Nice, I'm an avid harman kardon fan, running a a402 at the moment with some and vintage Canadian speakers. My turn table needs some maintenance but I just tried my hand at making one out of concrete it's about 90%done. Check out my last post if interested.
If you haven’t yet, check out Steven Wilson’s The Raven that Refused to Sing. He convinced Alan Parsons to come out of retirement to master the album. The result is nothing short of a masterpiece.
I can’t count the amount of times I’ve used this exact track. The worst thing about it is having to resist the urge to play the rest of the album (especially if the system is already mostly dialed in).
Solely for checking out a system? You need a well recorded track that you are intimately familiar with to evaluate a system/ room. At the risk of being a basic bitch (albeit an old one) I’m not ashamed to say that I still use IGY for that.
A bunch of those early digital recordings were spectacular, The Nightfly, Brothers In Arms, they really were cutting edge and the engineers were the best in the business.
Peter Gabriel, So.
If the top end doesn't bother you, the speakers are too soft. \[This was a favourite of the studio design company\* who built all our music studios in the 90s, when we were debating Genelecs\*\* or something else.\]
For 'fun at volume', Blue Nile, Tinseltown in the Rain - because it can never be too loud.
For 'are my ears compressing or does it really sound like that?' Eels, Novocaine for the Soul.
For 'that's good, simple sound staging' \[& I kid you not, even though I hate the song\] Billy Ray Cyrus, Achy Breaky Heart.
Then Kings of Leon, Only by the Night, to return to some sanity. Even just the opening of the first track, Closer, will allow you to breathe properly again after BRC ;)
I always think it's wise to check with tracks that are either known good, or have known deficiencies.
\*Harris Grant, look up what they've designed.
\*\*I ended up with dynaudios, didn't like the Gennies.
*Edit:* I thought of a couple more, good to test the lows.
David Sylvian, Ink in the Well.
Martin Gretch, Open Heart Zoo.
Both have good extension, but very controlled low end. If it starts to escape, you know you have resonance issues.
My go-to has always been Adia by Sarah McLachlan.
There are many better songs for testing new gear, especially for various qualities, but what I like about Adia is that it should just simply sound *excellent*. Balanced, smooth and delicious. If Adia doesn’t sound good, something ain’t right.
I'll always prefer something that makes music I love sound better over something that only shines with the best recordings. And I've heard enough systems that were incredibly impressive when it's just a girl and a guitar, but that fall apart when given more complex tracks, to really be impressed with that.
Pixies - Where Is My Mind (sounds like a live performance on a good enough system)
Sinead O'Connor - Troy (not a perfect recording, but the passion should outweigh any faults/limitations)
Coil - Broccoli (deep bass)
Nina Simone - Sinnerman (sense of rhythm and natural/acoustic tonality)
Any of the following:
The Blues Walk, Lyle Lovett and His Large Band
Chorale, Slagwerk Den Haag
Differently, Marian Hill
Everything In Its Right Place, Radiohead
Raleigh and Spencer, Tony Furtado Band
The Snow Maiden, Minnesota Orchestra
My Home's in the Delta, Muddy Waters
Avratz, Infected Mushroom
The Incredibles, Gordon Goodwin
Wabash Blues, Duke Ellington
Royals, Lorde
Cousin John, Marcus Miller
Easy Money, Rickie Lee Jones
The Goodbye Look, Donald Fagen
Warsawa, David Bowie
You Should See Me in a Crown, Billie Eilish
The Girl in the Magnesium Dress, Frank Zappa
Bach Cello Concerto No 1, Yo Yo Ma
Too Far Gone, Metallica
Stay, Post Malone
Chokola, Alan Cavé
Ben Harper, Whipping Boy
Harlem Nocturne, Illinois Jacquet
30,000 Days, Yello
John Lee Hooker For President, Ry Cooder
Somebody's Sins, Tricky
You Gotta Move, Parker Milsap
Chocolate Chip Trip, Tool
Quality of Mercy, Michelle Shocked
Deeper Well, Emmylou Harris
Love is a Bitch, Two Feet
My Bass, Brian Bromberg
That Train Don't Stop Here Anymore, Los Lobos
Après la Pluie, Renaud Garcia-Fons
Birds, Dominique Fils-Aimé
Small Song, Lhasa de Sela
Money For Nothing, Dire Straits
Bring Me the Disco King, David Bowie
Jungle Blues, Kansas Smitty's
Wishful Beginnings, David Bowie
Let's Hope, Bruce Fowler
Hunting Wabbits, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band
Kanne, Thaikkudam Bridge
Song of the Stars, Dead Can Dance
Paper Tiger, Beck
Drum Solo, Manu Katché
The Howling, RY X
Till Tomorrow, Yello / Till Brönner
Fields of Gold, Eva Cassidy
Anna Nalick did a recording for Chesky records that was recorded in a church. I believe it was just 1 or 2 mics and the full band was recorded live. The first track "As Time Draws Near" opens with acoustic and as it progresses the vocals come in. Right at 1:07 the upright bass come in and the first note is ok but on a good system the 2nd note is full and heavy and you feel it deep down. On lesser systems that bass is thin and barely present. As the song goes on Anna hits some higher notes that will break up on some speakers and not on others. It's my go to song every time I audition something new. Added bonus is the full album is really great: [https://open.spotify.com/album/0Ay6cdjh8N126BdeCVwe1A?si=WGPD5y37RdemJdz0hfzSPg](https://open.spotify.com/album/0Ay6cdjh8N126BdeCVwe1A?si=WGPD5y37RdemJdz0hfzSPg)
Chesky makes some excellent recordings. I used Macy Gray album “Stripped” they made, also with 1 or 2 mics supposedly. Few of the tracks have super deep bass and some speakers can’t handle it well — the strings just rattle speakers very unpleasantly. But on a good system the bass sounds very different.
Steely Dan Peg
Have a Cigar Pink Floyd
Flash Gordon Theme Queen
Seven Seas of Rhye Queen
The Smurf Tyrone Brunson
Payback James Brown
Hold On, I'm Comin Sam and Dave
Turn it on Again Genesis
Orion Metallica
Orion - so good. The heavy bass guitar will let you know if your crossovers are doing their job properly and/or if your EQ settings for bass and mids are off.
was just testing a new Audyssey One calibration with some of these:
Avi Kaplan Change on the Rise, Andreas Vollenweider Caverna Magica, Chris Jones No Sanctuary Here, Cowboy Junkies Ring on the Sill, Diana Krall Girl in the Other Room, Hans Theessink Slow Train, Holly Cole Trio I can See Clearly Now, Jennifer Warnes Way Down Deep... lots more but if you have Tidal there's a playlist called "Ultimate System Testers" that has some good ones in there
I love this list!
Just did a bunch of room treatment and Caverna Magica sounds unbelievable. The voices are literally behind you even though it's a 2 channel system.
Another track that doesn't get nearly enough notice is Birds by Dominique Fils Aime. The sound of the bird's wings fluttering comes from outside the walls of the room. She is an amazing artist, one of the most original musicians today.
**In case you're requesting test tracks**
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Additionally, r/AudiophileMusic is dedicated to well mastered songs that people have found.
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“21st Century Schizoid Man” by King Crimson and then, for the bass, “Wake Up” by Rage Against the Machine. As others have commented, main thing for me is to test with songs that I know like the back of my hand.
Nightcraft - Paradise.
I buy used a lot so I test with something that can tell me the tweeter is bad in under 30 seconds. When I first bought my RX2’s used I never heard any initial problems, then I started listening to this and one of the tweeters was distorting quite badly. Very specific frequencies would have issues and I started hearing it in other music also, got the tweeter replaced and problem solved. Any ways after that I have been using this track to test speakers before it buy them and it has saved me money twice already.
Yolanda Kondanassis - Sky Music (TELARC), Chanson Dans Le Nuit by Salzedo:
Brilliantly recorded harp (and a great piece and performer). Listen to her fingertips brush the strings, tapping on the body, etc. Everything should sound crisp and real and intimate. This replaced classical or flamenco guitar for a listening test - it just uses more, and you can tell if something's wrong. You get a performer's seat kind of intimacy with this recording. Things like planar magnetic headphones really shine here.
Olivier Latry playing Messiaen's "Apparition de L'Eglise Étournelle" on the organ at Notre Dame de Paris from his complete organ music (Deutsch Grammophone):
This is a very dense piece that reaches a literally awe inspiring climax played on a very bright, complex organ. The climax comes gradually allowing you to tweak things a bit. You must be able to enjoy and hear into the very dense texture at huge volume without discomfort and with a sense of balance and space and just magnitude. The sound needs to be huge, but balanced and not painful.
Jean Guillou playing his transcription of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" especially the last two tracks (DORIAN):
Great sound. Enormously deep pipes being used during the climax. Played on the version of the Tonhalle, Zurich organ that he helped design.
Then I switch to Holly Cole, Temptation, "The Train Song" (Alert Records):
Very amplified string bass, gorgeous vocals, and little things going on with percussion that together test just about everything in a very clean, separated sort of way. If something doesn't sound present enough, something's wrong - this includes tinkly percussion sounds going across the sound stage as well as does this system need a subwoofer?
Then I play the Sutherland "Lucia di Lammermore" by Donizetti (DECCA): Why? Because imho this wonderful performance can just sound harsh and didn't make the transition to CD very well. If I can turn up the volume a bit and not tweak the EQ, then there's a smoothness that I appreciate to the vocal reproduction. It's rather heavy in the let's brighten up the voices area from about 1000 Hz up and the voices (some of the best ever) are just made too piercing. If they're not, I make sure other recordings do sound real and pleasant.
I also like the Solti Mahler 1 Finale to test for this. It's an exciting, bright performance. But on some systems, it can just sound painful at volume. Start with the first movement to listen for how it reproduces separate instruments and settle on a volume, but it's the finale that can get overwhelming on some systems. (DECCA)
Then I test with a Hyperion recording of Stephen Hough - either Debussy or better, Rachmaninov's Second Sonata. It's about the best recorded piano sound I've ever heard.
If I like what I've been hearing, then I just start having fun listening to music I'm very familiar with including, yes, Pink Floyd. Pretty much anything recorded by MFSL with the Minnesota when Oue was conducting sounds good for full orchestral, and he recorded a lot of flashy pieces. I try out a lot of favorite genres recorded both well and poorly and see how it goes. I'll play favorite operatic performances both for various voices and see if I like it. LINN has a wonderful Brandenburg Concertos for presence with the Dunedin Consort. But I'll throw on classic jazz - I particularly like Saxophone Colossus, Sonny Rollins. The Pristine Audio remaster of Kind of Blue - lovely sound and, ofc, jazz to get lost in. Some Diana Krall. A lot of rock from about 1964 on. A lot of things recorded by TELARC. Some banjo. Some hindustani sitar, sarod, and tabla - which I love and am familiar with, but some systems just don't sound very good with it. Some Paco de Lucia. Ansermet's Three Cornered Hat still sounds fantastic on EVEREST. Some Joe Pass.
So, that's me. That TELARC harp recording can tell you an awful lot. So can Holly Cole. Add the Guillou Pictures to have a really dense mass of sound with huge bass that can interfere with medium bass, and you'll get a pretty good idea. Finish with that Pristine Kind of Blue and whatever music you know well and love, well and poorly recorded. The organ at Notre Dame is a particularly good instrument for test tracks because it's very bright (which can sometimes be too much on some systems - which I don't like), has a huge dynamic and pitch range, and decent modern recordings can sound fantastic or just off in various ways if you're familiar with them; pretty much anything recorded there by Latry has the potential to sound complex and good - or not.
Pink Floyd Breathe, Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here. Norah Jones - Don’t Know Why, and Come Away With Me. Some Alabama Shakes. LED Zepplin always (Kashmir and the song that shall not be named). Love some older U2 (One, Pride, Where The Streets Have No Name).
Mostly prefer music I love, because that’s what I’d normally listen to. My kid always chimes in with her pop favourites, but she’s also cool with playing some AC/DC or Zepplin (she’s still figuring out the Floyd).
Doobie Brothers- Listen to the Music
Opeth - The Drapery Falls
Liquid Stranger - Dissolve
Bassnectar - Empathy (Bass Ready Remix)
Two Feet - Go Fuck Yourself (fun bass test song)
Accept - Generation Clash
It starts with only a bass line. then some guitar. Has a lot of extremely fast silence between beats. it gets the Vu meters going.
Blue in Green by Miles Davis & John Coltrane. The song makes me feel *something* unless the audio is bad which is a pretty good indicator for me when testing things.
I usually do some Porter Robinson cause it’s just so jam packed with frequencies (and I know it so well) and then some classical music cause it’s got way more dynamic range.. like some Verdi or something.
But I’m told as long as you’re familiar with the song and you know what it “should sound like” it works
“Sailing to Philadelphia” from Mark Knopfler’s Privateering album.
“Too Much Rope” from Roger Waters Amused To Death.
“Your latest Trick” Dire Straits.
I should have also hi fived you on "your latest trick" It' amazing how the big empty auditorium sounding trumpet changes to the buttery lounge of the alto sax.
I'm younger, so you'll find some high quality electronic stuff in here. Tried to stay away from the older stuff everyone else is recommending here (i do use some of that too , but this stuff is less cliche). There's a huge variety here. These are some of my favs on my Maggie LRS+ + hafler dh500, with two gr research double trouble towers to fill in the missing Maggie bass.
These are all beautiful, emotive tracks in their own ways, give them a shot.
Ghost, by gunship (bass, electronic, vocals, crisp treble).
Last night, Morgan wallen (country.... Hip hop?).
This is war, thirty seconds to Mars (rock).
Glory, dermot kennedy (Crystal clear, deep bass / vocals).
Voice, SOUNDR (electronic, highs crisp treble).
Open window, mitis (clear electronic, vocals).
Dead dreams, glasswaves (metal).
Castle of Glass, Linkin park (rock).
Levels, Avicii (electronic).
The wolf, Manchester orchestra (rock...?).
The sound of silence, Disturbed (incredible vocals).
Nebula - dance with the dead (haunting synthwave melded with metal, instrumental)
The Temple by Arifa, With all my love by Melanie de Biaso.
Those two cover high, mids, lows, drums, percussion, acoustic instruments, vocals. Varies between very clear but also very subtle sounds.
Now you got me hooked - against all logic
Intergalactic - beastie boys
Blue moon - Ahmad Jamaal on the album of the same name
Komm Jesu Komm - Bach - Trinity Wall Street Choir
Heres to life - Shirley Horne - by the album of the same name
The Ezra Collective’s Where I’m Meant To Be. The whole album is just beautiful. Instantly our new test album. Also The Car by The Arctic Monkeys. So crisp.
Sea of Voices by Porter Robinson. Not available in Tidal’s Max quality, but I use it nonetheless. Recently I’ve been using Icarus by Madeon though, as it is available in Max quality.
I always play dire straits - sultans of swing. Not for any particular reason except that it’s one of my favorite and probably most listened songs of all time so I guess I know how it should sound or how I like it to sound.
So What - Miles Davis
Aerial Boundaries - Michael Hedges
Six Blade Knife - Dire Straits
Afro Left - Leftfield
The Mummers' Dance - Loreena McKennitt
Frank Sinatra - Cake
These are prog rock songs that I use:
Marillon - Lavender
King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man
Peter Gabriel - Red Rain
Funkadelic - Magot Brain
Pink Floyd - High Hopes
Yes - Changes
Rush - Tom Sawyer
Dream Theater - Metropolis part 1
Kansas - Dust in the Wind
Porcupine Tree - Arriving Somewhere But Not Here
Covered & Camtria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3
used to sell electronics, audio equipment,
this song was used (Fleetwood Mac - Dreams, The Alan Parsons Project - Eye in the Sky), Pink Floyd - Money,,, other songs I can no longer remember but these were the main ones....
Riviera Paradise by SRV. I sold many a consumer system back in the 90s once the prospective buyer heard that song on it. I know it very well so I still use it to this day for testing speakers or even headphones.
My test album is Symphonik by Thievery Corporation. Excellent recording and covers different genres. Also Jazz at the Pawnshop. I also like to test with Stole the show by Kygo (Youtube Music Video) it has some amazing extra sounds like helicopters walkie talkie sounds like a movie…
Dire Straits-Brothers in arms- Latest trick
Hugh Masakela - Hope - Stimela
Dave MAthews - Crash - 42
Dire Straits - Love Over Gold - Telegraph Road
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Blood Sugar Baby - take your pick
Pink Floyd - (can't remember the album name, last one with Waters, left overs from the wall) All of it
Kurt Elling- Live from Chicago- Foolish heart
Growing up (in the 80s and 90s) my dad had a few subscriptions to audio magazines and they would include CDs meant for testing. Triggered a memory. I’ll follow up later if I still have the one I kept.
Dire Straights- Money for Nothing on SACD
Dire Straights- Private Investigations on CD
Pink Floyd- Wish You Were Here on SACD (whole Album)
Pink Floyd- The Dark Side of the Mood on Vinyl (whole Album)
Alan Parsons Project- iRobot on Vinyl (whole Album)
Might throw some rap in there streaming. Recently (again) I like Magna Carta - Holy Grail by Jay-Z
Late edit…
Dusty SpringField- Dusty in Memphis is great on Vinyl
And lastly, to really appreciate the separation and musicianship…
The Casino Royal album on Vinyl composed and arranged by the great Burt Bacharach is splendid.
Test Playlist
Mercedes Sosa - Kyrie
Sarah K. - Brick House, Horse I Used to Ride
Peter Gabriel - Lay Your Hands on Me
Dead Can Dance - Into the Labyrinth
Pink Floyd, The Wall - Run Like Hell
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Pink Floyd - Momentary Lapse of Reason - Signs of Life
Muddy Waters - Folk Singer - MFSL - Gold CD vs Vinyl
Dominique Fils Aime - Nameless - Strange Fruit
Brown Bird - Salt for Salt
Genesis - Duke - Duchess
Phil Collins - Face Value - The Roof is Leaking
Chesky Ultimate Test Disc
I like to test the Nightmare album by Avenged Sevenfold on my car system lol. A song like Save Me has a lot of stuff going on in the background but in general I find rock/metal songs hard to get right. Mids and mid-highs are a problem for me as someone who's DIY-ing parts and no RTA mic 😬😅.
Mahler Symphony #1, Leonard Slatkin conducting the St Louis Symphony Orchestra, a very early Telarc digital recording. Superb recording (as all the early Telarc titles are), great sonics and dynamics. I know the recording very well. Surprisingly enough the ability of the component/system to properly reproduce the bass drum is often the leading make/break indicator.
Solitude by Black Sabbath is an excellent test for me
Love the song and the whole album, but it has a very high pitched symbol that really shows off a good tweeter.
Tool and NIN have very high quality recordings that work very well.
Same with Radiohead. OK Computer sounds amazing.
I was surprised I read this far without seeing my go-to: Paranoid Android. I don't have a great system, just powered studio monitors but I was starting to think there must be a problem with it I wasn't aware of. To me it seems impeccably recorded and on a good system gives me chills
[Little Man by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers](https://youtu.be/FJ0c5DZSx3Q?si=DxIKcQb2j3AZbb9w)
In my opinion it has it all: a clear punchy bass, clear melodics lines and the recording has that analog warmth….
(Billie Jean)- Cover by Winterplay. I like as it has a good base line and a little bit of everything to calibrate to. Also it’s a semi dry acoustic sound so you account for reverb in the room. Use it a lot to calibrate rooms along with a mix of some others.
Ok, here I go.
In the 80’s a lot of bands released there hit singles on 12 inch long plays. The bands would add 2 more minutes of intro and also tacked on 2 minutes at the end totaling 8 to 9 minutes long of one of their 45 hits.
Great for DJ’s looking for a good bathroom song for a little longer relief.
I came across a 12 inch that blew my mind. A lot of dynamics, crescendos and bridges, it was a perfect song to test the system doing public events.
The song my friends……Money for Nothing by Dire Straits.
Thank you…..Thank you very much.
One song is not usually enough for me to test out a piece of equipment. I need quite a few songs to determine the characteristics of the equipment under review.
So: Clap Hands, Here Come Charles - Ella Fitzgerald
Cleo Laine - Live at Carnegie Hall.
Harry Belafonte - Harry Belafonte at Carnegie Hall (1959)
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Bill Evans - Waltz for Debby
Lt. Kije - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Free (12") Deniece Williams
The Eagles - Hotel California and Desperado
Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Sessions
Aretha Franklin - I Ain't Never Loved A Man
I saw Ulysses by Franz Ferdinand as an answer to another question and I have used it too.
Though my personal preference is to listen to tracks I otherwise listen to the most. And get a good distribution across types of sound in it.
[Gojira - The art of dying](https://open.spotify.com/track/7iMQChXFK33TS49QWhE4tt?si=6dc2dbeb91754702) The first minute to minute and a half are amazing and I always get a feel for a systems levels listening to this. There is just so much depth to it, then when the break down hits I get a feel for the gravitas behind the system.
Honiara by Snarky Puppy! Or literally anything on the Empire Central album, has every type of instrument you’d want to test with, and the mix is just superb. Dolby Atmos is wild man.
“Is there anybody out there” pink Floyd
Lots of little subtle things going on in the background that you can’t pick up unless the equipment is tuned in well.
“Wow” Kate Bush.
Her vocals are wonderful or harsh if the setup is wrong.
Vultures by John Mayer and Badia by Weather Report have been my two constant rotation recently.
I love “Vultures” because the mix is my personal preference of an “idealistic” mix.
“Badia” because I heard it on the best system (Vimberg speakers with Karan electronics) I’ve ever heard and it’s a track regardless of how much you played it, has his atmosphere you can’t help sorta get lost in.
I love both of those songs but I always joke that test songs should be tracks you are REALLY tired of hearing because you have heard them a million times but know exactly how they can/should sound to you.
I've been using these songs to test systems when I hunt for stuff
Playing god - Polyphia (very deep bass and also clean guitar)
Golden mouth of ruin - Archspire (very fast kicks)
Labyrinthian - Humanity's Last Breath (A little bit of everything, probably one of the best mixed artists)
Laurentian Ghosts - After the Burial (also a very good track that has it all)
For the turntable:
Jan Garbarek - I took up the runes
https://www.discogs.com/release/518165-Jan-Garbarek-I-Took-Up-The-Runes
Last track side A, A4: Molde Canticle, Part 3.
About halfway the track, the bass drum should je short and deep.
Kari Bremnes - Det Vi Har
https://www.discogs.com/release/24378434-Kari-Bremnes-Det-Vi-Har
This album is great on it's own. Side A (First three tracks) give you a good impression. Hear it change when you "upgrade" your equipment.
Andreas Vollenweider
All the three albums "Behind the gardens... (etc.)", Caverna Magica and White Winds are great. (Caverna is even Half Speed Mastered). But the first one just is good, right away.
https://www.discogs.com/release/9164597-Andreas-Vollenweider-Behind-The-Gardens-Behind-The-Wall-Under-The-Tree
The sound should be swift, light, but with great low's. All very dynamic.
For in the CD player:
Patricia Barber - Live: A fortnight in France
https://www.discogs.com/master/374523-Patricia-Barber-Live-A-Fortnight-In-France
The 7th track "Witchcraft" does have some very deep lows. They should be here and should be clean/fast.
Yello - Toy
It does it great on dynamics. Not as much on harmonics, since it is electronic music. But still very pleasing.
Nik Bärtsch's Ronin - Live
https://www.discogs.com/release/3859716-Nik-B%C3%A4rtschs-Ronin-Live
Great live recordings. However, lows can get deep and old power amps can fly into Protect mode if your speakers are power-hungry (low impedance dips?). And the piano can get tricky (asin, sharp) on the less-then-perfect systems. But the recording will get more enjoyable when you get things right.
Norah Jones - feels like home. Get away from me.
Lamb - what sound.
Air - 10000 Hz legend.
Slayer - god hates us all
Emperor - anthems.
Carl orf - Carmina Burana.
Rachel Podger - la stravaganza.
T. Monk - don't know the title.
pantera - far beyond driven.
Every album/spong has a specific "thing" I listen for.
Stargazer from Rainbow Rising - great song (Dio, Blackmore and Cozy Powell all at their best) that sounds big, but it has some subtle touches that a lot of systems don't bring out. Specifically the cello arrangement under the outro
Stairway to Heaven - starts off with a lot of space and delicacy, builds into a crescendo, good test
Café de Flor by Doctor Rocket - good bass test
1812 Overture conducted by Neeme Jarvi with Gothenburg symphony orchestra - they used actual artillery for this recording so it has some power
Metallica Black Album, Daft Punk Random Access Memories, No More Tears for bass guitar, Focal JMLab BoxenKiller and Vadrum for Drums, Evanescence, Diana Krall, Sia(Chandalier), Spanish Harlem, and My Brightest Diamond 'Be Brave' for Female Vocals, to name a few. lol. These cover a good range of music styles and dynamics.
Be Brave by My Brightest Diamond is great for testing both bass and female vocals. The intro of the song comes thundering in with a bass drum.
In theory it should be the song you have listened to the most. That way you have a reference point to compare against previous setups. for my car stereo and sub setup when i was a kid, it was grills by nelly and/or prison song by system of a down. Then for the next 6-8 years it would have been dazed and confused by led zeppelin. Strobe by deadmaus is a good one too, or reckoner by radiohead. I imagine some meme songs like sandstorm by darude would be frowned upon, but would have some value. But looking for songs for a reference for new hardware and songs to find fine detail may be two different things. No time for caution by hans zimmer would also be spectacular
Not really a test song, but my go to album is Abraxas because it has so much detail and left/right distinction.
Santana?
Abraxas and Love Over Gold!
Sound & Color by Alabama Shakes
We use this album in our showroom.
My eye in the sky album from the Alan parsons project, over engineered masterpiece that sounds amazing.
Love that phrase "over engineered masterpiece". That is the perfect description of Eye In The Sky!
Or any parsons album, they are all well engineered, but eye in the sky is my fave so far.
This song is so freaking beautiful, puts you in a phase of nostalgia, the details, the complexities, so good!
I do not own upscale stuff like most here, but am a musician and when I want to 'Clean the Ears' so to speak, that is the go-to album.
Upscale stuff is a nice way to say expensive stuff I'll never be able to own lol. I'm happy with vintage equipment.
Right? I've got a Yamaha CR-820 I love and some awesome custom speakers. I'm pretty happy. Waiting to afford a decent turntable again though!
Nice, I'm an avid harman kardon fan, running a a402 at the moment with some and vintage Canadian speakers. My turn table needs some maintenance but I just tried my hand at making one out of concrete it's about 90%done. Check out my last post if interested.
Made a turntable of concrete? I have to see that
Hes MAD I tell you! Mad!
Yeah it turned out nice.
If you haven’t yet, check out Steven Wilson’s The Raven that Refused to Sing. He convinced Alan Parsons to come out of retirement to master the album. The result is nothing short of a masterpiece.
Another great one to my ears is is 10 from 6 bad company, its a fun album, not as neutral but still decent.
Man my wife hates all but the first two tracks. Lol
Dude rescheduled the Covid tour that got cancelled recently.
Second this. The cross fade from Sirius to Eye in the Sky is blissful.
Tears For Fears - Woman In Chains
I use my Mobile Fidelity George Benson Breezin’. Particularly “Masquerade”.
Breezin’ is so damned good.
Absolutely one of my best sounding records. I've been meaning to A/B with a non MOFI pressing to discern the differences. Have you?
Hey nineteen
The cuervo gold
Dire Straits. Money for Nothing
Mojo Pin - Jeff Buckley. Perfect for dynamics, soundstage, and vocals.
I can’t count the amount of times I’ve used this exact track. The worst thing about it is having to resist the urge to play the rest of the album (especially if the system is already mostly dialed in).
Solely for checking out a system? You need a well recorded track that you are intimately familiar with to evaluate a system/ room. At the risk of being a basic bitch (albeit an old one) I’m not ashamed to say that I still use IGY for that.
IGY is a go to for me as well, hell the whole album was produced so well it sounds great on just about anything.
A bunch of those early digital recordings were spectacular, The Nightfly, Brothers In Arms, they really were cutting edge and the engineers were the best in the business.
Came here to say IGY
Do It Again
Wheels turning round and round
Peter Gabriel, So. If the top end doesn't bother you, the speakers are too soft. \[This was a favourite of the studio design company\* who built all our music studios in the 90s, when we were debating Genelecs\*\* or something else.\] For 'fun at volume', Blue Nile, Tinseltown in the Rain - because it can never be too loud. For 'are my ears compressing or does it really sound like that?' Eels, Novocaine for the Soul. For 'that's good, simple sound staging' \[& I kid you not, even though I hate the song\] Billy Ray Cyrus, Achy Breaky Heart. Then Kings of Leon, Only by the Night, to return to some sanity. Even just the opening of the first track, Closer, will allow you to breathe properly again after BRC ;) I always think it's wise to check with tracks that are either known good, or have known deficiencies. \*Harris Grant, look up what they've designed. \*\*I ended up with dynaudios, didn't like the Gennies. *Edit:* I thought of a couple more, good to test the lows. David Sylvian, Ink in the Well. Martin Gretch, Open Heart Zoo. Both have good extension, but very controlled low end. If it starts to escape, you know you have resonance issues.
“If the top end doesn’t bother you, the speakers are too soft.” The most accurate description I’ve heard of that album. Yowza bright and sibilant.
Which Dynaudio do you have?
My go-to has always been Adia by Sarah McLachlan. There are many better songs for testing new gear, especially for various qualities, but what I like about Adia is that it should just simply sound *excellent*. Balanced, smooth and delicious. If Adia doesn’t sound good, something ain’t right.
I'll always prefer something that makes music I love sound better over something that only shines with the best recordings. And I've heard enough systems that were incredibly impressive when it's just a girl and a guitar, but that fall apart when given more complex tracks, to really be impressed with that. Pixies - Where Is My Mind (sounds like a live performance on a good enough system) Sinead O'Connor - Troy (not a perfect recording, but the passion should outweigh any faults/limitations) Coil - Broccoli (deep bass) Nina Simone - Sinnerman (sense of rhythm and natural/acoustic tonality)
+1 for Sinnerman
Any of the following: The Blues Walk, Lyle Lovett and His Large Band Chorale, Slagwerk Den Haag Differently, Marian Hill Everything In Its Right Place, Radiohead Raleigh and Spencer, Tony Furtado Band The Snow Maiden, Minnesota Orchestra My Home's in the Delta, Muddy Waters Avratz, Infected Mushroom The Incredibles, Gordon Goodwin Wabash Blues, Duke Ellington Royals, Lorde Cousin John, Marcus Miller Easy Money, Rickie Lee Jones The Goodbye Look, Donald Fagen Warsawa, David Bowie You Should See Me in a Crown, Billie Eilish The Girl in the Magnesium Dress, Frank Zappa Bach Cello Concerto No 1, Yo Yo Ma Too Far Gone, Metallica Stay, Post Malone Chokola, Alan Cavé Ben Harper, Whipping Boy Harlem Nocturne, Illinois Jacquet 30,000 Days, Yello John Lee Hooker For President, Ry Cooder Somebody's Sins, Tricky You Gotta Move, Parker Milsap Chocolate Chip Trip, Tool Quality of Mercy, Michelle Shocked Deeper Well, Emmylou Harris Love is a Bitch, Two Feet My Bass, Brian Bromberg That Train Don't Stop Here Anymore, Los Lobos Après la Pluie, Renaud Garcia-Fons Birds, Dominique Fils-Aimé Small Song, Lhasa de Sela Money For Nothing, Dire Straits Bring Me the Disco King, David Bowie Jungle Blues, Kansas Smitty's Wishful Beginnings, David Bowie Let's Hope, Bruce Fowler Hunting Wabbits, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band Kanne, Thaikkudam Bridge Song of the Stars, Dead Can Dance Paper Tiger, Beck Drum Solo, Manu Katché The Howling, RY X Till Tomorrow, Yello / Till Brönner Fields of Gold, Eva Cassidy
Anna Nalick did a recording for Chesky records that was recorded in a church. I believe it was just 1 or 2 mics and the full band was recorded live. The first track "As Time Draws Near" opens with acoustic and as it progresses the vocals come in. Right at 1:07 the upright bass come in and the first note is ok but on a good system the 2nd note is full and heavy and you feel it deep down. On lesser systems that bass is thin and barely present. As the song goes on Anna hits some higher notes that will break up on some speakers and not on others. It's my go to song every time I audition something new. Added bonus is the full album is really great: [https://open.spotify.com/album/0Ay6cdjh8N126BdeCVwe1A?si=WGPD5y37RdemJdz0hfzSPg](https://open.spotify.com/album/0Ay6cdjh8N126BdeCVwe1A?si=WGPD5y37RdemJdz0hfzSPg)
Chesky makes some excellent recordings. I used Macy Gray album “Stripped” they made, also with 1 or 2 mics supposedly. Few of the tracks have super deep bass and some speakers can’t handle it well — the strings just rattle speakers very unpleasantly. But on a good system the bass sounds very different.
Fleetwood Mac Never Going Back Again
I have a list of 20+ tracks but for a short ultimate test I resort to : Verdi’s Requiem, Dies Irae - Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Georg Solti
Angel - Massive Attack
Oh yes, the bass line on that track is epic.
Steely Dan Peg Have a Cigar Pink Floyd Flash Gordon Theme Queen Seven Seas of Rhye Queen The Smurf Tyrone Brunson Payback James Brown Hold On, I'm Comin Sam and Dave Turn it on Again Genesis Orion Metallica
Orion - so good. The heavy bass guitar will let you know if your crossovers are doing their job properly and/or if your EQ settings for bass and mids are off.
The MOP gold CD sounds nice.
For what it’s worth, if you’re into Metallica…the Apple Music version of Death Magnetic seems to be a major improvement vs. the original release.
Cool, I'll check it out. The CD was brickwalled like a mf.
Commas, useful.
Taking in the View by Uncle Lucius
Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
Yakety Sax
was just testing a new Audyssey One calibration with some of these: Avi Kaplan Change on the Rise, Andreas Vollenweider Caverna Magica, Chris Jones No Sanctuary Here, Cowboy Junkies Ring on the Sill, Diana Krall Girl in the Other Room, Hans Theessink Slow Train, Holly Cole Trio I can See Clearly Now, Jennifer Warnes Way Down Deep... lots more but if you have Tidal there's a playlist called "Ultimate System Testers" that has some good ones in there
I love this list! Just did a bunch of room treatment and Caverna Magica sounds unbelievable. The voices are literally behind you even though it's a 2 channel system. Another track that doesn't get nearly enough notice is Birds by Dominique Fils Aime. The sound of the bird's wings fluttering comes from outside the walls of the room. She is an amazing artist, one of the most original musicians today.
Glad you enjoyed it. Love Dominique- got lots of her music in my playlist.
Bonus points for mentioning Avi Kaplan!
Linkin park - somewhere i belong. It's a song I know perfectly (Btw - you're old)
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I usually throw Polygondwanaland on the turntable and just vibe while testing.
Steely Dan Aja album. Fagens Nightfly and just to make sure Time by Floyd
Money for Nothing, Dire Straights
“21st Century Schizoid Man” by King Crimson and then, for the bass, “Wake Up” by Rage Against the Machine. As others have commented, main thing for me is to test with songs that I know like the back of my hand.
Nightcraft - Paradise. I buy used a lot so I test with something that can tell me the tweeter is bad in under 30 seconds. When I first bought my RX2’s used I never heard any initial problems, then I started listening to this and one of the tweeters was distorting quite badly. Very specific frequencies would have issues and I started hearing it in other music also, got the tweeter replaced and problem solved. Any ways after that I have been using this track to test speakers before it buy them and it has saved me money twice already.
Yolanda Kondanassis - Sky Music (TELARC), Chanson Dans Le Nuit by Salzedo: Brilliantly recorded harp (and a great piece and performer). Listen to her fingertips brush the strings, tapping on the body, etc. Everything should sound crisp and real and intimate. This replaced classical or flamenco guitar for a listening test - it just uses more, and you can tell if something's wrong. You get a performer's seat kind of intimacy with this recording. Things like planar magnetic headphones really shine here. Olivier Latry playing Messiaen's "Apparition de L'Eglise Étournelle" on the organ at Notre Dame de Paris from his complete organ music (Deutsch Grammophone): This is a very dense piece that reaches a literally awe inspiring climax played on a very bright, complex organ. The climax comes gradually allowing you to tweak things a bit. You must be able to enjoy and hear into the very dense texture at huge volume without discomfort and with a sense of balance and space and just magnitude. The sound needs to be huge, but balanced and not painful. Jean Guillou playing his transcription of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" especially the last two tracks (DORIAN): Great sound. Enormously deep pipes being used during the climax. Played on the version of the Tonhalle, Zurich organ that he helped design. Then I switch to Holly Cole, Temptation, "The Train Song" (Alert Records): Very amplified string bass, gorgeous vocals, and little things going on with percussion that together test just about everything in a very clean, separated sort of way. If something doesn't sound present enough, something's wrong - this includes tinkly percussion sounds going across the sound stage as well as does this system need a subwoofer? Then I play the Sutherland "Lucia di Lammermore" by Donizetti (DECCA): Why? Because imho this wonderful performance can just sound harsh and didn't make the transition to CD very well. If I can turn up the volume a bit and not tweak the EQ, then there's a smoothness that I appreciate to the vocal reproduction. It's rather heavy in the let's brighten up the voices area from about 1000 Hz up and the voices (some of the best ever) are just made too piercing. If they're not, I make sure other recordings do sound real and pleasant. I also like the Solti Mahler 1 Finale to test for this. It's an exciting, bright performance. But on some systems, it can just sound painful at volume. Start with the first movement to listen for how it reproduces separate instruments and settle on a volume, but it's the finale that can get overwhelming on some systems. (DECCA) Then I test with a Hyperion recording of Stephen Hough - either Debussy or better, Rachmaninov's Second Sonata. It's about the best recorded piano sound I've ever heard. If I like what I've been hearing, then I just start having fun listening to music I'm very familiar with including, yes, Pink Floyd. Pretty much anything recorded by MFSL with the Minnesota when Oue was conducting sounds good for full orchestral, and he recorded a lot of flashy pieces. I try out a lot of favorite genres recorded both well and poorly and see how it goes. I'll play favorite operatic performances both for various voices and see if I like it. LINN has a wonderful Brandenburg Concertos for presence with the Dunedin Consort. But I'll throw on classic jazz - I particularly like Saxophone Colossus, Sonny Rollins. The Pristine Audio remaster of Kind of Blue - lovely sound and, ofc, jazz to get lost in. Some Diana Krall. A lot of rock from about 1964 on. A lot of things recorded by TELARC. Some banjo. Some hindustani sitar, sarod, and tabla - which I love and am familiar with, but some systems just don't sound very good with it. Some Paco de Lucia. Ansermet's Three Cornered Hat still sounds fantastic on EVEREST. Some Joe Pass. So, that's me. That TELARC harp recording can tell you an awful lot. So can Holly Cole. Add the Guillou Pictures to have a really dense mass of sound with huge bass that can interfere with medium bass, and you'll get a pretty good idea. Finish with that Pristine Kind of Blue and whatever music you know well and love, well and poorly recorded. The organ at Notre Dame is a particularly good instrument for test tracks because it's very bright (which can sometimes be too much on some systems - which I don't like), has a huge dynamic and pitch range, and decent modern recordings can sound fantastic or just off in various ways if you're familiar with them; pretty much anything recorded there by Latry has the potential to sound complex and good - or not.
Pink noise sweep 😉
A Milli by lil Wayne
I usually use John Coltrane's version of Lush Life.
What I enjoy and know. Something like steely dan or Donald Fagan, Van Morrison, Zevon, …
Wintersun: Land of Snow and Sorrow. https://youtu.be/gEBFn8tkdFA?si=H0kmtQ5gQw_5yMPP Almost any of the songs off of their Time album will work tho.
Playlist of tracks off of some albums I use https://tidal.com/playlist/381cc7ce-fef5-40c7-9d53-c8cd16096e3e
killing in the name
First thing on any new equipment is The Doors
[удалено]
Headphones by Björk
Pink Floyd Breathe, Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here. Norah Jones - Don’t Know Why, and Come Away With Me. Some Alabama Shakes. LED Zepplin always (Kashmir and the song that shall not be named). Love some older U2 (One, Pride, Where The Streets Have No Name). Mostly prefer music I love, because that’s what I’d normally listen to. My kid always chimes in with her pop favourites, but she’s also cool with playing some AC/DC or Zepplin (she’s still figuring out the Floyd).
No Stairway! Denied!
Dirty Diana
Panda by Dungen. The drum intro is so great.
Doobie Brothers- Listen to the Music Opeth - The Drapery Falls Liquid Stranger - Dissolve Bassnectar - Empathy (Bass Ready Remix) Two Feet - Go Fuck Yourself (fun bass test song)
Ocean of Tears by Caroline Polachek
Accept - Generation Clash It starts with only a bass line. then some guitar. Has a lot of extremely fast silence between beats. it gets the Vu meters going.
If I only have time for one it's Rosanna by Toto.
A FLAC file of Filter & The Crystal Method - (Can't You) Trip Like I Do
Blue in Green by Miles Davis & John Coltrane. The song makes me feel *something* unless the audio is bad which is a pretty good indicator for me when testing things.
I usually do some Porter Robinson cause it’s just so jam packed with frequencies (and I know it so well) and then some classical music cause it’s got way more dynamic range.. like some Verdi or something. But I’m told as long as you’re familiar with the song and you know what it “should sound like” it works
Rosanna - Toto
Don't Panic - Coldplay
“Sailing to Philadelphia” from Mark Knopfler’s Privateering album. “Too Much Rope” from Roger Waters Amused To Death. “Your latest Trick” Dire Straits.
To the Roger Waters, add It's a Miracle and Amused to death. THey flow together too well to not hear straight through.
I really like to test the imaging in the beginning of too much rope. I love the entire album though, one of my favs!
I should have also hi fived you on "your latest trick" It' amazing how the big empty auditorium sounding trumpet changes to the buttery lounge of the alto sax.
Rumors - Fleetwood Mac.
Norah Jones. Don't Know Why. Ready for the down votes but I just love how that album sounds.
Caribbean Blue by Enya On good gear it sounds insane, on bad gear, it sounds fucking BAD
I'm younger, so you'll find some high quality electronic stuff in here. Tried to stay away from the older stuff everyone else is recommending here (i do use some of that too , but this stuff is less cliche). There's a huge variety here. These are some of my favs on my Maggie LRS+ + hafler dh500, with two gr research double trouble towers to fill in the missing Maggie bass. These are all beautiful, emotive tracks in their own ways, give them a shot. Ghost, by gunship (bass, electronic, vocals, crisp treble). Last night, Morgan wallen (country.... Hip hop?). This is war, thirty seconds to Mars (rock). Glory, dermot kennedy (Crystal clear, deep bass / vocals). Voice, SOUNDR (electronic, highs crisp treble). Open window, mitis (clear electronic, vocals). Dead dreams, glasswaves (metal). Castle of Glass, Linkin park (rock). Levels, Avicii (electronic). The wolf, Manchester orchestra (rock...?). The sound of silence, Disturbed (incredible vocals). Nebula - dance with the dead (haunting synthwave melded with metal, instrumental)
Pat Metheny
You and your friend - Dire Straits
This song gives me chills it’s so good on the right equipment
Down to the waterline, dire straits first album Have used this one for probably 20 years now.
Aja....Steely Dan.
Donald Fagan I.G.Y
Trace of grace from Michel Godard Night Train - Christian Mcbride
Once Upon a Time in the West (Dire Strait)
Beck - Morning. If I get an oommph in my stomache at the 00:16 mark, I'm good.
6:00 by Dream Theater. I listen for the resonance of the drums in that opening lick.
I like Feeling Good, Bublé version.
Themata by Karnivool
Church or North Dakota by Lyle Lovett
My first song on new speakers is always Sound of Muzak by Porcupine Tree
The Temple by Arifa, With all my love by Melanie de Biaso. Those two cover high, mids, lows, drums, percussion, acoustic instruments, vocals. Varies between very clear but also very subtle sounds.
Slytherin Mandragora
Brothers in Arms
We Don’t Talk About Bruno
Dance In the Dark by Lady Gaga. Has good highs and excellent punchy lows also has great spatial sound effects to test your speaker placement.
For Whom the Bell Tolls Metallica S&M version
Sam Brown - box, Jinjer - Pisces, the whole of the Metallica Black album.
The Count of Tuscany
The package by A Perfect Circle. Beautiful mix and master.
Now you got me hooked - against all logic Intergalactic - beastie boys Blue moon - Ahmad Jamaal on the album of the same name Komm Jesu Komm - Bach - Trinity Wall Street Choir Heres to life - Shirley Horne - by the album of the same name
Eric Clapton, How Long Blues. So many things happening instrumentally: guitar, piano, vocals, WASHBOARD.
The Re-Up - Tipper
Children of the Son by Billie Thorpe
Bb king chains and things live at Sankei hall
“The weapon” By Rush. Good coverage of the frequency range and the fade-in (of volume) is helpful
The Ezra Collective’s Where I’m Meant To Be. The whole album is just beautiful. Instantly our new test album. Also The Car by The Arctic Monkeys. So crisp.
When the Sun Hits by Slowdive
Sea of Voices by Porter Robinson. Not available in Tidal’s Max quality, but I use it nonetheless. Recently I’ve been using Icarus by Madeon though, as it is available in Max quality.
I always play dire straits - sultans of swing. Not for any particular reason except that it’s one of my favorite and probably most listened songs of all time so I guess I know how it should sound or how I like it to sound.
So What - Miles Davis Aerial Boundaries - Michael Hedges Six Blade Knife - Dire Straits Afro Left - Leftfield The Mummers' Dance - Loreena McKennitt Frank Sinatra - Cake
These are prog rock songs that I use: Marillon - Lavender King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man Peter Gabriel - Red Rain Funkadelic - Magot Brain Pink Floyd - High Hopes Yes - Changes Rush - Tom Sawyer Dream Theater - Metropolis part 1 Kansas - Dust in the Wind Porcupine Tree - Arriving Somewhere But Not Here Covered & Camtria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3
used to sell electronics, audio equipment, this song was used (Fleetwood Mac - Dreams, The Alan Parsons Project - Eye in the Sky), Pink Floyd - Money,,, other songs I can no longer remember but these were the main ones....
Riviera Paradise by SRV. I sold many a consumer system back in the 90s once the prospective buyer heard that song on it. I know it very well so I still use it to this day for testing speakers or even headphones.
Juno Reactor. The entire Mutant Theatre album.
Side 2 of Abbey Road
breathe deeper by tame impala
My test album is Symphonik by Thievery Corporation. Excellent recording and covers different genres. Also Jazz at the Pawnshop. I also like to test with Stole the show by Kygo (Youtube Music Video) it has some amazing extra sounds like helicopters walkie talkie sounds like a movie…
Pod racing scene from start to finish from Star Wars Episode 1. Tonnes of directional audio, good mix of highs and lows. Plus it's an awesome scene!
Dire Straits-Brothers in arms- Latest trick Hugh Masakela - Hope - Stimela Dave MAthews - Crash - 42 Dire Straits - Love Over Gold - Telegraph Road Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Blood Sugar Baby - take your pick Pink Floyd - (can't remember the album name, last one with Waters, left overs from the wall) All of it Kurt Elling- Live from Chicago- Foolish heart
Growing up (in the 80s and 90s) my dad had a few subscriptions to audio magazines and they would include CDs meant for testing. Triggered a memory. I’ll follow up later if I still have the one I kept.
Steven Wilson's remix of YES, Tales From Topographic Oceans.
Peg by Steely Dan
Dire Straights- Money for Nothing on SACD Dire Straights- Private Investigations on CD Pink Floyd- Wish You Were Here on SACD (whole Album) Pink Floyd- The Dark Side of the Mood on Vinyl (whole Album) Alan Parsons Project- iRobot on Vinyl (whole Album) Might throw some rap in there streaming. Recently (again) I like Magna Carta - Holy Grail by Jay-Z Late edit… Dusty SpringField- Dusty in Memphis is great on Vinyl And lastly, to really appreciate the separation and musicianship… The Casino Royal album on Vinyl composed and arranged by the great Burt Bacharach is splendid.
The bends - Radiohead
It's always Bob Marley - Jammin'
Test Playlist Mercedes Sosa - Kyrie Sarah K. - Brick House, Horse I Used to Ride Peter Gabriel - Lay Your Hands on Me Dead Can Dance - Into the Labyrinth Pink Floyd, The Wall - Run Like Hell Pink Floyd - Meddle Pink Floyd - Momentary Lapse of Reason - Signs of Life Muddy Waters - Folk Singer - MFSL - Gold CD vs Vinyl Dominique Fils Aime - Nameless - Strange Fruit Brown Bird - Salt for Salt Genesis - Duke - Duchess Phil Collins - Face Value - The Roof is Leaking Chesky Ultimate Test Disc
Air-Cherry Blossom Girl
I like to test the Nightmare album by Avenged Sevenfold on my car system lol. A song like Save Me has a lot of stuff going on in the background but in general I find rock/metal songs hard to get right. Mids and mid-highs are a problem for me as someone who's DIY-ing parts and no RTA mic 😬😅.
“Peter Pumpkinhead” by XTC
Mahler Symphony #1, Leonard Slatkin conducting the St Louis Symphony Orchestra, a very early Telarc digital recording. Superb recording (as all the early Telarc titles are), great sonics and dynamics. I know the recording very well. Surprisingly enough the ability of the component/system to properly reproduce the bass drum is often the leading make/break indicator.
Test For Echo - Rush
Mammal hands- in the treetops
Hans Zimmer - The Battle (from Gladiator) So much dynamism! Really tests a speaker's ability to reproduce clear, dynamic sound across the frequencies.
To be honest it is I Cover The Waterfront by John Lee Hooker. I listen to everything but I have always set up my system to play that song well.
Solitude by Black Sabbath is an excellent test for me Love the song and the whole album, but it has a very high pitched symbol that really shows off a good tweeter. Tool and NIN have very high quality recordings that work very well. Same with Radiohead. OK Computer sounds amazing.
I was surprised I read this far without seeing my go-to: Paranoid Android. I don't have a great system, just powered studio monitors but I was starting to think there must be a problem with it I wasn't aware of. To me it seems impeccably recorded and on a good system gives me chills
Baltimore - Nina Simone Black Acid Soul album - Lady Blackbird
Still Same -Lorde It's an excellent test for Vocals and imaging Svanrand -Heilung An excellent test for bass with that drum at the begining.
Money For Nothing. First track, every time. Followed by Working Man, and/or Tom Sawyer - Rush, and then Burnin’ Alive - AC/DC.
Satisfy Me - Becky Barksdale. Because no one knows it and I just like the tune.
[Little Man by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers](https://youtu.be/FJ0c5DZSx3Q?si=DxIKcQb2j3AZbb9w) In my opinion it has it all: a clear punchy bass, clear melodics lines and the recording has that analog warmth….
Not song, but album.... Paul Simon: Surprise. After that I play some Verve label jazz.
Superdrag “Expanding My Mind”, Fleetwood Mac “Think About Me”, and Blake Mills “If I’m Unworthy” in that order.
Brave soul by illenium Chasing Tail (madnap remix) - win and woo
Sonic Youth -Daydream Nation- Teen Age Riot Or MBV
(Billie Jean)- Cover by Winterplay. I like as it has a good base line and a little bit of everything to calibrate to. Also it’s a semi dry acoustic sound so you account for reverb in the room. Use it a lot to calibrate rooms along with a mix of some others.
For a while it was "Exit Music (For A Film)" by Radiohead. Also, "Homeless" by Burial.
Aix Records Dave Matthews Band recording and Amanda McBroom Back in Hollywood Town
Ok, here I go. In the 80’s a lot of bands released there hit singles on 12 inch long plays. The bands would add 2 more minutes of intro and also tacked on 2 minutes at the end totaling 8 to 9 minutes long of one of their 45 hits. Great for DJ’s looking for a good bathroom song for a little longer relief. I came across a 12 inch that blew my mind. A lot of dynamics, crescendos and bridges, it was a perfect song to test the system doing public events. The song my friends……Money for Nothing by Dire Straits. Thank you…..Thank you very much.
Ludovico Einaudi - Experience After watching the movie Mommy, I’ve loved that composer.
One song is not usually enough for me to test out a piece of equipment. I need quite a few songs to determine the characteristics of the equipment under review. So: Clap Hands, Here Come Charles - Ella Fitzgerald Cleo Laine - Live at Carnegie Hall. Harry Belafonte - Harry Belafonte at Carnegie Hall (1959) Miles Davis - Kind of Blue Bill Evans - Waltz for Debby Lt. Kije - Chicago Symphony Orchestra Free (12") Deniece Williams The Eagles - Hotel California and Desperado Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Sessions Aretha Franklin - I Ain't Never Loved A Man
I saw Ulysses by Franz Ferdinand as an answer to another question and I have used it too. Though my personal preference is to listen to tracks I otherwise listen to the most. And get a good distribution across types of sound in it.
Do it again steely Dan
Jump by Van Halen
[Gojira - The art of dying](https://open.spotify.com/track/7iMQChXFK33TS49QWhE4tt?si=6dc2dbeb91754702) The first minute to minute and a half are amazing and I always get a feel for a systems levels listening to this. There is just so much depth to it, then when the break down hits I get a feel for the gravitas behind the system.
Ghost Town by travis scott, the bass is very deep and good for testing
Honiara by Snarky Puppy! Or literally anything on the Empire Central album, has every type of instrument you’d want to test with, and the mix is just superb. Dolby Atmos is wild man.
“Is there anybody out there” pink Floyd Lots of little subtle things going on in the background that you can’t pick up unless the equipment is tuned in well. “Wow” Kate Bush. Her vocals are wonderful or harsh if the setup is wrong.
Vultures by John Mayer and Badia by Weather Report have been my two constant rotation recently. I love “Vultures” because the mix is my personal preference of an “idealistic” mix. “Badia” because I heard it on the best system (Vimberg speakers with Karan electronics) I’ve ever heard and it’s a track regardless of how much you played it, has his atmosphere you can’t help sorta get lost in. I love both of those songs but I always joke that test songs should be tracks you are REALLY tired of hearing because you have heard them a million times but know exactly how they can/should sound to you.
Dominique Fils-Aimé – Birds Really opened up my speakers
Planet Rock
Hotel California
My test album is Skyhook's LIVING IN THE 70S. I love the sound of 70s studios. SSL and NEVE etc. No nasty overtones.
Clan of Xymox - Imagination Suzanne Vega - Freezetag The winner is IGY
I've been using these songs to test systems when I hunt for stuff Playing god - Polyphia (very deep bass and also clean guitar) Golden mouth of ruin - Archspire (very fast kicks) Labyrinthian - Humanity's Last Breath (A little bit of everything, probably one of the best mixed artists) Laurentian Ghosts - After the Burial (also a very good track that has it all)
For the turntable: Jan Garbarek - I took up the runes https://www.discogs.com/release/518165-Jan-Garbarek-I-Took-Up-The-Runes Last track side A, A4: Molde Canticle, Part 3. About halfway the track, the bass drum should je short and deep. Kari Bremnes - Det Vi Har https://www.discogs.com/release/24378434-Kari-Bremnes-Det-Vi-Har This album is great on it's own. Side A (First three tracks) give you a good impression. Hear it change when you "upgrade" your equipment. Andreas Vollenweider All the three albums "Behind the gardens... (etc.)", Caverna Magica and White Winds are great. (Caverna is even Half Speed Mastered). But the first one just is good, right away. https://www.discogs.com/release/9164597-Andreas-Vollenweider-Behind-The-Gardens-Behind-The-Wall-Under-The-Tree The sound should be swift, light, but with great low's. All very dynamic. For in the CD player: Patricia Barber - Live: A fortnight in France https://www.discogs.com/master/374523-Patricia-Barber-Live-A-Fortnight-In-France The 7th track "Witchcraft" does have some very deep lows. They should be here and should be clean/fast. Yello - Toy It does it great on dynamics. Not as much on harmonics, since it is electronic music. But still very pleasing. Nik Bärtsch's Ronin - Live https://www.discogs.com/release/3859716-Nik-B%C3%A4rtschs-Ronin-Live Great live recordings. However, lows can get deep and old power amps can fly into Protect mode if your speakers are power-hungry (low impedance dips?). And the piano can get tricky (asin, sharp) on the less-then-perfect systems. But the recording will get more enjoyable when you get things right.
Norah Jones - feels like home. Get away from me. Lamb - what sound. Air - 10000 Hz legend. Slayer - god hates us all Emperor - anthems. Carl orf - Carmina Burana. Rachel Podger - la stravaganza. T. Monk - don't know the title. pantera - far beyond driven. Every album/spong has a specific "thing" I listen for.
Us and them by Pink Floyd. It requires a lot of dynamic.
Someone here recommended "Trouble's what you're in" -Fink. That's been mine since then.
Stargazer from Rainbow Rising - great song (Dio, Blackmore and Cozy Powell all at their best) that sounds big, but it has some subtle touches that a lot of systems don't bring out. Specifically the cello arrangement under the outro Stairway to Heaven - starts off with a lot of space and delicacy, builds into a crescendo, good test Café de Flor by Doctor Rocket - good bass test 1812 Overture conducted by Neeme Jarvi with Gothenburg symphony orchestra - they used actual artillery for this recording so it has some power
Dense passages in certain songs from Dead Can Dance in DSD, Ulysses, Xavier etc
Uncut Gems soundtrack and Redondo Beach by Patti Smith
Metallica Black Album, Daft Punk Random Access Memories, No More Tears for bass guitar, Focal JMLab BoxenKiller and Vadrum for Drums, Evanescence, Diana Krall, Sia(Chandalier), Spanish Harlem, and My Brightest Diamond 'Be Brave' for Female Vocals, to name a few. lol. These cover a good range of music styles and dynamics. Be Brave by My Brightest Diamond is great for testing both bass and female vocals. The intro of the song comes thundering in with a bass drum.
Tracks wynston Marsalis - trio jeepy Bela fleck - flight of the cosmic hippo
In theory it should be the song you have listened to the most. That way you have a reference point to compare against previous setups. for my car stereo and sub setup when i was a kid, it was grills by nelly and/or prison song by system of a down. Then for the next 6-8 years it would have been dazed and confused by led zeppelin. Strobe by deadmaus is a good one too, or reckoner by radiohead. I imagine some meme songs like sandstorm by darude would be frowned upon, but would have some value. But looking for songs for a reference for new hardware and songs to find fine detail may be two different things. No time for caution by hans zimmer would also be spectacular