Hi all;

Now that my car audio installation is nearing completion, I'd like to get a little serious about the music and learn to do some critical listening.

Never having owned a Reference CD before, I'm planning on buying 3 CDs from Audiodiscs.com.au; I had a quick browse through the top picks, and thought I would go with the Chesky UDD for one. Any suggestions for the next 2? Is the Sheffield Labs My Disc worth buying even if I don't have any professional measuring equipment (apart from my ears !!!)?

my thoughts are that the UDD is probably the best for new listeners, as it gives you a great idea about what to listen for in each song. Plus I actually really like a lot of the music on there

not sure on the My Disc, which I have but have rarely, if ever, used

ditto for the Audison disc.

The chesky 10 best is also quite good - last year's comp disc.

I think there's an Alpine one that was the disc for 2006, which has some awful and some brilliant stuff on it. The drum solo springs to mind as being incredible, the "Colours" song springs to mind as being suicidally inciteful.

anyone else?

If you want a great recording with music you will actually listen to and most importantly enjoy. Herbie Hancock- Possibilities. A great album. Or Holly Cole Trio.

I'll second the Herbie CD, it's a top cd, good music and seems to be well produced.

The drum solo is off Sheffield's "Drive" not Alpine's "First Encounter"

dianna krall - the girl in the other room is also another along the lines of herbie hancock and holly cole trio (don't smoke in bed)

excellently recorded jazz/blues ('temptation' is a standout, and actually won a music producers guild award for excellent production....or something like that - dont recall the official title of the award)

look at what's available on "XRCD" - they are generally very well produced, and mostly from original analog master tapes.
Sheffield Drive is ok too.
and I do like the Chesky Jazz Sampler.

Thanks guys for all your suggestions;

Based on your recommendations, I've ordered the Chesky UDD, Chesky 10 Best, and Sheffield Drive CDs to begin with.

Am also going to have a look for the Herbie Hancock, Holly Cole Trio, and Dianna Krall CDs.

The Girl in the Other Room is fantastic, and First Encounter is a personal fave.

Great, just ordered from evilBay:

* Possibilities - Herbie Hancock

* Girl in the Other Room - Diana Krall

* Don't Smoke in Bed - Holly Cole Trio

There goes my CD budget for the next couple of months - if I don't like any of it, I've only got you guys to blame

I got a few:

Jeff Buckley - Grace

Pink Floyd


I have been told:

Kraft Werk - Minimum Maximum

I'm having trouble finding it though.

personally i think its something that you are comfortable to listen to.....out of the above mentioned free plugs for Marc i mean SQ cds im a fan of the Audison Disc....purely because it has songs on it that i would consider listening too and Herbie Hancock for similar reasons

i do use track 5 from my disc (wishing well) but mostly a use a selection of my favorite songs that i believe have been well recorded

Have any arrived yet? My copies of Herbie Hancock and Holly Cole Trio, arrived in 3 days from the US.

I found Herbie Hancock - Possibilities at my local JB HiFi. Not sure if anyone else has picked up their's there.

Grace is sublime, I've got at least a couple of copies of it. Always a bit sad to listen to, as it makes me wonder what great things Jeff would have achieved had the tragedy not happened...



I hear you; I received my copies of the Chesky and Sheffield discs last week (thanks Marc!), and have been working my way through them on my home system slowly, they're certainly not what I would typically listen to. But here's the interesting bit - I find them strangely addictive. The sound is just pure and clean, individual intruments and vocals are rich and detailed, I find myself listening intently to each track for the subtle nuances. I don't find them emotionally rousing, rather more 'technically exciting' , but I think they'll grow on me.

Herbie Hancock's Possibilities is very nice, at the moment I can't stop spinning Track 8 - Don't Explain - Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan's vocals are haunting.



I've ordered mine from Canada, no sign of them as yet... I understand that Holly Cole has released a self-titled effort just recently which is getting some rave reviews, might also be worth checking out.

id have to agree that there is a huge difference in the quality of the Chesky/Sheffeild/etc discs....i remember last year i was playing the 10 Best in the car and i was dropping the old man somewhere.....and out of nowhere he picked up how clean the recording was

what about the IASCA cds?

No sweat

Here are my current personal fave's:


Good old trusted Sheffield Drive.


The Stereo.net.au guys love this one - sells a lot to the HiFi people.


This Chesky one is becoming very popular.

Hey guys! I am kinda new here. I have registered long time ago but haven't posted much. I am from Brazil.

Here are my recommendations:

Sheffield Drive FTMFW!!!! I've had a copy for about 5 years now, and its by far my favourite out of all the test CD's I have.

The Raven is another popular one as Diogo pointed out.
SACD too if you can take advantage of that.
http://www.audiodiscs.com.au/shop.php/comp...sacd-/p_21.html

i just ordered these...

don mclean - rearview mirror (sacd)
the body acoustic (chesky)
larry coryell + co. - electric
circle of drums
the guitar collection (chesky)
the coryells - the coryells (sacd)


will let you all know how they go soon...high hopes for rearview mirror, guitar collection and circle of drums

If I may let me recommend a couple more!

Wynton Marsalis - The Magic Hour (Blue Note)
Good to tune soundstage / imaging / dynamics


Arne Domnérus & Lars Erstrand - Live is Life (PROPRIUS)
Good to tune/test your tweeters


Cheers guys!

hey diogo, could you point me in the direction where can I find that stephane grapelli TELARC cd?

cheers mate!

Matt VIP

Hey mate, I am sure you can probably find it on EBAY.

Unfortunately, I only have the "digital version" at the moment. I am trying to find the original version also.

Cheers mate!

he he.....

just ordered from amazon...

Herbie Hancock - Possibilities

Stephane Grappelli: Live at the Blue Note

Oscar Peterson: "Perfect Peterson: The Best of the Pablo and Telarc Recordings"



[edit] oh yeah...it came to AUD$65 including postage...nice....]

I finally got a copy of The Eagles - Hotel California today... The drums are amazing on my K2P's

Oh yeah. I forgot to add:

Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine.

The separation of the instruments is awesome, not to mention the raw power and impact. Deadset awesome. :drool:

Could someone tell me what gives better SQ, an "Album Version" or a "Digitally Remastered Version"? or is this not a factor?

Nils Lofgren-Acoustic live
More voices &instruments Vol.23