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Music for testing Audio Equipment


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Now I do love the PANArt hang. Very good to get in to trascendental meditation...!

 

With this great undistorted SQ my only fear was not being able to get out of deep meditation, but because in my country we are in the season of giant thunderstorms a powerful lightning brought me to reality faster than I wanted.

 

Roch

I am not into meditation but I guess I have always used listening to music as my quiet sanctuary. I agree with you that this music really draws you in.

It brings me in a kind of meditative state of mind.

Very pleasant indeed.

And I do love the sound of Andre Heuvelmans trumpet, heavenly!

 

Yes he is a very interesting artist, one of the best classical trumpet players in the world, but not afraid to experiment.

I found this video on TEDX where he tells about overcoming his physical handicap.

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Here is a brand new one, a bit the same kind of mood.

Incredible SQ;

Hoes300shadow.jpgSound Liaison Music Shop

 

Now I do love the PANArt hang. Very good to get in to trascendental meditation...!

 

With this great undistorted SQ my only fear was not being able to get out of deep meditation, but because in my country we are in the season of giant thunderstorms a powerful lightning brought me to reality faster than I wanted.

 

Roch

 

Is trancendental meditation, meditation with a mantra that you keep repeating? And do you use the recording to block out outside sounds?

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  • 2 weeks later...
"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''

MilesDavisKindofBlue.jpg

 

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.

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1) "Elelphants on Ice Skates" - Brian Bromberg

 

2) " Never Going Back Again" - Fleetwood Mac

 

3) " Jamie Runaway" - Steely Dan

 

4) " Got A Hold On Me" - Christine Mcvie

 

5) " Victim Of Love" - Eagles

 

6) " Those Shoes" - Eagles

 

7) " I can See Clearly Now" - Holly Cole

 

8) " Never Give Up" - Brian Bromberg

 

9) " The Groove" - Brian Culberston

 

10) " I think Its Gonna Work Out Fine" - Linda Rondstat & James Taylor

MacMini > Audirvana Plus > Musical Fidelity V Dac 2 >

Emotiva XSP-1 > Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2 > Ascend Sierra Towers NRT >

Rythmik F12SE > :)

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Excellent recommendations, thanks to you all, I have built a great playlist in Roon from many of the recommendations in this thread....

 

A bit left-field, but a great source of recommended music for putting your system through its paces, is Jim Smiths book "Get Better Sound". He lists all the tracks he has used over the years. With some of the music recommendations he provides notes on what you should and should not be hearing....case in point The Chieftans "Tears of Stone" is a brilliant album for voicing your whole system.

ER / Geisman OXCO / Grimm MU1  / Dutch & Dutch 8C / Townshend Seismic Isolation

 

HP - SMSL Sanskrit 10th A’ , Woo Audio WA5 LE, Hifiman HEK v2

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"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!

 

+1

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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1) "Elelphants on Ice Skates" - Brian Bromberg

 

2) " Never Going Back Again" - Fleetwood Mac

 

3) " Jamie Runaway" - Steely Dan

 

4) " Got A Hold On Me" - Christine Mcvie

 

5) " Victim Of Love" - Eagles

 

6) " Those Shoes" - Eagles

 

7) " I can See Clearly Now" - Holly Cole

 

8) " Never Give Up" - Brian Bromberg

 

9) " The Groove" - Brian Culberston

 

10) " I think Its Gonna Work Out Fine" - Linda Rondstat & James Taylor

 

What album is this from?

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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.

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from wikipedia;

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

 

I agree, but its a very good mix and with volume a nice low end kick.

I also just Love her voice so I may be biased on this one...lol

MacMini > Audirvana Plus > Musical Fidelity V Dac 2 >

Emotiva XSP-1 > Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2 > Ascend Sierra Towers NRT >

Rythmik F12SE > :)

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on lower quality speakers and phones the lower notes of the bass and the bass drum becomes a low end mess,

but when moving up in quality they become two separate instruments playing along in beautiful unison.

And it was quiet fun to hear how slowly the whole thing opened up as I moved up in quality.

 

I then repeated the process with an old favorite of mine Cassandra Wilsons ''Love is Blindness'' which has the same kind of problem frequency, bass and bass drum but now the problematic low end remained. It kept on being a bit muddy.

 

 

Just listened to Cassandra Wilson's 'Love is Blindness' with my new DIY short USB cable with filters and was just telling my girlfriend how we can distinctly hear the different bass instruments: bass drum (very low) and bass, as well as the low notes from two different guitars.

 

A very good track to test for bass indeed.

Dedicated Line DSD/DXD | Audirvana+ | iFi iDSD Nano | SET Tube Amp | Totem Mites

Surround: VLC | M-Audio FastTrack Pro | Mac Opt | Panasonic SA-HE100 | Logitech Z623

DIY: SET Tube Amp | Low-Noise Linear Regulated Power Supply | USB, Power, Speaker Cables | Speaker Stands | Acoustic Panels

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The percussion bells, etc on "Harvest Moon" track draw you on to the stage with space and air depending on your gear. The track's darkness seems to open up and presents a scene of fireflies at night. Cassandra's weight and serious presentation is preserved and remains her MO which serves her well.

 

Incredible cover (and I'm no fan of covers) of Young's masterpiece, very well recorded.

 

Shows how powerful that original song is.

Dedicated Line DSD/DXD | Audirvana+ | iFi iDSD Nano | SET Tube Amp | Totem Mites

Surround: VLC | M-Audio FastTrack Pro | Mac Opt | Panasonic SA-HE100 | Logitech Z623

DIY: SET Tube Amp | Low-Noise Linear Regulated Power Supply | USB, Power, Speaker Cables | Speaker Stands | Acoustic Panels

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