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What's your reference Album (CD/LP) for bench testing a hi-fi/Head phones ?
For me atm it has to be
'Katie Melua - Piece By Piece'
The CD is so well recorded and equalised, The vocals on 'Nine Million Bicycles' send a shiver down your spin on a decent set of can's or speakers, great for testing the mid to top end frequencies on your equipment.
Anyway, What's your reference album for testing hi-fi gear ?
If it sounds good, then the equipment is utter crap.
That's really funny.
(I usually use two wildely different genres for redbook: 1) Alison Krauss + Union Station Live; and 2) Tool, AEnima. Both are very well mastered. Alisson gives me the vocals, mids & such, and Tool gives me low end).
__________________ Phones/IEM's:Grado GS-1000's; AKG K-701's; Sennheiser PX100's; Shure E530's; E4C's PC system:Flac level 5>Foobar 2K>M-Audio Transit>Grace M902 headphone amp/DAC/preamp> KingRex T 20 amp (w/T-Rex 2.1 Mods and KingRex PSU)>Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 75th Anniv. Ltd. Ed. Speakers CD/SACD/DVD-A:Marantz SA8001 or Denon 2200>Grace m902>KingRex amp/psu >Wharfedale speakers Analog: KAB modded Technics SL-1200 MK2SE>Yaqin MS 12B Tube Phonostage>Grace m902>KingRex amp/psu>Wharfedale speakers Bedside: IRiver H140> Headoom Microstack via optical>K-701's Travel: Laptop>HR Bithead>IEM's Ultra Portable: I-Pod Nano>Xin SuperMicro IV>IEM's Other toys: Sony digital receiver/5.1 speakers for SACD/DVD-A; Monster Power Pro 2500 power conditioner; VPI HW-16.5 record cleaning machine; Xin SuperMicro III v.6 headphone amp; too many cables and not enough music Coming one day, maybe: Xin Reference HPA
for rock, i like to use live acoustic works - something where i can really hear the voices and instruments clearly. one of my favorites for this is KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza. For classical, i often turn to Bach's violin concertos by Hilary Hahn - great performances and sound.
The CD is so well recorded and equalised, The vocals on 'Nine Million Bicycles' send a shiver down your spin on a decent set of can's or speakers, great for testing the mid to top end frequencies on your equipment.
X2
__________________ Not only am I member of Girl-Fi,I'm also the president.
For sale:
Nata 4 now
I use different records depending what i am willing to test, and different genres,for example
Rush - 2112
Emerson Lake and Palmer - Brain salad surgery
Dire Straits - s/t
Exodus - Bonded by Blood
and many others....
__________________ PC rig: Winamp>Asio output>Audiotrak prodigy 7.1hifi > Optical out > Zero dac-amp@OPa627/LT1364 > Woodied MS-1 Vinyl rig: Vintage turntable > Goldring elan > Tcc-750 > Little dot MKII @ 6n6p/M8100 tubes > Beyerdynamic))) Dt-990 Pro/ grado Sr225 On the upgrade list:Project xPression III, that 30 years old no-brand plastic TT has to go...
I always go straight for the Infected Mushroom, though - particularly songs like Dancing With Kadafi - my #1 go to song for testing what the phones can handle in a variety of ways
I tend to have a lot of individual tracks to test individual things with, too
__________________ The portable rig - Rockbox'd 5.5g 80gb iPod Video --> PX 100s / HD280 Pros
The home rig - Oppo HD-981DV --> Parasound D/AC 1100 --> Woo Audio 6 --> HD600s / Edition 9s
I use Shpongle's '...And The Day Turned To Night' and 'Beija Flor' to test the 'color' and dynamics (from 'Are You Shpongled' and 'Nothing Lasts', respectively...Beija Flor is the first 3 tracks on Nothing Lasts). Dancing With Kadafi would certainly be a good addition to this stage of the test.
I use Robert Rich's 'Shadowline' and Murcof's 'Oort' to test detail and, again, color (from 'Electric Ladder' and 'Cosmos', respectively).
I use basically anything by Amon Tobin to test for SLAM and, again, detail resolution, as his music can sound muddy and congested on some equipment.
And finally, I use Beethoven's 'Moonlight' and 'Pathetique' sonatas, preferably performed by Arthur Rubenstein, to test detail (yet again), sibilance and any other anomalies, as I've found that piano recordings are absolutely merciless in revealing flaws in equipment (and vice versa - good equipment is absolutely merciless in revealing shoddy piano recordings).
__________________ HeadphonesSennheiser HD650, Audio Technica ATH-W2002, ATH-W11JPN, Sennheiser PX100, Sennheiser PX200, Sony MDR-SA5000 AmplificationCK²III-D, 3-Channel ß22, SOHA+JISBOS (In Progress), Bijou (In Queue), Yamaha RV-1105 SourcePC>Foobar>Hotrodded X-Fi, Cowon Audio X5 30GB, Marantz DV4600, Technics SL1200-M5G, Technics SL-DZ1200 MusicElectronica, ambient, IDM, beats, fractal groove, psychedelic, progressive house/trance/breaks, jungle, cinematic soundscapes, avant-garde, abstract, minimal, sonic forms of beauty, light and darkness.
What's your reference Album (CD/LP) for bench testing a hi-fi/Head phones ?
Linear Mode
