I listen through bad sound quality (and I think the quality of most 50's recordings is way better than those of the 60's, especially in Jazz and Classical music), but I hate it when people just don't care what music sounds like. So a point for Dayvan
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Eitherway, Zoë, there's some brilliant recordings from the last half of the 50's. Probably not your style, but people back then already did know how to make a proper recording. E.g. Miles Davis' "Kind of blue". still sounds bloody perfect.