[R-Audiohead]

Below you'll find a very short (and incomplete) list of specific songs I prefer to use for testing various subjective FR responses on gear.  I may add or remove songs whenever I feel, I just thought this would be a good place to store my list for others to view.  I may even come back and label which headphone of mine I prefer for each track listed.
 
More importantly, I'd love to hear what Head-Fi has to say!  Post your own favorite tracks for testing gear and a short bit explaining why you like the track--
 
TRACK LIST FOR COMPARISON THREAD—

• Maybe They’re Onto Us – Needtobreathe: Track good for kick drum and some trumpet/brass instrument.  Also vocal centric and cymbals with potential to get out of control.  Some string reverbs to listen to as well.  It is easy for the vocals to overpower everything here, and I feel like the right sound won't let the rest of the track lag behind.  That is what I look for most with this track, because a narrow soundstage will cover up a lot in my experience.
• My Immortal – Evanessance: Track demands piano definition and smooth upper mids to control the female vocals, which can get bright at times.  There is some electronic sparkle in the upper mids that should take backstage, but still be noticeable without much effort.  Evaluation of the crescendo towards the latter end of the track is also useful.  Lastly, the subtle string presence is also worth noting.  A great track for testing dynamic volume as well.
• Nobody Knows When You’re Down and Out – Eric Clapton: A great track for thick, low mid guitar notes.  Also a great track for testing separation, especially between the guitar and piano.  Has some potential to test soundstage/imaging, but mostly separation.  The strategic string bass should also be evaluated.  Separation, separation, separation.  
• Switchblade - Incubus: This track is on the list mostly for bass texture, both string and electronic bass.  The bass is actually quite fast... not lightning quick but it definitely should feel slick.  The plucking of the bass guitar should be prominent midway through the track, and easy tracked through the entirety of the song.  The big key here is if you can hear the string bass separated from the electronic bass. It offers quite a bit more in evaluating the highs as well as there is a lot of cymbal action that only sounds good if textured with proper decay.  Additionally, the vocals should not bleed into the cymbals at all, and in my opinion should sound pretty forward.
• House of the Rising Sun - Shawn Mullins: This version of the song is one of my favorites to test overall midrange vocals.  The dynamic perception should not be overly done towards the midway point of the track.  This track also holds a pretty good detail test by offering up some reverberations in the strings.  Ideally for me I'd like to hear a little sparkle at the end of each string recoil without interrupting the separation of each note.  This is a very midcentric song, hence I love testing it for midrange control, not necessarily dynamics.  Smooth midrange is the real big goal for this one.
• The Storm - Gaelic Storm: This track is similar to the aforementioned in that it stresses midrange, but definitely in a different way.  This song will glaringly reveal any potential weakness in the upper mids and will definitely show you how fast your equipment's treble is.  This is one of my favorite tracks for testing how nimble a piece of gear is, because the string notes will definitely carry a lot less energy without quick, accurate decay of the treble notes.  I know there have been some to say orthodynamics have trouble in the treble ranges despite the incredible speed they pack... this track is for you to try, orthodynamic owner!  Tell Me Ma  is another good track by this band that offers a speed challenge in the treble (not listed because it tests the same stuff as The Storm).
• Skippin' Stones - Flipsyde: Does your bass sound crunchy?  I hope not, but I find on gear that doesn't quite get the bass texture right it happens immediately and only gets worse on this track.  For this song, I think it sounds right when the bass is lively and dark somehow at the same time.  This is another song like #1 that can have the rest of the mids covered up by the dominant vocals.  I like this track for testing energy in the vocal ranges.  There is a small separation test too, listening to the acoustic guitar, bass, and forward electric guitar starting at about 1:44 and ending just after the 2:00 minute mark.  This is an energy track that might sound boring on more analytical equipment (of course, YMMV).
• Two Step - Dave Matthews Band: Another big one for testing separation, but this one is more of the nimble variety compared to #3 and has a bit better dynamics.  It doesn't test the guitar as well as Clapton's, but nonetheless this track has energy associated with it and demands attention to imaging and separation, as well as proper decay.  This is a great test track for seeing how well your gear manages a midcentrically "busy" sound, all while having the variety of vocals, strings, percussion, and brass.  A small soundstage will show it's ugly face on this one.
• Leaving on a Jet Plane - Chantal Kreviazuk: I like this track for testing "airiness" and string presence.  You should be able to hear dramatic strings behind the vocals throughout most of the lyrics along with a subtle strumming of an acoustic guitar, and specifically I like to listen to the difference in volume between the ranges, because I find each bit of my gear presents it differently, even if subtle.  The midbass note also needs to be accurate here, or it bleeds over the strings in the background momentarily.  On my equipment that separates well, I find that this momentary bleeding does not occur.
• Sing, Sing, Sing - Chicago: I use this one mainly to test out both brass instruments and bass control.  I think you should be able to never lose the bass guitar throughout the entire track except during the ukulele solo, and it should sound nimble, defined, and very forward at 1:27.  I listen for the tone and control when it is a solo (great spot to compare your gear for bass presentation) and then listen very carefully to see if there are any changes when the brass kicks in.  The energy towards the end of the song serves as a great test of coordination as well.  Overall, this is a favorite test track of mine because of the large variety of instruments being used.
• Raining in Baltimore - Counting Crows: I love this track for the piano (objectively) and the emotions (subjectively).  For a testing context, the presentation of the rich piano notes is something to observe, because I find it to change a little bit from gear to gear, even if the timbre is conserved.  This is hard to explain, but test it out for yourself!  This song is also great for tracking dynamic volume perceptions in the vocal ranges.  Mostly though, if I am using this track for evaluation and not easy listening, I am focusing on the piano response.  When I listen to this song, I want to hear three distinct layers.  See if you can pick out those layers...
• Show Me How To Live - Audioslave: This is one of my favorite rock tracks, because Chris Cornell has a great voice here and when he screams it is a great opportunity to test out your equipment - if his voice gets peaky and piercing outside of what was obviously intended, it shows a lack of treble control.  Also, the percussion is sweet (cymbals too) and this track provides a great opportunity to test out the response of thick dragging and somewhat edgy electronic grinds.  These are presented differently in different gear as well, and when done right I feel should have a little edginess to them... scratchy in a sense but still with good square wave response.  This track is very hard to get right in my opinion, but when done it is awesome.  Try it out on different gear? I find the entire presentation to change a lot.

 
 
***HAVE FUN POSTING YOUR OWN***

 

[R-Audiohead]

Track: Freak - Days of the New:
 
                KNS-8400: In the beginning of the track, it is apparent these have less sparkle associated with them, especially compared to the SRH-940.  The KNS-8400 sound darker than the Shure in comparison, but this isn't to say the KNS-8400 is dark sounding by any means.  Relative to the rest of the list, the KNS-8400 are probably the darkest set aside from the Senn HD448.  The repetitive strings sound full, but honestly the separation isn't as good as the upper mid string notes, and certainly nothing to boast about.  It isn't awful, but I can tell these aren't speed demons.  KNS-8400 do a pretty good job at separating the strings from the vocals and actually present a pretty decent dynamic range in the vocals to my ears on this track.  They at least outperform the SRH940 in that regard, which surprisingly struggled presenting vocal dynamic range in this track.  Towards the end of the track, the whispered vocals are less upfront and the concluding symbol taps were less authoritative in the KNS-8400.  The whole track almost seemed to say "here, listen to this".  Nothing was really missing or emphasized, the vocals and strings were separated well, but a little bit better job of separating the individual low string notes would have been nice.  The KNS-8400 did the best in the vocal dynamics and had the most attack on the strings, but the decay suffered a bit as a result.  These cans really like strings it seems like!
 
SRH-940: The intro strings immediately sound brighter, but not necessarily harsher.  I can say the strings are less forward actually, but also blend a little too well with the vocals.  The subtle symbol taps are more apparent during the intro (especially) and throughout.  It all sounds airier, but surprisingly less separated.  The attacks of the acoustic guitar at 1:45 are actually more laid back, having a little less bite than the KNS-8400. Is this a coloration, and on whose behalf...?  The midbass hole that is so infamously mentioned regarding the SRH-940 is apparent here in that the acoustic guitar notes lack body in comparison to the KNS-8400.  The off key strings right after 3:30 sound substantially richer on the 940s.  I also noticed that the 940 struggled a little bit in comparison with the dynamics which was likely a result of lacking the low mid tone that was necessary to really give the string notes some body.  However, the sense of space presented in the 940 was better than the KNS-8400, but not by a mile.  Soundstaging and imaging both were superior in the Shure in comparison to the KNS-8400.  Towards the end of this track is a really good opportunity to test speed in my opinion, and while the 940 seemed faster in treble response than the KNS-8400, it seemed less separated.  Overall, the experience seemed a little more smeared together and less articulate, which surprised me a lot considering my expectations of the Shure in this treble centric track.  I think this track does better with a warmer sound to it, and the SRH-940 are the coldest of the bunch to me.
 
SP-1: In the intro the cymbals, rhythm string and acoustic guitar were much easier to detect separately.  The rhythm guitar was much more detectable on the SP-1, as it was hardly noticed on the KNS-8400 or the "detail monster" SRH-940.  The repetitive low string note riffs recover much, much better and as a result actually become separated.  This is something the other headphones in the list failed to do outright, and it is qualities like this that continue to make me think that the SP-1 is the most refined headphone in the lineup.  Throughout the track, the vocals stayed very separated from all the strings and cymbal.  The presentation in the SP-1 was different from the SRH-940 and KNS-8400 in this regard-- the 940 blended the upper mids together, grouping the vocals and strings together a bit while the KNS-8400 did a little bit of the opposite, focusing more on the dynamic range in the vocals.  Surprisingly this relative emphasis in the KNS-8400 still did not really cover up the string instruments, but definitely closed the perceived space between the two (vocals and strings) as I heard in the SP-1.  The nimble nature of the SP-1 caused it to really dominate this track.  Since there are only a few instruments in play here, I should sense a lot of space and the SP-1 is the only headphone in the lineup that did it right.
 
QP805: The strings in the intro have a lot more body and are richer, but the mids just sound different, and the cymbal is actually really fast, but much more subtle than in the other headphones in the lineup.  The rhythm guitar is a little covered up with these, but the bass notes are just right, having a quiet but noticeable punch that was clearly lacking in the SRH-940 and a little smeared over in the KNS-8400.  I am noticing the same separation problems with the low string riffs (@1:42) in the QP805 that I did in the SRH-940 and KNS-8400.  The space isn't quite SP-1 status, but it is more spacious than both the SRH-940 and KNS-8400.  The dynamic perception of the vocals is somewhere in between the contained SRH-940 and fairly vocally dynamic KNS-8400.  The QP805 definitely has its eggs in another basket, and while it certainly didn't perform poorly here, it certainly wasn't my favorite for this track.  The dynamics were better than the SRH-940, but the speed was just a hair slower and the QP805 was just screaming to add more bass to this track, it seemed.  It didn't produce any bass notes that I didn't hear previously, but I will say the very few midbass/bass standalone tones that did exist in this track were done beautifully so.
 
HD448: I was originally having a hard time describing what I was hearing, especially in comparison to the reference sound and the other headphones.  It sounded the most different from the other headphones.  Don't let the price tag fool you on these, all of the strings had some bite on them.  The rhythm string in the right ear in the intro was a little less textured, but the accompanying acoustic guitar in the left ear was quite smooth but still had a level of sparkle to it.  Unfortunately the cymbals were quite masked.  The riffs lose the texture I prefer, the vocals are separated very well and actually sound gorgeous to me.  His vocals sound good on a dark set it seems, and the mere HD448 actually has a vocal range in this track that I prefer to the SRH-940 (price tag, schmice tag).  There are shortcomings of the HD448 that make it obviously a little behind the others in one area or another, but there is surprisingly a lot to like in the rich, laid back, and smooth presentation of the HD448 - all while still retaining solid dynamics in the vocals.  Honestly, this headphone did the whispered vocals at the end the best.  The HD448 might have caught a little bit of a break here because I think this track specifically compliments it well, but I think that is worth noting.
 
RANK:   SP-1 > KNS-8400 > HD448 > QP805 > SRH-940
 
I don't usually dislike the Shure SRH-940 this much, but it just didn't do well with this track at all. The dynamics were just gone.  It will be interesting to see how I feel once I do more tracks in the future.  Both the QP805 and SRH-940 have strengths elsewhere (and not the same strengths, either)
 
Just a few notes:  All listening was done out of the FiiO e7/e9 combo, and a reference sound was listened to first before listening to the track several times over on each headphone.  Testing was not random per se, as I did not use a random number generator, but I assure you I A/Bed each headphone against one another at least once with the track.
 
Reference Sound (External) - Two Canton 509.2 DC towers in stereo powered buy a Pioneer SC-35

 

[R-Audiohead]

Will add track and gear impressions in future

 

[R-Audiohead]

Will add track and gear impressions in future (claiming posts so they are towards the front in case anyone feels like responding)

 

[R-Audiohead]

Will add track and gear impressions in future (claiming posts so they are towards the front in case anyone feels like responding)

 

[R-Audiohead]

Will add track and gear impressions in future (claiming posts so they are towards the front in case anyone feels like responding) **Not duplicates**

 

[R-Audiohead]

Will add track and gear impressions in future (claiming posts so they are towards the front in case anyone feels like responding)

 

[R-Audiohead]

Will add track and gear impressions in future (claiming posts so they are towards the front in case anyone feels like responding) **Plan on editing to add tracks and gear impressions**

 

[kkl10]

Interesting impressions there, R-Audiohead.
 
I would like to add some off the tracks I find usefull to test my headphones.
WARNING: I have very exotic musical tastes! A lot of experimental and avant-garde intelecto-weird stuff.
 
I regard very highly Autechre 'music', I think that their music demands a really capable system to be fully apprecciated.
 
Some of their immense tracks that put a system swimming on it's sweat:
 
Perlence - Speed, articulation, bass extension and control.
 
90101-5l-l- Speed, articulation, bass extension and control.
 
Perlence Subrange 3 - Usefull to assess a system tonal balance and spacial capabilities (depht and imaging). I believe that the background ambient of this track should be perceived (or a system should render it) as dark yet spacious, distant yet clear and easy to see though. It should be a somewhat relaxing listening experience. If there is a peak somewhre on the FR of an headphones this track will show it clearly.
 
Nine - Some spatial cues.
 
Basscadet (Bcdtmx) - This track should make you feel that you are there. Speed, articulation, transparency.
 
Dael - Speed, bass control.
 
Otomo Yoshihide: Modulation #2 - Low level resolution, alot of spatial cues hiden on this track, you should have some subtle out of the head moments, nice rendition of plucked string instrument, enerving sine tones .
 
Quatuor Ebène: Ravel: Vif Et Agité - String instruments attack, articulation, bass extension.
 
Osmo Vänskä & Minnesota Orchestra: Ludwig van Beethoven - The Symphonies - Spacial resolution, low level resolution, overall resolution, Dynamic Range!
 
Maurice Ravel's Daphnis Et Chloé and La Valse by Pierre Boulez & Berliner Philarmoniker:  - Spatial resolution, dynamic range, bass control and impact, vocals, overall resolution.
 
Time to go to bed now, lol, will give some more when I can.

 

[kkl10]

David Sylvian. Emily Dickinson, Manafon, The Good Son, The greatest living english Man and a lot of other tracks from Blemish or Manafon albums - Transparency, tone, Human voice, nice renditions of acoustic guitar(Derrek Bailey), nice rendition of saxophone (Evan Parker), imaging, low level resolution, etc depending on track...
 
Evan Parker. The Snake Decides(album) - Saxophone microtones and microtextures, articulation.
                     Tempranillo(album - Nice Saxophone and Piano renditions.
                     A Deeper Red - Acoustical Transparency.
 
Iain Ballamy. Quiet Inlet(album) - Transparency, bass extension and control, treble extension, tone, acoustical transparency, soundstage, imaging, low level resolution, etc depending on track...
 
Ben Frost. Theory of Machines(album) - bass extension and control, FR peaks, etc depending on track.
                By The Throat(album) - Transparency, articulation, same as above, speed, etc depending on track.