[Audio-Omega]

Metal Gear Solid series
Silent Hill 3
Final Fantasy series
The Lord of The Rings (all three albums)

 

[b0ck3n]

One Winged Angel..... yeah that's serious epicness for ya.

 
Quote:

Metal Gear Solid series
Silent Hill 3
Final Fantasy series
The Lord of The Rings (all three albums)

 

[fatcat28037]

If you're looking for a CD that will help you determine what your system is capable of, try this.
 
 
 
If you're just interested in listening to Very Very well recorded music, then try this,
 

 

[Rock Drummer]

I agree I have the Chesky sampler and one of my favorite demo songs for clarity /female vocals is Rebecca Pidgeon-Spanish Harlem.

 

[Phasey]

My current  favorite is 'Preservation, An Album to benefit Preservation Hall.

 

[BluFalcon]

Though not frequently mentioned, Michael Jackson Thriller, especially Human Nature. 

 

[kryten123]

My current favourite album for testing heaphones against is  Songs: Ohia - Lioness
 
The music is very airy and detailed with fantastic clarity on the vocals and electric guitar (played almost acoustically). What makes this the perfect reference album for me is the fact that most tracks have a deep, deep resonating bass guitar line. To get this bass line to sound transparent, detailed and weighty and at the same time allow low level details such as very light brushing of drums and cymbals to still be heard further back, is nothing short of astoninshing to me. I've tested a few IEMs against this album and it just re-affirms how brilliant my ACS T1s are.

 

 

[nickum32]

I am quite proud of my subwoofer, and to showcase that, I usually throw on some Daft Punk, specifically Around the World/Harder Better Faster Stronger from their live recording. But for my system overall, I love Angels & Airwaves, particularly The Adventure, which has a very good dynamic range, and is great at showing off everything from the 12-inch subs in my floor standing Marantz's to the super tweeters.

 

[Alu]

Another incredibly well recorded album is Quadro Nuevo's Mocca Flor. It's a German Jazz band.
 
The music is really stunning. Love those guys.

 

[akart]

Well, SACD is not only expensive, but also a dead-on-arrival format, since it does not let you use an external DAC.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Well, SACD is not only expensive, but also a dead-on-arrival format, since it does not let you use an external DAC.

 
First, many SACDs are priced the same as Red Book and there are many affordable ones. Even when they are a dollar or two more, I happily pay it. The difference is worth it.

Second, most SACD players have excellent internal DACs. Thinking that you "need" an external DAC is snobbery. Digital conversion is a solved problem. The biggest difference between digital sources is power output. If you level match digital sources, they're eerily similar. So you don't have to run a DAC unless you actually need one, like when using a computer-as-source. Even then, paying a lot for a DAC is mostly a waste. That is unless you're trying to impress people with how much you paid for your rig. In that case, buy the most expensive stuff you can afford and a certain segment of the audiophile community will be jealous. That's worth the money, right?

Third, SACD is a successful niche product. You don't have to sell to everyone to turn a profit. But SACD sells enough to justify its existence. It has taken over the role that reel-to-reel had. Reel was never a monstrous commercial success, but it sounds great and sold enough to exist for a long time as a high-end format. Today, SACD is the high-end format.

If you think the demand isn't there, go look at prices for OOP discs on eBay. The prices wouldn't be climbing if people didn't want them. SACD will be around for awhile more. No, you won't get the latest Bieber disc on SACD, but high-quality classical and jazz will keep coming. A lot of us happily pay for it - something that can't be said of popular music.

 

[9pintube]

Quote:

Well, SACD is not only expensive, but also a dead-on-arrival format, since it does not let you use an external DAC.

So true, Thank Sony for that.......Now, how about DVD-Audio Disc.......They can "run through your dac" and sound Damn good to me.....But once again thank Sony for Killing those off.....While I'm bitching'. I know several people are down loading Music, be it MP3(crap sound) or the better HD reference down loads and using their laptops for their source....Now this is fine but have you checked  a place who sells Cd's lately...Best Buy is down to 4 rows of Music Cd's.. About 10 or 12 rows of DVDs or Blue ray Disc, You've all heard about Borders going under, IMO here's why, I go in their to get Greg Allmans new "low Country Blues" They wanted $18.99 for It and I said hell you can get it at amazon for $9.50...no wonder they're going under.....Anyway,  ...... My 1st choice that I buy are, The Vinyl releases, but I do buy Cd's for my headphone listening and my car and truck music.......But DVD-Audio disc give me the best sound from my headphone system.......Have you checked the price of those???? 

 

 

[akart]

I have to disagree on the point made about the external DAC. I love the crossfeed and the custom oversampling on my DAC. I can't live without the xfeed on my StageDAC. That precludes me from using an SACD player. So, although DAC is a solved problem, features differ.
 
The other reason is that I already have an excellent DAC and I am not going to pay bucks for another "excellent internal DAC". It is a shame that the SACD standard does not allow unencrypted digital PCM output.

 
Quote:

 
First, many SACDs are priced the same as Red Book and there are many affordable ones. Even when they are a dollar or two more, I happily pay it. The difference is worth it.Second, most SACD players have excellent internal DACs. Thinking that you "need" an external DAC is snobbery. Digital conversion is a solved problem. The biggest difference between digital sources is power output. If you level match digital sources, they're eerily similar. So you don't have to run a DAC unless you actually need one, like when using a computer-as-source. Even then, paying a lot for a DAC is mostly a waste. That is unless you're trying to impress people with how much you paid for your rig. In that case, buy the most expensive stuff you can afford and a certain segment of the audiophile community will be jealous. That's worth the money, right?Third, SACD is a successful niche product. You don't have to sell to everyone to turn a profit. But SACD sells enough to justify its existence. It has taken over the role that reel-to-reel had. Reel was never a monstrous commercial success, but it sounds great and sold enough to exist for a long time as a high-end format. Today, SACD is the high-end format.If you think the demand isn't there, go look at prices for OOP discs on eBay. The prices wouldn't be climbing if people didn't want them. SACD will be around for awhile more. No, you won't get the latest Bieber disc on SACD, but high-quality classical and jazz will keep coming. A lot of us happily pay for it - something that can't be said of popular music.

 

[akart]

No, I have not looked at DVD-A. I wonder how many labels produce DVD-A recordings. Although if it does allow digital out, I would check it out for sure.
 
Quote:

Quote:

Well, SACD is not only expensive, but also a dead-on-arrival format, since it does not let you use an external DAC.

So true, Thank Sony for that.......Now, how about DVD-Audio Disc.......They can "run through your dac" and sound Damn good to me.....But once again thank Sony for Killing those off.....While I'm bitching'. I know several people are down loading Music, be it MP3(crap sound) or the better HD reference down loads and using their laptops for their source....Now this is fine but have you checked  a place who sells Cd's lately...Best Buy is down to 4 rows of Music Cd's.. About 10 or 12 rows of DVDs or Blue ray Disc, You've all heard about Borders going under, IMO here's why, I go in their to get Greg Allmans new "low Country Blues" They wanted $18.99 for It and I said hell you can get it at amazon for $9.50...no wonder they're going under.....Anyway,  ...... My 1st choice that I buy are, The Vinyl releases, but I do buy Cd's for my headphone listening and my car and truck music.......But DVD-Audio disc give me the best sound from my headphone system.......Have you checked the price of those???? 

 

 

[wuwhere]

I will be getting a universal player with a really good DAC chip.
 
My reference CDs are:
 
Nojima Plays Liszt - Reference Recordings
Eagles' Hotel California - DCC Gold
Pink Floyd's Meddle - MoFi
Eagles' Their Greatest Hits - DCC Gold
LA4's Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte - East Wind from Japan
 
I have others like Mark Levinson's CD collection that I have not listened for awhile.