Demo Discs for Dynamics

The group of records you see here are some of the most dynamic we’ve had the good fortune to discover.

Our scientific approach to finding the best sounding records has allowed these exceptional pressings to take their place among the best we’ve know of.

One of the many faults we find with modern Heavy Vinyl pressings is that they tend to be noticeably more compressed than the vintage pressings on this list.

Shelly Manne & His Men – More Swinging Sounds

This Contemporary Yellow Label MONO LP is West Coast Jazz at its best! 

One quality of this side one that really took us by surprise was how DYNAMIC it is. The second track gets loud in a way that only one or two out of a hundred records does.

This is about the number of records we play in a week and I would have to say that no other record this week was more dynamic, hence the rough estimate above.

Side One

A+ to A++, with rich, smooth, lovely West Coast jazz sound. The horns can get a bit hard when loud.

Check out the dynamics on track two — Wow!

Side Two

A+ to A++, clean and lively. Zero smear and nearly as dynamic as side one. Track two, more than fifteen minutes long, is richer than track one by the way.

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Stockhausen / Noda – Zyklus & Eclogue on Direct to Disc (Reviewed in 2011)

More Direct-to-Disc Recordings

Reviews and Commentaries for Direct to Disc Recordings


This RCA 45 RPM Direct-to-Disc fulfills the promise of both the direct to disc recording medium AND the 45 RPM cutting speed so much in vogue these days. As with the Virtuoso Guitar record we listed today, the sound is simply SUPERB — open, dynamic and distortion free.

This is a real DEMO DISC, no doubt about it.

I’ve known this record had top quality sound for decades; we started way back in 1987 selling these kinds of audiophile pressings and this one was clearly a Top Title even back then. I’m happy to say that, unlike most of the audiophile pressings we used to sell, this title has actually gotten BETTER with time.  (more…)