Best Songs to Test Speakers

[shooter]

A good radio broadcast/recording with spoken voice

regards

I second that.

Thrice [d] Harbeths?

 

[Roby]

That make sense ;-)

Bu I also have to clarify a thing. I was testing some speakers Some Audiophisics Scorpio against BW 804 An oké maybe It's not a fair comparasion because there is a 200€ price difference. But even if my preference was always pulling me back to the 804's With a more closer listening.

The Scorpio's where quite enjoyable on some tracks an parts certainly with live tracks. This I think because of the side woofers on both side of the speakers. Witch I think will also make the positioning really picky...

Reason I was pulled back to the 804's, is because when listening to a complete track on the AP I often found them to bright an uncontrolled bass, missing that touch of maturity I find in the 804's

So bottom line is: because the way the AP excels on some parts I was asking myself the question do I actually prefer the BW because I’m so used to the BW sound?

The dealer in question is not my usual dealer, But he said the only way to break to that supposable routine is to demo several speakers with tracks I don’t know.

(On the other hand we all have songs we know by hard an actually we also unconsciously looking for the way we want them to sound. There is no right or wrong here an it doesn’t mean different is bad. An I certainly don't think the different brand we all mention make bad speakers, It might just not match your ears an feelings)

Beside I might discover new music an artist’s I like during that demo.

Witch already happened to me during some unexpected demo's at my normal dealer an that's always cool :bounce:

 

[Anonymous]

I usually let the salesman run a couple of songs that he thinks bring out the equipment's strengths. For me that's also a way to discover new artists (recently The Pineapple Thief and Nathalie Merchant).

But I also have a couple of standard test tracks:

Gare du Nord - Chet's Chat (close-miked trumpet, deep voice)

Wende - Break My Heart (warm voice, acoustic guitar)

Alan Parsons - Silence And I (orchestral layers, bass hits)

Porcupine Tree - Anesthetize (drums, guitar drive, sibilant voice)

Marillion - Living With The Big Lie (recording on the edge)

Yellowjackets - The Spin (complex bass lines)

I wouldn't focus on range too much. Too many speakers I've heard have excellent high and low extension but lack midrange detail. And finally, as many have already mentioned, take recordings that you know inside-out. You'll more easily spot differences if you know how something "should" sound.

 

[Inter_Voice]

It is necessary to put the speakers in the right position if you want to have good soundstaging.

The following CD is a good tool for this purpose:

http://www.isoteksystems.com/cgi-bin/products.pl?id=35

The few songs in this CD are also well recorded and is very useful to test the performance of your speakers.

I own one already

 

[Anonymous]

For testing drive, pace and dynamics there's one song that 95% of systems fail on and that's Young Man Blues on The Who's Live at Leeds. It should sound like your at the front row of the concert and the drums should whack you in the chest.

 

[Frank Harvey]

As Gregory states in post#2, you should try stuff you're familiar with. It is good to try a choice number of tracks that sound amazing, but lesser recorded material will tell you more about a system. Some stuff might sound quite muddled and ill defined on a budget system, but play it on a more capable system, and you're suddenly treated to an open soundstage where each instrument has its own space and can be followed regardless of how complex the music. It is tricky finding this sort of stuff as you have to have heard it on both types of systems, but I find Neil Finn's Try Whistling This is one of them. I've also found Kate Bush's voice is very dependant on the system it's played on - not my cup of tea, but her fans out there should know what I'm talking about.

 

[steve_1979]

Michael Jackson's Essensial compilation - MJ's music is has some of the best quality sound production that I've ever heard and there are a lot of different types of sounds in his music.

Mozart's Amadaus movie soundtrack - To test how speakers will sound with various types of classical styles and this album was produced to a very high standard.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - To test how speakers will sound with badly compressed music. Their Californicaton album is the worst victim of the 'loudness war' that I've ever heard.

 

[steve_1979]

Low frequency test CD - Each track plays a continuous bass sound at a different frequency so that I can tell how deep a speakers bass goes.

 

[Twill]

lol just replied to the unanswered thread! Here's my post to keep it all in one place...

Me too..!

Just been through a test session myself last Friday:

AC/DC - Its a long way to the top (if you want to rock n' roll) - good for treble, the pipes can sound 'wrong' and its very noticeable

Muse - Feeling good - good for keyboards and 'big entrances'

Pearl Jam - Immortality - acoustic lows to drum highs, great mixture

The Answer - Under the Sky - big guitars, drums and vocals

Led Zeppelin - Going to California - no comment required!

The Faces - Ooh La La - fantastic acoustic guitar and vocals

Smashing Pumpkins - Zero

Black Crowes - Remedy

Can you tell I like rock..?!

Job done

Stodd, big Pumpkins fan myself, but interested you use Zero as a test track. Is it just me, or does MCTIF, as an album, sound generally like it was recorded inside a box of packing foam? I love the tracks, but always feel like Siamese Dream is more rewarding sonically on a hifi.

 

[Anonymous]

Stodd, big Pumpkins fan myself, but interested you use Zero as a test track. Is it just me, or does MCTIF, as an album, sound generally like it was recorded inside a box of packing foam? I love the tracks, but always feel like Siamese Dream is more rewarding sonically on a hifi.

Twill, apologies, I should have spotted this reply sooner

I know where you're coming from - and just listening to it again, I definitely would agree.
HOWEVER, what's good about 'Zero' is that it has

- heavy bass with guitar over the top - so if a system can't seperate these instruments successfully, it will be obvious
- stops and starts ("...emptiness is loneliness, loneliness is cleanliness...") - there are heavy drums/bass, then silence/vocals, then more drums/bass, then silence/vocals, so you can hear the drum notes roll off for example

And yes, Siamese Dream is much more sonically rewarding. :rockout:

STodd

 

[Craig M.]

siamese dream was recently remastered and, from memory, is better sounding than the original. listening to it now, not bad at all. :dance:

 

[Patware]

Rule 1: use what you know well

Besides that, there's one song I like to play to divide a system in two categories: pass or fail, and it's White Zombie's More Human Than Human.

That song will be simply awful on a bad system.

I never leave without at least one of these:

Alain Caron - Sep7entrion

Daniel Bélanger - Rêver mieux

Harmonium - L'Heptade

 

[knaithrover]

Flaming Lips - 'Are you a hypnotist' - lots of deep DEEP bass with hi hats and snares along with bleeping synth and trippy vocals = perfect tester.

Anything off Abbey Road....

 

[HenBel]

Hi all,

I AM SHOCKED!!!!

That no one recommended these:

Sting - Englishman in New York

Sting - Desert Rose

Queen - Another one bites the dust

Especially Englishman in NY was recorded with an Orchestra! Massive detail, and it literally covers the entire Bandwidth. Jazz, Rock, Pop !

you are more then welcome to try yourselves, and tell me your oppinion.

greetings from the warm South Africa :cheers:

 

[BB777]

:rofl: Thaiman, thank you for introducing me to some excellent music :rofl:

 

[Vladimir]

If your hi-fi can make this sound beautiful without a struggle and separate everything in its dense production with a fine comb, it is a really good hi-fi.

E. S. Posthumus Unearthed - Nara

 

[Electro]

If your hi-fi can make this sound beautiful without a struggle and separate everything in its dense production with a fine comb, it is a really good hi-fi.

E. S. Posthumus Unearthed - Nara



I really like this Cd :cheers: If I can find a copy at a decent price I will buy it and let you know if my system can cope

I suspect my system will have no problem with this recording at all because it thrives on dense , complicated and dynamic music and can unravel anything you throw at it .

Try this track for size , I played it for my son's girlfriend to demo my system and at one point she literally screamed and jumped out of the listening chair

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXRdINUwdqw

 

[ROTH AV]

I have found that the new Roth OLI RA loudspeakers sound absolutely splendid with any type or genre of music recorded on any medium.

So whatever type of music you like/love.....it'll always sound better on the OLI RAs.

Now if that doesn't get a Happy New Year bit of moderation........I'll be very surprised !!

Happy New Year everyone.

:cheers:

:rofl:

 

[Regisss]

Is this the last topic about the best songs/musics to test speakers? I thought that was younger topic about this!?!?

 

[steve_1979]

A 20Hz to 20kHz sine wave sweep is a useful tool for testing speakers. It allows you to easily hear the frequency responce and any amplitude peaks or troughs throughout the frequency range. It's also useful for highlighting any phase distortion present around the crossover frequencies too.

IME the speakers that sound the smoothest with a 20Hz to 20kHz sine wave sweep are usually also the ones that sound the most natural with music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNf9nzvnd1k

 

[knaithrover]

Hi all,

I AM SHOCKED!!!!

That no one recommended these:

Sting - Englishman in New York

Sting - Desert Rose

Queen - Another one bites the dust

Especially Englishman in NY was recorded with an Orchestra! Massive detail, and it literally covers the entire Bandwidth. Jazz, Rock, Pop !

you are more then welcome to try yourselves, and tell me your oppinion.

greetings from the warm South Africa :cheers:

If i dared to play Sting on my hifi it would switch itself off in disgust

 

[steve_1979]

If i dared to play Sting on my hifi it would switch itself off in disgust

What are you talking about? Sting (and The Police) have done some terrific songs.

 

[namefail]

If your hi-fi can make this sound beautiful without a struggle and separate everything in its dense production with a fine comb, it is a really good hi-fi.

E. S. Posthumus Unearthed - Nara



I really like this Cd :cheers: If I can find a copy at a decent price I will buy it and let you know if my system can cope

I suspect my system will have no problem with this recording at all because it thrives on dense , complicated and dynamic music and can unravel anything you throw at it .

Try this track for size , I played it for my son's girlfriend to demo my system and at one point she literally screamed and jumped out of the listening chair

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXRdINUwdqw

Thanks for that Electro, now I know I'm awake.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

DJ Hidden - The Later After (can your amplifier, speakers and not forgetting you keep up) and after that onslaught something calmer Ane Brun - It All Starts With One

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[matthewpiano]

Recent experience has taught me that whilst it is important to use a range of the music you love and are familiar with, it is also very useful to see how well the system enables you to engage with a new piece of music.