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What source do you use to demo equipment?

Hello. After decades of enjoying my home audio system, I find myself beginning to look for my final end-all dedicated music system. So I am beginning to look at speakers, amps and source components.

The question is: with all of the new streaming services and hardware, when you go into an audio salon, what do you listen to as your baseline music and via what format? I used to take a few CDs along, which were familiar to test the musicality of equipment. With all of the streaming and source hardware variables, what do you use? I had an experience recently where I had a salon queue up a familiar song via their streamer and it sounded horrible. It lacked any dynamics compared to what I was familiar with. I went home and listened to it on my streamer and the same thing. It sounded terrible compared to the CD version.

So how do you get the consistency of sound for listening tests? What sources do you listen to when testing?

 

cooperdude6
alaric62
91 posts
 

Well recorded cd's on my Marantz SACD player has never been beat by streaming to my ears.

Same. A decent quality music file burned in my Plextor ODD and played through the SA8260 is the best sound 've gotten from my rig. Rumors of physical media's death are greatly exaggerated, and I've been hearing that prediction since the first "extinction" event of vinyl in the mid 80s. (Has it really been 40 years???) Hell, you can still find blank cassette and reel tapes for sale.

richardbrand's avatar
richardbrand
1,391 posts
 

@ghdprentice 

do your homework and there isn’t any advantage to physical media any more

My homework tells me that if I want high resolution multi-channel I should stick with SACD and Pure Audio Blu-ray disks for the next few years!  I guess you stick with two-channel stereo?

There is no guarantee that a streaming service will continue to support the same content, or even that the service will survive as a business.

The internet does not guarantee availability either and will be the first target in a war zone.  We have had multiple recent examples of the internet failing.  Next week my partner’s home and business services will be disrupted for upgrades. I am hoping the upgrades will fix the dropouts I get when attempting to stream.  I advised my partner to install Cisco internet phones, which are critical for her business, so next week will be interesting.

I travel in my motorhome, and take hundreds of disks with me.  There is no terrestrial internet or phone coverage across the vast majority of Australia’s land mass - the best you can hope for is an expensive satellite service or a half-duplex HF radio signal bouncing off the ionosphere.

Oh, I do have multi-channel in the motorhome via a Marantz network receiver, Sony 4K universal disk player, B & W speakers and a powered KEF subwoofer.  Completely off grid, too!

 

boomerbillone
402 posts
 

Hello all!  I demo with tracks ripped from CDs and a few direct downloads from the internet. Happy Listening.

wolf_garcia
6,896 posts
 

I use a recording of a 1920s steam train crashing into a pile of pea gravel.

roadwhorerecords
337 posts
 

The source and genre of music depends to whom I'm demoing .

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