Steely Dan. Best two albums are the last two. 'Everything Must Go' and 'Two Against Nature' They sound way better than any previous vinyl recording, period! All digital that is why. Tight is an understatement.
 
You don't have to know what they sound like at all but it does help. I have heard these on a $70,000 PMC monitor system and they sounded exactly like what I expected.
 
They are brilliant as a reference for any style and are also great for setting up live PA's. eg tuning into the room. There is so much space between all the parts. 
 
Alex the HS7's are way better than the 5's. Can you trade up. My son got a pair and we did some extensive testing in a very controlled setup. The 5's just don't have the bottom end. The 7' and the 8's certainly do.

@Jeff I've got some old Tannoy consumer speakers that behave like a system with sub woofers, and a nice Arcam amp with it. With HS5's if you can hear the bass it's probably already too loud! :) I'm from NS10 old school so I'm used to it, mixing using both is ideal for me. In the late 80's early 90's we liked our top end most :)

Right now the HS5's sound just like the NS10's in the main studio we use for the larger bands, I find it hard to tell much difference.

Cheers :)

It's not necessary to know what they're supposed to sound like. The point of the exercise is to find out what a good record sounds like on your speakers in your room, and then train your ears to that sound so you'll know when your own record's sounding good.
 
Unfortunately, you do have to trust others' evaluations for what records to use as guides. Often, queries such as this will be answered with everybody's favorite records, not necessarily those that meet the highest technical standards. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.
 
Take the ubiquitous Dark Side of the Moon. There are technically much "better", higher-fidelity recordings that you could use as a reference. However, DSoM's enduring popularity has made it a standard of its own. If it represents your idea of a great-sounding record, then it'll work. It does for me.
 
It could, however, be totally wrong for you, especially if you're working with modern genres. Or genres outside your personal preferences. If I had to make an EDM or Hip Hop record I'd be lost - no references. In that case I'd consult with people who do enjoy those genres to recommend some references.
 
My point is that anything other people recommend as standard references may or may not be helpful to you. Steely Dan records were indeed made to very high standards, but if you're doing Metal or bluegrass they might not be all that helpful. Alison Krausse & Union Station's New Favorite is a case-study in capturing exquisite detail and clarity, and I never tire of listening to it. But it's not something you'd emulate for a prog rock or symphonic metal epic.

Ah well it's just a light hearted discussion, of course it's very individualistic for reasons already explained from everyone... I'm just curious..

Cheers..

yes, DSOTM.....
if you eq your album to sound like that one,
it will sound rather dull.

i love that album,
and the way it sounds.
 
no way in the world would i use that album as a reference.
 

One thing that's probably even more important than picking up a reference record is that I listen to music on those monitors all the time. In fact, the only other place I litem to music is downstairs on a little portable speaker/iphone dock.
 
But I listen to music on my monitors every day. Everything from traditional Chinese music to Cradle of Filth.

WAR: Why Can't We Be Friends (Low Rider)
Agree with Steely Dan, esp AJA
Fleetwood Mac: Rumors and Bare Trees
 
Low Rider has everything as long as you aren't going for a subwoofer hip hop thing.
 
J

CakeAlexS
Just picked up some new Yamaha HS5's as I got fed up with the existing monitors (glad I did).
Wondering what recordings people here are using as a reference, I have to admit I ploughed out the old "Brothers in Arms" (like 'em or hate 'em).
 
Cheers...

+1 to bit's advice. In my opinion, it's best to reference whatever style of music you're working with, so for me, I have a wide array of stuff I used to reference for the many styles I work with.
 
That said, I rarely reference any more because it simply does not work for me like it used to. I've not referenced anything since I did my monitor corrections in both of my studios. I'll do it if a client asks me to, but it's rare. Today, I create the sound of the music I work with. If I like the sound of it, it's a done deal really. My final question to myself is "do I like what I've created?" not "does it compare with what has already been done?".
 
Though I know this was meant to be a discussion, I just wanted to give you my take for what it's worth. I sincerely feel the whole recording/production thing is now so subjective, it's not even worth getting deep into because:
 
1. We all hear differently - we need someone to create a plugin that allows us to hear what other people hear! LOL!
 
2. We all have our likes and dislikes as well as personal bias/unbiased opinions. One engineer's idea of a good drum or guitar sound is another engineer's nightmare.
 
3. Too much low end to 50 people is perfect for 50 others while not enough to 50 others
 
4. Some modern music is often times not accepted as it should be to *some people* therefore, the genre is passed over. Case in point, the Bob Katz list. Though some of that stuff is useful, some of it is definitely based on personal preference and is not a good enough representation of what is going on today. Most of us hate the loudness stuff...but guess what, we have to accept it and there are quite a few good albums in that genre.
 
I can name quite a few loudness war albums that sound fantastic as well as other genres that were amazing. Some really incredible country albums out now that have some of the best production I've heard in a long time. I'm not a huge country fan, but the production is really slick and is not easy to achieve.
 
5. Classic rock production and *some* that enjoy it *sometimes* have a Jazz elitist attitude that anything else is not "good production" (notice I said "some". I hope no one takes offense to that, but in my world, it's true especially with my older recording students)
 
I was born in 1967....I love classic rock and love some of the production of the older albums. But for God sake, I almost want to throw up hearing this same old stuff over and over as well as hear about the producers that made it happen. Sorry, I'm just classic rocked out and am tired of hearing about how great the production is today in 2015. Not many record this way anymore...and to me it does nothing to help with today's engineers and production. To my ears, some of it is NOT good at all as far as production goes. I don't count great songs as a production "plus".
 
We have a different set of rules, tools and sonic sound today that can't be compared to the 60's and 70's. Yes it's great music that I love too and though to some it may be better than anything today (which in some cases I'll agree) I don't feel the majority of production back then touches what we have now. Unfortunately, that stuff has had it's time. Just about none of us on this forum would record sounds like those TODAY. Those that would probably don't own a serious studio.
 
The teacher in me says "Why benchmark these sounds? Because they sound good? Compared to what?" With so much subjectivity and bias, what constitutes "good"? See my point? Again, I mean no offense or evil intent...nor am I telling anyone what to like or what to reference. I grew up on Beatles, Alice Cooper, Simon and Garfunkel, Traffic, opera, big band, Motown, Blues, R@B, Steely Dan, Zep, Stones, The Who, Bad Company, Doobie Bros, Skynyrd, Van Halen, Ozzy, Sabbath, 80's hair bands, 90's grunge, to present. I just don't see where this old stuff is so helpful TODAY and why it keeps on creeping into every reference discussion.
 
6. Production values are genre specific. Sometimes they matter, other times they don't
 
7. Who gives a crap about our nice beautiful monitors....the world is listening to 192 bit mp3's on ear-buds
 
Though the above goes against everything I believe in, it's a sad truth in my world. I see it more and more as I do online work as well as some of the people that come into my studio. I had a client base a decision on a mix because of how it sounded on his Walmart ear-buds. I've had others base decisions on how things sounded in their vehicles that didn't even have good listening tools.
 
I'm not saying any of that is wrong....I'm saying that's what goes on at times. Though I care about how something sounds on all forms of media, I can only do my best to make each client happy one at a time. The greatest reference material in the world won't make a difference to the guy telling me "there's not enough bass and kick drum coming through my ear-buds" when the bass and kick drum are annihilating all the monitors in my studio and my cans are rumbling.
 
In a nutshell, my terrible brevity aside, I feel we need to reference for what we are recording/mixing at the time more so than just picking good reference material that sounds good on our system. Even there, a mix is so subjective, it's almost not even needed really. If you or a client likes a mix, who cares if 30 people don't agree? See my point? Whatever we create is fine if WE like it. So we may not have the sizzle in the cymbals that ACDC has on the Back in Black album....to some, the sizzle may be too much. Our acoustic guitars may be a bit brighter than Jimmy Page on Over the Hills......but that MAY be a good thing. We may have a bass sound that is more percussive than the low end Sir Paul got on the Beatles records. We may have more of a Jason Bonham sound over the sound his father got. This is where *I* feel we need to be both as a teacher, and a recording/mix/producer type here in 2015. :) Reference material may be helpful to some....I'd rather create and listen to what I've done and hope that others may one day reference me. :)
 
-Danny

I've come to realize something in that same vein as Danny is speaking of, gradually, but even more so recently - and fortunately for me, it seems to coincide with me finally starting to get a grip on mixing and how I think things should sound.
 
Don't like brickwall limiting? Don't do it. Hate auto-tune? Don't use it.
 
We've grown accustomed to having certain imperatives that we need to obey, but the truth is that those things are now practically irrelevant. You don't have to make music to satisfy the taste (or lack thereof) of teens and tweens, because they're not buying CDs anyway, hence, they don't represent an audience that you must please.
 
Do what you like the best you can. You don't have to live by those illusionary imperatives. There no longer is a target audience which you have to please unless you decide to.
 
I see reference records as a way to get a grasp on how your monitors and room sound, and maybe something you can use to re-tune you ears every now and then - because it's the nature of the thing that they can and do get used to sounds and deprive you from perspective, and you need perspective. Even if you have a very clear idea of where you're going, it seems that sometimes, you just start drifting a bit and the first thing you know, you missed your target.
 
Maybe even more so if you are a one-man army in charge of everything - writing, arranging, recording, mixing. As a musician, it's easy to take decisions that'll make your life a nightmare when you get to mixing. Especially after some time playing and recording in a session. Mud gets comfortable.
 
At least, that's how it seems to be for me.

I've just discovered this, this is FANTASTIC, I've bought both the first and the second series albums (here on youtube with all the wonderful compression that goes with it for free):

As far as electronic albums are concerned, does not get much better!

http://youtu.be/SsJXfkOlCLw
 
Totally blown away...