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Any song recommendations for testing purposes?

Preston8452

New Member
Hi y'all,

So me and my pal came up with an idea about testing our own " streaming system " and see which is better, but yeah ofc, there can only be one variable, otherwise the test wouldn't be fair, no?
we decided to only change the streamer/player in each test, well luckily, my friend who happens to be an ultimate PC Hi-Fi fanatic, so the test itself which became rather easy haha, equipment-wise for sure.

Last Sunday, we were just chilling in my living room and chitchatting, he said he wanted to listen to some new modern pop song, so I played Shiver by Ed Sheeran, and he said the dynamics don't seem quite enough, I was like what the heck do you mean, and he said his system could present more details in the music than mine, anyways, so I brought my streamer over to his place, and would like to have a competition hahaha.

As I mentioned, he's a PC Hi-Fi dude, so he's done a lot modifications and all that upgrade stuff to his PC, so he used USB port to connect to his DAC and the rest to play the same song, Shiver by Ed, well truth to be told, I also thought the dynamics weren't quite sufficient as well lol, ofc he said my perception was biased bc he judged my system first, thus, we both agreed to play some more complicated tracks, like classic genre or something, however, both of us aren't that much of a elegant music admirer I'd say, which I sincerely hope you guys can share some nice songs with me!!!

BTW, we both played TIDAL via Roon, the only difference is just he used PC, I used Munich M1T, no network switch or linear power supply attached.

Best,
 
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LOTS of them - plenty of demo-testing playlists and recommendations all OVER the AK site ...

Here's 3 - some of these may be a bit cliched -
but they get used all the time at the Audio shows -

Boz Scaggs - DIG - Thanks to you

Nils Lofgren - Acoustic Live - Keith Don't Go

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Couldn't Stand the Weather - Tin Pan Alley
 
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My go-to for testing purposes is “Pulp Culture” by Thomas Dolby off of his Aliens Ate my Buick album (4th track).
 
Great suggestions here so far. I tend to use certain tracks for different purpose. Thanks to you by Boz Scaggs is really great for bass testing even Morph The Cat by Donald Fagen. For overall well recorded, I tend to use Steely Dan- Hey Nineteen
 
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There are so many. Some ones I played over the weekend at a local audio event:

Billie Eilish - when the parties over
Rolling Stone - she’s a rainbow
Tool - chocolate chip trip
Myrra Malberg - Dragonborn
The list goes on…

Are you in Phoenix? If so, you should join the local audio club. We do all sorts of events including gear shootouts.
 
I did a collective question, here is what everyone contributed for their fav "system test songs" and why....

Mearle:
-Dire Straits -Money for Nothing, Dynamic range/Stereo separation
-Genesis -Squonk, Low end response
-Genesis -Dance on a Volcano, Dynamic range/Low end response
-Steve Miller -Space Intro/Fly like an Eagle, Low end response, frequency specrtum
-Steve Miller -The Window, Low end response , Dynamic range
-Allan Parsons I Robot -Some other Time, Low end response, Dynamic range, guitar, production
-Pink Floyd the Wall - The Happiest days of our lives, Dynamic range, I just love the Chopper really loud...
-Pink Floyd the Wall - Comfortably Numb, obvious reasons but mostly at 4:30 when Gilmour lays down those hard classic guitar licks for 2 min.

dcmfan:
-Muddy Waters combo -Acoustic Blues
-Jennifer Warnes and Rob Wasserman, "Ballad of a Runaway Horse".The bass notes in the beginning should be clear, distinct, and equally loud. The vocals should be centered and scaled correctly for a life sized solo performer.

FOH Engineer:
-Ray Montford -One Witness. (Totem speaker reference title)
-Ray Montfords stuff does all of this well , One Witness in paticular. CD
-Country Joe McDonadls, Paradise With An Ocean View.LP, or CD
-Van Morrisons, Versatile LP
-CPR, Crosby Pevar & Raymond off the hook SQ, and great material musically.
-Deodato's, Prelude Crazy good SQ and great drum tracks
-Bob James, Touchdown The essence of what we're talking about. Includes the theme from TAXI in long form LP
-The Essential Beachboys, Wouldn't it Be Nice...Vocal tracks only..This track is astonishing. This is a limited release from 1998, and worth finding. CD,Only.
If hearing the immaculately recorded vocals off the master tape of Pet Sounds "Wouldn't it be Nice" doesn't draw you in to listen carefully nothing will.

Mystic:
-Al Stewart, "Year of the Cat
- "Lord Grenville"
- "Sand In Your Shoes"
- "Broadway Hotel"

hjames:
-Boz Scaggs - Dig - Thanks to you! (Dig is a great album with a lot of Audiophile test tracks)
-Joni Mitchell - Hejira - Coyote; or - Amelia, or - Hejira (With Jaco Pastorius and Pat Matheny on bass and guitar - stunningly gorgeous)

Spitfirejoe
-Joni Mitchell - Overture / Cotton Club from Don Juan's Reckless Daughter.
In the Overture, listen to Joni's multi-layered voice, the acoustic guitar strumming and then Jaco Pastorius' bass dropping in from outer space. Then in the main song, check out the sound of Don Alias' subtle drumming. Finally, let all the disparate elements wash over you. Pieces and parts allow different instruments to step into the light for a moment and then recede...
 
How about Sheena Easton 9-5. My baby takes the morning train…i was joking with my daughters over the weekend, played the song and told them it was their Mom’s favorite back in the 80’s. Now I can’t get that awful song out of my head. What’s next? Wake me up before you go-go?
 
Supertramp - School

Lots of good Herb Alpert tunes too, his stuff was well recorded and if you have an overly bright system the horns will show that off in a bad way.
 
My personal go-to is Starship Trooper by Yes.

But a lot of the Beastie Boys has deep bass and bright highs.
 
Just two of many...

Jack Johnson (Brushfire Fairytales) Posters

Jennifer Warnes (The Hunter) Rock You Gently
 
Supertramp - School

Lots of good Herb Alpert tunes too, his stuff was well recorded and if you have an overly bright system the horns will show that off in a bad way.
From the same Supertramp album - Rudi. Starts with a piano solo and has a great bass drop after that.

Brian Ferry - True to Life
Stevie - Texas Flood
Nightnoise - Something in Time
IGY - Fagan (sort of the sound engineer's test track)
Tame Impala - Breathe Deeper (for a more recent recording)
 
John Lee Hooker: “The Healer” JLH with Santana. Excellent soundstage, sweeping percussion and soaring solos from Carlos. “Heal me Carlos, Heal me.”
 
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