Songs that really make the HD650 shine
May 9, 2006 at 2:08 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 23

003

Headphoneus Supremus
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I would like to show off my HD650 to my friends and family who keep saying the spending so much on headphones is stupid. I want to know, what are some songs and/or albums that REALLY make you say WOW when listened to on the HD650? Please list the songs/albums in this format:
Artist - Song/Album
 
May 9, 2006 at 2:22 AM Post #3 of 23
Mike Oldfield - Crises / Crises
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - East Hastings / F# A# ∞
Vangelis - Mythodea Movement 1 / Mythodea
Renaissance - Opening Out / A Song For All Seasons
Jean-Michel Jarre - Industrial Revolution Overture / Revolutions
Mike Oldfield - Ommadawn Part 1 / Ommadawn
Steely Dan - Hey Nineteen / Gaucho
Steely Dan - Black Friday / Katy Lied
Donald Fagen - Morph The Cat / Morph The Cat
The Doors - Riders On The Storm / The Best Of The Doors
Bach - Tocatta And Fugue / Baroque Festival
One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces - Ben Folds Five / Whatever And Whenever Amen
Mike Oldfield - Secrets&Far Above The Clouds / Tubular Bells III
Crash Test Dummies - The Unforgiven Ones / Songs Of The Unforgiven

Theres a few of my juicy favourites, I listened to them all with my HD650 as i wrote that list and they were all suitably impressive.
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For a Real WOW though, get them to sit all the way through Mike Oldfields Hergest Ridge, Pink Floyds Dark Side Of The Moon, Jean-Michel Jarres Equinoxe or Sigur Ros - Takk.
 
May 9, 2006 at 2:31 AM Post #4 of 23
the classic refernce track-billlie jean michael jackson
 
May 9, 2006 at 2:50 AM Post #6 of 23
Quote:

Originally Posted by 003
I want to know, what are some songs and/or albums that REALLY make you say WOW when listened to on the HD650?


Songs with no bass and too much treble.
 
May 9, 2006 at 4:16 AM Post #9 of 23
Quote:

Originally Posted by 003
I would like to show off my HD650 to my friends and family who keep saying the spending so much on headphones is stupid. I want to know, what are some songs and/or albums that REALLY make you say WOW when listened to on the HD650? Please list the songs/albums in this format:
Artist - Song/Album



Personally I love live recordings for showing off 650s. That and well engineered female vocals. Here are some of my favorites...

Eric Clapton – Unplugged (Live)
Good room ambience. Pure and simple.

Mary Chapin Carpenter – Party Doll and Other Favorites (Live)
Song: Quittin’n Time
Intimate vocals. Can hear reverberation roll through the concert hall.

Patricia Barber – Nightclub
Song: Autumn Leaves
Trio. Excellent acoustic bass solo. Several deep and impactfull base notes.

Diana Krall – All for You
Tracks 9 & 11

Dave Brubeck – Time Out
Track 2 – Strange Meadow Lark
You can hear how the piano is oriented / angled in the room. (some tape hiss)

Simon & Garfunkel – Old Friends (Live)
Track 10 – A Poem on the Underground Wall
Ambience of a large auditorium. [Recorded in 1969]
 
May 9, 2006 at 7:52 AM Post #11 of 23
Mike Oldfield - Voyager
Atmospheric flutes, bagpipes and electric guitars, all in good Celtic tradition. What more do you need? Why doesn't this one ever get mentioned? Try the song Dark Island. Sounds just perfect with the hd650's.

Nils Lofgren - Acoustic Live
Basically anything live sounds good on headphones, but this is probably the best acoustic guitar performance I've heard.

Porcupine Tree - Warszawa
Another excellent live album. The presence is extraordinarily real and lifelike.

Patricia Barber - Cafè blue
This is one of the albums that will impress you by sheer production quality, if nothing else.
 
May 9, 2006 at 9:26 AM Post #13 of 23
I don't have the 650's, I have the 600's, but I remember two songs getting me hooked and that always impress my friends when I play them:

Bach - Little Fugue in G Minor
Great dynamics and fun to listen to, I'm afraid I'm not very good at making colorful descriptions lol. It is one of those songs where you wish you had a larger amp.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Your Work
I don't know what soundtrack or play in particular this is from, my friend gave it to me years ago. But at the end the vocalists come together after serenading one another into a multipart harmony and the female vocalist goes into her upper register culminating together. It gets me every time on these phones.
 
May 9, 2006 at 9:39 AM Post #14 of 23
Quote:

Originally Posted by 003
I would like to show off my HD650 to my friends and family who keep saying the spending so much on headphones is stupid. I want to know, what are some songs and/or albums that REALLY make you say WOW when listened to on the HD650? Please list the songs/albums in this format:
Artist - Song/Album



The songs THEY listen to. Nothing beats hearing revelations from your own favourite tunes and the HD-650 can handle most music genres with aplomb.
 
May 9, 2006 at 9:47 AM Post #15 of 23
John Cage's 4'33".







Sorry, couldn't resist. I agree with Zorander. The best is to play them songs that they like. However, I wouldn't go down this road. They won't understand. They'll think you're even crazier.
 

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