Reference tracks to test bass?

here are a few tracks i always use to test the bass capabilities of my phones:

Something More Besides You - Cowboy Junkies

or, hech, the whole Lay It Down album.  the album as a whole has a warm sound with lots of bass.  this song starts off with some low floor-tom work, and a really deep bass hit.  not as deep as electronic music, but what you're after is to be able to hear the tone of each tom that is struck. 

Take the Power Back - Rage Against the Machine

this song starts with kick drum.  and, has lots of headroom, so it allows you to crank it up really loud.  good headphones will let you take it to that rock concert level to see how good the bass impact is.  when it distorts, you have reached the end. 

If you want some electronic stuff:

Set Me On Fire - Pendulum

Let The Story Begin - Sub Focus

Destination Paradise (Airbase RMX Remix) - Trance Party Vol. 1

Slam - Pendulum

And if you can handle listening to rap:

Thug Motivation - Young Jeezy

Here are a few tracks.

Joni Mitchell- "California" : a very simple but excellently recorded track with voice, mandolin and a stripped down drum kit. But the point is the kick drum is't supposed to be mega head shaking but there. It tells me allot about the midbass, listening to it's texture it should sound tight not flabby or too loud in the mix. 

Eddie Gomez- "We will meet again" from the album "Gomez": Another simple but excellent recording featuring a multitrack recording of two stand up Bass parts that over lap and interplay. I listen to the differentiation between the different parts and it's a really beautiful track

Massive Attack/ Mad Professor - "I spy" from the album "No protection": Most Massive attack tracks are pretty bassy and with a dub monster at the mixing desk this track is full of low end energy that can get muddy or just fall apart. 

Daude "Marinheiro So": A very short little track from a Brazilian singer that features a synth bass hit at the end of the track that drops off a cliff. 

Rush - Tom Sawyer, for kick drum impact, and electric bass reproduction.

Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior,  10 minutes of well recorded acoustic double bass, and impactful kick drum again.

Emerson , Lake and Palmer - The Barbarian, with powerful speakers the synth intro is head-shaking, test how your headphones perform in comparison.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ANinjaBurrito 

If you want some electronic stuff:

 

Set Me On Fire - Pendulum

Slam - Pendulum

Pendulum rockS!!

You can also try this track from Bass outlaws:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJTDLxdfY7o

I second the Rush: Tom Sawyer recommendation. 

Another album with really good bass is Bela Fleck: Flight of the Cosmic Hippo.  IMHO, this is by far the best Bela album and has awesome sound quality.  I find the other albums a little too cheesy but this one is good. 

Pat Metheny: Imaginary World has great bass also.

18 dummy - Federation 

Prodigy - Charly

Can't believe noone has mentioned MASSIVE ATTACK-ANGEL. If you can get through the ultra-deep bass without distortion, congrats, you pass the bass test of all bass tests.

Pretty much everything by Massive Attack's got deep, deep bass. Though the "How To Destroy Angels" EP by the titular band is not light on bass either.

The whole 2001 album by Dr. Dre.
 

A dubstep mixtape... maybe something like A Second Opinion by NumberNin6  or Excision's Shambhala 2009 or 2008. Plenty of ridiculous sub-bass in large quantities and the genre is largely based around various levels of bass. Also second Slam by Pendulum, and there's this song by The Chemical Brothers - Under the Influence, that has a really silly bass drop at the start which I always thought would be a good tester and the rest of the song has a rather low rolling bass line.

Cee-lo green - 'Living again' has a nice rumble through it

My favourite bass songs:

"Banquet" - Bloc Party

"I Against I" - Massive Attack

or anything from Jamaican Dancehall Reggae

and from one BASS-man :)

Username: Bassthathz

Post Number: 1
Registered: Jun-07

I agree with Muddy, how loud it plays depends solely on your system/config and its power output.

Most of these songs I've listed here have hardcore "window shattering" bass (with a few exceptions). You really won't find any bass songs louder than these.

If these don't blow up your system, then nothing will...

For the highest recordings of infrasonic bass (0-20hz):
Bassotronics - Bass I Love You
Bassotronics - Don't Stop the Bass
Stunt - Raindrops

For 20-32hz:
Bass Mekanik - Subsonic Beat
Bass Mekanik - Dubalicious
Bass Hit - Flirting With Bass

For 30-40hz:
Daz Dillinger - My System
DJ BillyE - Beatz 4 My Van
Bass Mekanik - Low Roads
Bass Mekanik - Slow Down 4 Big Trux
Tipper - Twister
Techmaster PEB - Nuclear Bass
Bjork - Hyper-Ballad
Beyonce Knowles - Naughty Girl
Beyonce Knowles - Baby Boy

For 40-60hz:
Bass Mekanik - Faster Harder Louder
Bjork - Hunter
Big Tymers - Still Fly
Big Tymers - #1 Stunna
Benny Benassi - No Matter What You Do

For 30-110hz (wide range):
Bass Mekanik - Circuits Activated
Bass Mekanik - Tranx
Gorillaz - Double Bass