[plonter]

I have a few tracks/albums i use as reference for testing new gear,but i always start with dream theater - "images and words" album...right from the first track.

 

[Bengt77]

I think for me it's Weird Fishes/Arpeggi by Radiohead. It has a lot to offer, in my opinion, for being able to judge a headphone. Not sub bass, though. For that, I'll go to Burial. Mostly his awesome track Etched Headplate. And some Talk Talk will do just fine for a low volume detail test.

 

[winds of change]

"Cordell" by Cranberries
"One of us" by ABBA
"Lisbon" by Angra
"Tears of the dragon" by Bruce Dickinson
 

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

Oooh.
Good call on that Michael Jackson track from INVINCIBLE.

The production on that record is STILL ahead of its time. Sonically...that's the record to beat.

Yup, the production is great. Sonic Haagen Daaz.
 

 

[vinnievidi]

It varies based on my mood, but the usual suspects are:
 
> Hooverphonic -Battersea
> Sigur Ros - Olsen Osen & Gobbledigook
> Radiohead - Subterranean Homesick Alien
> Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock
> Tool - Intolerance
> Émilie Simon - Opium 
> Phoenix - Lisztomania
 
> Natalie Dessay - I Puritani, O rendetemi la speme (from the Italian Opera Arias CD)
> Natalie Dessay - Lakmé Act 1: No. 2 Viens Mallika (AKA The Flower Duet)
> Julia Fischer (W/ Academy of St. Martin in the Fields) - Vivaldi's Concerto for Violin and Strings No. 4 in F minor (Winter) III Allegro
> Yo-Yo Ma - Bach's Suite for solo cello in G major, BWV 1007
> BSO - Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite - Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy/ Valse des flocons de neige 
> Debussy - Petite Suite, L 65 Un Bateau
 
> John Coltrane and Duke Ellington - In a Sentimental Mood 

 

[xnor]

Pink - Noise
 

 

[pataburd]

Allman Brothers Band: "Dreams"
Elton John: "Rocket Man"
Rachmaninoff: "Symphonic Dances"
Hollywood Bowl Orchestra: Western Movie Themes/"A Fistful of Dynamite"
Joe Williams: "Embraceable You"

 

[roger_s]

"Luck In My Eyes" from k.d. lang's "Absolute Torch and Twang". You will know within the first few bars if your headphone/amp combo are up to the task.

 

[dagothur]

Endzeit - Heaven Shall Burn
Grand Conjuration - Opeth
Turn the Lights Out - Hadouken!
Endzeit is great for bass and mid-range clarity testing.  Grand Conjuration is for higher range clarity and detail.  Turn the Lights Out is a sort of combination of all of them, and (for me) works well for that whole 'response' business.

 

[ianmedium]

This is a great thread, after all it is all about the music!
 
My regular test track that I know if they sound great everything else will are.
 
Shelby lynne, Album, just a little lovin and track of the same name.
 
Wagner Parsifal the Christian Thielemann recording
 
Keb Mo, from the album of the same name, Love blues
 
Iris Dement, from the album Infamous Angel, our town.
 
Leonard Cohen from the album live in london, Suzanne.
 
Pink Floyd, comfortably numb.
 
Bartok, Bluebeards castle, the Haitink recording.
 
Ralph Vaughn Williams, the lark ascending, the academy of st Martin in the fields recording

 

[Lavcat]

Quote:

"Luck In My Eyes" from k.d. lang's "Absolute Torch and Twang". You will know within the first few bars if your headphone/amp combo are up to the task.

I hadn't listened to that album since before this thread was started!  Took me a while but I just dug it out.  Good choice.
 
Down To the River To Pray was another good one.

 

[KingStyles]

Here is what is in my test rotation at the moment. I picked them for various reasons from rolling drum lines, electric guitars, deep bass, bass reverb, spacing and stage, layering and female and male vocals. In no particular order.
Queen -                            The show must go on
Nirvana Unplugged -           Where did you sleep last night
Alice in chains Unplugged-  Rooster
Pink Floyd -                       Hey you
Alecia Keys -                     No one
Diana Krall -                      Temptation
Ray Charles -                    America the beautiful
Eva Cassidy -                    Imagine
Kieko Matsui -                  Walls of akendora
Beethoven ( Carlos K) -      Symphony #5
 

 

[toidcans]

I do not why, but I end up always playing American Baby by Dave Mathews Band first after setting up a new combination of equipment. Guess it is just a song I am familiar with.

 

[8var]

Joni Mitchell - Hejira from the album Hejira (Jaco Pastorius playing the Bass...)

 

[chinesekiwi]

There are so many for so many different purposes tbh for me but if I was to choose one (for 'I can determine the most stuff about what it sounds like, it's strengths and it's flaws in one track than the others'):
 
'Protection' by Massive Attack
 
For 'OMG...the mastering and production on this track is insane':
 
Patricia Barber 'Nardis'.
 
But as I said, I use many tracks for judging different things about a sound.