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This playlist features a collection of recordings from various genres that are mastered well, possess good dynamics, and are not squashed from hyper-compression. Many of the selected tracks are highlights from renowned mastering engineer Bob Katz’s Honor Roll albums (CDs). WARNING: Do not judge the quality of a recording based on its perceived loudness! As Bob states, "the sound quality of the average commercial recording has been going down hill for quite some time due to the loudness race." He explains, "high intrinsic loudness necessarily produces lowered microdynamics because of the compression/limiting required to prevent peak overload. A hot recording will have lowered transient clarity and less dynamic range. As the intrinsic loudness goes up, the sound quality can go down. The sound will not be as clear or as 'sharp' or as 'open' as a recording whose intrinsic loudness is lower. You can’t beat the laws of physics." Thus, the race for the “loudest” recording is ultimately self-defeating!

As I have always advised artists, follow best practices: the best mixes make the best masters. In fact, a perfect mix may require little to no processing during the mastering session. Therefore, take the time to craft good, if not great, quality mixes, rather than adopting the mindset of “we’ll fix it during mastering.”

I think many of us engineers, producers, and artists over the past few decades fell prey to the concept, and especially the competitive nature, that increased louderness through more and MORE compression, soft clipping, and limiting somehow equaled “better” sound. It’s time to come to the light and stop sacrificing quality for quantity (i.e., decibels). While all devices have a volume control , none come with a quality control (i.e., dynamics) you can adjust.

Many thanks to Bob Katz for continually sharing his knowledge and expertise with the music industry, and for his fight against “The Loudness Wars.” I'm a better audio engineer because of him and an avid advocate for bringing back dynamics to recordings. For more information about Bob’s Honor Roll collection, including production descriptions, and his book, Mastering Audio: the art and the science, an invaluable and essential reference tool, visit the link below.

IMPORTANT! Please read before listening to the playlist! If you are a Spotify Premium user, adjust the audio settings for "Lossless" playback quality and turn off the "Equalizer" and "Volume Normalization" in settings. Keep in mind that while Spotify claims disabling "Volume Normalization" allows you to hear songs at their original recording levels, this is not entirely accurate. There’s still some compression/limiting applied (visit the Spotify link below to learn more). These settings will render playback at up to 24-bit/44.1kHz without EQ (Free users can only adjust the sound quality to “High” = 160 kbps), but with a small amount of compression/limiting. Therefore, I do NOT recommend using the playlist for direct mastering references. Instead, I recommend using the playlist to find the song(s) you want to emulate for mastering, and purchasing the original recording for use as your reference (preferably CD or Hi-Res download, but beware of remastered versions). Additionally, Apple Music and Qobuz are other alternatives that offer superior playback quality with lossless Hi-Res audio. We now offer the playlist on Qobuz, which can be used as a direct reference, especially when connected to a high-quality DAC. Just hit the link below to listen:

TUBE TITANS PLAYLIST

The Ultra-Musical Sound of the Most Legendary Tube Mixing Consoles

Step into the room where the walls hum with history and every transient carries the unmistakable weight of heated glass. This playlist explores the golden era of analog capture—a time when purpose-built mixing consoles didn't exist off the shelf, and engineers were part inventor, part alchemist.

From the legendary custom board at Columbia's 30th Street Studio—where landmarks like Kind of Blue and Time Out were etched into tape—to the Narma consoles custom-built for Rudy Van Gelder and Les Paul, these sessions relied on an uncompromising hands-on approach to sound. Before modular gear was mass-produced, visionaries had to custom-build their signal chains, laying down foundations that later inspired breakthroughs like the Universal Audio 610 in 1960, the first modular tube channel strip capable of anchoring custom desks like the famed "Green Board."

The Art of the Physical Chain

Long before digital plug-ins attempted to emulate analog saturation, capturing a performance was an exercise in pure acoustics and mechanical mastery:

The Room as an Instrument: Engineers didn't lean on artificial reverbs; they worked with live acoustics, placing musicians deliberately within legendary echo chambers and high-ceilinged tracking rooms to let natural decay breathe.
Microphone Placement & Selection: With limited tracks and no safety net of heavy post-processing, mic choice and placement were everything—capturing the punch, proximity effect, and harmonic bloom directly at the source.
Custom Iron & Glass: Because commercial consoles were virtually nonexistent, engineers wired custom vacuum tube preamplifiers, passive equalizers, and summing amplifiers by hand.

Three-Dimensional Warmth vs. Flat Lines

There is a profound sonic gulf between the modern solid-state workflow and the behavior of vintage tube circuitry. Where solid-state preamps can sometimes render music flat, sterile, and two-dimensional, tube preamps impart an organic sense of three-dimensional presence, physical body, and harmonic warmth. It’s an ultra-musical distortion—a gentle rounding of harsh transients and a rich saturation that makes instruments feel as though they are standing right in front of you in the room.

Press play, settle into the analog glow, and experience audio the way the pioneers intended it to be heard.

NOSTALGIC NEVE PLAYLIST

The Renowned Sound of the 80 Series Mixing Consoles

The Neve 80 series mixing consoles are among the most sought-after recording consoles in the world, renowned for their exceptional sound quality. Since the 1970s, these hand-wired masterpieces have been featured on countless records. They were created by Rupert Neve, the English electronics engineer who founded the company. One of the rarest models in the 80 series is the 8028, of which only a few were produced, all featuring pure Class-A circuitry.

The most famous of these consoles is arguably the one that served as the centerpiece in Sound City’s Studio A, equipped with 1084 preamps. This console, now owned by Dave Grohl, was prominently featured in the 2013 documentary film “Sound City,” which he produced.

The Neve sound continues to thrive today, with many studios around the world still utilizing their 80 series consoles, including Power Station, AIR, The Village, and Ocean Way Nashville, among others. This playlist includes selected tracks from albums recorded using these legendary mixing consoles. We hope you enjoy...