best songs to test certain "playback attributes"

[Mattlondontubes]

Although I know the virtues of hifi tend to go hand in hand, rather than asking asking what songs "sound the best" id like to ask if anyone has any songs they feel are particularity strong in a certain area (even if not in others)

for instance soundstage, what do you guys think are the best songs to test soundstage capabilities of equipment ?

[ncdrawl]

youre welcome

http://open.spotify.com/user/1296703...TZubiFmAgZ2tAP


but soundstage in particular...

the CHESKY LEDR test, opus 3 eric bibb and needed time "spirit and the blues"

and "tiny island"

and french EMI - lady mcbeth of mtensk - huge sound that extends far outside of the speaker boundaries

[mikehit]

Kodo on Sheffield Labs recording, especially the track 'Monochrome': at is a simple set up and has tremendous dynamic range. You can hear the vibration of the skin on the Daiko (big drum) and place where on the skin it is being struck. Then you have the front to back depth with the ripple of the seven wood drums along the drint with the Daiko at the back.

[bencat]

mmm first one is Cassandra Wilson - Belly of the Sun Witchita Lineman . This has delicate percussion sounds in one corner plucked strings in the other and Cassandra dead centre . Not ideal but often quite revealing Jimi Hendrix Electric Ladyland Voodoo Chile very left and right stereo but the image is just so wide and should strech way beyond your speakers .

[vacdac]

+1 Andrew,

tbh pretty much anything by Cassandra Wilson is automatically a good choice in my book......trouble is you might forget you're playing it for assessment purposes...lol

Good choice 4 the Hendrix track too



Chris ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot

mmm first one is Cassandra Wilson - Belly of the Sun Witchita Lineman . This has delicate percussion sounds in one corner plucked strings in the other and Cassandra dead centre . Not ideal but often quite revealing Jimi Hendrix Electric Ladyland Voodoo Chile very left and right stereo but the image is just so wide and should strech way beyond your speakers .

[nat8808]

youre welcome

http://open.spotify.com/user/1296703...TZubiFmAgZ2tAP


but soundstage in particular...

the CHESKY LEDR test, opus 3 eric bibb and needed time "spirit and the blues"

and "tiny island"

and french EMI - lady mcbeth of mtensk - huge sound that extends far outside of the speaker boundaries

Opus 3 released some set of LPs specifically for testing. Think I might even have the soundstage one..

[CarlBkk]

For rock, the Foo Fighters have a lot of sounds and vocals at the same time, making it a difficult load for a system to make sound "good" without being abrasive. However, sometimes on mainsteam albums you just don't know if it's the shortcomings of a system or the actual recording.

[mmar]

anything by stockfisch records !

[i_should_coco]

Personally, I struggle with the concept of test tracks for aspects of reproduction, it sounds like over-analyzing and that way lies madness. What's wrong with just listening to music you normally listen to and seeing if you like the results?

[madvinyljunkie]

Personally, I struggle with the concept of test tracks for aspects of reproduction, it sounds like over-analyzing and that way lies madness. What's wrong with just listening to music you normally listen to and seeing if you like the results?

Good post repped

[Plato]

Personally, I struggle with the concept of test tracks for aspects of reproduction, it sounds like over-analyzing and that way lies madness. What's wrong with just listening to music you normally listen to and seeing if you like the results?

Good post repped

Yes, I also agree with this.
Plato

[Gforce]

not so much of a test record, but whenever i make any changes to carts or phono stage my first stop is usually side 1 of Dire Straits "Love over Gold", Telegraph Road and Private Investigations just seem to have a good mix of everything i like to hear, from quiet to loud to bass and subtleties and sound stage, drum snares, pianos, acoustic guitar strings etc ............. has it all for me :-)

[Sir_Franc]

Personally, I struggle with the concept of test tracks for aspects of reproduction, it sounds like over-analyzing and that way lies madness. What's wrong with just listening to music you normally listen to and seeing if you like the results?

So you have a full Naim system then?

[i_should_coco]

So you have a full Naim system then?

sssssh!

[The Strat]

Personally, I struggle with the concept of test tracks for aspects of reproduction, it sounds like over-analyzing and that way lies madness. What's wrong with just listening to music you normally listen to and seeing if you like the results?

Exactly - if a hi-fi can't reproduce the music you would normally listen to.................

[moggy58]

I don’t do the test cd’s, just listen to whatever cd is on your system and enjoy. You are at the mercy of the technicians at every step of the process,
that including your own setup and how good it is. But, having said that there are some very well produced lps out there. Strats’s avatar (Ricky Lee) is a very good example. Love over gold, also, being one of my favourites a great cd. One cd that surprised me was Dido - Life for rent, an extremely well produced sound.
Rod Stewart’s later works produced some of the very best cds believe it or not!

[age136]

As above , get your system sounding how you like it with the music YOU like and listen to a lot .
Ain't no point in trying to make your system sound good with music you ain't ever gonna listen to .
To me , it doesn't matter how well recorded it is if it's like pulling teeth listening to it .


You wouldn't watch a film just cos it's got great cinematography but crap plot and acting .

Oh wait , Lord of the Rings 1,2,3 Transformers 1,2,3 Star Wars 1, 2,3,4,5,6

[mmar]

May be wrong but I'm not sure the op was implying he will go and and buy cd s he doesn't like or build a system round one or two well produced tracks , think he was merely asking wammers for surgestions of albums / tracks that they have that are particulary well produced so he could mabye check them out for himself with a view to buy of he indeed likes the music

[vacdac]

Spot on Mick,

Perhaps a little hazing of the "noob" mebbe...mind you if so, v. gentle by Wam standards I can't say I have any particular Albums/Tracks etc. that I use for test purposes, but I certainly have stuff that I gravitate towards when introducing a new piece of kit/tweak etc into the system. I would think many others do too. It's not always the "Best Produced stuff" either. Sometimes it's Lo-Fi stuff, or stuff with minimalist production values, that can place demands of their own on a system.

I've got a speaker review planned & have started to put a playlist together, for the most part tho' , it's simply stuff that I really like, rather than stuff that I see as presenting a "challenge". The idea of doing a review tho' , presents its own challenge to me, as once some piece of equipment has been in my rig for more than five minutes.....then I'm simply just listening to/enjoying my music......usually wiv a huge S.E.G. on my mug

Chris oooooooooot

May be wrong but I'm not sure the op was implying he will go and and buy cd s he doesn't like or build a system round one or two well produced tracks , think he was merely asking wammers for surgestions of albums / tracks that they have that are particularly well produced so he could mabye check them out for himself with a view to buy of he indeed likes the music

[vacdac]

Lol Adrian,

I must say IMV, you must have a certain level of "Perseverence" to get that far into the transformers franchise

vacdac

As above , get your system sounding how you like it with the music YOU like and listen to a lot .
Ain't no point in trying to make your system sound good with music you ain't ever gonna listen to .
To me , it doesn't matter how well recorded it is if it's like pulling teeth listening to it .


You wouldn't watch a film just cos it's got great cinematography but crap plot and acting .

Oh wait , Lord of the Rings 1,2,3 Transformers 1,2,3 Star Wars 1, 2,3,4,5,6