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

Some of her samples / collaborations are also really great - I have at least three in my own collection:

• Alive Alone (Chemical Brothers - Exit Planet Dust)
• Water from a Vine Leaf (William Orbit)
• Dice (William Orbit / Finlay Quaye - Much More Than Much Love)

Apparently she also used to date William Orbit...

 

For simply testing staging I listen to Macy Gray's Annabelle or any other track off the Stripped album (recorded by Chesky with one mic in an old church if I'm not mistaken).

 

I like the second cut of Bill Evan's Alice in Wonderland from the Sunday at the Village Vanguard album. I don't remember which take it is, I remember it appears twice and I like the 2nd one better.

 

Vapor by Yosi Horikawa. Just great.

Two of the best songs imo:

 

I love this album, it’s one of my references. Yes, it was recorded at Hirsch Center, a decommissioned church in Brooklyn, used often by Chesky for recordings.

 

Talking Heads- This Must Be the Place. Every tiny little detail that floats around in this song should sound pretty "3D" and the driving rhythm and bass line have a pretty good impact.

 

Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd (from "The Wall") - it's a classic track that I know well. It's well-recorded and there's a lot going on at once- listening for hats, strummy guitars or what the bass player is up to at certain points is a good idea of how well instrument separation and detail hold up.

"Jesus Of Suburbia" by Green Day (from "American Idiot") - for similar reasons to Comfortably Numb. Lots going on- lots of impact and some delicate sounds that can get swamped on slow drivers.

Tom's Diner (acapella) by Suzanne Vega (from "Solitude Standing")- this is a beautifully-recorded and simple track that's great for spotting all sorts of problems. There's plenty of subtle detail and atmosphere to dig out.

"Pretty Good Year" by Tori Amos (from "Under The Pink")- this is a really good sibilance test, especially towards the start.

"Rocket Brothers" by Kashmir (from "Zitilites") - just a great track with a lot of going on, gives you a feel for dynamics, layering, detail and treble handling etc..

"Jupiter" from The Planets by Holst, specifically, this recording (because I am familiar with it):



Not really a comment on the quality of this performance (it's good, but "Mars" lacks a little oomph), more that I know how it sounds, and where things are. I know how it sounds on my HD650s and my Stax, how it reacts to different chains. It's a very wide and spacious recording- of actually decent music rather than one of those masturbatory Chesky audiophile efforts. It's a useful spatial placement sanity check.

There are others, I'm sure, but those are some that I tend to go to when I want to put a bit of gear through its paces.

Edit:

I forgot possibly the cruellest test of all, the ~8KHz suckout test. Headphones with wonky frequency response often have an upper-mid suckout around 8KHz or so. This kills strings, possibly their harmonics more specifically? Not sure.

Anyway, it fucks pretty much all Audezes, makes them horrible for listening to classical. The HD800 series also fails here too. The HD650 and the Utopia are two full-sized headphones that manage to avoid it, as do the humble Stax that I tend to use. Some IEMs, like the Andro and the Django seem to do just fine, also.

Anyway, @Muse Wanderer deserves the credit for finding the perfect test for this issue- the final movement of:


Listen, especially towards the end of the last movement, when the brass is belting out- do the strings vanish? This is a particularly harsh test, which is hard to pass- but a vital one if you like to listen to classical. Utopia or HD650 from a decent amp will manage just fine. Lots of lesser headphones won't.

(Take note, @PeteMullersKeyboard - this is why the LCD-4 is flawed- apart from the price, unit-to-unit variation, weight and comfort, that is. HTH!)

 

Number one is Allegro Molto from Haydn cello concerto #1. Good recording of that, and this EMI recording with Rostropovich is one of the best, give you a sense sound stage, instrument separation, macro dynamics and bass quality.
And I use various tracks from @Torq playlist on Tidal https://tidal.com/playlist/4bc321b9-6940-45c7-aeeb-a3d34f2f00e3.

 

Thought I might share this one. I don't listen to it for fun but I can usually tell pretty quickly how gear performs with it.

The other track I use is a mystery one, I got it from Alex and it is a little odd but does a great job as a test track. I will try and find out what it is.



Well that turned out not to be so difficult

Moody Blues - Procession




.. dB

 

Mannheim Steamroller: Pass the Keg (Lia)
The opening harpsichord really tests for sibilance in the treble. Even makes my HD650s sound a bit sibilant, but sounds good on my CA Orion.

 

Beethoven’s 5th. Give it a minute, and you will know if the bass has rumble or if the headphones can handle complex music.

Also, any song from My Bloody Vslentine’s ‘Loveless.’ On bad headphones, all guitar textures will be immediately lost making the songs one-note sounding.

 

This song has absurdly nasty bass drop that can drive almost any headphone to loose it’s bowels. I use it as a torture test to see how low a headphone goes and how much control it can maintain in the face of such bass abuse.