Whats your fav reference CD?

[shokhead]

I think for me it would be Donald ***en's Kamakinad.

[Mike]

I don't think I have one 'reference' CD now. But one I picked up recently is a real grower and sounds very nice. It's a very sumptuous smooth analog sounding disc and generous too with 19 tracks.

The album is called The Beekeeper by Tori Amos.

Cheers
Mike

[JohnMichael]

I think for me it would be Donald ***en's Kamakinad.

I had not thought of Donald ***en's Kamakiriad cd in a long time. I pulled it out and gave it a listen. As far as cd's for reference I like Rickie Lee Jones debut cd and another jazz cd is Oliver Nelson, The Blues And The Abstract Truth. I also use a lot of classical music for reference.

[3-LockBox]

Dire Straits' <i>On Every Street</i> and Buckingham's <i>Out Of The Cradle</i> are still great sounding CDs, each over ten years old.

Annie Lennox's <i>Diva</i> is one of my favorite sounding CDs for auditioning sound systems.

But I do like your choice of Faygen's solo stuff. Also try <i>The Nightfly</i>.

Try some jazz. Bob James's <i>Restless</i>, or his stripped down trio effort <i>Straight Up</i>. Bill Bruford's Earthworks:<i>The Sound of Surprise</i> is surprizingly good jazz, considering most other attempts at jazz from aging rockers (like Charlie Watts) fall flat.

[Demetrio]

Some of my personal favorites:

- STEELY DAN - Two Against Nature
- BOZZIO LEVIN STEVENS - Black Light Syndrome
- VERTU - Vertu
- PORCUPINE TREE - In Absentia
- OZRIC TENTACLES - Waterfall Cities

Cheers,
Demetrio.

[snickelfritz]

Flim and the BB's - Tricycle
Funky Jazz, originally recorded by engineers working with early digital equipment.
Very clean recording with nice dynamics.

Blue Man Group - The Complex
Very powerful percussive bass in a new age/heavy metal fusion.
Wimpy systems need not apply.

Govi - Guitar Odyssey
Nice compilation with very natural sonics and good bass.

Mars Lasar - The Eleventh Hour
Electronic New Age composition.
Reminds me a bit of the Alan Parsons Project, "I Robot".

Heart - Dreamboat Annie
Heart - Dog and Butterfly
Outstanding vintage rock; good female vocals.

Tangerine Dream - Lily on the Beach
Electronic New Age.
IMO, one of their best musical works.

Donald Faagen - Kamikiriad
Donald Faagen - Night Fly
Excellent music with very good vocals.

Paul Simon - Graceland
On my personal short list of the best Rock albums of all time.

Dire Straights - Dire Straights
Mark Knoppfler at his best.

[Mr MidFi]

With all the mentions of Donald F. and Steely Dan, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Gaucho. I have a DTS-CD that makes my 5.1 system shine.

If you like a rich, warm sound with full arrangements, Joe Jackson's Heart and Soul album is an underrated classic.

I'd also like to mention that the new P. Tree has some pretty decent sonics, too.

[JoeE SP9]

If I had to pick just one it would be Holly Cole: Don't Smoke In Bed. If I'm allowed a couple of picks I would add

Jacintha Here's To Ben
Tim Weisberg Undercover
Groove Collective We The People

[20to20K]

I've already seen a few my fav's mentioned already. Love the sound on that debut
Ricky Lee Jones...sounds so good it's scary! Other I like are:

Herb Albert's - Rise
Branford Marsalis - Requiem
Steely Dan - Gaucho
Thomas Dolby - The Flat Earth
Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue
The Pat Methany Group - The Way Up
Dire Straights - Love over Gold
Pink Floyd - Wish you were here
Doobie Brothers - Living on a Fault Line
Keith Jarrett Trio - Still Live
Steps Ahead - Steps Ahead

I've got recordings listed here from the 60s thru to the 00's proving that there's
no guarentee that great recordings are more likely to come from newer recordings.

Somehow it seems like they should though...

[Dusty Chalk]

Good call on Blue Man Group. All that percussion...