What are some of the best ones with wide dynamic range on CD? I vote for "Brothers In Arms" by Dire Straits and my favorite version, the Matsushita pressing. IIRC, there are some songs that (according to EAC) peak at 20% all the way to 100%! What are some others that you know and enjoy with great dynamics? There was only one ancient, dead, thread on this topic from 2002 so I thought now might be a great time to bring it back up and see if there are some other selections that may have emerged since that time! There was also a recent thread (from a year ago or so) regarding individual songs, but I'm looking for CDs. Thanks!
Check this website out:- http://www.dr.loudness-war.info/ ..search for the artist and get the DR rating. I remember seeing on here that Iggy Mix of Raw Power is DR = 1!
There are no rock or pop, or even jazz, CDs that send me running for the controls. Some are nice, but not really wide. However, the Charles Dutoit Decca recordings of Ravel's Daphnis, Falla's El Amor Brujo and the Ravel Bolero collection are quite difficult to get a handle on. These discs capture the full dynamic swing of a large orchestra in a large space.
Yeah, there's a Can track like that: the segue of "Mushroom" into "Oh Yeah" on the Tago Mago album (Spoon CD, never heard the remaster) smashes in very loud and distorted after the lowness of "Mushroom" and before the low fade-in of "Oh Yeah".
Along the same lines, John Oswald's Aparanthesi contains not only extreme dynamic range swings, but some moments designed to cause serious cone flapping. Careful with that volume control Eugene!
There is also that excellent list one of the recording/mastering studios put up on their web site - very detailed .... wait a second
I'm old school - sound effects don't count. Anyone can turn up a digital explosion. I've got some interesting Taiko CDs that are very wide range (more so than KODO). I never thought buying the DR meter was worth it.
The whole album must be watched for sudden volume boosts. But I think bomb is just before The Fletcher Memorial. But do listen to this album fairly loud, it really sounds great!
I remember one of the early 1984 Telarc recordings of the "1812 Overture" had a big warning label cautioning that the cannon blast might wreck your speakers. I'd call that a lotta dynamic range. I doubt there's typically more than 40dB dynamic range in a lot of pop & rock recordings. Any more than that, and I think it'd blow the listener out of the room 60dB for classical and jazz isn't that unusual.
This one has the most dynamic range of all my cd collection... for those familiar with this, the beginning is "pianissísimo" and when the orchestra swells in, you HAVE to run for the volume knob!!! http://www.discogs.com/Debussy-Leon...Orchestra-La-Mer-Faune-Danses/release/1884933
Joe Jackson's Will Power opens with a track called "No Pasaran" which must be one of the most dynamic tracks I've ever heard on a rock album.
Mike Oldfield's Amarok ...... simply the most dynamic continuous 60 minutes and 2 seconds ever, surely. Keep your hand on that volume knob!!!
Any well-recorded version of Ravel's "Bolero" would certainly test and possibly exceed many audio systems' limitations... It's basically a 15-minute orchestral crescendo that starts from whispering quietness to all-out symphonic bedlam!!!
Check out the bass on "Gaia" off James Taylor's Hourglass. It's better on the SACD, but still quite good on the CD.
The old classical CDs had way too much dynamic range. I remember looking at a DBX CD player that had variable dynamic range just so I could listen to some of these CDs without having to jump up and lower the volume. Remember, those were the days when receivers did not often come with remote controls! I still have what I consider to be the most dynamic range CD. It's Schubert' Symphonie No. 8/Mendelssohn's Symphonie No. 4, conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli on Deutsch Grammaphon 410 862-2. Too much dynamic range. Almost unlistenable, especially in a car.
The Phillips CD's of the late 80's and early 90's had some absolutely incredible dynamic swings. Seiji Ozawa's version of Orff's Carmina Burana was a favourite of mine at the time and Peter Schreier's Mozart's Requiem is always the first recording I play on any new piece of equipment I listen to.
