Hi Steeler1979, Most of Keith Johnson's recordings for the Reference Recordings label (such as the Stravinsky "Rite of Spring", RR-70 if I recall correctly) is quite dynamic. So's this and this. Best regards, Barry www.soundkeeperrecordings.com www.barrydiamentaudio.com
The A&M copies of Amy Grant Unguarded has lots of dynamic range and you can look it up on http://dr.loudness-war.info
I have the "Technics - Music Lovers Choice Vol 3" disc from Telarc (came with my first CD player in '88). On the back it has an asterisk next to track 15 - GROFÉ: Grand Canyon Suite - Cloudburst (excerpt). Below it says: * CAUTION: Before playing, see page 4 On page 4 it has a funny logo that says: CAUTION! DIGITAL THUNDERSTORM Next to that it says: Please take the caution about playback level seriously. The midrange 'crack' and the super-strong, super-low frequency surges of a big boomer could take out the best components if you play the disc too loud. And please, be especially careful with headphones. Don't use them until after you've familiarised yourself with the programme and found a safe playback level with the speakers. Damage could result to speakers or other components if the musical programme is played back at excessively high levels.
The first album I remember really needing the dynamic range available on CD was Roger Waters: The Pros and Cons Of Hitch Hiking. In the old days the quiet sounds were lost in LP surface noise, today the're lost in my tinnitus, I can't win. Regards, Trevor.
The most dynamic CD I found/have is - A Meeting By The River - Ry Cooder & V.M. Bhatt Waterlily Acoustics WLA-CS-29-CD Stunning and scored higher than any other disc I could find. Recorded live. As quoted in the notes - "This is a pure analogue recording done exclusively with custom built triode tube electronics. The microphone setup was the classic Blumlein arrangement. No noise reduction, equalisation, compression or limiting of any sort was used in the making of this recording. Recorded on a custom built 1" two track vacuum design by Tim de Paravicini running at 15ips on Scotch 3M 996 tape." A superb CD.
Yes and when the drums come in part way through. Sounds fantastic and is one of those recordings that makes you glad you have 2 subwoofers so you get that kick right in the stomach.
I seem to remember a really wide range on Yes' "Talk" album. If there's such a thing as "too much range," then this was it. The quiet parts were so quiet as to make it necessary to turn up the volume, and then the louder parts would get ear-splitting (although not distorted). If listening in the car, it was like running faders in a mixing session while driving.
"Tchaikovsky: Ballet Suites" and "La Mer, Prelude a L'Apres Midi/ Daphnis et Chloe" (Both Berliner Ph.) on DG.
Try Gorecki's Symphony #3, London Sinfonietta, Zinman conducting and Dawn Upshaw soprano. Very moving piece, but to our thread's point, lots of dynamic range. Actually, there may be other recordings of this work that have as much or more, but this is the most beautifully engineered one, with Tony Faulkner at the knobs.
There was a CD release of the Firesign Theatre's Eat Or Be Eaten that needs a similar warning. At the end of the first half, when Player selects a level that is off the grid (or something like that), the noise that results is gawdawfully loud. Much moreso than on the LP.
It won't compare to the orchestral spectaculars, but Lyle Lovett's "Joshua Judges Ruth" has far more dynamic range than the vast majority of popular CDs, even for its time (early '90s). It really breathes.
The drum fills on "Born To Be Blue" on the DCC Ingredients In A Recipe For Soul are something to behold
I wrote a small program that can automate dynamic range scanning of your entire collection using TT-DR: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=86096 The most dynamic albums in my collection are: Genesis (S/T), Ultravox Vienna and The Police Synchronicity.
If you have foobar2000 and the Dynamic Range plugin, then you can select your entire music library and run it to get a foo_dr.txt for every album. Here are the top albums from my library (excluding classical and jazz): DR16: ----- Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues The The - Mind Bomb Yazoo - Upstairs at Eric's DR15: ----- Depeche Mode - Speak & Spell Jean Michel Jarre - Magnetic Fields Kraftwerk - Computer World Midnight Oil - Blue Sky Mining Steven R. Rochlin - THTST Talking Heads - Little Creatures Talking Heads - Talking Heads: 77 DR14: ----- Blancmange - Second Helpings, The Best Of Blancmange Bryan Ferry - Bête Noire Depeche Mode - A Broken Frame Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe Dire Straits - Love Over Gold Eagles - Hotel California Eric Clapton - 461 Ocean Boulevard Fleetwood Mac - Rumours Jack Johnson - Brushfire Fairytales Jean Michel Jarre - Aero Jellyfish - Bellybutton Jon & Vangelis - The Best of Jon & Vangelis King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King Leonard Cohen - Death of a Ladies' Man Leonard Cohen - Recent Songs Madonna - Like A Prayer Marianne Faithfull - Broken English Midnight Oil - Diesel And Dust Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Firstborn Is Dead Paul Simon - Graceland Pink Floyd - The Wall, Disc 1 Simon & Garfunkel - The Concert In Central Park Simple Minds - All The Things She Said Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) Talking Heads - Remain in Light Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense Talking Heads - True Stories Tangerine Dream - White Eagle Tanita Tikaram - Eleven Kinds Of Loneliness Tanita Tikaram - The Sweet Keeper The Clash - Combat Rock The Cure - Seventeen Seconds The Sisters of Mercy - Some Girls Wander By Mistake The Sisters of Mercy - Vision Thing Tom Tom Club - Tom Tom Club Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman Trio - 1981-1985: 5 Jahre Zuviel Vangelis - Direct Vangelis - Heaven and Hell Various Artists - Open Your Ears Visage - Visage Yazoo - You and Me Both Yello - Essential
