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

45 plus years ago there were no bad recordings to my ears unless it was a badly scratched record. It was all about the music. Had a decent rig. Carver pre amp Carver amp ,  sony tt, Genises 2 way 10" speakers, good room accustics.

Today with a revealing rig. Odyssey amp, Musichall mmf 9.1 tt, Soundsmith cart, Modded Magnapan 1.7i s, I cant listen to the bad recordings. Ex. Eric Clapton Layla album, Utopia Utopia, late 60s Neil Young, etc. Other barely listenable ones are late 60s Stones, Led Zep, Beatles, etc. They have small soundstage, lack dynamics, lack detail. Alot of lead guitar just sounds bad.

Yet, a typical MoFi, Analog Prod record can sound great. So sadly my revealing system has no grace for bad recordings. Same goes for cds, streaming.

Badly recorded albums are one thing...

I can deal with that...

But i cannot deal with music with  too much studio  mixings, well or not...

I prefer classical, jazz and non amplified music instruments of the world and voices...

I cannot listen anything else...

I never listen really to rock or pop...

I bought one album of the Stones i hear few times and never again in 1966 or 67....

I never bought any other pop music or rock....( i loved some songs sometimes for sure, the "papas and the mamas" for example but not all the albums.I remember very well the first time i heard them with  "California"  where i was it was outside my home from the street) 

Now i know why i dont like most pop music, at the times i did not know why i was not very enthralled by many groups of pop etc ...

The musical content is too poor most of the times and the artificiality of the mixing kill music ...

 

Any number of DIO CD's I have that are rocking, but they sound bottomless, distorted, as if the engineer didnt care.

Try comparing the LP vs CD versions of Mahler 4 by Jascha Horenstein and the London Philharmonic.  The LP sounds muffled and distorted and the CD is beautifully open.  So was that a bad recording or a bad transfer?  Probably the latter but who knew until the CD was issued?