[s1rrah]

I'd have to immediately second the vote for Beck's "Sea Change".

That CD is always in my demo set.

Love when the bells come in on the song, "The Golden Age"

Great demo track for instrument seperation ...

 

[webbie64]

You can also look at:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/mus...phones-298123/
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f9/let...e-good-289055/

 

[LFF]

I'll second SR-71Panorama's recommendation as well as most of jilgiljongiljing's recomendations.

Anything released by DCC will be demo material. Most of the stuff released by MFSL will also be demo material. Reference recordsings, Chesky recordings and Sheffield Labs recordings will be great stuff as well.

XRCD's can be tricky. Some, like Bill Evan's - Live At The Village Vanguard are flat transfers from the master tapes and sound great. However, most of the XRCD releases are BRIGHT. WAY too bright for my tastes. On the other hand, some people like their music to "sparkle". In general, I recommend people stay away from these "audiophile" releases.

OJC, Pablo and Pacific Jazz releases tend to be flat transfers from the master tapes and sound great.

Harmonia Mundi and DG for classical are great as well. Most Philips recordings are great too.

Telarc is also a great label for classical and jazz.

Now, if your into collecting you can look into getting what are called "Target" CD's. No, they aren't sold at the retail Target stores but rather are called Target CD's due to the cross-hair artwork the CD's have. Most were made in Europe and almost all of the feature flat transfers of the master tapes and sound great.

One of the best sounding CD's out there is Eric Clapton Unplugged. It can be picked up for cheap and it sounds great. Another fantastic CD on the cheap is Paul Simon's Graceland. The original sounds best as it is not as loud as the recent remaster. However, I still do like the sound of remaster as well.

 

[mercbuggy]

The Naim own label stuff is pretty good for demos:

Welcome to The Naim Label

If people are 'really' interested in hearing a demo and being objective I always suggest the 'bring your own disc' approach. This way the listener is more likely to hear something 'new' from a tracks or albums they know really well.

 

[FrederikS|TPU]

Everything made by Steely Dan is well recorded. Nils Lofgrens stuff is also superb. All of the stuff I have heard on jilgiljongiljing's list is amazing so I will second that.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Few more cd's/dvd's more specific to demo usage

FIM Audiophile Reference IV (preferably SACD, the cd is pretty good as well)

Telarc - 1812 Overture SACD(Just for the Cannons and dynamic range)

Blood, Sweat & Tears 3 MFSL SACD (for the horns)

Eagles - Hell Freezes Over DVD (intro to Hotel California makes a great demo)

Sting - Brand New Day SACD (Thousand years has a very deep bass line you will feel the presence of only if your speakers are placed correctly, else you won't feel it)

The Ultrasone Demo CD (excellent demo for headphones, not so much for speakers IMHO)

Dream Theater - Awake (If you want to showcase some metal/progressive rock, the first song sounds great on headphones, bass drum in particular)

Donald Fagen - The Nightfly (since I mentioned Dan before, this has to be mentioned as well)

2L Nordic Sound demo cd (You can get a free copy from the 2L website, has some good songs which give a sense of space and depth)

Derek Trucks Band - Songlines DVD (Good concert, high quality video and audio)

Chesky Demo CD SACD (Has a good track by track description on what aspect to focus on for each song)

Micheal Jackson - Thriller (ok, not the best of the bunch, but very recognizable, so it can make your equipment stand out more)

Radiohead - Amnesiac (very underrated album, has a vinyl like quality to the recording, not many ppl like it, just a personal fav of mine)

Ozric Tentacles - Spirals Into Hyperspace (Good electronic, rock, techno fusion music, excellent recording with terrific bass playing)

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Sky Is Crying (MFSL) (Chtlins Con Carne has an incredibly natural and Live sound to it, highly recommended)

 

[GravityEyelids]

i'm surprised noone mentioned the Led Zeppelin 2 disc DVD set. Sounds incredible considering it was shot like 40 years ago on extinct equipment.

 

[LFF]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GravityEyelids /img/forum/go_quote.gif i'm surprised noone mentioned the Led Zeppelin 2 disc DVD set. Sounds incredible considering it was shot like 40 years ago on extinct equipment.

I didn't mention it because it is way too loud (see "Stop The Loudness War!!!" link below in my sig). It may have been done 40 years ago but that equipment was used well. Try to find the original pressings on LP or CD or, better yet, the Classic re-issues to really hear what Led Zeppelin can sound like.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

Old thread but I thought I would throw this out there. I just got my first real pair of cans the other day and I was listening to some streaming internet radio and Aerosmith "Dream On" came on and I was blown away. It made me realize how much much music I was actually missing by using bad headphones. I would definitely add that track to my list if I were doing equipment demos.

 

[Jo-Vo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jilgiljongiljing /img/forum/go_quote.gif (...) CD's (...) Liquid Tension Experiment - Liquid Tension Experiment (...) RHCP - Blood sugar sex magic (...)

Even if I like this CDs I would not agree about them being well recorded/mastered. Way to loud -> distortion.

I agree about some other recommendations which are:
Rebecca Pidgeon
Zero 7
Steely Dan
Beck - Sea Change

I would add:
Massive Attack - Mezzanine

Jonas

 

[GravityEyelids]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LFF /img/forum/go_quote.gif I didn't mention it because it is way too loud (see "Stop The Loudness War!!!" link below in my sig). It may have been done 40 years ago but that equipment was used well. Try to find the original pressings on LP or CD or, better yet, the Classic re-issues to really hear what Led Zeppelin can sound like.

Yea, I have the ZOSO re-issue CD and it is excellent

 

[Headphile808]

The Blue Coast Collection The E.S.E. Sessions SACD
Jazz At The Pawnshop SACD
Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon 30th Anniversary SACD
Bill Evans Trio Sunday At The Village Vanguard/Waltz For Debby SACD
The Dave Brubeck Quartet Time Out SACD
Miles Davis Kind Of Blue SACD
Ray Charles Genius Loves Company SACD
Bucky Pizzarelli Swing Live SACD
The Allman Brothers Band At Filmore East SACD
The Beatles "Love" DVD-Audio
The Eagles Hotel California DVD-Audio
The Beach Boys Pet Sounds DVD-Audio
Buena Vista Social Club DVD-Audio
Good Luck & Happy Holidays

Headphile808

 

[chadbang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by s1rrah /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you haven't heard Rebecca Pidgeon sing, "Spanish Harlem" ... then your missing one hell of a nugget demo track. But GAWD!! You have to find a copy of Rebecca Pidgeon's rendition of "Spanish Harlem," ... really ... it's *THAT* good.

I'm sorry, but all copies of that record should be rounded up and burned. I don't think I've ever heard a worst rendition of Spanish Harlem in my life. The only reason Rebecca Pidgeon even records is because her husband, playwright David Mamet, bankrolls her expensive recording sessions with the best producers. Rebecca Pidgeon's "singing" on that track sounds like 14-year old performing at a conservatory recital without a wit of soul or emotion and the least expressive phrasing in the world. You can close your eyes and imagine her teacher trying to keep a smile pasted to his face while tapping his palms together: "There ... is ... a ... rose ... in .... Spanish .... Harlem...." Bwahaha. I've never heard a worse singer in my life to become an "audiophile darling." Sure the recording is good, but the performer is dreck.

Pidgeon aside...

I would say

The Buena Vista Social Club (tremendous soundstaging)
The Boatman's Call (Nick Cave) A beautiful Abbey Road recording
I See a Darkness – Bonnie 'Prince' Billy -Great minimalist recording
Tori Amos - Famous Blue Raincoat (Album: Tower Of Song: Songs Of Leonard Cohen)

 

[milkweg]

Nox Arcana - Blood of the Dragon

Really good for demoing the bottom end frequencies.

 

[Lornecherry]

...running DVD-A or XRCD into a good DAC will give you excellent resolution, as good as SACD, and in some cases, much better. And I agree with Hell Freezes Over, there probably will not be a better mastering until hell does freeze over.

Expensive and hard to find SACD: "Blues in Orbit" and the very best in my opinion, is the Wilson Audio Demonstration CD (made for dealers demoing $100K Wilson speakers).

For midrange "bloom" and vocals, you can't beat Rebecca Pigeon's "Spanish Harlem" cut or some of the Patricia Barber and Jacintha SACD/XRCD, especially through a nice tube system.

Chesky and RCA Living Stereo are also well-mastered CDs, as are almost all JVC XRCDs, especially the Japanese imports.

Another very viable choice is to go to HDtracks and download some 24/96 cuts. The advantage of HDtracks is that you can listen to it first and they have many audiophile labels. The bad news is that you need a very good music server or computer based system (sorry about your wallet applies here) to take advantage of the superior resolution.