3 songs you would choose to test speakers

[NickJ]

Although I am sad at the lack of annotated photo walkthrough of MWAF (cough cough) the question of what songs are good tests for speakers has gotten me thinking. If you had three songs to act as quality and torture test of speakers what would you pick and why.

The following is my first crack at a list.

Florence and the Machine – No Light No Light
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGH-4jQZRcc
Rational: Strong female vocals; Big, dynamic sounding song; Good bass-line around 3 minutes; maybe a little over produced.

Yakko Kanno – Tank!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhCDqek_HcI
Rational: Big piece with a lot going on, good stuff going on in all the registers. Sadly, the version I have linked to sounds compressed to me.

Caged The Elephant – Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBgp5aDH23g
Rational: Well produced; Strong male vocal; Great soundstage test; Natural sounding instruments; spans sounds found in a variety of musical genre

Runners up
The XX – Islands http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PElhV8z7I60 - Both male and female vocals; fairly serious bass; also not the best produced song in the world.

Die Antwoord – Zef Side (:39-1:20) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_pS46YRMIQ - Because…I think it would be hilarious that’s why. It is also short and beyond the bass drop has some interesting details that don’t seem to resolve on all speakers.

[AR3A]

Dire Straits - Iron Hand
Strong bass, male vocal

Pink Floyd - Shine on you Crazy Diamond (part one)
Just an awesome song, great dynamics, covers a wide frequency range.

Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
Female vocals, smooth sound

[DIYNut42]

I definitely agree with Shine On You Crazy Diamond for all the reasons given. That or Pink Floyd - Time.

For good hard hitting bass and strong male vocals I'd have to go with Rammstein - Ich Tu Dir Weh (I don't recommend looking up the lyrics in English. Kinda ruined the song for me...)

Those, and the 2nd movement of Beethoven's 7th for a wide range of frequencies, plus it's one of my just one favorites that I'm familiar with.

[mattsk8]

Since Dire Straits came up, I'll say for sure Once Upon A Time In The West. Awesome all the way around!

[Pallas]

My full "speaker audition" list is here, but if I had to winnow it down to three, they would be the following:

1) Excerpts from Shostakovich 7, Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting the St. Petersburg Phil. Not my favorite read of DSCH 7, but one with the most breathtaking recorded dynamic range.

2) Natalie Merchant, "Ophelia" (Ophelia)

3) Either Radiohead, "Separator" (The King of Limbs) or Alice-in-Chains, "No Excuses" (MTV Unplugged)

[WernerM]

Mannheim Steamroller "Toccata" first song off of Fresh Aire III Synthesizers, Drums, wind instrument

Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms" Male vocals that really can image well due to the quietness in certain areas, guitars
or
"My Parties" Male vocals, guitar, horns, percussion

Steely Dan "Hey Nineteen" Do I really need to explain?

And I would have to add a fourth...

Chaka Kahn "Ain't Nobody" Female vocals, synthesizers, various percussion

[craigk]

ah come on, its not that kind of hurt, it the the good sado-masochistic hurt. one thing to remeber about music that is using a synthisizer is that it is a created sound, so what do you compare it to for evealuation ? i agree it is great for extreme bass notes and dynamics, but as far as music goes, it is not so good. i have several cd's that use a lot of synth, m jonasz (spelling french swing) and one of my favorite cds earth city express way. the second is all synth and i listened to it for 2 years before i realized this. still very fun to listened to.

[WernerM]

ah come on, its not that kind of hurt, it the the good sado-masochistic hurt. one thing to remeber about music that is using a synthisizer is that it is a created sound, so what do you compare it to for evealuation ? i agree it is great for extreme bass notes and dynamics, but as far as music goes, it is not so good. i have several cd's that use a lot of synth, m jonasz (spelling french swing) and one of my favorite cds earth city express way. the second is all synth and i listened to it for 2 years before i realized this. still very fun to listened to.

Agreed about synthesizers, that is why I like music that mixes synth with real instruments.

[AR3A]

Pink Floyd - Echoes

[fjhuerta]

Wow, two of my favorite songs have already been mentioned...

Dire Straits - > Money for nothing. The recording is just superb. I particularly like to listen to the electric guitars during the ending. In a good system, they sound like separate instruments... I don't know how to explain it. Poor systems just make them sound like noise. I like the JVC K2 version of the album.

Steely Dan - Hey Nineteen. My wife says this is my favorite song for testing speakers. I just know the way it should sound. Somehow, after hearing the entire song, I know pretty much what changes need to be done. It could be that I know the song perfectly well. I like to use the SACD version for this one.

The Alan Parsons Project - To One in Paradise / I Robot / The Turn of a Friendly Card Suite. I just think there's no other engineer like Alan Parsons. He made everything sound like sonic gold. Those three songs have different qualities - the first one is a terrific vocal test. I don't think I can think of a better sounding male vocal in any of my discs. I use the second one to check the drum sound; it needs to be very tight. Also, the bass line should be easily followed. The third one has some amazing vocal and instrumental performances.

[generic]

I know you asked for three songs, but if you really wanted to test speakers, I think I could narrow it down to three albums.

The Immortal Beloved Soundtrack. http://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Belov.../dp/B000007121

Why? A speakers weakness is more obvious trying to reproduce good classical music and a piano. This sound track has it all, and is very good quality.

Next would be a great female vocalist. Norah Jones, Diana Krall. Insert personal favorite vocal artist.

Third. The Tron Legacy Soundtrack. Find out how tight that bass is, it's limits....

[Adam_G]

I know you asked for three songs, but if you really wanted to test speakers, I think I could narrow it down to three albums.

The Immortal Beloved Soundtrack. http://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Belov.../dp/B000007121

Why? A speakers weakness is more obvious trying to reproduce good classical music and a piano. This sound track has it all, and is very good quality.

Next would be a great female vocalist. Norah Jones, Diana Krall. Insert personal favorite vocal artist.

Third. The Tron Legacy Soundtrack. Find out how tight that bass is, it's limits....

You're very right about the Tron legacy soundtrack, it's a good test. I believe there are also instrumental versions of a few of the song on the soundtrack as well, in addition to the synthesized versions.

[carlspeak]

Not much unanimity here as I would have expected. This is exactly why there won't be total agreement on track lists for any speaker shootouts. I just last week spent 2+ hrs with a friend putting together 20 tracks for the CT Audio Society Aug. mini-monitor shoot out and it wasn't easy. I fully expect some negative comments on the music from those who attend.

[madmallard]

Yakko Kanno – Tank!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhCDqek_HcI
Rational: Big piece with a lot going on, good stuff going on in all the registers. Sadly, the version I have linked to sounds compressed to me.

that doesnt surprise as youtube compresses everything into an mp4 container default settings. and thats 'yoko kanno' ;p


my 3 typically are:

Suite Madam Blue - Styx.... the acoustic intro dynamics and the rock dynamic, along with the synth key solo in the middle, and the balanced recording of the bass guitar let me test multiple things at once.

this one's kind of a cheat, but.... The Launch - Boston .... considering this track was made using NO analog or digital synthesis effects, and the demands it places on speakers, I use this as kind of a torture test.

and everyone should give this a chance... Midnight Motion (live) - Kenny G .... yes, i know its Kenny G, but this dude's live records are so much better than the lifeless studio work he puts out, its hard to explain. and in this particular track, the bassist gets a !$#!$!@ hot solo at the end ^_^//

[jeff_free69]

Not much unanimity here as I would have expected. This is exactly why there won't be total agreement on track lists for any speaker shootouts. I just last week spent 2+ hrs with a friend putting together 20 tracks for the CT Audio Society Aug. mini-monitor shoot out and it wasn't easy. I fully expect some negative comments on the music from those who attend.

20 tracks? - how long will it take to audition each speaker?
(I'm trying to fit 5 or 6 into a reasonable timeframe, where we expect about 10 entries for the IronDriver contest.)

Whatcha got so far - or is it a secret?
(By the rules of IronDriver contest, I can't publish mine so that the participants have advanced knowledge)

[carlspeak]

20 tracks? - how long will it take to audition each speaker?
(I'm trying to fit 5 or 6 into a reasonable timeframe, where we expect about 10 entries for the IronDriver contest.)

Whatcha got so far - or is it a secret?
(By the rules of IronDriver contest, I can't publish mine so that the participants have advanced knowledge)

10 entries - piece of cake! :-) We're expecting 15 -20. We use only segments of songs; each being 1 min or so. Planned speaker test time is 5-7 mins each.
Mike Z. was at our shootout last year with his Fatbellies. He can fill you in with more details. PM me about our 2012 song list. I'd rather not go public with it.

BTW, loved your 'best laid plans..." line. :-)

[fitzwaddle]

1) King Crimson - Three Of A Perfect Pair

2) Jethro Tull - Salamander

3)

Chaka Kahn "Ain't Nobody" Female vocals, synthesizers, various percussion

[contoursvt]

Diana Krall - Temptation
Philip Glass - The Grid
Tiesto - Ten seconds before sunrise

[craigk]

agree with the three of a perfect pair, dynamics and transitions are off the chart. i would also have to throw in some rodger waters amused to death. if your speakers are right there are several songs that can turn your entire room into a soundstage. david bowie live a the the towers. all the young dudes intro. have to add that i really like to listen to strings, cello esp. just listened to a little pink floyd wish you were here on sacd at a friends house. not usually impressed with sacd, was blown away by this. borrowed the sacd and listened to it at home on the focal utopia novas and all can say is WOW ! i will be the owner of a copy of this in hte next few days.

[Pete Schumacher ®]

Nora Jones, simply because if there's any issues in the upper mids, like that bump at the baffle step for small baffles, between 700 and 900 Hz, she'll go from being between the speakers to sitting in your lap when she hits certain notes. One of my favorites is "In the Morning."

I really like Dire Straights "Brothers in Arms" after all these years, in particular, "Ride Across the River" with it's crickets and spacious staging. Awesome recording.

An orchestral piece is always in order, simply for the evaluation of complex musical passages. I really have enjoyed the soundtrack from "Gladiator" recently.