What to do with bad recorded CDs

I have some CDs that sound better than others, but very few that sound bad (<10%).

I strongly believe that the % of CDs that sound "good" on a system is a useful measure of overall system quality. If a lot of CDs do not sound good on a system,that is an indicator that a change needs to be made. The change, if done right, does not have to even be very expensive, I have found.

Bad is a matter of opinion though. The only CDs I have that I would say sound bad are those that have extremely bad dynamics, excessively limited frequency range and significant background noise in the mix. Almost all CDs on my system nowadays are enjoyable within their inherent limits. Those limits are a result of lackluster production process in making the CDs. The same truth applies to vinyl records...some are good, some are poor, and some are great.

My recent satisfaction with CDs as a source overall I can attribute to several factors I've introduced into my system over time:

1) external (tube)DAC as an upgrade
2) Audio Research Tube pre-amp
3) careful matching of amp to speakers
4) careful choice of speakers to fit rooms
5) the MIT terminator interconnects seem to let the best attributes of the components connected by them shine through, ie the ICs are not a bottleneck
6) my music server has become my prime source of digital material over CD player and has enhanced my listening pleasure as much due to convenience and flexibility factors as due to the fact that it sounds fantastic as well, as does my Denon player/recorder through the same external tube DAC.

Why not a machine that can uncompress and restore the recording to its original dynamics?

There is a pretty simple answer to that question. There are just too many variables for that to work across the board.

First, there are a lot of things that get adjusted besides dynamics. On a typical modern recording, there are dozens and dozens of mike tracks that get mixed down. Take drums for instance. There will be multiple mikes on the drums and each one may get a different adjustment for frequency response, dynamics, and position in the stereo field. (Ever notice that some drummers seem to have a 15' wide arm span?) There are dozens and dozens of signal processing effects that can be added and many have nothing to do with dynamic range.

I've got Adobe Audition that I use. Without running over to that computer to check exactly, I think it supports up to 128 channels and the processing effects seem endless.

In other words, a final recording is basically a scrambled egg and you're asking to have it unscrambled and put back in the shell.

Just taking compression, the settings for that parameter are infinitely variable in Audition and I'm sure most other studio recording programs.

As a practical matter, you're not going to find many artists or record producers who will release an unmixed/processed album. It sounds the way they want it to sound, even when it is not to your liking.

Sincere thanks to all those insightful posts !
Many good ideas -
I will definitely give them a try...

Mapman asked me which recordings are bad - I find some of the pop music recordings with syntheciser sound un-refined, as were the husky voices - through the revealing hifi system.

I usually have the artist rerecord the material:) I am assuming that by poor performance, you mean that the CD sound quality is bad and not that the artist himself/herself gave a bad performance. I usually apply some ultra vivid or other treatment to the CD and it does render the sound quality somewhat more acceptable. I find some of the earlier CDs were very lean and strident, it is very good with them. If it doesn't work, you can send them to Garebear!

Too bad my proposed machine to restore the dynamics on recordings might be difficult to achieve.

However it still is a shame to purchase music that you hear and like, and then bring it home to find it unlistenable because of the "recording choices". I've found this to be true with all recording formats and every type of music I purchase from ragtime to rock.

It doesn't seem to matter where I play such a title (in the car, home theater system, IPod, or the main rig) the performance (because of the recording) suck!

As a result, after being burned a few times, I never purchase another CD by that artist and I avoid the labels that typically produce such unlistenable horrors.

What happens next? The CD either is kept and never played, or traded at the local used CD shop. Sometimes the local CD shop doesn't even want them, because there is no demand.

I still consider recordings like this inferior products and believe the consumer should have the right to return and get a refund on such junk. Maybe then the artist, recording engineer, and label would get the message.