More recordings of all quality levels out there than ever before and even more as time goes on.
One might try broadening their genres if seeking "good" recordings.
To me a good recording is one that captures the essence of the music. Recordings are productions, each unique. Technical perfection is seldom the ultimate goal.....delivering the music in the most meaningful way is. It’s a subjective determination that the producer’s make, taking the anticipated listening audience into consideration. Much like what hifi system might sound best to someone. It’s often not the one that achieves technical perfection best.
I have no expectation that recording quality of a Foo Fighters release would wow me technically, but I might still like it if the production overall works for the material provided.
Dynamic range is one long time technical measure of a good recording but many modern recordings are mixed with limited dynamic range but may still sound "good" to me for other reasons.
THe problem with good recordings with good dynamic range is you need low ambient background noise to hear everything without having to crank up the volume. So its not always the be all and end all, though it’s possible for a user to easily reduce dynamic range if desired using modern DSP. You can also enhance dynamic range to some extent as well if desired.
I used to have an analog dbx dynamic range enhancer. Remember those?
DSP is the ultimate tweak. If you are not using it, you are probably missing out on things, hearing only what is served up to you, not what you really want to hear.
Food for thought.
