1: AC/DC: Thunderstuck the dynamic in the first couple of "Thunder" just blows me away.
5: dire straits: sultans of swing
well this one is a little warmer and more guitar. classic rock surely is one thing to be proud of, humanity!
Great songs, no doubt. But sonically they are quite simple, useful to check general impression and general balance. If hp's or gear fails in such tracks they are worse then garbage.
4: pink floyd: dark side of the moon: Time
Prised here many times. Serves to test everything except bass extension.
7: Yosi Horikawa: Bubbles
Fun. And Yes, I completely agree that it serves perfectly to test details. About soundstage situation is more complicated. If we take width as a distance from left to right, then this track do not offer exceptional. It has width, but what is more important for me - this track offers depth (front to back)! Not much, but easy to hear if your cans offer it.
Also tried other tracks from 2012's album. Fun to listen, especially "Letter". But nothing special for HiFi testing.
Considering his nex, 2013's album, the track "Splash" is good for testing detalization, but in a narrow frequency range.
2: Jennifer Warnes: Way Down Deep
Agree with
thingol. Very good to test lows, since drums have deep bass extension. Hp's without extension, and more importantly - w/o body and control of lows will sound horrible. Also take into the account that cans with upped mids will give a sensation of forward female voice. Way too forward. Please take into the account that control of lows, especially of extended lows greatly depends on gear.
6: Chris Jones: Long After You Are Gone
Also 100% agree. Track has prominent extension in lows, so consider this detail while listening.
3: The Who: Baba O' Riley:
The Who never were the guys of my realm. This particular track I checked in HiRes (24 but/96kHz). I can use it somehow to revise detalization in mids and lower treble, but mostly it goes in 11kHz range, some seconds up to 14kHz. Regular lows. So 0% usability to test modern gear and headphones.
I consider this track for some kind of audiophile porn: the ping-pong balls and the bubbles are exteremly crazy: very good track to test details and even though it doesnt have any instrument in it, the soundstage too