Music for testing Audio Equipment

[Milan]

"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!

 

I always bring ''Kind of Blue''

 

I know this album inside out.

But I find that no.1 on PAP's list works fantastic for that purpose; low end definition.

I will surely try to get a hand on the albums on the list I do not all ready have and see if I agree with PAP's well written assessment.

[Milan]

This old Oscar Peterson album has such beautiful separation, too bad the condition of the piano is not so good and it also sounds a bit boxed in compared to the magnificent sounding drums and bass. They somehow has more air around them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1cMPyFngmU

That is one thing that is better these days; the condition of the recorded pianos.

[Milan]

from wikipedia;

"Got a Hold on Me" is a 1984 song from Fleetwood Mac's keyboardist/vocalist Christine McVie. The song rose to number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and it topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary and Rock Tracks charts for four and two weeks, respectively.^[1] This was McVie's only top 10 solo hit in the United States. Synthesizers on the track were played by Steve Winwood,^[1] while the guitars were played by Todd Sharp(the song's co-writer) and McVie's Fleetwood Mac bandmate Lindsey Buckingham. The other musicians were bassist George Hawkins and drummer-percussionist Steve Ferrone. Got a Hold on Me was released as the lead single from McVie's self-titled 1984 solo album.

The video for the song was produced and directed by Jon Roseman and premiered in February 1984.^[2] Shot in both black-and-white and color, it is a pseudo-performance video showing Christine McVie in a mansion-like room singing at her piano while a backup band appears in silhouette shadows on the walls around her.^[3]

But that's alot of compression, good song and performance though.

[Milan]

Listening to '4 - Death Letter' today and this can be a good bass test track too: there are at least two low bass instruments, one is a guitar with vibrato (perhaps the other one is as well but it's lower) and several percussions line to go with those. Fairly certain this will be muddied up in a low-resolution/Lo-Fi setup.

 

good choice.

[Milan]

yes indeed, I guess you are referring to this thread, that you started; http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f8-general-forum/direct-stream-digital-vs-pulse-code-modulation-which-sounds-best-your-ears-these-free-same-source-files-25722/

[Milan]

+1

Excellent. Bought it. Thanks.

[Milan]

No that is not one of his best sounding albums, for sure.

things got better later with ECM: [video=youtube;7QNbQISj-AU]

[Milan]

And the music got better too.

[Milan]

Yep, they did. But did covers get better.? This woman's back photo is really good. The LP cover wasn't that good either. As for the sound of COCX - the album was recorded using a very early generation of digital gear by some guys who obviously had no idea what to do with it.. Manfred Eicher and ECM recordings that's a very different story..

There's a point. ECM covers a quiet boring indeed.

[Milan]

Well, as a photographer I'd say their cover photography has an ECM style signature which BTW corresponds quite well IMO with their musical taste and signature sound.

The COCX CD cover always reminded me of Toulouse Lautrec's painting I also like very much:

I just find that lately they are all very dark.

Maybe it is my eyesight going bad but from a certain distance I can't tell them apart.

But the newest releases are getting brighter....

[Milan]

Same band but without Joshua, this might Pat`s best small group recording, and it is an ecm album, so SQ is fine,

Oh yeah, this is Garrett's coltrenesque.. But how many saxophonists weren't influenced by Trane.?

 

Pat Metheny Group is quite boring for me but as a sideman he can be fantastic. I'm sure you know this album:

 

 

 

But maybe you don't know Solveig Slettahjell, Knut Reiersrud & In The Country - 'Trail of Soul'. Worth checking out in my opinion!

 

 

 

I generally like Miles from every period too, also from 70s. I agree - in the 80s he recorded some lower quality music.

[Milan]

This brand new release has got what I am talking about in spades,

excellent placement with every instrument clearly positioned on the soundstage, marvelous SQ, natural but also very engaging,

and music of beauty but with a few fresh twists and turns.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]29678[/ATTACH] Sound Liaison Music Shop

 

It is on special offer too!

 

I concur. The album is perfect for speaker placement or comparing headphones for depth and sound stage.

Superb SQ.

I concur, gorgeous album, music and sound.

[Milan]

The Sound Liaison albums from the first post are on sale for 10 this week.

My good friend and fellow audiophile Gerald k and I have made a compilation of music files which we feel are perfect for testing new equipment.

We wanted to use music that we not only enjoy listening to but which also has the abillity to reveal flaws in the signal chain.

I listen mostly on Headphones (Sennheiser/ Audeze/ Audio Technica) while Gerald listen only on speakers (Tad, Kharma/Linn/Naim).

We have spend many an evening and several bottles of Cotes de Rhone wines arguing and eventually agreeing on this list of audio equipment test music.

This is what we came up with, please feel free to comment or post alternatives, if possible with a link as to where to purchase the music that you feel is ideal for this purpose.

We also looked for reviews that we felt agreed with what we hear in the recordings.

 

Sound stage and definition

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18172[/ATTACH]

1. Carmen Gomes inc; '' I'm on fire'' from Thousand Shades of Blue

Sound Liaison Music Shop

 

Placement is perfect on this young audiophile classic as well as the near perfect natural recording of the voice, but the real test for audio equipment when listening to this recording is it's ability to separate the kickdrum from the upright bass.

The two instruments are playing the same pattern. On less than optimum equipment it might be difficult to separate the two, but with good setup you clearly hear the upright at 10.00 and the kick dead center with a nice decay that one generally do not hear on commercial recordings.

There are lots of speakers and headphones with ''extended lows'' but low with definition is a whole different ballgame.

Hifi;

 

2 Alban berg Quartet; Bartok String Quartet no.1 in a minor 1th movement. (LP,EMI)

in the beginning of this movement the 4 instruments all play mainly in the same middle and upper register. Despite all that mid and high information the music should not sound harsh.

This recording has the same perfect sound stage as the Carmen Gomes recording.

We believe that this kind of sound stage with such a sense of depth and realistic placement is only attainable when you are recording the musicians in one room at the same time.

Amazone

 

Intelligible representation

 

3. Frank Sinatra; ''What's New'' from Only the Lonely.

Frank is maybe a bit too prominent represented but one should still be able to notice all the different lines played by the various instruments in this incredible Nelson Riddle arrangement.

4. Me'Shell Ndegéocello; ''Levictus:Faggot'' from Peace beyond Passion.

Here we have the opposite, the voice is a bit too soft in this optimum funk piece yet you should still be able to hear every word.

easily optainable http://www.amazon.com

 

 

Depth and Space

 

When talking about depth and space we had to include a couple of Reference Recordings tracks. This label has allways done justice to it's name and consistently produced recordings of very high quality.

 

5. The Concord Chamber Music Society;''Danza del Soul'' from Brubeck and Gandolfi works.

 

6. Doug Macleod '' the Night of the Devils Road'' from There's a Time

 

here you have two completely different pieces of music, one by The Concord Chamber Music Society and one by blues legend Doug Macleod accompanied only by guitar and kick drum. But the depth and the space of these two recordings is simply outstanding.

Enjoy the music.com;

Audiophilia;

Reference Recordings Complete Audiophile Classical Music Orchestra and Jazz HDCD Catalog

 

 

7. Andre Heuvelman; ''Oblivion'' from After Silence

8. Joni Mitchell; ''Comes Love'' from Both Sides Now

Andre Heuvelman's rendition of Astor Piazzolla's master piece have a great sense of depth. Every instrument sounds rich and full with a gorgeus natural decay. On lesser equipment the sound of each instrument can become a bit of a blur while on good equipment the sound of each instrument should be clearly defined with a clear sense of the room this recording have been recorded in.

Same goes for Joni's wonderfull standards collection, it is a big hall you are listening to.

Sound Stage on the Sound Liaison recordings;

Sound Liaison Music Shop

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18171[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]18173[/ATTACH]

 

Both Sides Now won a

 

Separation

 

9. Miles Davis; ''Stella by Starlight'' from the Complete 1964 Concert

10. John Scofield; ''Just Don't Wan't to be Lonely'' from Uberjam Deux

 

we use these recordings to check for spill between left and right channel.

The Miles recording was done on a 3 track tape machine and therefore there is this very wide sound stage and separation between the instruments; piano complete left, horns and bass dead center, drums completely right.

drummer Tony Williams sometimes does not play at all and on those moments all one should hear on the right channel of the piano is a faint echo.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18174[/ATTACH]All Music;

 

John Scofiel's cover of the old Main Ingredient hit has a complete left right separation. The organ is audible on the left channel only and the rhythm guitar is on the right. The separation is so extreme that if you were to disconnect the right channel you would not hear any rhythm guitar at all, just like on the early Beatles stereo LP's.

Jazztimes;

 

 

Imaging

 

11. Trevor Pinnock; Mahler symphony no. 4

this delicate chamber orchestra arrangement of the great Mahler Symphony is a real beauty.

the all music review said;

Linn Records - Mahler: Symphonie No. 4

 

12. Iona Brown and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra;''the Spring'' from Grieg two Elegiac Melodies.

the Grammaphone review puts it well;http://http://www.naimlabel.com/recording-grieg--tippett--beethoven.aspx

 

 

 

 

Batik; '' The Bird'' from the Old Man and the Sea

just about perfect imaging, left to right evenly laid out for your eyes and ears to see, piano, bass, drums, guitar and again a one room recording. Unbelieveable why sofew companies do this when it can yield so very satisfactory results.

http://http://www.soundliaison.com/

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18171[/ATTACH]

Audio Stream;

John Scofield;'' Never Turn Back'' from Piety Street

the drum intro has a small imperfection, there is a soft ringing sound on the left channel probably coused by a sympathic resonance in the drum set or in the room.

The moment the organ enters it kind of cover up the problem, although if you really listen for it you can hear it through out the track. Wonderful old fashioned sound stage.

All Music;

 

 

Sent from my C6833 using Computer Audiophile mobile app

[Milan]

On 3/5/2017 at 10:59 AM, graceluke said:

1 - "Time" from Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd [1973]

A masterpiece of production and mastering done by Alan Parsons. You can test almost everything with this track:
detail, with the sound of the clocks at the beginning, bass, sibilance, vocals, drums, resolution, dynamics, soundstage, stereo separation, headroom...

Which version is your favorite? I was looking for a download hires version but don't see it on HD tracks. Suggestions?

[Milan]

On 2/5/2017 at 9:00 PM, christian u said:

 

The Carmen Gomes Blues album is superb. The SQ is amazing. It sounds marvelous on my HD800s.

Carmen Gomes sings the Blues is a perfect combination of what sounds to me as old fashioned recording technique paired with modern recording equipment.

Like all the Sound Liaison albums it uses real placement in the stereo field but this one reminds me more than the previous albums of a recording from the golden age. I mean recordings from 1958 to 1962 more or less. Back in the day when they would record three tracks to a 2 inch tape. This seems to be recorded in 352khz and somehow this extreme high resolution sounds warmer, maybe more analogue than other digital recordings I have heard.

  On the site there is a blog which says that: 

Quote

We asked some of our favorite artist to reinterpret one of the albums that was influential in their becoming musicians. Trumpeter Ruud Breuls chose an old LP of Louis Armstrong’s greatest hits, Carmen Gomes, with Harry’s help, decided on her father's old favorite “Harry Belafonte Sings the Blues’’, Paul Berner went for the Beatles “Rubber Soul” and Tony Overwater chose Jim Hall & Ron Carter, which he will record together with guitarist extraordinaire Maarten van der Grinten.

As of this writing the first two concerts have taken place. We can report that DXD sounds absolutely fantastic. Ruud Breuls who is, due to his many years with the Metropole Orchestra and the Westdeutsche Rundfunk Big Band, perhaps Europe’s most recorded trumpet player, was absolutely stunned when he heard the DXD playback of ”When it’s Sleepy time Down South”. He used words as “real”, and “ it sounds like me” when trying to describe the sound.

source: Sound Liaison DXD

If the coming albums all have this kind of quality there really is something to look forward to.

 

 

 

[Milan]

+1 We Three is the only Phineas Newborn album I really like and it has all to do with the combination of Haynes and Chambers:

Quote

We Three, recorded in a single session on November 14, 1958, was the first American studio date as a bandleader for the diminutive and legendary jazz drummer Roy Haynes, although with pianist Phineas Newborn on board (along with bassist Paul Chambers), it really is a set dominated by Newborn, whose busy, two-handed technique here works in tandem balance with Haynes' cool refinement. Newborn was all about amazing and dazzling piano runs that on some dates created simply too much flash and clutter to allow pieces to flow and breathe properly, but Haynes has always been about grace and flow throughout his career (if a drummer's style can said to be elegant, Haynes fits the bill), and here he rubs off on Newborn, who exercises just enough restraint to keep him in the proper orbit, resulting in a fine album. Highlights include the easy, pure swing of the opener, a version of Ray Bryant's "Reflection," a wonderful and bluesy rendition of Avery Parrish's "After Hours" (which finds Newborn in perfect balance between explosive ornamentation and smooth functionality), and a jaunty, fun spin through Newborn's own "Sugar Ray," a tribute to boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. This trio had a brief recording career together, but as this solid set shows, they made the best of it.

[Milan]

I would love to see somebody start using those old three tracks again. Those albums all have a certain magic.

[Milan]

On 2/27/2019 at 8:29 PM, oso said:

I just commented on another thread about how good the bass and drum sound is on this recording.

Unbelievable that you can achieve that with only one microphone. I wonder why that kind of recordings are so rare.

 

 

 

On 3/24/2019 at 10:56 AM, PAP said:

They released it this weekend.

It's a fantastic live recording. I'll go as far after the first listen to say that audiophile live recordings does not get better than this.

This could be an instant classic. 

Blows away "Jazz at the Pawn Shop".

 https://www.soundliaison.com/

 

These completely phase coherent one microphone recordings does it for me, they are so much better than anything else I have.

It sounds very real but also very very good. Only problem is that all my old reference material some how falls short now....

 

[Milan]

On 12/16/2019 at 12:39 AM, The_K-Man said:

 

 

I'm not a fan of over-dynamic compression myself, but are you guys kidding?

 

That McVie song breeeathes in comparison to pop material thirty years newer!  

Good point😊

[Milan]

2 of the one mic albums have won the album of the year award at NativeDSD.

SOUND LIAISON has put both albums on special offer during the holidays.

And along the way it seems that slowly the critics are starting to agree with manny people on this forum that this way of recording is really creating a superb listening experience.

 

“This ensemble proves that this repertoire has lost none of its luster. The simply fabulous recording quality is a benchmark for the possibilities of current recording technology. It is a new benchmark. .” — Jazzenzo 

 

 

Voet’s guitar and van Kooten’s violin playing truly swings with Brouwer and Stevens laying down a solid foundation for each selection.  This is musical playing at its best with sound quality to match. If you need an album that shows off the One Microphone Recording style, this could be the ticket.”

— Brian Moura, NativeDSD Technical Advisor

On 6/17/2019 at 1:27 AM, PAP said:

Yes and they keep going;

https://www.soundliaison.com/index.php/515-reinier-voet-ballade-pour-la-nuit

Superb image and realism.

 

On 2/5/2019 at 8:58 PM, oso said:

Amazing that one microphone is able to do this. Superb placement and depth. 

 

 

[Milan]

On 2/23/2020 at 5:56 PM, PAP said:

Check out the latest  ONE MIC RECORDINGS the SQ is maybe  even better than the 2 best album award winners.

Yes both extremely well recorded, and the music is good too, maybe a little more highbrow than the Gomes or the Feenbrothers but nevertheless audiophile must haves.

All their albums are on a 20 % discount at the moment: https://www.soundliaison.com/

 

[Milan]

On 5/18/2020 at 1:35 PM, PAP said:

Another great recording from 1959, best recording year in the history of music:);

 

Wow, this is well recorded!