Music for testing Audio Equipment

[mav52]

"Best music to test audio equipment with."

 

There can be only one answer to that question: Play what you like and what you are familiar with - regardless of genre. The sound of the stereo has to please you, not some self-appointed arbiter of taste such as magazines like Stereophile and The Absolute Sound tend to be. Only you know what you want your system to sound like. Some go for neutral, accurate sound (like me). others like big bass, bold mids and bright sparkling highs, with no concern about how this differs from the sound of real music, played in a real space. But that's why it's your stereo. It exists to make you happy. So "voice" your system using the music that you listen to and leave all the "recommended" test material to the recommenders!

 

So true. You have to play the music you like but the music needs to be well recorded music. A lot of these recommendations in so called mags are played through some pretty high end equipment and most have treated rooms so a at home listeners equipment might not come close to replicating the sound not to mention someone else's ears are used while residing in their room. That same recording could sound like crap in your room.

[mav52]

On 2/16/2019 at 6:36 AM, PAP said:

It looks like a pretty big little bastard that microphone🙂

 

And what an approach, mixing on the spot: 

"Multi track recording has advantages and disadvantages. The good is that you can make an instrument louder or softer as you please. The bad thing when the recording is done in one room is phase. Maybe, the most time consuming aspect of our way of recording is getting the phase between the mics right. Frans de Rond is a true genius in that field and his expertise is one of the secrets to our well defined sound stage. Now with only one mic the challenge lay elsewhere. Mixing was no longer possible. We would have to make the complete sound stage right there by carefully moving each instrument closer or further away as well as left and right in relationship to the microphone. Carmen was given a headphone so she could hear exactly what the mic was hearing. She could then direct the musicians and with hand gestures let each band member play louder or softer." source: https://www.soundliaison.com/index.php/408-carmen-gomes-inc-dont-you-cry

 

 

The mic looks like a Josephson C700 series