CD's you bring for auditioning

I've had a few standards over the years.

Peter Gabriel's soundtrack for "Last Temptation" has some descending patterns on tuned drums that are a great test of a system's bass response.

Don Dixon's cover of "Cool" from West Side Story on his "Romeo at Juliard" cd has close miked his bass and also features finger snaps that just "hang".

I also like the Shelby Lynne cd for female vocals.

The track "Sista" from the Rachelle Ferrell cd "Individuality(?) combines a well recorded rythm section with well recorded vocals.

Any of the cds from "Eels" or "E" provide taped and live material mixed to contrast the ambience between them. Very revealing. The track "Susan's House" from Eels' "Beautiful Freak" throes in some monster bass lines as a bonus.

A recent addition (for audition) is Lindsey Buckingham's "Under The Skin" cd. The tracks "It Was You" and "Show You How" are recorded to capture the ambience around multiple vocalists - the effect is pretty dramatic on the right system.

Marty

Some new ones that just came to mind: Chris Izaak's Baja Sessions, Dave Mathew's Busted Stuff, Midnight Oil's Earth and Son and Moon, Crowded House Woodface.

ben harper- burn one down, ground on down, and power of the gospel. burn for the percussion, ground for the way the song begins and ends, power for the intro.

Johnny cash- solitary man and the man comes around. solitary man for the guitar and the chorus of man comes around.

getz/peterson- blues for herky; there is a lovely interplay with stans sax and oscars piano.

gustav holst- jupiter from the planets, for the way the song builds throughout and be able to place instruments in the soundstage

brubeck/rushing- evening, you have jimmy rushings powerful vocal against the intricate backup of the great quartet.

Pink Panther soundtrack/theme song by Henry Mancini.

Try Master of Chinese Percussion - Yim Hok-man - crank it and listen carefully to the timbre. Sheffield Labs Drum Tracks 1 & 2 are useful too - again listen for timbre. Both should produce transients above 110 db at the listening position while still sounding effortless & clean (take an RS meter if in doubt). Both are available on XRCD.