CD rethink time?

So don't buy new remasters if you don't like them.

This is hardly likely to be an explanation of the original poster's problem, however.

-- Ian

 

"I find that I've all but given up on CD due to total dissatisfaction with the sound. All the usual suspects seem to apply - hard treble, shallow image, rock music in particular fares very badly."


I think it answers it perfectly - a lot more likely than a Cyrus Cd not sounding good with a Cyrus amp, it's not as if he never liked CD's. I think it's worth 10 mins of his time to try it and maybe save a lot of money moving sideways for no reason.

 

Yebbut the OP didn't say anything about new or re-mastered CDs; simply that CDs sound bad (ie hard and thin) via his Cyrus-based system. My guess is that the Cyrus kit and speaker combination is to blame, with the speakers being the main culprits. Clearly if what you say about newer pop/rock CDs is true, then that will be adding to the problem.

FWIW I have no idea which of my CDs are re-mastered or originals. The only poncy 'audiophile' one I own is 'Kind of Blue' by Miles Davis, which I find unlistenable on the basis of musical content rather than sound quality.

 

Try what, exactly? Not listening to remastered CDs?

As I said before, it's mainly his room and speakers, is my feeling. Especially since he has hardish treble even when playing vinyl.

I have thousands of CDs, mostly they sound just fine through my system, even the lo-fi ones. None of them are on audiophile labels. IME people who find themselves wincing when they listen to anything other than pristine audiophile recordings have an over-bright system. A good system will make the majority of one's CDs and records sound better, not worse.

-- Ian

 

I'll look up the titles when I get home, they are mostly jazz recordings.

 

Try comparing the two. Try to not listen to bad CD's - source is the most important part of the chain and the first source is the ears of the Mastering Engineer.

I'm just trying to offer some help: I've been a musician, worked in HIFI for years and have 25 years experience of this hobby.... but hey you guys sound like you know it all already so I won't offer anymore. A little surprised by the aggresive response to my new angle that no-one had mentioned before.

 

I'll look up the titles when I get home, they are mostly jazz recordings.

[edit .. which includes Kind of Blue - which I rate very highly ;-) ]

 

pl excuse our manners ..

welcome to ZG ;-)

you must be right wrt the recording being the beginning of the rot/miracle that we experience way downstream. however, if music is the driver then we have to cope with whatever happened on the day, and kit therefore has to cope. For example, I've just got hold of the recording (thought lost) of Dizzy and Coltrane at the NY Town Hall. Now that was a weird recording! There is a lot of effort going on to re-master in the jazz field - not all of it will be success, no doubt.

My first-love band was the Kinks, so if you can put me right on what CDs I could buy to replace the first two LPs that I still have, scratches and all ... I'd appreciated that ;-)

 

Hifi should be a means to access the widest amount of music. If you find yourself not listening to great music because the recording bothers you, you have your priorities arse over tit.

Not trying to be aggressive, but this "My system is so good it makes all my CDs sound bad" line is a part of audiophilia that really irritates me.

-- Ian

 

I agree with you totally but
what's the point of listening to bad masterings of your favourite music when there are better versions out there that sound a lot nearer to the original master tape? and haven't been eq'd to sound better on Radio 1

the best current example is the new Red Hot Chilli Peppers LP, listen to the CD (if you can stand it for more than 5 mins) then listen to the vinyl which has completely different mastering.

 

Them's my sentiments too. As my system has improved, I dig out things I 'd previously dismissed and am bowled over by how good they sound.

[Aside] In terms of 'unlistenability' the two absolute worst examples I own are on vinyl (Parallel Lines by Blondie and Lou Reed's first solo album). Nothing I own on CD is remotely as bad.

 

Tell me where did I say that???????

No, my system is so good (as is most peoples here) that I can easily hear and enjoy the difference between a good mastering and a bad one. Bad CD's give people headaches and make them want to turn the CD off, that's where I thought the original poster was at.

Even in the car you can hear the difference and my whole point of this is that as technology "improves" CDs sound worse (and I've not even mentioned copy protection) and this has really only happened recently, hence peoples increasing dissatisfaction with CD players at the moment, which is surprising given how DACS have improved so much.

 

OK, interesting swerve. There is a fair amount of info exchanged in the 'classical' forum of ZG about quality of recordings. I've not been a frequent visitor to either of the 'music' forums but it strikes me that a 'best recording' database / list would be worthwhile.

But like Joe and Ian I look for a system that brings out the best in the wide range of music (Rap & Techno apart) that I listen to and although I well appreciate the (often huge) difference a good recording can make, its the music that does it.

 

I think what Ian (SSB) is getting at is right, your system shouldn't dictate what recordings you listen to. On my system, and I'm sure Ian is the same, everything 'sounds good' so what I listen to comes down to musical preference.
IMO I think if your system is limiting or dictating what sort of music you are listening to then it is time to start looking around...

Johnfromnorwich, whereabouts in NW Wales are you? There is a slight possibility of me bringing Father in Law's Sugden / Creek over if you aren't too far away...

 

Hi - I'm in Llanfairfechan (nr Bangor, just off the A55) - pm me if this is convenient. Work commitments can change my plans at short notice so elaborate arrangements are probably best avoided! Your/SSB's point is exactly what I'm getting at. I just realised I'd stopped listening to CD and I was wondering why. I thought about the kind of music purchase decisions I'd made recently and every time I wanted some rock, I bought vinyl because every time I listened to agrressive material on CD, it sounded wrong. In fact I was only buying CDs as a last resort. The system was dictating my listening habits. Zanash's cable suggestion has tamed things somewhat, as has shifting the PSX-R into the amp, but there is still more to be done.

Cheers

John

 

Hmm, 'tis quite a way. I'm in South Cheshire so it's well over an hour...
I really do think that the Sugden would be ideal for you, if there is any way you could get one home to listen to I would try.
You have private message...

 

Isn't that what turntables are for?

 

I like cd's through my valve DAC. After listening to it for many years, conventional CD players sound mechanical and fake.

Mind you I have the same problem with solid state phono stages, so its not a lp vs cd thing for me.

Something in your hifi is sounding aggressive.

There's a million products out there.

have you heard something akin to some audionote E speakers and a Meishu amp at home?

Not those exact products, but similar?

Maybe there might be someone here on the forum with big cone/valve sounds that might live near you.

I'm not saying its right for you, just that it would be less aggressive and you might like it.

 

Forgot to do this, so here are two:

1. 'Blues in Orbit' Duke Ellington, Columbia

2. Blue Note Perfect Takes- Rudy Van Gelder remixes

Now I confess that I dont have and have not listenned to the originals - except tracks from the second, so no A/Bing. But since each is splendid, I'm recommending that someone else does ;-)

 

I have found some remastered CDs in my collection; a couple of Doors titles and a Stones compilation on Abko bought for a fiver in a sale at HMV. None sound worse (or noticeably better) than the bog standard straight transfer CDs I own. The Doors CDs sound better than their vinyl equvalents, but only because the latter have been played to knackerdom and beyond over the past 30 or so years.

It's fair to say that I buy very little contemporary rock stuff. The elder daughter has shedloads of NuMetal type stuff, but poor sound quality is regarded as a plus point for that genre I believe.