Mapleshade Recordings..GREAT or what?

One of the WORST CD's I have ever heard is that Doug McCleod (spelling?) blues CD, Come To Find. Forgive me if I don't have all the details correct, because the sound was so awful that I listened to only one song and then had to turn it off. I often listen to new CD's several times before forming an opinion of the sound and the performance. I tried liking that CD by giving it another chance later, but just couldn't get past the horrible mud and thud. Who cares if a signal is processed or not? If it sounds like crap, they SHOULD have processed it. Do you think that a real symphony orchestra would actually sound good in your living room? Probably not a blues combo, either, then. I don't care what all the critics in the audio press write...I can think for myself and form my own opinions. And I couldn't care less that ARC uses Mapleshade to voice their components, because most of their stuff sounds sterile and artificial anyway. If there are better Mapleshades, I would happily give them a try, if anyone cares to recommend one.

I own 7 Mapleshades and only 2 of them have any merit artistically(IMHO).Sonically they all sound good, but the performance isnt worth listening to.Also, they tend to mislead a little; it sounds like youre buying a new release, but some of this stuff was recorded 10-12 yrs ago.

Mapleshade Recording? Great! Mapleshade Artistic Content? Not so great! I admire Mapleshade for their recording techniques and daring recordings, but of the 4 Mapleshade CD's I have auditioned I only like one of them. Kendra Shank's "Afterglow" is a pleasant female vocals CD that is quite good for checking speaker placement. "Live at Ethel's" is a neat live jazz CD that has a great live sound, but the jazz is sub-par IMHO. "Makin Whoopee" is a decent disk for Nat Cole fans except for one spoken word track that will drive you insane. Michal Carvin's "Drum Concerto at Dawn" is so terrible that even a professional drummer friend of mine can't bear it. I don't mean to bash Mapleshade. They cannot possibly have premier artists record for them on their budget. They do warrant a listen though. Their prices, accessories, and recording processes are qualities that other recording companies should take to heart.

Thank you all for the repsonses.Both good and bad ones!My note earlier said that the theire artist's roster is not one of the best ones but MOST recordings sound life like in my high resolution system. ( Dunlavy V'S driven by Classe CA-400 by a Classe Pre-amp CP-60). IMHO the CD'S sound more closer to life like than some of the CD's from JVC XRCD'S. For those interested in some of the exemplary titles-both recording and musicality poiint view-are:Clifford Jordan's 'Play what you feel' and 'live at Ethell's',C.I.William's 'When alto was King', Eddie Gale Quintet's ' A Minute with Miles', Raphe Malik Quintet's 'Sirens Sweet and Slow',Patience Higgins 'Live in Harlem', Hamiet Bluiet sextet's 'Young warrior,Old warrior', Bobby Battle Quartet with David Murray's 'The offering' and of course the ' making whoopie' mention in above posts. In newer ones, if like a little Reggae that rocks(!) try Midnite's 'Ras Mek Peace' , For rock sound try ' Fallen Angels ' Rain of fire', For blues try Big joe Maher Sextet's 'Mojo', Their first classical (I forget the title) is very good.In all they have some pretty good music across their Catalogue. I would rather listen to boring music that sound real than good music that sound crapy.But that's is my opinion. All I am saying is give them a try. Good percentage of their catalogue being on Stereophile's or TAS superdisc can not be a fluke. If it does sound like a thud and mud , may be it is time you upgrade your systems. Oh yes, let me make one thing clear: I don't work for Mapleshade.

My opinion is that if you don't like the sound of Mapleshades, then you probably don't like the sound of live music either. These are some of the most natural sounding, dynamic recordings I have ever heard. My only complaint is that they need to relese some of the catalog on lp so I can hear what I have been missing on the cd's! I have most of the catalog, but I still mostly listen to vinyl or reel to reel. Ken