What reference disk???

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Ok here is a question, what albums/tracks do people use when testing kit and why? eg good track for testing bass, mid, top, soundstage, etc. As a bonus any suggested albums that are well mixed and produced for a great listen....
 

PJPro

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I'm no expert......but for what it's worth I tend to use the following
Music (Madonna/Music)
Smack my *** up (Prodigy/Fat of the Land)
Foot of the Mountain (Paul Weller/Wild Wood) - in fact anything off Wild Wood
Opening sequence to Toy Story 2 for surround sound
I guess my choices are based on tracks I am completely familiar with and exercise a range of component capabilities.
 

gpi

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The new Elbow album 'The Seldom Seen Kid' is very well produced and has very good songs too (IMO). It was mixed intentionally quieter so can be turned up more without distorting. See http://www.turnmeup.org/
My personal choice for demo discs changes all the time so I can't really say. Ideally something with really quiet bits and really loud bits.T
 
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Anonymous

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I personally find Soundgardens Back Hole Sun a hard track to get sounding right, its a track i always look too when ive changed parts.
 

PJPro

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[quote user="gpi"]The new Elbow album 'The Seldom Seen Kid' is very well produced and has very good songs too (IMO). It was mixed intentionally quieter so can be turned up more without distorting. See http://www.turnmeup.org/

My personal choice for demo discs changes all the time so I can't really say. Ideally something with really quiet bits and really loud bits.T
[/quote]
Hey, thanks gpi. The demo at the end of that link is really good!!
Guess I should be staying away from stuff which has recently been digitally remastered.
Damn, I've just bought Electric Lady Land (new digital remaster).
 
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Anonymous

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Jeff Buckley - Grace

Mojo Pin - Atmosphere, soundstage and dynamics

CCC/Hallelujah - vocals

Last Goodbye - timing,
 

gpi

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I'm not a big CD fan (prefer vinyl) and my favourite CDs are still pressings from the 80s, such as Dire Straits' Communique, the first CD I bought (and would be a good test disc because of its production qualities. You can turn it up like an LP and it just gets better and better).
 
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Anonymous

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I often spin Dire Strait's 'Making Movies' if only for the first two tracks
emotion-11.gif
 
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Anonymous

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Too many to list but was thinking of trying these:
http://www.thenaimlabel.co.uk/samplers.htm

Disks include:
Sade, Janet Jackson Velvet Rope, Shaken and Stirred, St Matthew's Passion - Harnoncourt, Madonna - Immaculate Collection, Dana Wylie...
 

John Duncan

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Rush - Moving Pictures; Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark; Jennifer Warnes - Famous Blue Raincoat and the first track of The Hunter (which sold me on a stereo in one hit once); Journey - Frontiers; Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing and Fumbling Towards Ecstacy; Damien Rice - O; Shawn Colvin - Cover Girl (the live bits)
 

d_a_n1979

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Fischerspooner - #1

Leftfield - Rhythm & Stealth

Pink Floyd - Pulse (CD2)

Anthony & the Johnsons - I am a Bird now

Tindersticks - Tindersticks

Massive Attack - Best of

Wolfmother
 
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Anonymous

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[quote user="gpi"]The new Elbow album 'The Seldom Seen Kid' is very well produced and has very good songs too (IMO). It was mixed intentionally quieter so can be turned up more without distorting. See http://www.turnmeup.org/

My personal choice for demo discs changes all the time so I can't really say. Ideally something with really quiet bits and really loud bits.T[/quote]

That video is fantasic - really makes you think.
 
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Anonymous

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For reference try Joanna Newsome's Yvs album.

For quality production try Dire Straits Love Over Gold or Aero by Jean Michel Jarre.
 

Simon Lucas

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Bob Marley & The Wailers 'Exodus' (esp. 'Turn Your Lights Down Low')

Boards Of Canada 'Music Has The Right To Children' (esp. 'Aquarius')

Carl Orff 'Carmina Burana' (James Levine/Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Deutsche Grammophon)

Lambchop 'Is A Woman' (esp. 'The Daily Growl')

You can learn an awful lot about a system (and get yr freak on at the same time).
 
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Anonymous

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Nothing too hectic, as it hampers the capacity to analyse.

Agree about Bob Marley, but the vocal on Exodus are just a tad forward. One Love would be my favourite. Beyond that, Radiohead's No Surprises and something classical.
 
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Anonymous

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The The's "Mind Bomb " on Vinyl..... Great dynamics and image steering.

Pink Floyd's "Money" for depth and the sax solo is awesome for testing tracking and frequency repsonse. Also VTA. it goes glassy in sound if that's not right.

Madonna's "Vogue" from the Immaculate Collection LP for all round foottapping energy and low end speed.

On CD: B52's "Rock Lobster" especially the last chorus's with the bass keyboard for low frequencies. Also the riffing guitar for "airiness".

Also Sprach Zarathustra on CD for the sheer musicality and the organ hang at the end.
 
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Anonymous

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Why do people always choose well produced stuff that 'sounds' good on anything? When I evaluate new kit I always try and use something that i've struggled to get on with or didn't 'get' to see if I enjoy it more or 'get' it...
 

Simon Lucas

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[quote user="BigGuads"]Why do people always choose well produced stuff [/quote]

Because well-produced recordings are generally more revealing of a system's strengths and weaknesses. I'd sooner listen to The Skatalites than Pink Floyd in my own home, but Pink Floyd will tell you more about your system than some ropey-sounding Jamaican recordings from 40-odd years ago.
 
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Anonymous

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[quote user="Simon Lucas"][quote user="BigGuads"]Why do people always choose well produced stuff [/quote]
<P>Because well-produced recordings are generally more revealing of a system's strengths and weaknesses. I'd sooner listen to The Skatalites than Pink Floyd in my own home, but Pink Floyd will tell you more about your system than some ropey-sounding Jamaican recordings from 40-odd years ago.</P>[/quote]

Pink Floyd may well tell you about the 'hi-fi' aspects of the 'sound', but a good system should make better sense of music and make the music more enjoyable, that's the yardstick I use, not 'how clear is the cough at the beginning of Wish you were here?'...

If you listen to the Skatalites then why not use that as a test disc? If you enjoy it more on system B compared to System A then, by my definition, System B is better... To hell with hifi mumbo jumbo phrases like 'noise floor', 'soundstage', 'imaging' and whathaveyou. If you enjoy it more, it's better. Simple as...
 
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Anonymous

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[quote user="professorhat"]Well, I take stuff I like to listen to. Since that's why I'm buying the system - to listen to this stuff...[/quote]

Indeed!
 

Simon Lucas

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[quote user="BigGuads"] If you enjoy it more on system B compared to System A then, by my definition, System B is better... [/quote]

Right enough, but we have to be able to articulate why we prefer system B to system A - just announcing 'I like it better' doesn't cut it. Some recording are more helpful in establishing why system B is preferable to system A than others, and that's why we return to them.
 

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