I post the list of tracks Harman uses after literally decades of research to detect fidelity of speakers and room Auto Equalizers in another thread but thought it deserves its own thread. I have had the fortunate luck of sitting through a couple of their blind tests and can attest to the efficacy of the tracks used:
---------
AES Paper, The Subjective and Objective Evaluation of Room Correction Products
Sean E. Olive, John Jackson, Allan Devantier, David Hunt, and Sean M. Hess
JW - Jennifer Warnes, “Bird on a Wire”
TC - Tracy Chapman, “Fast Car”
JW - James Taylor, “That’s Why I’m Here”
AES Paper, A New Listener Training Software Application
Sean Olive, AES Fellow
Harman International Industries
· Tracy Chapman, "Fast Car", Tracy Chapman
· Jennifer Warnes, "Bird on a Wire", Famous Blue Rain Coat
· James Taylor "That's Why I'm Here", “That’s Why I’m Here”
· Steely Dan “Cousin Dupree”, “ Two Against Nature”
· Paula Cole, “Tiger”,” This Fire”
· “Toy Soldier March”, Reference Recording
· Pink Noise (uncorrelated)
AES Paper, Differences in Performance and Preference of Trained versus Untrained Listeners in Loudspeaker Tests: A Case Study*
Sean E. Olive, AES Fellow
James Taylor, “That’s Why I’m Here” from “That’s Why I’m Here,” Sony Records.
Little Feat, “Hangin’ on to the Good Times” from “Let It Roll,” Warner Brothers.
Tracy Chapman, “Fast Car” from “Tracy Chapman,” Elektra/Asylum Records.
Jennifer Warnes, “Bird on a Wire” from “Famous Blue Rain Coat,” Attic Records.
And this from a 1992 research at NRC on genre of music and its revealing nature in this regard:
A bit about the science, the suitability of track is a matter of statistics. Colorations in speakers are only revealing if there is significant content/energy in that part of hearing spectrum. Rock music tends to have such rich spectrum. Classical music as a general rule does not. Hence the domination of rock/pop music in the top most critical list.
In both this space and audio compression with which I am intimately familiar with, high fidelity of the music recording is not an aid and if anything a distraction. A "pretty" sounding track sounds pretty on many systems because we are drawn to it by its good substance. Critical test clips on the other hand tend to be uninteresting and force you to pay attention to the task which is to analyze equipment with your ear.
I am probably a very lonesome voice, and I don't know the AES paper, so I don't know their argumentation and I have only heard the first song by Jennifer Warnes.
The song is very well recorded, produced and mixed. The voice is perfect and the drums have wonderful transients, the mids and lower mids are just stunningly warm and wide. without eating away the stereo width.
But that's also the problem I have with "reference tracks": good mixes will sound good in comparison on any system.
IME much more useful for
testing purposes are mixes that show characteristics, that are on the edge (reference tracks for the production process fullfill a very different purpose and it is necessary to reference the best available mixes that are matching the needed criteria.
For example, instead of the warm saturated voice, a mix with a sharp and thin voice, that is on the edge on a good system, but falls over the cliff on a system with a weak midrange, or hyped treble, is much more suited to judge the upper midrange.
A bright mix with bright cymbals, that is on the edge, but on a slightly too bright system sounds too thin, is much more suited to judge the balance of the highs.
Or lets take the drums: the toms in that mix will sound great on any system in comparison to other mixes on the same setup. Also much better suited to judge a setup, would be a mix with not so punchy toms with clean transients, so that the toms tend to become buried, if the setup is too muddy.
Yamaha NS-10 are not used, because they sound good. But because they hype the upper midrange and the mud region. A mix sounding good on them, will tend to have a well controlled upper midrange and a well controlled mud region.
A too bright reference mix that does not hurt the ears, and a too dull mix, that does not sound too dull, IMO would be more useful to make judgements, than a perfect mix.
My 2 ct.