Good CDs Bad Recording

The digital recordings from the 80s on DG. Over-miked, harsh and clipped highs, orchestra lacked a sense of space. Worst offender was Karajan since he liked to take control of the production.

+1 lowrider57. Too many poor recordings from the 80's to even start listing.

Looking back, it's amazing how many folks bought that "Perfect Sound Forever", line as bad as those recordings were the first 6-8 years of digital sound.
Thankfully, digital has improved greatly in the last 30 years.

For those who know Emitt Rhodes, get this: When I recorded with him engineering in his studio, he had me do three takes in a row (on drums), playing to a click-track, each of which he recorded on a separate Alesis 8 track. He then synched the three takes, played them all simultaneously, and listened for the "best" section of each take. When he had decided which part of each take he wanted to use, he played them again, switching between them to assemble a "master" take on a fourth Alesis. Somebody at the session asked Emitt about his choice of such a cheap digital recorder, and his response was "It’s just a storage medium". When I heard the finished product, I was appalled by the sound. Really bad. In the studio, he had a 16 or 24 track 2" analog machine, with a sheet of plastic covered in dust over it. I hope someone else engineered his new album.