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What to listen for?

This is aside to the obvious ones such as does a piano sound like a piano, the singer's voice sound close to them live, etc.

So, what I am trying to put together a list of songs where there is something specific to listen for. For instance, in the song Guinevere (CS&N) I have read that Crosby should sound as if he's standing in your room, front and center. On the acoustic Hot Tuna Album, they are playing in a bar and a beer bottle breaks landing on the floor  - it should be sharp and sound like it's in the room with you. On Babylon Sisters there are some cymbal crashes on the left that should be crisp and not smeared. On a Beatles song (I forget which), a chair squeaks and a door opens and closes in the studio. 

A good system will revel these little things. Any other that you have heard of? 

 

 

deadhead1000
zlone
1,349 posts
 

@ghdprentice I got halfway through your post without looking at the author and said to myself this has to be ghdprentice. Ever the voice of wisdom in this forum, I could not agree more with your comments. I am in the middle of a speaker cable search, on pair number four, and the differences are significant, but so far only one gives me what you are talking about and makes me want to listen more.

My addition to the comments on details, at the beginning of Miles Davis' My Funny Valentine someone in the audience coughs. You can hear this on any system, but the clarity improves with the gear.

 

ghdprentice's avatar
ghdprentice
9,465 posts
 

@zlone Thank you. I appreciate you kind words.  
 

@clearthinker I have the Nutcracker recorded there. One can hear the train passing under.

clearthinker's avatar
clearthinker
1,582 posts
 

@ghdprentice      With Previn and the LSO.  I have quite a few others as well.  I like the recordings, even with some rumblings every five minutes.  I guess they could have done the recordings at night.

mihorn
909 posts
 

At 1:44 in below video, with engaging the Pure Audio mode of Oppo-95, slight brightness and smearing sounds change to more focus and transparent sounds. Alex/Wavetouch **disclose - I sell this modded Oppo-95.

 

gardners501's avatar
gardners501
165 posts
 

I have a CD of Leonard Bernstein conducting Appalachian Spring with the LA Philharmonic. I played it a few months ago for the first time in years (also for the first time since making several significant upgrades to my system). I had pulled it out and put it on just because I wanted to hear Appalachian Spring, paying no attention to who the conductor was.  Several times during the quiet section within the first few minutes of the piece I heard a soft human voice grunting, or saying a quiet "uhnn." As soon as I heard it, my mind said, "that's Bernstein." I knew his voice because I've watched videos of him in rehearsal. It was absolutely crystal clear and obvious in my current system, but I don't recall ever noticing it during the many times I played this CD in years past. Now that I know it's there, I can discern it listening to a YouTube recording, but it doesn't stand out, and I certainly wouldn't have identified the grunter listening to it that way. Like the OP said, not really a critical test of a system, but kind of fun!

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