cale, barefoot jerry , Joni Mitchell, John Coltrane, Elvis, van Morrison, just to mention a few, specially , if poetry comes with it, plus mostly west-coast groups...💕🥂👍
@@MrPeeBeeDeeBee 👍 tanx, appreciate a constructive answer
I own a copy of the Kenny Rankin - Because of You cd. It is brilliant and Kenny is one of my all time favorite singers. Awesome performance
It's a testament to Steve's influence that if you look up any of these recordings on Amazon it will direct you to all of the others.
digital music as an audiophile?
mmm...buying that mccoy tyner album NOW... great recommendations! thanks
Thanks again Steve. I too grew up listening to Larry Coryell. My favorite album is Basics. Alas I lost that lp in a move a few years back. Wonderful video. Will be looking for these titles for sure.
Please keep your hands still, especially when holding the cd.
John McEuen, Made in Brooklyn is fantastic. Listening for the first time. Gorgeous.