What are some of the best sounding recordings you've heard?

[JLawry]

I listened to A Drum Thing last night. It’s funny but I assumed this might be a recording I’d add to the topic I started about How a Great System Improves Drum Sounds. But in this case, my great system totally REMOVED the drum sounds! Kidding of course. Seriously, it really is a great recording. It’s the second recording in as many days with something interesting going on in the piano sound. Back when I was in professional recording in the 1980s, the standard best practice was to use two microphones - one for lower strings, the other for upper. In general we’d pan left and right to some degree, but I used to joke that doing that made the piano sound 15 feet wide on the soundstage. So I would generally prefer the piano to be to one side or the other and spread a little. But in this recording, I’m not sure how they did it, but the piano feels very present and very stereo, but I couldn’t identify a right-left spread. If anything, it feels more truly THREE-dimensional in its sound. And the bass is also captured and reproduced beautifully and treated in a real equal as opposed to accompanying instrument, if that makes sense. Either way, thanks for the suggestion.