Songs that you would use to test speakers

[stpsycho]

What songs/albums would you recommend for testing speakers/headphones, things like highs,mids,lows,soundstage etc.
Thanks

 

[stpsycho]

bump
jeff buckley - grace ,
has nice highs

 

[arnprasad]

I aint no audiphile, but i guess the source of the song plays a major role. A very good song in 128 kbps MP3 is useless to test anything...a bad song on a CD will test better..my two paisa

 

[rohitmusic]

Songs I use myself based on my taste:
Any Dire straits Album -> I listen to Money for nothing/walk of life/etc
Hindi -> Lagaan -> Radha kaise na jale song - good highs and lows
Vocals -> Any nice ghazal album - I prefer Marasim by Jagjit singh

There are also some test CDs especially made for testing audio systems like:
The DALI CD - In Admiration Of Music
Chesky - Audiophile Test Disc
Dynaudio - Feeling Music
B&W Audiophile Recordings
An Acoustic Measurements Demo CD - SILTECH

among many others.

I would just take my favorite music that I have heard over and over again. This was it is easier to notice differences.

Also make sure you carry a high quality version of these songs. At least 320kbps if mp3, ideally you should prefer any lossless format like FLAC or use a CD if that is convenient.

You can create a CD with your favorite tracks on it.

Thanks!

 

[oracle1974]

They should be ones which you have heard and are familiar to your ears. Only then you will be able to know the difference well. These will be ones which will allow you to be a discerning listener. Of course, making A/B comparison, any music can be heard - eagles, dire straits will figure amongst the popular ones.

 

[koushik]

I don't think this should be generalized. A system may response great to the best of the recordings but may not sound good with the kind of music you listen.
So what I do is make a test CD with range of songs that I generally listen to and then take the CD to the audition. This way you can better judge a system as you are familiar with those kind of music.

But if you want to judge a system only by its own merit then Western Classical is great for judging a systems' frequency range/response and dynamism and its ability to handle complexity.

 

[ValarMorghulis]

Assuming all your files are of higher bit rate I prefer the following:
All Along the Watchtower/ Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix (guitar variations)
Pumped up Kicks - Foster the People/ Sail-Awolnation (bass)
Mann ki lagan - Rahat fateh Ali Khan/ Aaja Saanjh hui-Lata Mangeshkar/ Main tennu samjhaawanki - Rahat (vocals)
Stairway to heaven - Led Zepplin (nuances)
Tum tak - Raanjhana/ dooba dooba rehta hun -Silk route (many instruments)

Hope some of them help

 

[msaab90]

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand album, specifically Track : Please read the letter. Recommended by many audiophile sites

 

[msaab90]

Also Adele- skyfall. Good mix of Mid/high vocals and spacious instrumentation.

 

[frend2001]

What a novel idea...

and yet we all music lovers tend to have some music piece which we use to test audio components and speakers....

As my listening covers everything I've concluded that most modern setups fail when it comes to play low quality old songs from 60's and 70's.

My SONY FLX5D HT chews anything thrown at it be it Acid, heavy metal and won't hesitate a nano-second before plowing thru piles of hip-hop but it suffers admirably when I play 60's and 70's old songs. The twitters spill a ear scratching noise which is very hard to compensate by equilizer adjustment and finally after lowering down the treble the crispness is all gone.

So I suppose that's one should use to check the range of an amplifier and speakers.

My 2 Paisa

 

[sarith]

I like the recording of Diana Krall. Marantz demo cd, Dire Strait, Doors, B&W audiophile new recordings etc are few choices

 

[sarith]

My SONY FLX5D HT chews anything thrown at it be it Acid, heavy metal and won't hesitate a nano-second before plowing thru piles of hip-hop but it suffers admirably when I play 60's and 70's old songs.

I have heard this system and sound is quite nice. Though the system's disc player gave up within a few years of use.

 

[nmursekar]

Where can one find the audiophile recordings testing cds or flacs of B&w,marantz, dali etc for testing?

 

[nmursekar]

What songs/albums would you recommend for testing speakers/headphones, things like highs,mids,lows,soundstage etc.
Thanks

if you have liking towards Indian classical and western fusion, then you must listen to Rhythm scapes by Bikram Ghosh. Especially the track "zinc"
A thorough fusion of classical and western instruments with clear instrument seperation with its highs, low and mids. A perfect track (zinc)for judging your system setup.
Give it a try.[emoji106]

 

[stpsycho]

Thanks all for the suggestions and replies.will have a look at those.

what i meant was to have a list of song having some part extreme

like vocals
lows @23 in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZv4L_OP5Uk#t=67


highs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au843-YVAZU&feature=youtu.be&t=2m

instrument bass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X16MKQXHDmc



on bass heavy instruments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X16MKQXHDmc

 

[kingajit]

What songs/albums would you recommend for testing speakers/headphones, things like highs,mids,lows,soundstage etc.
Thanks

Dear Bros,

I have been through this exercise and many of the recommendations made are relevant.

There are two issues to deal with:
1. the recording of the number you are going to test with has to be good
2. you have to be very very familiar with that recording - you should have heard it at least a 100 times or even more!

To start off choose something which is there in your existing CD collection and use it to test/position your speakers. Once you are sure that you have made the best use of the existing CD and you feel there is still potential to squeeze out the best then get something from what the bros have recommended and first familiarize yourself with it ( yes you will have to listen to it more than a 100 times before you can use it!).

I use the services of someone who helps me tune/position my speakers and the stuff he uses he has heard it 10,000 times! There is no shortcut.....happy testing....cheers

 

[msaab90]

It is also recommended to test at the same volume level. Higher amplification capabilities can often be interpreted as better quality.

 

[swami69]

Awesome find for me to test my DIY open baffles. It performs marvellously and I am very happy about the value proposition. Thanks for this song “zinc”

if you have liking towards Indian classical and western fusion, then you must listen to Rhythm scapes by Bikram Ghosh. Especially the track "zinc"
A thorough fusion of classical and western instruments with clear instrument seperation with its highs, low and mids. A perfect track (zinc)for judging your system setup.
Give it a try.[emoji106]

 

[jenson]

pink floyd's - Time - the intro has one of the best soundtage ever...the way toms move about and the way the guitar delays intersect in space..
GNR - civil war

i would stay away from jazz as much as possible, as most of them are so well recorded...it may give an impression which may not represent overall average...rock is best...

 

[narenvaidee]

For vocals, KJ Yesudas and Leonard Cohen songs, from a source that I'm used to.
For fast bass, instrument separation, musical layers and highs - Pale Green Ghosts (John Grant), Keith Don't Go & Bass and Drum Intro (Nils Lofgren)

Speaker harshness and sibilance - most of AR Rahman songs, especially the ones after 2011.
Stereo imaging - A well recorded song by Ilayaraja

Anyways, just my 2 cents.