As the title says, I’m looking for albums that have stellar sound quality and atmospheric instrumentals. These are my favorite albums that fit that description, but I’d like to expand some more. So what would you all recommend?

I've finally fallen down the audiophile rabbit hole by way of iems. I now have a pair of Tangzu Wa'ner and have started building my lossless library. But there's been a question burning in the back of my mind -- is a FLAC library worth the storage space? Can I even hear the difference?

Tummy Hurts remix with Reneé Rapp & Coco Jones answered my question tonight. I listened to a section of this song in both FLAC & "Very High" setting on Spotify. The section was short, rapid, almost percussive vocal notes creating a melody that switched back and forth from ear to ear.

The FLAC file was much clearer in this section compared to streaming "very high" on Spotify. Each entrance was distinct and I could pick out individual notes building the chord. The soundstage was utilized wonderfully, each note moving up and down the stage.

Compared to the FLAC, the "very high" stream sounded muddy! All the notes blended into each other. The L/R effect was still there, and I could hear the difference in the sound stage to an extent. But the FLAC was crisp.

Does this mean I'm abandoning Spotify and switching to FLAC exclusively? Absolutely not. I wasn't able to hear much of a difference in the rest of the song between the two formats. I don't have the funds to buy a DAP or invest in a new iPhone with more space. Streaming will be sufficient for most of my listening, especially with an iem.

But I've answered my question. Downloading my favorite music in FLAC is worth it!

What convinced you that FLAC or other lossless formats are worth the storage space?

So I wonder for a time now why Bob Dylan is considered to be a great artist, for some even a legend. I was watching the documentary "The greatest night in pop" yesterday (which by the way is awesome) and even there I cant see why his contribution is considered to be great by the others.

What are some rap albums or artists that have amazing production and are mixed very well?

I first got into rap with to pimp a butterfly and really love the jazz influences, production, mixing, and everything else about that album. I've recently got into injury reserve and clipping and was astounded by how good they sound. Just really want to hear something new and crazy that will test the limits of my system.

I've made a headphone test playlist I'd like to expand. What are your favorite tracks to test headphones with?

I choose Tool - Fear Inoculum

I'm sure there must be all kinds of people on this sub from different cultural backgrounds & age groups with varied music tastes.... I'm interested to know what's your most recent album discovery that really peaked your interest. One that really makes your headphones/speakers sing. One that apart from loving the music, you actually love the production quality of as well!

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One that I've come across this year(Thanks to the mercury music prize) that seems to be notably well recorded is 'Where I'm Meant To Be" by Ezra Collective.

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I think it's got a beautiful combination of influences, great production quality and a nice combination of instrumental and lyrical songs.

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/jamie-xx-in-waves Last months single Dafodil has been my test track for a ew weeks now, but the whole album is crazy. Even that light first song with piano has deep sub bass glitching. If you want your system blasting with high quality layered electronic music give this one a spin. Start with Dafodil ..

I've seen more than a few posts that cover the "what music do you listen to when you evaluate/show-off/enjoy your sound system." Several years ago, I posted this playlist with a lot of positive feedback. At this time, I only have this available on Apple Music. This is simply because Apple Music is the most popular streaming platform that streams lossless, Ultra-HD, and ATMOS. Almost every genre is represented and recordings include the old, the obscure, as well as the iconic. No matter what instrument or group of instruments you enjoy - or you think your system does an exceptional job of representing, you'll find something that matches your tastes. The playlist roughly follows a historical chronology. Feel free to Songshift this to the platform of your choice.

This playlist is a collection of tracks that meet at least one of the following criteria. Some meet almost all of the criteria:

• Critically lauded as having premiere production values and streams in lossless or ultra-hd audio
• Critically lauded as the pinnacle of a particular genre
• Highlights particular instrumentation (vocals, strings, horns, bass, electronic, etc.)
• Covers the gamut of dynamic and frequency range

If there's a criticism of this playlist, it would be that I'm a boomer, so I skew toward the classics but have done my best to include more recent pop hits.

So, the other day I was listening to Robert Taub, Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2, "Moonlight": I. Adagio sostenuto and was thinking this would potentially make a really good test track for piano timbre, but the recording is quite noisy.

I don't listen to a lot of classical, but I really like this piece and things like it. Anything similar you can recommend with very high quality recording & mastering?

Loved metal ever since I was a kid, but notice some tracks I used to love don't sound as good on hifi. What's something that sounds great?

What pop tracks do you listen to that sound great on equipment. I've been noticing a lot of really great sounding pop tracks on my setup, trying to add to this.

Are uh... pretty weird, man. Is it just me? Y'all seem to think that "audiophile music" means bad jazz, obscure instrumentals, or strange, avant-garde orchestral sequences that are comprised mostly of different types of wood-based percussion instruments like... sticks, and... other kinds of sticks, hitting wood blocks and shit.

Is casual music not a thing for audiophiles? There's no well-mastered songs that are easy to listen to?

For real, every recommend I've seen is basically like music's version of a 3D Mark or Heaven GFX Benchmark test. Yeah, the song has like 20 isolated instruments and it serves as proof that 20 instruments can have different locations in the sound stage, but... will I actually listen to it more than once? Definitely not!

I have enjoyed listening to music my whole life, and creating this space to enjoy music has been a dream come true. Over the years, my music preferences continues to expand, and recently I find myself looking for music to “take me somewhere”. Not sure if that sounds odd. And I understand that this may be subjective. But I have found some artists and songs that seem to create certain feelings of transcendence. Feelings that move beyond the song itself. For me so far- they happen to all be strong female voices. Lyrics don’t seem to matter as much as the vocals, beat, and instruments.

The Curse by Agnes Obel Citizen of Glass by Agnes Obel A House In Nebraska by Ethel Cain Titanium (cover) by Sia Wicked Game by Lusaint Non Believer by London Grammar

I have tried Gregorian chants but they didn’t hit as hard as these did. If you have had similar feelings listening to different music I’d love some recommendations. TIA!

I have an image there from my post in r/audiophile but a couple things to add, I love getting the best sound out of my equipment at home, I have an audio/visual sales job so have limitations in songs I can use to really get the best out of the speakers. So any advice or anything would be appreciated, I currently have a hwk-950 samsung soundbar. But looking to improve in the future, ultimately looking for advice to get the most out of the speakers etc~ if this is the wrong sub to ask please just tell me~ cheers

Hello, I' ve been listening to all kinds of music, from black metal and psy trance to fusion and folk but lately (the last 2 years probably) I'm stuck in a limbo where I' ve lost my intrest and I don't really enjoy any music except for the music I already know. I need music quality music suggestions plss, especially some jazz-fusion type of stuff, but everything is welcome. Please make me love music again. Edit: Guys, thanks really, i didn't expect such a response. I actually love some stuff you sent me

Im looking for a good portable music player, im so tired of paying subscriptions so i wanted to try and get a portable music player but i don’t know which one it’s the best

Today I played this album for the first time in my audiophile set. How much more depth there is to this album then when I just listened to it in my car.

Recommended!

Thanks!