[h-man]

Time or Great Gig in the Sky of Dark Side of the Moon (the whole album usually!)-Pink Floyd
Paranoid Android - Radiohead

 

[dura]

Chris isaak, Wicked Game.
Contrary to my hifi, I use my headphonesets mainly for relaxation while commuting/travelling. In that phase I'm allergic to exaggerated transients.
On his song you should hear the song be driven by the guitarflow, not by the drums.
There is a kind of warm sonority; if a player can't reproduce that quality, it's not a good player to relax with.
Still enough details on the number to do a first assesment of resolution too.

 

[LFF]

Rebecca Pidgeon - Spanish Harlem
Mozart -Requiem
Bing Crosby & Louis Armstrong - Muskrat Ramble
Durante - Magnificat
Durante - Beatus Vir in C
Bach - Little Fugue
Chabrier - Espana
and a lot more.

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bosch I'm listening to this CD right now for work!! I usually play 'Take California' first from this album to gauge general impact, and then skip to various other tracks. 'Better?' (track 4) has a great deep bass kick that I use to check bass punch and/or boominess, but the whole album has a fantastic mix and gutsy sound.

Yep I love the whole album - in fact it's one of the rare albums I bothered to rip onto CD-R just to get a bit more of the oomph from it - placebo be damned!

 

[xantus]

The Decemberists - California One Youth and Beauty Brigade (the cello in the beginning is a real good test of bass extension)
VAST - Touched (can these cans just rock out?)
Bjork Live@Royal Opera House - Echo, a Stain (can they put me in a concert hall?)
Radiohead - Subterranean Homesick Alien (but mostly how can they deal with texture and separation)

 

[strogg]

van halen - Dreams

that's always the absolute first thing i play to initially enjoy my new/modded cans or new/modded amp

 

[D-EJ915]

Blindside - Sleepwalking

It instantly tests out the bass

, and it sounds awesome.

 

[Cyrillic]

I don't have a default song, per-se. Often one of the first albums I use is Paul Van Dyk - Out There and Back (Disc 1), but I think this is a little slow for testing purposes. A good song is Solar Factor - Urban Shakedown (Original Mix). Other than trance, maybe AC/DC - Thunderstruck on occasion.

 

[Mr Iriver]

Led Zeppelin's stairway to heaven, and coldplay's don't panic.

 

[furiousgeorge]

tool - lateralus. i never listen to tool anymore but i know this song so well that i use it for testing stuff out. after that i ususally just play whatever it is im digging at the moment.

 

[Zuerst]

For me there isn't a set first song but "Course of Nature - Better Part Of Me" always seems to be the first few I listen to.

 

[kaxixi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrkangpae Saint-saens Sym. 3 "Organ" - Maestoso (2nd half, 2nd mvt.)

I listen to that one too

If you don't feel your hairs standing up on the back of your neck, you know something's wrong (I just mentioned that recording in another post: http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=101226 ). And... for the percussionists out there:

--New Orleans Bump from Marsalis' Mr. Jelly Lord (drums and cymbals, oh my).
--Paul Simon's 50 ways to leave your lover (Steve Gadd's intro tests soundstage and bass)
--Rhapsody in Blue from Stereophile's Test CD Sampler (listen for that--oh, there it is--woodblock)

 

[Panther37]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bosch I'm listening to this CD right now for work!! I usually play 'Take California' first from this album to gauge general impact, and then skip to various other tracks. 'Better?' (track 4) has a great deep bass kick that I use to check bass punch and/or boominess, but the whole album has a fantastic mix and gutsy sound.

OMG I LOVE the Propellerheads. Even though they have some good bass, I think that made their beats to be nice to speakers too. I had/have a pair of E888s that I had to send back to Bluetin becasue the left side would Click with some songs when using MegaBass. None of the Prop songs set it off. Master P - Make 'Em Say Uhhh would set them off without MegaBass! I think I'm gonna test off that song next time. I always listen to Dr. Dre - What's the Difference. The first bass note should let me know what's up.

 

[Spyro]

Pat Metheny Group.... "Proof"
Dave Weckl Band...."Wake Up"
Yellowjackets..."Statue of Liberty"

 

[Jimothy]

I usually whip out QOTSA - "Rated R"
I've heard the album so many times and I love it