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Your 'unlikely' audiophile songs

post #1 of 53
2/19/09 at 10:52am
Thread Starter 
So what songs do you use / have found to test out your system that other people in the audiophile world wouldn't think of as 'audiophile quality'?

My nomination is 'Shut 'Em Down' by Public Enemy

Deep bass note throughout the song, very complex in production (great to test detail) and the cymbal sound byte as well throughout the song.
No hint of any Loudness War either.
What you should here is the deep bass note, the cymbals, the record scratching, the 'steam-bell' sound byte and a crowd chant all at the same time in the chorus!

What Public Enemy did production wise was crazy considering the technology they had in the late 80's / early 90's. Even mashups/remixes with modern audio and computer equipment and programs still doesn't sound as good.
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post #2 of 53
2/19/09 at 11:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chinesekiwi View Post
So what songs do you use / have found to test out your system that other people in the audiophile world wouldn't think of as 'audiophile quality'?

My nomination is 'Shut 'Em Down' by Public Enemy

Deep bass note throughout the song, very complex in production (great to test detail) and the cymbal sound byte as well throughout the song.
No hint of any Loudness War either.
What you should here is the deep bass note, the cymbals, the record scratching, the 'steam-bell' sound byte and a crowd chant all at the same time in the chorus!

What Public Enemy did production wise was crazy considering the technology they had in the late 80's / early 90's. Even mashups/remixes with modern audio and computer equipment and programs still doesn't sound as good.
Interesting choice. My choice is the last four tracks from Dark Passion Play by Nightwish: The Islander, Last of the Wilds, 7 Days to the Wolves and Meadows of Heaven. In order they test male vocals and acoustic guitars, thunder effects and wailing solos, bass and female vocals and finally pure awesomeness in that last track.
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post #3 of 53
2/19/09 at 1:17pm
Well, this might really come out of the blue but I really think 林宇中 - 淋雨中 has very good recording which is very surprising considering it's a commercial pop album. Not sure how many of you actually listen to Chinese music though. I love that album.
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post #4 of 53
2/19/09 at 1:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by uberburger101 View Post
Well, this might really come out of the blue but I really think 林宇中 - 淋雨中 has very good recording which is very surprising considering it's a commercial pop album. Not sure how many of you actually listen to Chinese music though. I love that album.
Is there a pinying (spelling?) transliteration of that name available? I can't read hanzi. Or Cyrillic for that matter. Yup, I'm pretty latin-alphabet-specific.

I love asian pop though.
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post #5 of 53
2/19/09 at 1:59pm
lin yu zhong - lin yu zhong
林 宇 中 - 淋 雨 中
It's a self-titled album, but I dont know why theyre different. Probably pronunciation or trad vs simp (or just a plain error on his behalf).
Source: myself, confirmed with chinese friend and google.
oh btw, for reference its pinyin
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post #6 of 53
2/19/09 at 4:05pm
sheryl crow - riverwide
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post #7 of 53
2/20/09 at 1:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by m0ofassa View Post
lin yu zhong - lin yu zhong
林 宇 中 - 淋 雨 中
It's a self-titled album, but I dont know why theyre different. Probably pronunciation or trad vs simp (or just a plain error on his behalf).
Source: myself, confirmed with chinese friend and google.
oh btw, for reference its pinyin
Should have clarified. 林宇中 is his name, while 淋雨中 is the album title and also means 'in the rain'. They sound the same because it was supposed to sound like a pun or something.

The pinyin by m0ofassa is correct, thanks for that.
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post #8 of 53
2/20/09 at 1:49pm
Unsolved Mysteries and For Reverend Green by Animal collective. They both have these weird 3-D guitar effects that are great for soundstage evaluation.
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post #9 of 53
2/20/09 at 4:17pm
Metallica's Re-load album. I've always loved the bass drum tone and sound in that album and I try and look for variations on different equipment.
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post #10 of 53
2/20/09 at 4:52pm
For soundstage and bass depth/extension, I've found this live Ryan Adams .FLAC to be among the best demo tracks imaginable.

You can download it yourself as it's a part of their public domain .FLAC archives:

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals: "Blue Hotel"

...

The song, "Damn Sam," from the same set, is also a winner:

...

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals: "Damn Sam"

...

Both of the above tracks ... the entire show, in fact, are some of the best soundboard live recordings I've ever heard.

On a good Stax rig, these tracks are magical ... you can hear the snare taps splash off the back of the medium sized hall and the occasional hoots from the fairly well behaved audience come from somewhere way outside of the headphones, that's for sure.

The entire show is available here:

Internet Archive: Details: Ryan Adams Live at Das Haus on 2006-10-17

Enjoy.

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post #11 of 53
2/20/09 at 5:10pm
Willie Nelson. His Stardust is something of an audiophile classic, but Red Headed Stranger is also excellent, as are most of his other recordings. Excellent test of male vocals and acoustic instruments - if Willie sounds good, the system sounds good.

Country gets little attention at Head-Fi, but I think it should have a wider audience. Forget the overproduced contemporary Nashville sound; I don't much like it, either. Classic country, alt.country, bluegrass, and roots have a lot to offer - I think many members are missing out on music they might love. The easiest path in is probably through Willie and Johnny Cash. Going backwards through Wilco's albums will get you there, as will Son Volt's first album, Trace.
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post #12 of 53
2/20/09 at 5:25pm
Perfect Enemy by t.A.T.u. was produced by Trevor Horn, along with the rest of Dangerous and Moving. The song, that is pretty much Violator era Depeche Mode, has surprising dynamic range for a pop tune and makes for a fun guilty, probably real guilty for some, pleasure.
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post #13 of 53
2/21/09 at 5:57am
I've been going over my Russian music collection and found out that Nautilus Pompilius' Titanic (song) sounds really good. Not sure if it sounds similar to other ears but I would qualify it as audiophile. Actually, most of their recordings sound decent. Maybe somebody who listens to Russian music can chime in about this as well.
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post #14 of 53
2/21/09 at 1:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by virometal View Post
Perfect Enemy by t.A.T.u. was produced by Trevor Horn, along with the rest of Dangerous and Moving. The song, that is pretty much Violator era Depeche Mode, has surprising dynamic range for a pop tune and makes for a fun guilty, probably real guilty for some, pleasure.
Some pop is ridiculously and surprisingly well-recorded. Not all, but some. Prime example: Michael Jackson's Thriller.
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post #15 of 53
2/22/09 at 5:35pm
A while back, a stereophile reviewer stated that Billie Jean was on his short list of reference songs. Anyway yeah, Thriller is legendary in many ways. The other QJ/MJ albums sound fantastic too, along with a-lot of pop at the dawn of the CD era. *sigh*, wish some things stayed the same!
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