Here are a couple of examples, both of which have to do with how the music was mixed and produced, not recorded (I think).
In some versions of Cannonball Adderley’s wonderful Somethin’ Else (from the legendary Blue Note album of the same name) there’s a sudden, disconcerting reduction in the background hiss in one channel at the 6:40-minute mark. It continues until ca. 7 minutes. For those of us old enough to have grown up with cassette players, it’s like someone depressed the Dolby noise reduction button and then released it 20 seconds later, albeit with the effect only being felt in one channel. The result is a muffled sound, with less air and sparkle. It upsets the recording’s balance and is intrusive enough, once you’ve heard it, to ruin the piece of music. Don’t worry, though: it’s not on every version that has been released. I haven’t checked enough versions yet to pin down the origin of it, and whether it’s on the original LP, but I first noticed it on my CD copy, which I believe is the original CD release. It’s not on the more recent remastered version. It’s audible enough that you can hear it with most any headphone setup; it’s easily discernible on youtube, although this example has it in the opposite channel to mine:
For the second example, on some versions of the classic song, Joshua Fit de Battle Of Jericho, from Grant Green’s outstanding Feelin’ The Spirit, the tambourine is too prominent in the mix—to the point where it detracts from the rest of the music and becomes the only thing I notice. This isn’t just OCD on my part - or, at least not entirely - as it’s not a problem on the remastered version (just the original digital release, I think). Arguably, my hearing is sensitive at this frequency, so it may not be such a problem for others. I hear it on my HD 6XX but it’s unbearable on my brighter Clear and HD 800 (I know, I know, some of you are probably curling up in the fetal position, whimpering at the horrifying prospect of listening to tambourines on an HD 800 - sorry for frightening you).
PS: some of the Blue Note remastered Rudy Van Gelder editions have been celebrated, others criticized, by audiophiles; I don’t have the experience to comment, really, suffice to say that it’s worth doing some homework before deciding whether to opt for the original or the remastered versions. And beware of some of Blue Note’s compilations; I’ve had one, on CD, that was markedly inferior to the original digital releases).
PPS: great idea for a thread! [edited for grammar and style]
) where I could actually hear the guitar amp distortion. It starts around 3’15" and it should be hearable for 30s. I was wearing the HD600.