What is a bad recording?


In the ongoing battle of having a system that is too laid back versus one that is too revealing of recording faults, I want to ask you all, what are examples of good music that in your system plays badly?  

Please mention your speakers too  if possible. 

erik_squires

@kymanor1 Jazz from that era

Mo t of on a b d j zz rec rding h s h ss and inf  mat on miss ng.

On my Spatial Sapphire speakers, Jethro Tull has a terrible-sounding song on the Stand Up LP. It’s the opening track, "A New Day Yesterday." The rest of the album sounds quite good, but even though I liked that song on my old, cheap speakers, I have to skip it now to spare my ears. In an interview Ian Anderson says that the producer was experimenting with the recording by whirling a microphone (like a lasso I imagine) to get a weird effect. It’s weird all right. Anderson thought it sounded good to his ears at the time, but damn. Revolver it isn’t. 

To me, many of the recordings of the late 70's and 80's that used too much compression and too many over dubs.  Listen to Muddy Waters "Folk Singer" recorded in the 50's on a good system sounds like you are in the room with him and total range of lows/highs.  Then listen to ELP Brain Salad Surgery, yikes a compressed glary mess 

Funny someone brings up Brain Salad Surgery, no doubt that is a mess! First ELP album pretty nice, how did they go so wrong. Sound quality on Asia's recordings same compressed glare crap.

@sns

This is one of my "go to" cuts for resolution:

https://youtu.be/fDBjQ3r3cAM

Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of progressive rock was recorded this way.  Yes is similar.

 

Now this cut separates what can sound like pure noise on the wrong system, or many streaming platforms I’ve heard, but on a good system, the imaging of the clavinets is amazing.

https://youtu.be/9c9KvU6cE6E