13-Mar-2016, 10:50
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!)
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!)
Roon (Mac Mini), Wilson Benesch Full Circle, Expert 1000 Pro CI, Kaiser Chiara
Warwickshire, UK
