Recommended Test Tracks/Recordings Sticky

[SAC]

Steely Dan- Gaucho- Babylon Sisters

The amount of engineering they did for this album is obscene. In my experience tuning the brightness out makes everything else sound good and natural.

[Steve Lee]

Check this kid out - 23 YO, band is tight, clean and the live mix is incredible . . . Christone "Kingfish" Ingram

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaQ0IDLw6qs

Turn it up.

[Ugg10]

Here’s my test playlist on Spotify - bit of something for every occasion.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R...QYGJ-hmVlqvFgA

I am sure many have probably been suggested before but here goes, have fun -

1) Haken - Cockroach king - typical progressive metal, good recording, some interesting spatial effects with unaccompanied harmonies, good dynamics
2) Sarah McLachlan - Angel - female vocal should stand in the centre in front of the sound stage
3) Lou Reed - Walk on the wild side - male voice, small club venue, listen out for the double bass
4) Portishead - Numb - nice bit of trip hop to get the lower frequencies going, interesting mix with the light female vocals
5) Slipknot - Duality - dense recording, can you make out all 9 members and the keg/baseball bat sound will test the upper mid clarity
6) Jethro Tull - Songs from the wood (Steven Wilson Mix) - great acoustic work, thumb cymbals for highs, just a great remix
7) No Doubt - Just a girl (Acoustic German Radio) - very close mic, Gwen Staffani is almost in your face, listen out for table bumps and background noise
8) Club for Five - Brothers in Arms - Male Bass voice plus semi a Capella group, there is a base note at around 2mins that does a good rumble
9) Steely Dan - Java of speed - Just a great recording and those rim shot in the intro
10) Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take 5 - classic live jazz recording, can you see each of the four members on the stage
11) Gojira - Drum Solo - one of my favourite drum solos, instrument placement within the kit is great
12) Gojira - In the forest - Another dense mix but with decent instrument separation, can you tell the kick drum from the bass guitar, first half will challenge your upper bass and also amps grip on the speakers, second half of the song has good drum/guitar placement,
13) Musica Nuda - The very thought of you - larger club setting, piano, double bass, female vocal, great recording
14) Ken Mo - Slow down - similar to Jack of speed, just great production, will make most systems sound good
15) Patricia Barber - Regular Pleasures - very well recorded female voice, again should stand almost in front of you
16) Metsis - Eikasia - not sure this is that well produced but it has a bloated bass (IMO) which should show up
17) James Blake - Limit to your love - sub woofer killer, keep the volume down if you want to keep your bottom end in tact

[jim85iroc]

There are a number of tracks that I like. My primary three are Hotel California, Mary Jane's Last Dance and Money For Nothing. They're all very good recordings, but more importantly, they're very familiar to me.

One new album that I just picked up that I feel is extremely well recorded, as well as unique in a musical sense, is the album from the Mongolian rock band "The Hu". I'm not sure how well it will come across on the youtube video, but it's an extremely well recorded track with deep, strong bass, good dynamics and great instrument separation. Vocals are well recorded.

Their musical style is extremely unique too. It's a hard rock style song, but using their native instruments and vocal styles. It's a lot of fun to listen to. The whole album sounds great, but Uve Uve U is the one that I think sounds best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4xZUr0BEfE

[Chris Roemer]

If you like mixing video w/your sound system, do yourself a favor and YouTube Leonid and Friends - a bunch of Russians playing Chicago hits better than CTA ever did (I don't even know if these guys speak English - but they sure can mimic words/sounds well).

Sooner or later you'll THINK you're hearing the Eagles - but instead it'll be Lexington Labs, all in HD and crisp digital recordings.

And if you're retirement age, check out HSCC (Hindley Street Country Club?), coming to you from Downunder. Fleetwood Mac's Little Lies and Everywhere not only sound great, but they're lots of fun to watch. They pick singers who sound like (or can mimic) the original artists. The bass player sounds like Mark Knopfler's brother (Sultans of Swing) and the original group's front man (the band's only 5-6 yrs old) can sound like half-a-dozen (or more) original artists. I've seen anywhere from 4 to 14 peeps on stage. Sometimes just 3 guitars & drums, Sometimes adding keyboards, and a horn section if needed. Whatever it takes to dupe the original sound.

Michael Jackson stuff is pretty good.
Easy Lover - rocks!
Everybody Wants To Rule The World and True - both awesome.
Yes, Player, Queen, Lionel, Heart, Starship, The Doobies, and many, many, many more.