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Post by MartinT on Jan 8, 2015 7:07:21 GMT
If you need to evaluate a system, either an upgrade to your own or a friend's system, what are the handful of discs/records you use in order to evaluate it?
Note, I mean music to give you an insight into performance, which is why this post is in the Hi-Fi section rather than Music.
Mine, in no particular order: - k d lang - Drag (vocal purity, midrange headroom, handling deep bass)
- Jewel - Spirit (vocals with deep bass, soundstage, vividness)
- Damian Rice - O (huge dynamic swings within a large spacious soundstage)
- Ry Cooder - Bop Til You Drop (detail and complexity, dynamic swell, natural sound)
- Yello - Flag (complexity, dynamics, left-right pyrotechnics)
- Vivaldi - Four Seasons - Drottningholm String Ensemble, BIS (massively compelling ensemble playing, big dynamics, complexity in a spacious acoustic)
- James Newton Howard & Friends - Sheffield Lab (fantastic, huge, drum sound)
- Duruflé - Requiem - Shaw, Atlanta, Telarc (massed choral sound, very deep organ pedals)
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Post by MikeMusic on Jan 8, 2015 9:08:08 GMT
Mavis Staples - We'll never turn back - Huge amount going on from voices to many instruments
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Post by julesd68 on Jan 8, 2015 12:20:56 GMT
Rush - Moving Pictures & Signals ... best recorded rock lp’s I have - startling clarity, dynamics, well defined bass and punchy drums
Holst - The Planets - HMV, Previn ... huge visceral impact and drama, great brass
Khatchaturian - Spartacus - Decca ... startling dynamic range, massed string tones, delicate treble
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2015 12:50:16 GMT
Dave Brubeck - Time Out....very clean recording and the best sounding sax - you can see every movement of his lips.
Karajan - Rite of Spring.......tremendous impact and impetus
Joni Mitchell - Hejira...........great bass lines and any system that doesn't make her voice a but thin is doing its job
Cubedo - Rodrigo/Bacarisse.... a recording with rather sharp treble but a good system makes it sound like real violins never the less.
Charlie Bird - Guitar Artistry... supercut recording - everything is crystal clear and imaging is superb.
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Post by MartinT on Jan 8, 2015 13:30:17 GMT
Guys - this is really useful but please could you state what about your choices helps with evaluation (just edit your posts)?
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Post by John on Jan 8, 2015 17:59:38 GMT
The Black Messiah Has great bass and texture I am listening to the whole of the track so seeing how it capatures the guitar etc
The next two tracks are about can the system capture my heart so I got a great vocal track by Diana Krell and some lovelly sounding guitar by Guthrie Govan
Next up is Jeff Beck A Day In the Life I am paying particular attention to how the bass underlines the guitar melody
I then start moving into world Fusion with Never Forget I am listening to the Tabla and drums and how realistic it sounds
Oriental Bass I want it to capture the speed of the bass playing
Sahara I am listening to how well it captures the Trumpet
Place to Be I want to capture the emotion and intimacy of the track
Sammi-Imas Lenni Kaille Trio Hoping to capture the sense of swing and how well it does keyboards
The last few tracks really start to tell about how well I will like the system and kind of my ultimate testing
Invisible Beauty of my Flower will trip up most systems as the sub bass can easily overpower the system or not show how deep the bass goes down I want to hear the keyboards and drums too
Waking the Witch I want to hear the Church-bells ringing
Last but least I play something that highly compressed can I hear the track with the energy and dynamics I expect from this. Sometimes playing something that is poorly recorded due to compression tells you a lot about the system
All tracks I know well so will pick out if anything is missing or anything suddenly comes to light
I also see this process as something very personal to me, it works well with the music I like and presentation I enjoy
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Post by MartinT on Jan 8, 2015 21:36:15 GMT
Thanks Jules & Gordon and thanks John for the playlist. I shall get around to listening to them all and adding to my repository of evaluation titles.
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Post by MartinT on Jan 17, 2015 13:25:40 GMT
I'm adding: - Van Morrison - Common One (deep bass, incisive raspy trumpet and sax, utterly raw voice. An incredibly demanding but transparent recording)
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Post by jandl100 on Jan 19, 2015 6:30:11 GMT
- Weiss solo lute sonatas (vol 1 Naxos) - 3D imaging and focus of solo plucked instrument in a slightly reverberant church acoustic, very subtly portrayed. Resolution of transient plucks and rapid runs.
- Dream Theater 'Pull me under' track from album Images and Words. Sheer visceral impact of a rock band at 11. Ability of system to portray the excitement and sheer fun of the music.
- Shostakovich Ballet Suite #4. Jarvi / Chandos. Full orchestra from pianissimo to the max; system's ability not to squeal like a stuck pig - very challenging! Ability to capture the sheer uninhibited power of the recording. Resolution of different orchestral sections and wind solos at fff.
- Loreena McKennitt, Breaking the Silence on album Parallel Dreams. Solo vocal slightly set back. Opening pipe sequence - 3D imaging. Also, Huron Beltane Fire Dance from the same album - rhythmic ability, if your foot doesn't tap you're either dead or your system needs tweaking.
Those 4 will sort out the men from the boys as far as I am concerned. If I could only take one track - it would be the 2nd track on the Weiss solo lute sonatas album!
.... and to add a 5th - Blues for Klook, from Eddy Louiss' album Sang Mele. Transients, dynamics, deep bass, sheer fun. |
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Post by MartinT on Jan 19, 2015 6:37:16 GMT
Thanks, Jerry. This is building into a good evaluation resource.
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Post by John on Jan 19, 2015 8:38:48 GMT
I used to use Pull Me Under too. Agree gives that energy to music I love hearing Also should capture that dark energy of the band riffs should crunch drums should kick you in the gut!
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Post by tony on Jan 19, 2015 12:23:38 GMT
John Martyn -solid air. great vocals that move across the soundstage. Rasping sax. Danny Thompson making really low frequency noises on double bass that I unravelled on cans but are a good measure of system resolution. One of the staple tracks we use when the troops get together to have a listen to different kit.
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Post by Stratmangler on Jan 19, 2015 13:13:34 GMT
Some of this stuff sounds great on a transistor radio! If it can shine on a trannie radio it'll sound great on anything better that you play it on, including an all Linn system (I have never, ever heard an all Linn system sound good to be truthful, so I might be stretching a point  ). My list? It's not hard and fast, and usually comprises whatever titles fall to hand. Tom Waits - 16 shells from a 30.6 (from Swordfishtrombones) Frank Zappa - Revised Music for Low Budget Orchestra & Guitar (from Studio Tan) Frank Zappa - RDUNZL (from Studio Tan) Jack DeJohnette - Third World Anthem (from Rarum, Vol. 12: Selected Recordings). Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters (full album) Herbie Hancock - Future Shock (full album) |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2015 12:18:28 GMT
My premier evaluation track would be Mary Black's Columbus from her No Frontiers LP. It's got everything as far as contrasts in loud and soft natural instrumentation, great vocal and acoustic bass.
Joint second would be Tea For The Tillerman - Where Do The Children Play/Hard Headed Woman (Cat Stevens) and The Wall- Side1 ( Pink Floyd). Superb dynamic recordings on LP with the famous helicopter on The Wall to provide spine tingling effect.
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Post by MartinT on Jan 20, 2015 12:27:49 GMT
Joint second would be Tea For The Tillerman - Where Do The Children Play/Hard Headed Woman (Cat Stevens) Yes! That's a superb song and outstandingly dynamic, especially when he swells mid-song and raises everything to another level. |
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Post by tony on Jan 23, 2015 23:45:50 GMT
George Duke -You touch my brain......TAS sent me on the path!!!! Used it as test track today having a wee t amp bakeoff with a couple of the troops-Majik!!!
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Post by Pinch on Jan 26, 2015 12:38:45 GMT
These change for me according to what I'm listening to at the time, but the track I've probably used the most is this one from Alva Noto:
The opening few minutes help me to gauge bass (deep, clean bass sound), top end (clean, crisp, with a lot of air), detail (the screeching sound is texturally very complex), and imaging, as the stereo image undergoes some very sudden changes as the three noises interact.
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Post by jandl100 on Jan 27, 2015 6:42:19 GMT
Errr ... do you listen to that for musical enjoyment as well as system testing, Pinch? 
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Post by Pinch on Jan 27, 2015 8:09:01 GMT
Naturally  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2015 17:40:36 GMT
Ooooo like this thread, mine would have to be:
Röyksopp - Molody A.M. - Bass, bass and a bit more bass but also some challenging changes in percussion which a lesser system would bulk at.
Nitin Sawhney - Beyond Skin - Excellent bass extension, wonderfully rich vocals and excellent acoustic guitar work.
Blake Mills - Heigh Ho - for me simply the best Singer/Songwriter out there at the minute. Extremely well engineered album help bring out the talents of this guy and his band.
Django Django - Django Django - great intro track and mix between indie and pop/rock sound with a hell of a lot going on.
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms - sublime album with Mark Knopfler at his very best, well recorded and produced.
Paul
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