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Recordings that only sound good on resolving systems

We’ve all had pieces of music we love, only to play them on a good system and realize how poor their sound quality is. Lately I’ve noticed some releases I’ve owned for a while, which I’d classified as ’crappy’ recordings, actually sound amazing on a good system. I’d given most of these a few listens after purchase, only to decide I didn’t like the sound.. usually because of some type of distortion I found unpleasant. Yet playback on a resolving system reveals details and not distortion.

Recently, I purchased an album by Shabazz Palaces and found it lacking in sound quality when played in mp3 format from my phone on my car stereo. I just couldn’t get into it, the sound was too messy. Yesterday I put the vinyl on my home system to give it another chance and it sounded incredibly good. This reminded me of other albums this has happened to me with. Anna Von Hausswolf’s ’Ceremony’ was unenjoyable on an earlier iteration of my system, before I built better cables, tweaked my turntable and got new amps. Now it sounds amazing. Same thing with Diane Cluck’s ’Macy’s Day Bird’ and some tracks from Aphex Twin’s ’SAW II’.

It seems there are recordings out there that have a certain sound that requires a system resolving enough to bring out all the details. Without that resolution, the sound is just a mess. Has anyone else noticed this with any of their recordings?
128x128toddverrone
toddverrone's avatar
toddverrone OP
838 posts
 
Ooh, yeah. Totally forgot about live recordings. I think the ambience just sounds like noise on less resolving systems.

Musiclover - what a name for an album!
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,152 posts
 
Steely Dan sounds overproduced, clinical and very artificial on a resolving system.
Total BS.  Becker and Fagen have given us some of the best recorded and produced albums.  
islandmandan
848 posts
 
Since I recently completed building an Ultrasonic RCM ( a design by BBtx on DIY Audio), I have noticed all my LP's, even ones which I considered unplayable, to sound a great deal better than I ever thought they could. It doesn't seem to matter, old, new, as long as they are not damaged with anything more than surface scratches, all play and sound uniformly, and in many cases, unexpectedly, much better.

Very much recommended, and inexpensive (around $200, including the ultrasonic bath).

Regards,
Dan
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,333 posts
 
@mofimadness

You obviously have never heard a highly resolving system - a system where you can actually hear what has been done to manipulate said recording. It is like a higher resolution screen image that makes CGI more obvious because reality has imperfections and you don’t see any imperfections in the detail.

I agree Steely Dan has given us some of the best recorded and produced albums. Just saying that you can easily identify manipulation or conditioning and shaping of the sound simply from the perfection (which is detected as being artificially precise compared to reality.)
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,152 posts
 
@shadorne...I have heard numerous resolving systems.  I guarantee that I have heard many, many more systems than you ever will.  I've been in a variety of recording studios and have quite a bit of experience and knowledge in the subject.

I understand what you are saying, but a highly resolving system, based on your interpretation,  would make almost all recordings sound this way, (or worse), wouldn't it?


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