Reference music for sound quality

[derf]

What are the songs/albums you use to test out a new player or new audio components? I know everyone has their preferences depending on what they listen to mostly and how they want it to sound.

For clean sound and good dynamic range:
*Peter Gabriel - So (1986)
*Pink Floyd - Meddle (1971)

Dirtier sound, but not saturated:
*Rush - Farewell to Kings (1977)
*Rush - Permanent Waves (1980)
*Rush - Moving Pictures (1981)
*Yes - Fragile (1972)
*Yes - Close to the Edge (1972)

Saturated sound (modern rock)
*Matthew Good Band - Underdogs (1997)
*Dream Theater - Awake (1994)
Dream Theater - A Change of Season (1995)

My father in law likes Beethoven's Egmont Overture, Op.84 from the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, which sounds very good

[CrowdAds]

[ZenChick]

IMO, anything that could render Green Day's Wake Me Up When September Ends (yes, another song that should probably go in the "Annoying-Ass Songs" category) well is worth getting. Say what you will about the song, it's got dynamics and complexity that's challenging to reproduce faithfully.

[sigsegv0x0b]

Ok this a question what do people use as reference when doing listeing tests on their players?

I will be honest my collection I sort of inherited from an audiophile friend but I find this material works really well to test players. I actually use it for listening tests with speakers also.

Dead Already			1	Thomas Newman			Reference CD Vol.4
Arose				2	Thomas Newman			Reference CD Vol.4
Power Of Denial			3	Thomas Newman			Reference CD Vol.4
Cold Cold Heart			4	Norah Jones			Reference CD Vol.4
New Favorite			5	Alison Krauss + Union Station	Reference CD Vol.4
Peel Me a Grape			6	Diana Krall			Reference CD Vol.4
Tango Til They're Sore		7	Holly Cole			Reference CD Vol.4
Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing	8	Chris Isaak			Reference CD Vol.4
Every Morning			9	Keb' Mo'			Reference CD Vol.4
Arrow Without Destination	10	Ottmar Liebert			Reference CD Vol.4
Mr. Bones			11	Steve Strauss			Reference CD Vol.4
A Case Of You			12	Diana Krall			Reference CD Vol.4
Just The Way You Are		13	Diana Krall			Reference CD Vol.4
Cinny's Waltz			15	Holly Cole			Reference CD Vol.4
Hella Good			16	No Doubt			Reference CD Vol.4
Money				17	Pink Floyd			Reference CD Vol.4
Angel				18	Massive Attack			Reference CD Vol.4
Color To The Moon		19	Bowers & Wilkins - VANR		Reference CD Vol.4

There is a lot more material I use actually, but this is usually the first set I would listen through.

[Andreas]

Pokemon - 2nd Series Theme.mp3
pokemon master quest.mp3
Pokémon Advance Intro 2 (Carrying On).mp3

My reference DAP is a nintendo DS lite

[dfkt]

Thomas Newman (ASoUE soundtrack), Diana Krall (IMO very cheesy non-threatening non-jazz, but well mixed/mastered), and Pink Floyd (DSOTM remaster) is on my list as well.

On the electronic side, I generally use Jean Michel Jarre - Aero (2.0 downmix), Photek - Seven Samurai Remix, Tim Exile - Silicon Chop, Dabrye - So Scientific.

For rock, anything Opeth, Japanische Kampfhörspiele (Hardcore aus der Ersten Welt), Big Lazy, Tom Waits (newer recordings) is fine for me...

Orchestral and dense stuff: Howard Shore's LOTR soundtracks, Fauré's Requiem, Ligeti's Atmosphères, Arvo Pärt's Arbos, Boulez - Notation, etc...

Jazz: Arne Domnerus - Good Vibes, Dee Dee Bridgewater - Tribute to Horace Silver, Mel Tormé - Concord Years, etc...

Oh yeah, Ultrasone's Binaural test CD is nice as well.

[derf]

Same thread I started a while ago. http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ad.php?t=17636

To check if I liked the sound signature of the IEM I got (and returned) recently, I mainly used Red Rain by Peter Gabriel.

[emfa]

Eric Clapton - Change the world

Edie Brickell - What I am

Evanescence - Good enough

Any Dolby Digital ,THX sound test

Star Wars movie songs

[sigsegv0x0b]

Originally Posted by emfa

Eric Clapton - Change the world

Edie Brickell - What I am

Evanescence - Good enough

Any Dolby Digital ,THX sound test

Star Wars movie songs

And your dap can decode ac3 with dolby virtual headphone? If so which dap is it . Would be interesting to have a DAP that supports that to try AC3/DTS music on it.

[RCM]

Originally Posted by sigsegv0x0b

And your dap can decode ac3 with dolby virtual headphone? If so which dap is it . Would be interesting to have a DAP that supports that to try AC3/DTS music on it.

Maybe he has the soundtrack

[kadajawi]

For bass I use DJ Magic Mike - World's Deepest Bass (or something like that).

Then the 5.1 version of The Eagles - Hotel California, you can downmix that one for a DAP.

1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky, though that one is more to test the home stereo... the cannons are amazing.

The first song on Friday Night In San Francisco by Al di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía. Live recording that sounds as good as it can get... you really think you're sitting in some small club or so with these extreme good guitarists sitting in front of you.

Therion albums, starting from Vovin maybe. Wonderfully produced metal with lots of classical influences and instruments... you usually seem to get at least 2 choirs, a few classical singers, one or more orchestras... amazing stuff.

And maybe some Jazz albums, newer ones tend to be produced great. Something like Silje Nergaard for example (her Live in Köln is also a great example for a wonderfully produced live album).

The Fall of Troy - F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X. (or so). Just love it.

And the Scenes from a Memory by Dream Theater would be something I would want to test too.