Hi pm,
I just lose it when I hear a piccolo, even live in an orchestra or a marching band. It's a shrill, nasty-sounding little instrument, hard on anyone's ears, IMHO (apologies to piccolo players. . .). I find it useless to judge loudspeaker fidelity since the instrument always sounds harsh to my ears. Maybe my hearing is unusually sensitive in that part of the spectrum or something. .
As to good recordings of cymbals, the Sheffield Drum Record, which is or was available on CD (it was originally a direct-to-disc recording on vinyl from Sheffield Labs in the pre-CD era). It's certainly one of the best-recorded drum kits I've ever heard, and the cymbal sound is perfect.
In past years I've recommended jazz CDs by the French jazz pianist Jacques Loussier and his trio, but many of those are no longer in print. I have a lot of jazz recordings so I'm sure I'll think of several that are available: oh, just thought of one: Dave Brubeck's Time Out.
Cheers,
Alan
