What kind of test track is this for DACs???

[Cosmik]

People here are very much missing the point ... because the recording is of low quality, everything, but everything about the playback system has to be on its best behaviour, otherwise the additional artifacts added in the playback would make this impossible to listen to - I've heard pretentious systems wreak havoc on these sorts of tracks, endlessly. What is remarkable is that when a rig totally gets out of the way then our hearing systems can separate the musical content from the media limitations - and this as a musical event will come alive, satisfyingly so.

Of course, this is another "stress test" recording - can a system allow the music within to emerge, or does the grunge completely drown it ...

You consistently claim that any recording - even a 78 - is salvageable when played on a high quality system.

Logically, if I play any recording on a low quality system that is "impossible to listen to", and record the result with a microphone, I have created a low quality recording that is "impossible to listen to". Therefore, some recordings can be impossible to listen to before we even start.

 

[fas42]

You consistently claim that any recording - even a 78 - is salvageable when played on a high quality system.

Logically, if I play any recording on a low quality system that is "impossible to listen to", and record the result with a microphone, I have created a low quality recording that is "impossible to listen to". Therefore, some recordings can be impossible to listen to before we even start.

I would suggest starting with a recording that was intended to to be enjoyed, rather than deliberately "contaminated". I could take your logic to any degree, like using the audio side of a $5 transistor radio, running off a half dead battery, at maximum volume through its speaker - so far, recordings that haven't been deliberately mangled have come up well ... a possible, very recent exception might be Amy Winehouse recordings, with poor quality imitation vinyl noises added - I found these very disturbing to listen to.