Music to test equipment by....

jimmkitts

Active Member
Ok, you all know the situation. You just bought a new turntable, amp, speakers or you changed something about your listening envirnment and you have to run a sound check to test it or play with it.

What music do you use?

Since I was a kid and bought my first stereo in 1978 or 1979, it was always Steely Dan's Aja album. I know, no real shocker there. Most people from my generation (I am 58) either use that or used to use that. Over time, I found I also liked the sound of Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow, but in reality it was just the song "Cause We Ended As Lovers". Now, I have a new one to add to the list.

Well, not new exactly. Linda Rondstat's Living In The U.S.A.. Just One Look, Black Roses White Rhythm And Blues and Mohammads Radio. Great engineering on that record. Then I will throw on some modern semi-metal to make sure that works too. Recently got "Blood" by In This Moment on vinyl and that seems to work pretty well.

So, what do you use? Lemme hear it

Jimm
 
For years it was The Nightfly by Donald Fagen and Tricycle by Flim & The B.B.s.
Now I use a number of different disks for specific purposes. The Flat Earth by Thomas Dolby on LP is great for testing low frequency response and something called Like Waves Against The Sand with these really fast Chinese drums tests the tracking ability. The ultimate tracking test is Telarc's 1812 Overture when the cannon fires. I've seen it pop the stylus right out of the groove on some tables.

While most music test disks are very high quality recordings, sometimes playing a really bad recording/ transfer can also tell a lot about the system. Dreamboat Annie by Heart on CD has plenty of "nasties".
 
Sigh. Every time this topic comes up (and it comes up a lot), I suggest "Jump Into the Fire" by Harry Nilsson. The part where Herbie Flowers unwinds the E-string on his Jazz Bass is a great test for woofer excursion and indeed, the whole Schmilsson album (originally an RCA Dynagroove pressing) is beautifully mastered and of high sound quality.

Oh, and welcome to AK!
 
Since I was a kid and bought my first stereo in 1978 or 1979, it was always Steely Dan's Aja album. I know, no real shocker there. Most people from my generation (I am 58) either use that or used to use that.

Guilty as charged, but it is only #2 on my list, behind Supertramp~Crime of the Century and followed by Pink Floyd~DSOTM, but I am also in your age bracket. All three are well-recorded/engineered albums.

But that is not THE critical factor. Most important is that you listen to something that YOU are intimately familiar with--something YOU listen to on a regular basis, so YOU can do a valid comparison to determine whether it sounds, different, better, worse, or the same.

Ask any "honest" audio dealer, and they will tell you that they "optimize" the test tracks they play in the store, based on what sounds best on their gear in their room. Different gear (speakers especially) are better suited for different types of music. I can set up a system that will "blow your mind" with specific tracks of my choosing, but if you are not familiar with those tracks, it is meaningless, because you have never heard it before, and don't even know what it is "supposed" to sound like. Norah Jones may sound like she is crooning in the room with you, but if you go home and throw on your favorite Sex Pistols album, you may be seriously disappointed. Always do comparisons with something you know.
 
Cool thing about this thread is that it gives me more music to check out. I got into "Rock and Popular types" of music later than most. The first record I ever purchased was 2112 by Rush when I was 16. Some dude had signed up for the Columbia Record Club and I bought 13 records from him for 20 dollars. Found out later he needed the money to buy pot, LOL. But that put me on my path. But alot of music before that, I never really got exposed to. Some guy played me a track from Moondance by Van Morrison this week. I had never heard it before. I am going to check it out this week, as well as alot of the music you guys are talking about.
 
Cool thing about this thread is that it gives me more music to check out. I got into "Rock and Popular types" of music later than most. The first record I ever purchased was 2112 by Rush when I was 16. Some dude had signed up for the Columbia Record Club and I bought 13 records from him for 20 dollars. Found out later he needed the money to buy pot, LOL. But that put me on my path. But alot of music before that, I never really got exposed to. Some guy played me a track from Moondance by Van Morrison this week. I had never heard it before. I am going to check it out this week, as well as alot of the music you guys are talking about.
I've been using "what are you listening to now" for that. But it moves so fast I can't keep up.
 
I've been using "what are you listening to now" for that. But it moves so fast I can't keep up.
I do the same. I have made test music CDs but it generally comes down to whatever I was just listening to, because its fresh in my mind. Usually do this when I swap out an amp. and want to hear the difference.
 
It's long been held to audition new equipment, or repairs, is to use something you have familiarity with. It doesn't really matter what it is, as long as you know what content is contained in the selection. I agree with that premise.
 
Sigh. Every time this topic comes up (and it comes up a lot), I suggest "Jump Into the Fire" by Harry Nilsson. The part where Herbie Flowers unwinds the E-string on his Jazz Bass is a great test for woofer excursion and indeed, the whole Schmilsson album (originally an RCA Dynagroove pressing) is beautifully mastered and of high sound quality.

Oh, and welcome to AK!
One of my favorite tunes.. I have worn out 4 US copies and 1 German pressing before buying the CD. Son of Schmilsson is also very good. I used to use that LP to irritate audio sales guys by asking them to play it on their Bose 901's. The deep bass and drums are hard for the 901's to resolve, even using a Phase Linear 700. I use that LP and Beethoven's 9th as my primary speaker evaluation LPs.
 
Sigh. Every time this topic comes up (and it comes up a lot), I suggest "Jump Into the Fire" by Harry Nilsson. The part where Herbie Flowers unwinds the E-string on his Jazz Bass is a great test for woofer excursion and indeed, the whole Schmilsson album (originally an RCA Dynagroove pressing) is beautifully mastered and of high sound quality.

Oh, and welcome to AK!

Thanks,

And I just checked out Jump Into The Fire. Unfortunately, it was only on the computer, though computer speakers. That bass at the beginning sounds awesomwe, even on these. I am looking forward to checking it out on something decent. Thanks for the tip.
 
I just so happen to have a list of tracks... lol!! But first, my go to track for a quick system check to see if I think it will sound any good at all is #1 on the below list. Some of these songs are highly regarded as examples of both well recorded and well performed songs for evaluating systems and some are just fun and familiar to my ears and heart. So, without further ado...

1. L.A. Underground (Lee Ritenour & Larry Carlton) 5:48
2. Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) 4:54
3. Keith Don't Go (Nils Lofgren) 6:50
4. Thanks To You (Boz Scaggs) 6:01
5. True Love Ways (Buddy Holly) 3:00
6. Body And Soul (Diana Krall) 5:35
7. The Saga Of Harrison Crabfeathers (Brian Bromberg) 6:15
8. How's Your Mother-In-Law? (Red Norvo Quintet) 6:42
9. Welcome To The Machine (Pink Floyd) 7:31
10. Red Right Hand (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) 6:10
11. Tom Sawyer (Rush) 4:34
12. Go Hard (Q-Tip) 3:02
13. Know Your Enemy (Rage Against The Machine) 4:55
14. Locked Out Of Heaven (Bruno Mars) 3:53
15. Can't Stand Losing You (The Police) 2:59
 
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This question has come a lot in the years, and most no one really seems to pick good music for testing records, they all almost use the same old music, Dire Straights or Steely Dan, hell I am surprised someone doesn't pick the Beatles "Hey Jude". :D

One that I like to use is any good performance of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana",
 
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