Suggested Quality testing Songs

M

Merkules2001

Audioholic
Sitting here tonight. My system is having one of those good sounding moments. I hooked up every piece individually and wrapped them well to make sure I didnt get any crossing over. The first song I played The Who, "Bargain." 2nd EL P, "Lucky Man." 3rd PinkFloyd, "Time." I used to use Yes 90125, Rush Moving Pictures as my test and to go low Steely Dan Decade. One more I have really used as a benchmark song Dave Matthew's Ants Marching. Any of you have some you can share?
 
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan

A fun sampling of good engineering
 
HTfreak2004

HTfreak2004

Senior Audioholic
Sitting here tonight. My system is having one of those good sounding moments. I hooked up every piece individually and wrapped them well to make sure I didnt get any crossing over. The first song I played The Who, "Bargain." 2nd EL P, "Lucky Man." 3rd PinkFloyd, "Time." I used to use Yes 90125, Rush Moving Pictures as my test and to go low Steely Dan Decade. One more I have really used as a benchmark song Dave Matthew's Ants Marching. Any of you have some you can share?
Go on YouTube

Type Michael Jackson drummer solo

Look for Johnathan Sugarfoor Moffat!

These performances can be juiced on a good system and for YouTube sound incredible. The video quality is exceptional as well!

Enjoy :)
 
-Jim-

-Jim-

Audioholic General
Gents,

My understanding is audio on YouTube is compressed and therefore not suitable for a real audiophile to use for testing purposes. I suspect the same is true for an
Audioholic ;).

IMHO the type of source material (or container if you will) is almost as important as what material is used. It should be various tunes well known to the listener, and hopefully heard numerous times before on a "good" system. Shy away from MP3s and the other Lossy formats; and stick to CDs, BluRay Concerts, and FLAC Tunes from decent source material. A FLAC tune from an MP3 is only as good as the MP3. The same holds true for FLAC tunes Ripped from Vinyl.

I hope this is helpful.
 
HTfreak2004

HTfreak2004

Senior Audioholic
Gents,

My understanding is audio on YouTube is compressed and therefore not suitable for a real audiophile to use for testing purposes. I suspect the same is true for an
Audioholic ;).

IMHO the type of source material (or container if you will) is almost as important as what material is used. It should be various tunes well known to the listener, and hopefully heard numerous times before on a "good" system. Shy away from MP3s and the other Lossy formats; and stick to CDs, BluRay Concerts, and FLAC Tunes from decent source material. A FLAC tune from an MP3 is only as good as the MP3. The same holds true for FLAC tunes Ripped from Vinyl.

I hope this is helpful.
Source material is important for sure but overthinking isn’t very useful either!

People often want the best all the while discrediting other enjoyable options. Sure an original recording may sound amazing however if you never heard the original and were floored by the stream then you have the original to look forward to yet the stream was pleasant!

Your more than welcome to listen to Jonathan Sugarfoot Moffat’s drum solo performances on You Tube for yourself and share your experience with us afterwards but discredited you tube sound quality isn’t an honest review more of a bias!
 
JerryLove

JerryLove

Audioholic Samurai
I have a mix.
Songs (like Kyoto drums) that tax low or high end.
Songs (like Evanesence's Hello, or Drumman's live performance of sound of silence) that have specific tones I'm familiar with and find important.
More broad orchestral pieces.
I often like a movie or two as well.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord

A fun sampling of good engineering
I have this cd and agree. Even if not all of the music is in my wheelhouse all of those recordings are top notch and fun to listen to.

A new one for me is Danny Carey's drum solo "Chocolate Chip Trip" from their new cd. Lots of dynamics and natural tones. Sounds so good on my system, I love cranking it up. At volume it almost sounds like his kit is in my room.


 
B

Bernie Williams

Junior Audioholic
A couple of "go to" CD's/DVD's that I use when listening to speakers:
Jennifer Warnes: Famous Blue Raincoat
Allison Krause: New Favorite (last song in particular)
Richard Thompson: Live at Austin City Limits. Incredible guitar, listen to upright bass on "Mingus Eyes
 
M

Merkules2001

Audioholic
Gents,

My understanding is audio on YouTube is compressed and therefore not suitable for a real audiophile to use for testing purposes. I suspect the same is true for an
Audioholic ;).

IMHO the type of source material (or container if you will) is almost as important as what material is used. It should be various tunes well known to the listener, and hopefully heard numerous times before on a "good" system. Shy away from MP3s and the other Lossy formats; and stick to CDs, BluRay Concerts, and FLAC Tunes from decent source material. A FLAC tune from an MP3 is only as good as the MP3. The same holds true for FLAC tunes Ripped from Vinyl.

I hope this is helpful.
I use cd for my quality stuff.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Gents,

My understanding is audio on YouTube is compressed and therefore not suitable for a real audiophile to use for testing purposes. I suspect the same is true for an
Audioholic ;).
On this I agree. I link YouTube videos because they're easily found and posted. Any of the stuff I suggest I use either the original cd (or more often) a lossless rip from the original cd.
 
John Parks

John Parks

Audioholic Samurai
My go-to for a quick audition is "Dead Already" from the American Beauty score:
1575740932789.png

It tells me all I care to hear in 3+ minutes as it has a plethora of unusual instruments and runs the frequency gamut. Of course, I usually bring along other music for an extended audition, but this track can point out strengths/weaknesses of a component pretty quickly!
 
M

Maximus001

Audioholic Intern
I've been using Holly Cole "Temptation". It's wonderful for deep bass
 
Mikado463

Mikado463

Audioholic Spartan
Chuck Mangione 'Children of Sanchez'

you want to know if you have enough headroom, that piece will let you know !
 
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