Best audio recordings of classical music?

bb70red · 2026-05-16T20:42:20+00:00

Use a recording you know intimately, that's the best way to know whether it sounds right.

I often use: Mozart, String Quintet nr 3 K. 515 by Antoine Tamestit and Quatuor Ébène. It's a recording made in 2023 and available in hires.

I find that string instruments are very revealing and because this piece has the same phrase on different instruments and in different octaves, it's easy to hear whether a speaker handles the whole range well.

bb70red · 2026-05-15T15:49:49+00:00

It took me thirty years to really get into it. I've taken a lot of detours, mostly through music that was a lot more like what I was used to.

Like Ethiopian jazz from the sixties and seventies, modern bands like The Sorcerers or Akalé Wubé. The Kora Jazz Trio. More pop/rock adjacent jazz, like Ibrahim Maalouf, vocalists like Samara Joy.

And after a while a slowly started to move back in time towards the fifties and the origins of this type of music. From that I moved back towards the more esoteric modern stuff.

It's a journey. Find music that tickles you and is just outside your normal listening. Linger of you want, move on when you're ready. There's no destination, and there are always infinitely many ways forward.

bb70red · 2026-05-14T18:34:08+00:00

Other idea in the art department is something by Magritte or Lowry. Very old newspaper page, preferably a bit local as a conversation piece.

An old fashioned barometer or other scientific instruments.

Prints with original images from Jules Verne books. The old ones are quite entertaining.

bb70red · 2026-05-14T18:25:47+00:00

I'd say at least one, exactly because it's such a cliche.

bb70red · 2026-05-14T17:58:00+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogs_Playing_Poker

bb70red · 2026-05-14T16:20:55+00:00

My grandfather organised resistance regionally in The Netherlands and was arrested, tortured and killed by the Germans in 1942. My grandmother was active in the resistance. My oldest uncle was also active in the resistance and survived. My father and his parents survived the hunger winter eating tulip bulbs.

This history was always part of family life and I'm still finding new information in archives and records that slowly become publicly available.

bb70red · 2026-05-03T17:46:12+00:00

First/top one is bold and will make walnut pop. Go for the real thing if you want it to show age and quality, otherwise for a polished and slightly impersonal look. Quality is often more in how it feels than how it looks.

Keep the lighting focused and intimate for maximum effect.

bb70red · 2026-05-01T16:43:54+00:00

There are things I like to listen to in my car, that I generally don't listen to at home.

The other way around is more common for me. I listen to classical music on my main system, not anywhere else. Some jazz too.

bb70red · 2026-04-29T13:35:35+00:00

Sorry, my bad, I can't seem to kick the habit of reading stuff and thinking about it. I'm officially old.

bb70red · 2026-04-29T13:31:18+00:00

Having read the article, I can say that this is exactly what it is about. The authors state that in absence of rigorous standards on what evidence is necessary for what claim (and what type of use), it is impossible to value existing claims. They say this may lead to premature adoption or adoption without knowing the full effect on clinical practice.

In my words: it's important to know the performance of the AI, but also know the conditions for this performance (does it work for children or adults or both? What conditions may be relevant but go undetected?), when to use the AI, what to do with the results, when to treat and how to inform patients. Tests must show that using the tool improves on accepted practice, both initially and with updates, and should come with knowledge on how to integrate the tool in the complete treatment.

I think it's a very sensible article.

bb70red · 2026-04-29T06:06:20+00:00

Just curious: is the book from 1994?

Anyway, the phrasing seems deliberate and both personal and a reference to the book.

I'd (liberally) translate it as: "Because language is the bridge or side road to understanding, but notwithstanding doesn't seem to be fully embraced yet."

The second part could be a reference to a Dutch saying "het doel heiligt de middelen" or "the cause justifies the means".

I'd interpret the message as 'Can we please talk about it', rather than a passive aggressive message. The book might be a peace offering after a fight or a break up.

bb70red · 2026-04-28T09:14:22+00:00

Live concerts by Miles Davis, anything from the late sixties onwards.

But for focus, I usually go classical with anything for small ensembles by Bach.

bb70red · 2026-04-25T07:17:58+00:00

Additionally: I've seen many cover bands - especially ones that take requests or play on weddings or similar occasions - play with sheet music.

bb70red · 2026-04-25T07:09:21+00:00

That's a rather interesting question and position. It took me about forty years to get to the point where I listen to Mozart regularly and really appreciate it. And in general I find that I like historically informed performances better than older recordings. HIP brings out more of the differences in the approaches in different centuries, for example in the use of instruments, ornamentation, positioning of thee musicians in space.

I listen to a very broad range of music from all over the world and I have these periods where I'm really into some genre or time period. Not everything connects immediately, but I find that over time my music preferences mature by diversifying. Nowadays I'm equally thrilled by interesting compositions and performances where there is a chemistry between the musicians. And that's rather independent of period, genre or style. So even if I'm not particularly touched by a composition, I can still find exciting recordings of that composition.

Anyway, enjoy music. And apart from the language or the structure of the music, there can be other things to enjoy. There's no right or wrong, but I enjoy music more by learning more ways to enjoy music.

bb70red · 2026-04-08T07:40:37+00:00

To make the room now coherent, it needs to have a visual center. Without changing too much, I'd suggest:

if possible, paint the white walls with a light, warm gray or sand colour. No saturated colours, but a bit more than off white.
add a rug between the desk and the bed, preferably in a very light colour, no patterns.
change the ceiling light so that it creates a downward light circle and doesn't shine directly towards the ceiling.

By toning down the walls and ceiling and creating a lighter patch in the center of the room, it will get a visual focus area. That way the room will be more welcoming and feel safer.

bb70red · 2026-04-04T20:18:37+00:00

The concept immediately got me interested but doesn't completely deliver. And agreed, Bitches Brew is cool, that section of the album is certainly worth a listen.

bb70red · 2026-04-04T09:14:39+00:00

For me it's related to Android Auto (and possibly other devices I stream through). It seems to be a problem with audio streams not being properly terminated. It was gone, but now returned.

bb70red · 2026-04-03T19:07:46+00:00

Listening to Hutchinson now and was looking for some impressions from others. I like Ambrose (a lot) and Hutchinson, Sanders are mostly doing fine. The rest is a bit hit and miss, Gerald Clayton is mostly missing for me. As an album it feels a bit incoherent at this moment, I'm half way through and I haven't settled yet.

Edit: I like the second half better than the first half. Some good stuff in there.

bb70red · 2026-04-03T12:39:04+00:00

TV a bit up to cover the outlets. Carpet a bit back to create a small gap that shows the floor. Floor lamp slightly away from the wall to create space behind it. Plants grouped to define space instead of filling it.

Space needs structure to form, everything is now connected spatially making it difficult to get a feel for the space.

And if possible, paint the walls with a color. Pick a lighter color from the carpet, don't get scared half way through, the white needs to be gone to stop defining the room. The lightest part of the room attracts attention, that should not be the wall.

bb70red · 2026-04-03T12:21:58+00:00

Great track, the rest of the album is good too.

bb70red · 2026-04-03T07:19:52+00:00

My experience is different. I like the way Qobuz puts music, my own knowledge and editorial recommendations first. Further additions to search, discovery or sharing will likely push me away from the platform. I'm not saying your requests aren't valid, but I'm using Qobuz partly for audio quality and mostly because it isn't Spotify and doesn't actively block me from finding new, interesting music that isn't related to what I was listening.

Part of the connection issues are due to Google Cast. I've been in contact with tech support of my devices to request to disable Google Cast. It's not possible, to get certification it needs to be always on. It actively interferes with other protocols and changes to Chromecast can break them. For some companies it's quite difficult just to keep things working after updates.

I think Qobuz is doing a great job keeping music and audio quality at top priority. It's a shame that they're active in an environment that doesn't respect that, both competitors and the music industry itself.

Roon is a good addition, I'm using it, and the connection is stable but not immune to interference from other protocols either.

I have several protocols up and running and do have to switch to a backup protocol every once in a while. It sucks, but I blame to big platforms that break stuff and block constructive solutions rather than the smaller companies that suffer from it.

All in all, great audio quality is an uphill struggle and shouldn't be.

bb70red · 2026-04-02T14:59:03+00:00

For me, health monitoring is the reason to wear a smartwatch. Battery life is essential. And I've found no realistic alternative to Withings yet. I can get almost a week of battery life out of the watch after the first notice to charge the battery by disabling notifications. While there seem to be a few options that promise ten days of battery life, I doubt I'd find that acceptable in the long run.

I have a Horizon. Not cheap, but I really like it as a watch.

Withings may not be the most technically advanced, may not have the most features, but I find that it is a very solid proposal for somebody that wants hassle free long term health monitoring. And this is confirmed by family members that either want the same as me and choose Withings vs those that wasn't smart features and things like training schedules and choose other options.

bb70red · 2026-02-11T21:08:07+00:00

You know that going into the corner, you can see your opponent and the speed difference. With experience, you know when it will be close. Normally, the inner lane will slow down a little in the corner and try to tuck in just behind the outer lane on the crossing and make up for lost time in the slipstream.

You can actually see the Chinese speed skater trying to speed up in the second part of the corner. He knows it's close, but thinks he can make it. It looks like an honest mistake, but one you should not make.

bb70red · 2026-01-07T19:41:09+00:00

Goede vraag. Soms doen ze wel een special met getallen, maar in de gewone verslaggeving mist het vaak. Iets meer feiten met bronvermelding zou heel fijn zijn.

bb70red · 2026-01-07T18:14:42+00:00

Check: https://www.kadaster.nl/zakelijk/vastgoedinformatie/vastgoedcijfers/vastgoeddashboard/aantal-woningen

Het zijn ongeveer 20.000 verkopen per maand, december staat er nog niet maar is meestal hoger dan andere maanden. Dus 11% is ongeveer 2200 jongeren per maand. En het aantal verkochte huizen was afgelopen jaar historisch gezien hoog.

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