Good CDs to Test Your System


Hi All,

I am a classis rock kind of guy who has branched out into classical, blues, and jazz (yeah, I am not fifty anymore).

If you want to test your system's capabilities in soundstage and depth of field, what CD do you use?

Please share why the CD works for you.

Thanks, 

Dsper
dsper
I second the Cheskey Records Ultimate Demo mentioned above. It's specifically made for this. It has songs to test each individual characteristic and covers 90% of what you need. But it is lacking in a couple of areas that I fill in with ...

Metallica's Sad But True is the best for drums. Due to Bob Rock's use of lacquered plywood on specific areas of the wall the drum sounds on the Black album are unique and have a great mixture of direct and reflective sound.

The Cheskey record doesn't really have anything that adequately tests dynamic range, especially on the low end. For that I use the electronic music song Tiger Prowl by Cualli from the album The Monk of Chunk. If you listen very closely it's also a decent song for lateral imaging, but it doesn't have a lot of depth.

And for a mishmash of acoustic instrument imaging I use Doobie Bros Steamer Lane Breakdown.
There aren't any. LP. Records. Now you're talking.
Okay, so name a couple of good ones that would get at soundstage and depth of field. 

Dsper
dsper
Check out older DCC and MoFi Gold CDs of your fave classic rock titles.
Happy Listening!