Recommended Test Tracks/Recordings Sticky

[Thumper Tom]

Re: Recommended Test Tracks/Recordings Sticky

The link worked this morning, work must have the firewall blocking the website.

[zhillsguy]

Re: Recommended Test Tracks/Recordings Sticky

Dream Theater - 6:00 (From "Awake") If you play this as an opening track at a party, people know you are serious.
Porcupine Tree - Anesthetize (From the "Anesthetize" Blu-Ray, DTS-HD)
Joe Satriani - God Is Crying (From the "Satchurated" Blu-Ray, Dolby TrueHD)
Adele - (any track from "Live At The Royal Albert Hall" Blu-Ray, DTS)
Another vote for Dire Straits / Brothers In Arms
Another vote for Pink Floyd / Wish You Were Here (2011 Re-Master Box Set)
Renaissance - Mother Russia (From "Live At Carnegie Hall")
The Eagles - (any track from "When Hell Freezes Over" DVD DTS)
Jeff Beck - Never Alone (From "Emotion & Commotion")
Fleetwood Mac - Silver Spring (From "The Dance" DVD DTS)

[Navy Guy]

Re: Recommended Test Tracks/Recordings Sticky

I like to use The Tedeschi Trucks Band to test with. Susan Tedeschi's voice can sound really gritty and harsh on many systems. I've used it to adjust crossover point and slope on my tweeters. Also, Buddy Guy can pick up some of this when he hits high notes. His tracks are very useful because he has a wide vocal range from very low to high pitched squeals. I like to use Nickel Creek for their use of lots of acoustic string instruments and both vocals. I once I have something that I think I like, I listen to some metal like Unearth and hard rock like Breaking Benjamin to see if I want to lower the midrange some. I adjust midrange on the rock albums and then go back to the higher fidelity albums to see if I still like it or want to boost the mids back up a bit. For bass tracks, I use Soja which is like new age reggae/folk.

[Pete Schumacher]

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Ray LaMontagne - "Be Here Now" from 'Till the Sun Turns Black
Rammstein - "Ich Will" from Mutter
Elton John - "Madman Across the Water"
Dire Straits - "Ride Across the River" from Brothers in Arms
Yello - Touch, the entire CD
Zero 7 - When It Falls, the entire CD

That's enough for now . . .

[hdben]

Re: Recommended Test Tracks/Recordings Sticky

Great list all, downloading the file from Erin now.

[moron#99]

Re: Recommended Test Tracks/Recordings Sticky

Emerson Lake and Palmer, ELP - Lucky Man
if you don't have low then you won't hear it.

Who - Who' Next - baba oreily
Keith Moon must have been angry and drunk that day. He brutally attacked his drums. If your impulse response is off this song will show it.

Suzzane Vega - Tom's diner
good for vocal articulation and stage location.

Doors LA woman - Changeling
I just like Densmore's squeaky pedal. With cheap stereo it seems to fade away.

[jeff_free69]

Re: Recommended Test Tracks/Recordings Sticky

Absolute # 1 goto for the last 4 or 5 years:

Radiohead - In Rainbows

I never grow tired of it - almost every track is a masterpiece to me. Sonically, its as interesting as anything else I can think of. . Most every track has a combination of upfront sparseness and deep ambient textures (only the 2nd track is a bit too aggressive and consistently saturated to be enjoyable on a good quality system)

But its all about knowing intimately what's in the recording - eg being able to recognize when the bass drum is distorted (deliberately?). But that comes easily after many repeated listenings... I can tell a lot just by the opening bars consisting of mainly drum beats with electronic processing.

[UGP]

Re: Recommended Test Tracks/Recordings Sticky

if you like a lot of stuff going on in the mix, probably the reason I got into mixing in the first place...
Thomas Dolby:
The Flat Earth
And
Aliens Ate my Buick

[Flacjunky]

Re: Recommended Test Tracks/Recordings Sticky

Ray LaMontagne - "Be Here Now" from 'Till the Sun Turns Black
Rammstein - "Ich Will" from Mutter
Elton John - "Madman Across the Water"
Dire Straits - "Ride Across the River" from Brothers in Arms
Yello - Touch, the entire CD
Zero 7 - When It Falls, the entire CD

That's enough for now . . .

Thanks for the head's up on Yello - Touch Pete. It is excellent ..... especially "Kiss in Blue" w/ Heidi Happy.

This goes along with you turning me on to Eve Cassidy - Live at Blues Alley. Her rendition of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" has made onto every Foobar playlist I have created since.

As far as Test Tracks go, wherever possible I'd go with 24bit high resolution source material. It definitely takes everything up a notch. Especially 5.1 96/24 material. That discrete LFE channel makes a tremendous difference to my ears.

Having said that my recommendations:

Dire Straits - Dire Straits (24bit Stereo SACD)
Both Keith Greeninger songs off Blue Coast Records E.S.E Sessions (24/96 Stereo)
John Mayer - Continuum (16/44 Stereo)
Tom Petty - Mojo (24/48 5.1)
Tosca - No Hassle (16/44 Stereo)
Santana - Abraxas (HDTracks 24/88 Stereo)
Elton John - Madman Across The Water (HDTracks 24/96 Stereo)

..... and when the Led Zeppelin high resolution remasters start coming out next month I'm sure they will be ear candy as well.

[Neis]

Re: Recommended Test Tracks/Recordings Sticky

I know that there is a whole galaxy of musical content to be appreciated and tuned to, but as a bass guitar player, I tend to focus there first. Having said that:

Roxy Music, "Casanova", from "Country Life" -I don't care much for Brian Ferry's voice, but the fuzz bass on this track is outstanding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpEml6vZ4v8

Morphine, "Buena", from "Cure For Pain" -A band with (gasp) NO 6 string guitar. Bass, drums, and sax.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M34iZH4-qkI

Yeasayer, "Madder Red", from "Odd Blood" -Vocals are not for everyone, but the drums are great and the bass is growly and well done. The video is odd. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh03i9Yl2KQ

The Who, "Can You See the Real Me", from "Quadrophenia" -Nothing to add. Mr. E was a god.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTwSKepkmdE

Frank Zappa, "Zombie Woof", from "The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life" -Will use all your speakers have got.. unless you have subs that go to 11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE7zyjR4saM

Dandy Warhols, "I Am Sound", from "Welcome to the Monkey House" -Really well recorded, great sharp bass, super thick vocals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqbTbsPEc2Y

Joe Henry, "Curt Flood", from "Fuse" - Another great bass tone for dialing things in... and fat toned jazz guitar, tight drums, and Hammond organ.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqbTbsPEc2Y

Peter Gabriel, "Secret World", from "US"- Tony Levin plays the stick bass here. Great drums, very dynamic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0tCYctnOpk

Bozzio Levin Stevens, "Duende" from "Black Light Syndrome" -Flamenco-ish/ Arabic-ish thing.... very well recorded, very dynamic, all of them masters at the tops of their games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_izASnhj1Q

This is mostly "rock", but stretches the usefulness of the word. I don't listen to much harpsichord or barbershop quartet.
I will stop there, but will end by thanking several of the above posters for bringing me into contact with some great stuff that is new to me and also reminding me of some great stuff I had sort of lost track of. And that massive Grooveshark list.... geez!

[TheGDog]

Re: Recommended Test Tracks/Recordings Sticky

For My Bassheads out there...

For those who crack a grin when they look down at their fingers on the steering wheel and seeing them vibrating.
For those who crack a grin when they look at their sideview mirrors... and even though they have lovingly and meticulously installed two layers of sound-deadener on all doors and the rear of the cab of their ride.... the side mirrors STILL dance when the low-lows come in...

For those whose minds are open and don't recoil in fear and horror when an MC's lyrics convey strong language and stronger themes and tones. For those who can appreciate the artistry necessary to properly emote and convey the tone in such songs

All tracks listed in the format <Artist(s)> - <Song Title>

• Insane Clown Posse - Simple & Blunt (<== Some "Acoustical" Flair thrown in there.)
• Twiztid, Lavel, Esham, ABK, ICP, Blaze - 5 On It
• Dark Lotus - Pass the Axe
• Dark Lotus - The Walls
• Twiztid ft Tech N9ne - Serial Killas
• Violent J (ICP) - Officer Hatchet
• Violent J (ICP) - **** My Dad (Richard Bruce)
• Insane Clown Posse (ICP) - Supernatural

And when ya wanna get real Ghetto widdit....

• Mistah F.A.B. ft. Clyde Carson & E-40 - Marathon
• Shawty Putt (ft. Lil Jon) - Dat Baby
• Master P - Dem Jeans
• Major Lazer ft. Bruno Mars & Mystic & Tyga - Bubble ****

On the tamer side of the fence... the following Acoustical tracks are always a treat.

• petrus250 - Acoustical Cover of the Daft Punk/Pharrell Williams song "Get Lucky"
• Kina Grannis - Valentine (<-- Your wife/girl will love this)

And from the 70's (Soul, Funk)

• Dr. John - Right Place, Wrong Time
• Johnny "Guitar" Watson - Superman Lover
• Johnny "Guitar" Watson - What The Hell Is This?
• The Strikers - Body Music
• Pleasure - The Real Thing
• Tower Of Power - Drop It In The Slot

There's a zillion others that should be on this list. but hey! There's are a good start

[hemihauler20]

Re: Recommended Test Tracks/Recordings Sticky

I have a few myself, the first being The Corner from Common's cd Be. Bilal's Fastlane, I would highly recommend the instrumental of that song. Westside Connection's Gangsta Nation in instrumental form is another good one. Testify by Common off of his Be Album in either vocal or instrumental. Kid Cudi Just What I Am instrumental. Anything from John Legend.

[Whitneyville1]

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It's forty-one years old, and finding the 1973 release CD/LP is VERY difficult but worth the effort. "The Red-Headed Stranger" by William Randolph Nelson Jr. Tracks: I Couldn't Believe it was True: The Red-Headed Stranger: Bandero (Instrumental): Can I Sleep In Your Arms Tonight Lady?" (the original lyrics to the song). Columbia recording, pre-Portalis Sound ( no deep echo/reverb/long decay). You can hear him side his fingers across the gut and wire-wound strings of that worn Martin G-5 and "bending" them harder than Hendrix. Get the nasal quality out of his voice, and your speakers are voiced well. Off PA, he can rasp with emotion, like "The Pearl".
Even harder to find, but a test for male vocals is "I Am What I Am" Merle Haggard Epic Tracks "Momma Tried", "In the Early Mornin' Rain". Before you say, "that's just country", The Hag was VERY young, his voice was fresh, there is some excellent studio guitar and pedal steel work, as well as acoustic guitar. The old Mono mix actually sounds better. Epic stereo sends the bass to the right and the rest to the left and the vocals "float". (8-track stereo mix)
I mentioned on the Forum maybe the best direct to disc UEP (12" 45rpm now available on SACD) "Isn't it Dee-Light-full?" Cole Porter by Cole Porter. Tracks: Anything Goes: Someone To Watch Over Me. His voice is a little on the festive side of Carol Channing, but his diction, pitch and timbre are PERFECT, and he can emphasis a lyric so well, if you plan to sing one of his songs, use this "pitches" (demos to sell the song) exactly as your arrangements. The sound quality and engineering on this recording is breathtaking. I snagged the 12" 45 in as-new condition. I know why Florenz Zegfelden liked him so much for production numbers.

[Mark65]

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I don't know anything about the other claims here, but Willie plays a Martin N-20, and in fact there is no such thing as a Martin G-5.

[dynamo]

Re: Recommended Test Tracks/Recordings Sticky

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTvN4pExX7g (nothing else matters cover by scala & kolacny choir)

Excellent female vocal and piano track