Tír Na HiFi

Just looking for advise in tracks suitable for system testing and why if possible,
hopefully interesting for others too

ill start the ball rolling
American IV: The Man Comes Around

Cash's raspy voice seems to be difficult sound accurate and along with the reverb of acoustic guitar makes great testers

nige2000 wrote:Just looking for advise in tracks suitable for system testing and why if possible,
hopefully interesting for others too

ill start the ball rolling
American IV: The Man Comes Around

Cash's raspy voice seems to be difficult sound accurate and along with the reverb of acoustic guitar makes great testers

That's one of my most favourite CD's.

Track #1. (When the man comes around) it can easily create a "system crash".
Track #12. (I'm so lonesome I could cry) I like to use for the voice and small details.

The Man with the Child in his Eyes on the Kick Inside by Kate Bush. There's a lot of low level bass that can overpower everything else on a badly balanced system, and Kate's voice is a test for any system. Also, I've been using this as a test track for years so I've heard it on countless systems and know how good and bad it can sound. I think familiarity is important on any test track.

JAW wrote:The Man with the Child in his Eyes on the Kick Inside by Kate Bush. There's a lot of low level bass that can overpower everything else on a badly balanced system, and Kate's voice is a test for any system. Also, I've been using this as a test track for years so I've heard it on countless systems and know how good and bad it can sound. I think familiarity is important on any test track.

thnx wasnt aware of this track, unfortunately i was stupid enough to play it from youtube on my laptop, that was pretty haunting

it really really is very challenging, the levels of separation and clarity required is astounding
a real piece of system kryptonite

sima66 wrote:

nige2000 wrote:Just looking for advise in tracks suitable for system testing and why if possible,
hopefully interesting for others too

ill start the ball rolling
American IV: The Man Comes Around

Cash's raspy voice seems to be difficult sound accurate and along with the reverb of acoustic guitar makes great testers

That's one of my most favourite CD's.

Track #1. (When the man comes around) it can easily create a "system crash".
Track #12. (I'm so lonesome I could cry) I like to use for the voice and small details.

thnx Adam

what else do you use?

Love to blast systems with http://grooveshark.com/#!/search/song?q ... ontinentes
Very hard on dynamics,detail and separation, also speed (ending up in potato mash) :)
ohhh didn't mention the album

Modest wrote:Love to blast systems with http://grooveshark.com/#!/search/song?q ... ontinentes
Very hard on dynamics,detail and separation, also speed (ending up in potato mash) :)
ohhh didn't mention the album

boy oh boy my system is sweating

nige2000 wrote:

Modest wrote:Love to blast systems with http://grooveshark.com/#!/search/song?q ... ontinentes
Very hard on dynamics,detail and separation, also speed (ending up in potato mash) :)
ohhh didn't mention the album

boy oh boy my system is sweating

??

JAW wrote: I think familiarity is important on any test track.

I agree 100%, obviously you'll want high and low frequencies too but that's of no use whatsoever if you haven't heard the piece of music many many times before. Otherwise where's the comparison? My favourite test disc are ones I knew well from the 1970s, I love to hear something new in there.
I think it's important as well to use mostly real instruments. The sound of a plectrum or a bow on a string, the snap of a snare drum, the resonance of a bass or floor tom drum. Does the cymbal sound metallic? Can you heard the reeds in a wind instrument? (do you want to?)

You need well recorded female and male vocals across the ranges, sparse acoustic recordings, dense orchestral works, piano for scale and to test percussion as much as timbre. Double bass, cello, electric bass and organ - both church and Hammond B3. This is a bit of a favourite topic of mine....

Above all, it's must be very familiar.

What HiFi has published a "6 of the best albums to test your system" list...

It is, at the very least, interesting.

http://www.whathifi.com/news/6-best-alb ... 4jYQPgQ.99