What recordings do you use?


I have two recordings i use to test peoples stereo system for being able to unravel low level detail. One is for the analog front end. On the Second Winter LP the very first song "Memory Pain" just a split second before the guitar opens up the song you can hear a cough. A turntable which is a set up properly should present this. What's also great about this album to is it is a three sided album and since side four is blank you can use it for adjusting youe anti skating.
For testing the digital realm I use a song off of Stan Ridgway's Holiday in Dirt "Beloved Movie Star"(the cb demille mix). As it states in the liner notes on the third verse if you listen very carefully you can hear Stan's dog Bart barking away. If your system reproduces these then you have a very revealing system
What songs do you use for system testing?
qdrone

Showing 1 response by zinfan2

When trying out new tubes in my system, I like to use Miles Davis and the Jazz Giants CD. I listen to hear how Milt Jackson's vibes ring out in the opening notes of the first cut and whether there is a relatively silent floor beneath Miles' trumpet when it first comes in. I then go on to John Fahey's Railroad I or Yellow Princess (LP or CD), to see if it sounds like a real guitar. Lately, I've been using a recording of Mahler's 4th: an arrangment for chamber ensemble conducted by Douglas Boyd that presents a lot of inner detail and different timbres, plus lets you judge how well a soprano sounds.