Name one song that you use for testing headphones and list why

Discussion in 'Music and Recordings' started by Ice-man, Oct 1, 2017.

  1. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

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    One of my go to songs is an intimate jazz recording by Anne Bisson. All of her music is very well recorded and this one may be the best of the lot. The song "Everybody's Kissing in Paris" features a minimal arrangement with an upright bass and female vocalist near center stage with a drum kit in the background.

    The upright bass hits some very low notes and is good for bass extension test and reveals good texture of the instrument and bassist fingers as they flick and pluck across the strings.

    The female vocals can be etchy and a little harsh if the headphones are tuned too bright. Bisson has great range and really belts out the song in places here. Good headphones will reveal the intonation of her voice.

    The snare and drum kit float around in the background between the left and right channel. On lesser headphones this part of the recording gets lost and blends into the background. On good headphones the resonance of the snare holds the recording together keeping the rhythm and pace of the song. Listen as the sound of the snare floats effortlessly left and right of center stage.

    This will not be the kind of music that everyone enjoys but it's a great song to test with and one that I often go to.
     
  2. TwoEars

    TwoEars Friend

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    Massive Attack - Paradise Circus. High-res flac. A very demanding track that will tell you a lot about soundstage, bass, mids and some highs too if you're familiar with it. Here's the youtube but you need flac or cd for the full experience:

     
  3. Deep Funk

    Deep Funk Deep thoughts - Friend

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    Dire Straits' "Money For Nothing"

    When speakers or headphones do not sound right with that intro, f**k it. Get that intro to sound right and the headphone is most likely well tuned from sub-bass to treble and will render the details just right. Stereo image and layers...
     
  4. Greg121986

    Greg121986 Almost "Made"

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    BEYOND WORDS F. Crawford, J. Sklair. DSD version from the album "Natural Jazz Recordings." This is hands down the best recording I have ever heard. It is exactly how it used to sound when I played guitar in the jazz band in high school.

    YOU HAVEN'T DONE NOTHIN'
    Jen Chapin from the album ReVisions: Songs of Stevie Wonder. This one always, but especially if I cannot do DSD for some reason. Timbre, timing, sound staging, perfectly centered vocals and bass clarinet and upright bass. I've had non audiophiles converted by listening to this track. The entire album is a masterpiece.
     
  5. Ice-man

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    That Jen Chapin is one of my favorites. I'm having trouble finding the Natural Jazz Recording. A link is appreciated.
     
  6. MoatsArt'sShade

    MoatsArt'sShade New

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    John Adams - Short Ride in a Fast Machine

     
  7. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    For me, recently anyway, it's been Rebecca Pidgeon's Spanish Harlem. Formerly Stevie Ray Vaughn's Tin Pan Alley.

    Rebecca better not sound shrill. It should be resolving enough that I am able to hear the instruments clacking a bit in the background. You can hear a bit of natural reverb from the bass guitar, and if it sounds smeared or fuzzy, no thanks. Decay from percussion should be natural. Etc.
     
  8. SquiGGlez

    SquiGGlez Acquaintance

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  9. Armaegis

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    I Got The Blues - Aloe Blacc and Joel Van Dijk

    The guitar is very twangy, and particularly in the beginning comes off a bit harsh to my ear. A "neutral" chain actually sounds too sharp to me on this song. As my preferences lean towards the darker side, when this song sounds smooth I know I've got it close to where I like it. If things sound warm, something has gone terribly wrong.

    Blah blah this only applies to the narrow range of the guitar, etc etc.
     
  10. Greg121986

    Greg121986 Almost "Made"

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  11. Skyline

    Skyline Double-blindly done with this hobby

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    Eric Clapton - Unplugged.

    Sorry to cheat, but it honestly doesn't matter what song.

    I'm not as sophisticated as all of you to listen for specific things. I'm more of a subjectives/feelings sort of a guy.

    When I listen to this it boils down to, do I feel like I'm listening to a recording or do I feel like I'm in the room with them? Pretty simple and I recognize it immediately.

    The first time I listened to a decent pair of headphones (HE-500) this was the first song (Signe) to come on and it was love at first listen.

    Like a first kiss, I'm always trying to recreate that rush, and that's the bar headphones live or die on for me.
     
  12. Ice-man

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    ^^ I get it. We all look for the connection to the music. Kinda the whole point. But we gotta get you past the he-500! :p
     
  13. Ringingears

    Ringingears Honorary BFF

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    The Chieftains - The Magdalene Laundries - With Joni Mitchell On " Tears of Stone". Joni's voice has that smoky cigarette quality in the beginning. There is a bell near the beginning of the song that should be located on the right towards the back of the soundstage. The chorus should sound full. Mostly I check to see if it stops me from critically listening and draws me into the song.

    I can't take credit for this song or others I use on this album. Jim Smith (Getting Better Sound) turned me onto the album. Works best with speakers, but so do most recordings. Not hear to debate Jim Smith so please don't start. Thanks.
     
  14. Skyline

    Skyline Double-blindly done with this hobby

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    I'm jamming out to my 650s right now. Cut me some slack |\/|
     
  15. Ice-man

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    We all know that you'll go back to the he-500. You only use the 650 to appease the angry hordes around here. HA! You know I speak the truth. :rolleyes:
     
  16. Daveheart

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    FM from NTSU Lab '75. The song has decent dynamic range and a relatively wide selection of timbres. On top of that, the Rhodes solo about 5 minutes in can get bright, so I find it a decent test for treble fuckery.

     
  17. LetMeBeFrank

    LetMeBeFrank Won't tell anyone my name is actually Francis

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    I use a HDTracks FLAC rip of Rush - Moving Pictures - YYZ. The cymbal work by Peart and the bass guitar licks of Lee cover some of the hardest parts of audio to reproduce correctly, also the song is very technically intricate and the layering of instruments can get congested on lesser headphones.
     
  18. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    music that I know well, music that I can rely on to bring a smile to may face (something very wrong if it doesn't).

    music that does all that and presents a challenge. The oh-so-gentle beginning to Mahler's 1st, a certain percussion crescendo in his 2nd, not to mention the monumental finish of that piece. I have always maintained that orchestral music cannot be beaten for hifi audition. Nothing beats it in dynamic range (which is also unlikely to have been mastered out); nothing beats it in amazing variety of instruments with different sounds and nothing beats it in placing those sounds all over the soundstage. I'm guessing that, especially if a concert-hall organ is thrown in, nothing beats it in frequency range: from the piccolo to the double bass and the kettle drum... and the 64-foot organ pipe.

    Outside of that, I get my tinkly bits (or did when I could hear them) from the Incredible String Band, I get my grunt (literally) from Tom Waits, I get my female voice from Joni Mitchell, and just about everything else from various Grateful Dead songs.

    And, not so much an audition as a personal ritual, I like to inaugurate new equipment with Doris Day: Calamity Jane. Favourite songs that are as old as I am. My own digitisation of my second-hand LP.

    Oh, damn.... the title said one song. Sorry, I enjoyed typing that too much to delete it, but if I really can only take one thing to the desert-island hifi shop, it would be Mahler's 2nd symphony.
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2017
  19. bengo

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    Just a 16/44 FLAC (CD rip) of :


    I have some others on my gear auditioning playlist, but actually this one song, hell even the first seconds give a really good idea. The hi-hat in the beginning sounds really off on most delta-sigma DACs. (I also enjoy listening to it - especially on good gear - which helps when you have to repeat the same songs a bunch of times)
     
  20. Ice-man

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    This album, Central Reservation, has come up a few times here lately...so I bought it but have yet to listen to it. I'm putting it on my must listen list for this week!
     

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