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MarkWinston

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Its really sad to see some people here cant answer a simple question and rather take it a few steps further by acting like smartasses. It was a simple question, and if you do not have the answer to it or feel differently, keep scrolling. Dont have to be Cs and act all smart here. The hifi community is small enough as it is, dont have to be a bunch of Cs to make it smaller.
 

stumper3819

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What is the track that you folks feel is the best to showcase a system's capability? A track that has to highlight dynamics, subtlety, imaging, soundstage, low, mid and high frequency? In short, what track do you use to impress a fellow audiophile? Dont need multiple answers, just one will do.
I have seen Bohemian Rhapsody on a few lists, I believe that would check most of your boxes. In addition, Steely Dan, Mark Knopfler, Fleetwood Mac, Alan Parsons are know to be very good in studio. Hope that helps
 

Blumlein 88

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Its really sad to see some people here cant answer a simple question and rather take it a few steps further by acting like smartasses. It was a simple question, and if you do not have the answer to it or feel differently, keep scrolling. Dont have to be Cs and act all smart here. The hifi community is small enough as it is, dont have to be a bunch of Cs to make it smaller.
Telarc 1812. Get back to me when your system is good enough or just label yourself with a big C.
 
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MarkWinston

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Telarc 1812. Get back to me when your system is good enough or just label yourself with a big C.
Funny how you feel superior to others, must be giving you a great sense of security right there. Seen many people like you, all talk no action. You can keep standing in your corner all day long and go pound sand.
 
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MarkWinston

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And to other members that actually gave an answer to this simple question, I thank you from the bottom of heart. Ill definitely check out those tracks as its very interesting to compare how people around the world interprete what makes a good sounding track. Its isnt hard to be not an ass, is it? :)
 

Blumlein 88

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And to other members that actually gave an answer to this simple question, I thank you from the bottom of heart. Ill definitely check out those tracks as its very interesting to compare how people around the world interprete what makes a good sounding track. Its isnt hard to be not an ass, is it? :)
Dead can dance? Or Flight of the Cosmic Hippo?

It isn't that hard not to be an ass, but it was beyond you.

Not sure how letting others pick tracks is making me feel superior. It was being practical.
 
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Robin L

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Its really sad to see some people here cant answer a simple question and rather take it a few steps further by acting like smartasses. It was a simple question, and if you do not have the answer to it or feel differently, keep scrolling. Dont have to be Cs and act all smart here. The hifi community is small enough as it is, dont have to be a bunch of Cs to make it smaller.
Ok: Its not a simple question. It's a wrong question. There isn't one single track, all by itself, that will tell you all you need to know about your system.

My serious answer is that the music used for checking out audio gear should be music you already know you want to hear again, music you've already heard more times than you can recall. I'd recommend something like the Ricardo Chailly/RCO recording of Mahler's Third Symphony. It's got all sorts of different instrumental sounds, all sorts of differing dynamics. But the odds are excellent that you haven't heard Mahler's Third Symphony, so you would have no frame of reference. Just bring by the tunes you already know. The point isn't hearing a specialized "test track", it's hearing the kind of music you intend to play anyway. Something unfamiliar will give you no frame of reference.
 

Koeitje

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Telarc 1812. Get back to me when your system is good enough or just label yourself with a big C.
That's the only recording where I'm scared to play it loud.

I like this track for some excellent bass playing.
 

Plcamp

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I have found the “the national anthem” by Radiohead can differentiate speaker performance, esp when played loud.
 

Jim Matthews

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Anything by Fourplay.
Sure - straight to the main event.

****

From a $1 Cutout CD - Nordic roots sampler v2.

Varttina "The village awaits the new Moon"
There are acoustic covers from the Patchouli brigade, but the original recording was a stage setting with backing instruments including the traditional Sami instrument, the Hammond B3.

It might be the Whitest recording since Pat Boone covered Heavy Metal, but it swings. It has VERY challenging intermodulation harmonics (signature of the Karelian group singing style) and is dynamic. It also gets loud.

I found my Quad ESL63 ran out of steam, my DIY 2 ways struggled at their crossover point and my wideband OB kludge came close. My current rig ending at JBL 708p nailed it.

It's not for everybody, but it still raises the hair on my neck.

 
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MarkWinston

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Ok: Its not a simple question. It's a wrong question. There isn't one single track, all by itself, that will tell you all you need to know about your system.

My serious answer is that the music used for checking out audio gear should be music you already know you want to hear again, music you've already heard more times than you can recall. I'd recommend something like the Ricardo Chailly/RCO recording of Mahler's Third Symphony. It's got all sorts of different instrumental sounds, all sorts of differing dynamics. But the odds are excellent that you haven't heard Mahler's Third Symphony, so you would have no frame of reference. Just bring by the tunes you already know. The point isn't hearing a specialized "test track", it's hearing the kind of music you intend to play anyway. Something unfamiliar will give you no frame of reference.
Some people do like to listen to something new, to something they have not heard before but still want to be impressed. This is not a point of using anything you know as a reference but rather discover new dynamic tracks that can showcase a system's capability. If you want to be stuck to those few songs you know, so be it. I would rather discover amazing tracks that Ive not heard before, hence this post.
 

restorer-john

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I don't know whether to yell, "stone him, stone him!" Or to wish the committee for musical abuse targets you with a predator drone. You can only push us so far before expecting a response.

You cannot be remotely serious. :)

Four of the greatest producers, instrumentalists, artists and luminaries in the field ever? In an ever evolving supergroup, the likes of which the jazz world has never experienced.

So, we have Bob James- his skillset speaks for itself. From the 1960s to now. Always at the bleeding edge of technology and arguably one of the finest composers and jazz pianists in the world. He always embraced the absolute best that technology has to offer. His 1990 Album Grand Piano Canyon was essentially an audition for what was to become Fourplay.

On that album, there was a coterie of the finest session jazz musicians you'd ever see:
James himself
Nathan East
Lee Ritenour
Harvey Mason
Andy Snitzer
Randy Brecker
Dean Brown
Leonard Gibbs
Paulinho Da Costa
Kirk Whalum

All recorded and mixed by Max Risenhoover in pure digital, end to end.

Then came Fourplay the album in 1991, and the rest is smooth jazz history. The most successful jazz group in the history of the world. And why? Because they are perfect. Their music, their production, their musicality and skills and their recordings. Go look at some actual live performances of those guys. Go revel in their incredible skills.

Then we got Larry Carlton on Guitar
And Chuck Loeb (R.I.P.)

Bob James is a living American legend. Look at the utter revere Fourplay is held in in Japan, where they know good music when they hear it. No fake, autotune etc.


Listen and look at this, absolutely incredible. The tightest group on the face of the planet:

 
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Count Arthur

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There's no one song... But here are a few, that some smart folks thought would make for good test songs:

https://artoflistening.harman.com/professional-reference-songs

I will add that many Sting recordings are quite worthy (Frigile, Desert Rose, etc.) Englishman in New York might be that one song except for that one ungodly annoying sound that makes me want to claw my ears off my head in the refrain (woop, woop, woop, FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUaaarrrgggghhhh!)

I think a lot of these failry minimalist recordings with dreamy female vocals have a tendancy to flatter and make things sound "Hi-Fi", they sound like every hi-fi shop I ever walked into.

When shopping for speakers, I made sure to take along some of the idie, punk and rock albums I had that weren't praticularly well recorded. I wanted to know what they'd sound like with a lot of the music I like to listen to, but isn't what you'd choose to demo how great your system sounds.
 

b4nt

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The recordings people raved about in 1992 were good for the time, but there are literally millions of better recorded tracks out there to a) demonstate gear in a glowing way and b) hear what a system is capable of.

But that poor track list may still be very correct for seniors, who listened to Dido in the 90s, and need no more than a vintage capable mono speaker. Poor records are not all rendering that good on better speakers...

I do not relly on the show rooms tracks list either. I go there with my own, long, listen the first seconds of a track, click next... Within 20 minutes, you know how two or three speakers are performing. Or if a single speaker set may corresponds to what you want.

If such a track list is variable and long enough, you shouldn't be surprised by other tracks, once speakers at home.

The track I mentionned here earlier is not of my favorites, but it is very rich and detailed. I'm using such often also.
 
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Blumlein 88

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You cannot be remotely serious. :)

Four of the greatest producers, instrumentalists, artists and luminaries in the field ever? In an ever evolving supergroup, the likes of which the jazz world has never experienced.

So, we have Bob James- his skillset speaks for itself. From the 1960s to now. Always at the bleeding edge of technology and arguably one of the finest composers and jazz pianists in the world. He always embraced the absolute best that technology has to offer. His 1990 Album Grand Piano Canyon was essentially an audition for what was to become Fourplay.

On that album, there was a coterie of the finest session jazz musicians you'd ever see:
James himself
Nathan East
Lee Ritenour
Harvey Mason
Andy Snitzer
Randy Brecker
Dean Brown
Leonard Gibbs
Paulinho Da Costa
Kirk Whalum

All recorded and mixed by Max Risenhoover in pure digital, end to end.

Then came Fourplay the album in 1991, and the rest is smooth jazz history. The most successful jazz group in the history of the world. And why? Because they are perfect. Their music, their production, their musicality and skills and their recordings. Go look at some actual live performances of those guys. Go revel in their incredible skills.

Then we got Larry Carlton on Guitar
And Chuck Loeb (R.I.P.)

Bob James is a living American legend. Look at the utter revere Fourplay is held in in Japan, where they know good music when they hear it. No fake, autotune etc.


Listen and look at this, absolutely incredible. The tightest group on the face of the planet:

I had moment of extended dyslexia. When I saw Fourplay for some reason I read Coldplay. Oops
 

Robin L

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Some people do like to listen to something new, to something they have not heard before but still want to be impressed. This is not a point of using anything you know as a reference but rather discover new dynamic tracks that can showcase a system's capability. If you want to be stuck to those few songs you know, so be it. I would rather discover amazing tracks that Ive not heard before, hence this post.
I was thinking this was more about "test tracks" for gear. I wouldn't be stuck with only a few tracks myself, I've been a disc jockey for a radio station that didn't require playing from a limited playlist, have worked in stores that sell pre-recorded music for most of my adult years, have been exposed to a lot more music than most people. This also means that a lot of what I'd recommend is older.

That said, here's a few recordings I would play after getting new gear to hear what differences that new gear might display. I guess If I were to invite an "audiophile" over, I'd play these tracks. Right now I know a lot more musicians than audiophiles, so we'd be more likely to grab our instruments and hear "the absolute sound".

Janis Ian's "Breaking Silence" is notable for clear, unprocessed capture of instrumental sounds, mostly acoustic instruments. This track, "Ride Me Like A Wave" has the bass line as a prominent aspect of the mix, the notes go down to the bottom of an electric bass. It's a track that I've found useful for setting up subwoofers, as the bass line should be at pretty much the same level from note to note, and lumpy bass due to the anomalies of room acoustics can have part of the bass line drop out:


This is an early digital recording of a 31 string lute in a cathedral. There is faint hiss, the lute as played by Hopkinson Smith has very low volume. I am particularly impressed by the capture of room sound, but mostly hypnotized by the music:


Paul Simon's "Late in the Evening" has a wonderful stereo mix. The brass is very well captured, can easily go sour if things aren't quite right:

 

b4nt

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Janis Ian's "Breaking Silence" is notable for clear, unprocessed capture of instrumental sounds, mostly acoustic instruments. This track, "Ride Me Like A Wave" has the bass line as a prominent aspect of the mix, the notes go down to the bottom of an electric bass. It's a track that I've found useful for setting up subwoofers, as the bass line should be at pretty much the same level from note to note, and lumpy bass due to the anomalies of room acoustics can have part of the bass line drop out:


I'll test and listen using yours. I had troubles with my sub, untill I found an acceptable settings (my room, my preferences). You may perhaps add that track to your sub test set:

 

Martini

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Lot of great tracks and "best" comes down to personal preferences. This is one of my favorites, because it's challenging, fairly safe, local to me and my first :) With the right equipment it can sound great.
 
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