Oldest Recordings that sound “audiophile”

@larryi ,

'I had an opportunity to hear a master tape for a Nat King Cole recording and it was unbelievably vibrant, and realistic sounding.'


That's just the kind of thing that many audiophile dreams are made of.

Short of being in the control room during the actual recording, how would you top that? 

mapman,

’Its only in recent years have I learned to appreciate recordings made in the pre- Beatles era. Growing up, all that “old” music was deemed uncool by the likes of the rock music press and few young people then ever gave it a serious listen.’



As much as I love the Beatles I also came to love that in-between period between the decline of first wave rock and roll and the emergence of the Fab Four.

I guess we’re talking roughly 1959-63. This just also happens to be when this following album was apparently recorded, though not released until much later.

The Wonderful World of Nursery Rhymes by Vera Lynn and Kenneth McKellar.

As far as clarity of vocals goes, I can’t think of any better example in my collection. It seems to have been recorded perfectly flat and it doesn’t take much to imagine the performers right in front of you.

Thankfully it was one of those pieces of music I could enjoy almost as much as my kids did.

What’s funny is that my daughter now tells me that children’s TV is rubbish today, far inferior to what it was when she used to watch it regularly (2006-10).

Back then I remember saying the same thing to her!

@ivan_nosnibor ,

'From 1947 to 1950, excellent sounding mics were available, but they were expensive to make and uncommon and tended to be first reserved for high-profile, big-budget events.

I have two fine-sounding CD soundtracks, both in stereo, that were Hollywood films made in 1947:

The Ghost And Mrs. Muir  (Bernard Herrmann)
The Captain From Castile  (Alfred Newman)'


Those years from 1947 to 1950 were probably the most critical in all of audio.

In just a couple of years the industry went from live recordings on 78rpm shellac to taped ones on the 33.33rpm LP introduced by Columbia in 1948.

The move from heavy iron needled gramophones ploughing their way through a mere 4 minutes a side of  78rpm shellac to turntables with diamond stylii featuring up to 22 minutes a side of 33.33rpm vinyl with diamond stilli changed everything.

Even diehards like RCA and EMI, not to mention UKs Gramophone magazine were quickly forced to bow before the new fangled vinyl LP before long.

German WW2 tape technology soon took out most of the enormous labour of live recording. Recording live perfectly for 4 mins in one thing but 20 odd was nothing any performer fancied. 

Funny but this is the second mention of the Ghost and Mrs Muir I've seen recently (a friend had recommended it as lockdown fare).

Maybe I'll check out the movie.

@chrismini,

"Vinyl is the best,.."

If one record has persistently eluded all of the best efforts of digital to get close to the original vinyl release, it’s this one.

I’ve heard far too many digital versions and none of them, not even the Sony SBM remaster came close to capturing the warmth and body of the 200 gram Classic Records Reissue.

Apparently it was mastered by Bernie Grundman, and for once with success.

https://www.discogs.com/Miles-Davis-Kind-Of-Blue/release/1800281

The original 1959 ’6 eye’ pressing is almost as good sonically, just a touch less vivid, but certainly not worth the usual asking price.

The Mo-Fi reissue is also highly rated as is the 45rpm 2 disc version of the Classic itself, but I’ve not heard either. To be honest I don’t particularly want to, for me the 209 gram Classic is more than good enough.

Here’s Mike from theingroove.com sharing his knowledge. As a caution he mentions that there are many damaged copies knocking about.

https://youtu.be/rm7l57TfOjY