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Best test tracks - archer75 - 10-Mar-2016

Hi all,

What are your favorite tracks when you are trying a new equipment, speakers, cables, tweaks etc? Some may say the best one is the best you are familiar with but I want to see what you guys are listening to judge good vocals, tight base, nice trebles etc.


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RE: Best test tracks - Confused - 10-Mar-2016

Tracks you are familiar with? A good idea I would say. For me, I always try to use a range of tracks that are representative of the various type of music I most often listen too, because the kit need to sound good with that kind of music. Sounds obvious I guess? Maybe not, I did know someone who very carefully selected music for an audition at a dealer on the basis of some kind of notion of what audiophiles should listen too, stating that it would be too embarrassing if they had turned up to play the "normal" stuff they listen to. Bonkers? Perhaps, but I'm sure many of us have had some thoughts of the credibility of the music they finally select before heading off to dealers.

Back to your specific question, one of my favourite audition tracks is "Barcelona" - Freddie Mercury & Montsarrat Caballe, not the original version, but specifically the "special edition" version released in 2012. This version removed the original synthesized stuff and replaced with a performance by a live symphony orchestra. I love the track to listen to, but as a test track it offers male vocal, female vocal, thundering tympani drums, violins, cellos, horns all sorts of stuff! So it works for me as a test track, and just as importantly, I love it, so I'm happy to play it again and again. You can also get a copy in 16 or 24 bit variants, in case trying red book or high res matters at all.


RE: Best test tracks - Confused - 10-Mar-2016

Oh yes, and then there is Rudamental's "Spoons". It could be argued that this track servers one purpose only, which is to check a systems ability (or not) to produce thunderous levels of room destroying sub-bass to a point that has little meaning in the real world.

I did hear the track on some Audio Note speakers once, the dealer commented on the bass, but what he didn't realise that the sub-bass main event of the track was in fact completely 100% inaudible on the system! In a way the track could be considered a little pointless, but it does differentiate. In my car I can just, only just, hear the lowest bass. On my Blades, the bass is almost terrifying, on my old JBL's with nice 12" drivers, the bass is there, but a bit of a mess. It is also the one track that I have heard trip up silver Phantoms. Some might argue the track is pointless, but it is good fun! You can give the track a thin veneer of audiophile cred by claiming that you are listening to how realistic the spoons themselves sound (which is true to a degree), but best to be honest and admit it's for the bass!


Best test tracks - archer75 - 11-Mar-2016

Great, Confused. I will try them this evening, to be honest I do not know these tracks.


RE: Best test tracks - AaronG - 11-Mar-2016

The most important thing is something w/ a lot of dynamic variation. Violin concerto recordings are really good for this -- Hilary Hahn playing Beethoven is one of my favorites. You really can hear if a speaker can go from very quiet to very loud in a heartbeat while preserving all the complex textures.


RE: Best test tracks - Davyboy - 12-Mar-2016

A violin concerto could very well be an ideal test but if you prefer something else...
Try Lucinda Williams "Rescue" from her "West" CD.
Plenty going on.


Best test tracks - archer75 - 12-Mar-2016

(11-Mar-2016, 13:26)archer75 Wrote: Great, Confused. I will try them this evening, to be honest I do not know these tracks.

I am not able to find these tracks at Tidal, will look for alternatives.


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Best test tracks - archer75 - 12-Mar-2016

(11-Mar-2016, 15:26)AaronG Wrote: The most important thing is something w/ a lot of dynamic variation. Violin concerto recordings are really good for this -- Hilary Hahn playing Beethoven is one of my favorites. You really can hear if a speaker can go from very quiet to very loud in a heartbeat while preserving all the complex textures.

Great suggestion, I am able to find her playing Bach not Beethoven though but this also serves the purpose.


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Best test tracks - archer75 - 12-Mar-2016

(12-Mar-2016, 09:33)Davyboy Wrote: A violin concerto could very well be an ideal test but if you prefer something else...
Try Lucinda Williams "Rescue" from her "West" CD.
Plenty going on.

Nice track, I will play it again tomorrow and loud.


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RE: Best test tracks - thumb5 - 13-Mar-2016

This article by Audio Note presents a different approach, which seems to me to contain some good ideas.  In practice I do tend to use a large number of tracks and listen for general effects rather than specific details, which is along the lines they're suggesting.

That said, I will own up to having some favourite "test tracks", many of which I mentioned in this post in my system thread.

I tend to use classical music to get a feel of whether the system sounds basically right.  I've had the CBSO/Rattle version of Mahler's Symphony No. 2 for a long time, and went to many CBSO concerts around the time they were making their series of Mahler recordings, so I find this a good reference point.  Of course it's also a wonderful piece of music with great musical contrast and dynamic range.  The Janáček Glagolitic Mass is another good one for testing the sense of scale that a system can generate.

If I had to pick a single album from the non-classical list it would be Bruford's "All Heaven Broke Loose".  The particular track "Nerve" has tons of interesting rhythmic stuff going on, and some great percussion and electric bass sounds.  If a system can play that right (that is, to my taste) then I tend to like its sound in general.  (Which of course is the complete opposite of the method Audio Note recommend!)