[grrr223]

Is it bad when you have memorized your credit card number? I get bored at work and order stuff online, and my addiction to music and audio equipment offers an endless supply of things to spend my money on. Anyway, here are just a few of my thoughts and a couple of questions about some of the CDs I've bought recently:

The Ultimate Demonstration Disc: Chesky Records' Guide to Critical Listening:
This CD consists of 30 tracks, half of them are amazingly recorded songs demonstrating different audiophile terms used to describe music such as Atmosphere, Depth, Rhythm and Bass Resonance. It's intended purpose is to help people audition audio components. The other half of the tracks are voice introductions to what you should be listening to in the following track. I have not been a big fan of most jazz music, but some of the tracks on here are incredible, and I think I want to buy a few of Chesky's jazz CDs.

One of the tracks consists of a solo saxaphone player, and on my HD600s you can actually hear him pressing the keys as he plays, and the pads covering the holes on the instrument, it was incredible, it is the first time I've ever heard recording sound that real.

My question with this CD is this: How much depth and atmosphere should still be apparent with headphones? I know without crossfeed, you're missing a lot of cues to where sound comes from so I gues sI"m just curious about this, the disc sounds awesome on speakers too

Stereophile Test Discs 1, 2, and 3:
I bought these after subscribing to Stereophile, Home Theater, and Stereophile's Guide to Home Theater Magazines

, I really need to stop this madness (read as cut up my credit card). There are a lot of test tones from frequencies of 10 HZ I think to 20 khz, it's interesting seeing how your equipment performs as well as what you can here. I also used them to prove how ****ting my friend's CD10 headphones are when he "didn't notice any appreciable difference" between his sony and my HD600s. There is an awesome drum track on the second disc that has incredible stereo imaging, you can tell exactly where each cymbal is placed and that the snare is on ___ side and the toms on the other (I forget which sides, so don't quote me on that). That was the first time I heard anything that real (I got these discs before I got the Chesky disc) so now I know what to listen for.

My question here is: It says that the test tones are recorded at -20 db, does that mean that if I set my volume level to that tone (which is what one of the tracks tells you to do) that the maximum level the CD can play at is 20db higher than that? and that all other sounds will be softer than that down to, whta is it, -96db?

I highly recomend all 4 of these discs whether you use them to demo equipment, help set up your speakers, or to demonstrate to your friends just why you spend so much $$$ trying to achieve perfection with your audio system.

 

[reynman]

grrr223,

Welcom the the asylum. I recently bought all four discs, but I don't have a subscription to Stereophile. I used my debit card so they're paid off. But I know what you mean about memorizing the ol cc number.

I have listened to Rebecca Pidgeon's Spanish Harlem so many times through my rig. I'm gonna buy one of her discs from Chesky soon. Listen to that shaker and the pluck of the bass. You are right there are great sounding tracks on all the discs, though I have not sat down and listened to the test tones on the Stereophile discs, yet.

I asked joelongwood do an A/B between the Grado RS-1 and 325 using Spanish Harlem on the Chesky disc because I was considering a purchase between the two. I wound up with the 325.

Highly recommended discs as well.

Regards - reynman

 

[grrr223]

I totally agree with you reynman. I don't think I would ever choose to listen to music like that normally, but because I was learning about "High Resolution" I listened carefully and loved it so much, I will also probably buy it. You can find some chesky discs pretty cheap on www.half.com. On my speaker system, it sounds very good, but on my parents it sounds even better. They have some pretty decent JBL speakers that are a few years old now, but our family room is also a very open, two story space, and it just fills the room with sound, it's like she's there with you. I want a room like that in my house when I ever get one.

However, with my portable headphone system (sony D-E406CK and HD600) the bass isn't as present

, I'm hoping that it's a limitation of the amplification capabilities of the CDP and not the headphones, I pray that when I get an amp (probalby a total airhead) that I will be able to enjoy that same sound on my headphones that I get on my speakers.

 

[raymondlin]

Which one is it in www.half.com? is it this one?

http://www.half.com/cat/buy/prod.cgi...1876&meta_id=2

I walways want a CD like the one you mentioned.

 

[grrr223]

oh, sorry, the Ultimate demonstration disc I have not found on Half.com I bought it from Chesky's Website But the disc you mentioned I think will be my next purchase, along with volumes 2 and 3

.

 

[XXhalberstramXX]

grrr,
thats definately the limitation of your Sony CDP. I have a Sony too, and my HD600s sound absolutely wimpy and lifeless straight out of it. I also have a TA, and this improves the sound tenfold. And you certainly won't have too little bass once you get the TA (in fact with the crossfeed on you may have too much for some discs. But without the crossfeed, the sound is fairly even to my untrained ears.

I certainly wouldn't listen with my HD600s without the TA.

 

[grrr223]

Thanks for the info, that's music to my ears (obviously no pun was intended there ). It may be a while before I can buy a TA, so at least I have something to look forward too. I just spent over $350 on a CD burner (with warranty) and CDs...but hey, it's all about the music, right?