If you could choose just one very musical album in the current Octave catalog that really demonstrates the abilities of a state-of-the-art playback system, which one would it be? By abilities, I mean audiophile-level soundstage and imaging, clarity and detail, dynamics, extended flat frequency response, that sort of thing. Basically, well recorded besides being well performed. Also, a recording made by a musical group or single artist rather than a test or demonstration record. I’m not really interested in a discussion of which are the bad ones, just the creme de la creme.
One of my all time favorites comes from a classic of Octave, The Art of Bass and the track I love is Erase Me. One of the better full range pieces we’ve ever produced and the music’s great too.
Thanks Paul, good choice! This one appears to be a good mix of musical styles, from jazz-pop to jazz to modern classical string quartet to Bach on a pipe organ! Unfortunately the Art of HiFi - Volume 1: Bass is not currently available as an SACD; perhaps it will be restocked in the future? It can still be purchased as a download, of course.
I don’t have many Octave Recordings in my collection so I hesitate to state a favorite, but so far it’s “Things Worth Remembering” by Clandestine Amigo (which features the work of Jessica Carson). I don’t know if others have thought of this, but the voices of Jessica and also guest artist Katie Mintle on this recording remind me of the style of Norah Jones, so if you like “Come Away With Me” you might want to check this one out as well! The SACD package comes with a separate DVD data disk that includes all the tracks as PCM files, so I consider it a bargain at $39.