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Music Choices to Test your DAC and overall system

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Thought it might be helpful and fun to discuss music you like to use when testing DACs and testing other components and your overall system. I'll start it off:

pop: "Rio" on album "Rio" by Duran Duran
There is a rapid almost random analog synth running throughout the track, kind of a soundscape, its in the midrange, is it more prominent when you change components and is the song more dynamic with vocals sounding less processed? Does it all sound too bright?

jazz: "St. Thomas" on album "Saxophone Colossus" by Sonny Rollins
I believe a mono recording, sounds great on most anything, but how real does the saxaphone sound when it starts up? Does it surprise you or just blend in with the rest of the instruments? Good for testing midrange performance on speakers too.

classic rock: "Sole Survivor" on album "Asia" by Asia
Does the recording sound dynamic and like you are in the room with the band? (Don't know if any "remastered" versions have ruined the dynamics)

hard rock/heavy metal: "If Eternity Should Fail" on album "Book of Souls" by Iron Maiden
Once the music starts (there is a moody monologue at first) does it sound dynamic and surprise you for a moment, or does it sound kind of flat? Is it distorted or clear? Sibilance with the vocals (S sounds)? Can you pick out the guitars? There are at least 3 separate guitars plus a bass guitar at most times and although a studio recording, recorded more live than instrument by instrument.

electronic: "Datacloud" on album "Trance 2 Metropolis - Mission to Paradise by various" artist: Moonraver
This makes most things sound pretty good, but once the song really gets into full swing does the midrange soundscape on one channel continue to remain prominent? Are you able to hear or feel the low bass? Good test of imaging (and speakers!), a lot of frequency range going on.

other: "Worrisome Heart" on album "Worrisome Heart" by Melody Gardot
Pretty well recorded intimate track. Does her voice sound as real when you switch components?

classical: "Opening movement - Mars" from Holst's "The Planets" album by London Philharmonic Orchestra/dir Vladimir Jurowski
Well recorded, very wide dynamic range so caution with volume, do you get an idea of where the instruments are placed? Does timbre and frequency prominence change when you switch components?
 
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NiagaraPete

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Tears for Fears Tipping Point.
 

Frgirard

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Thought it might be helpful and fun to discuss music you like to use when testing DACs and testing other components and your overall system. I'll start it off:

pop: "Rio" on album "Rio" by Duran Duran
There is a rapid almost random analog synth running throughout the track, kind of a soundscape, its in the midrange, is it more prominent when you change components and is the song more dynamic with vocals sounding less processed? Does it all sound too bright?

jazz: "St. Thomas" on album "Saxophone Colossus" by Sonny Rollins
I believe a mono recording, sounds great on most anything, but how real does the saxaphone sound when it starts up? Does it surprise you or just blend in with the rest of the instruments? Good for testing midrange performance on speakers too.

classic rock: "Sole Survivor" on album "Asia" by Asia
Does the recording sound dynamic and like you are in the room with the band? (Don't know if any "remastered" versions have ruined the dynamics)

hard rock/heavy metal: "If Eternity Should Fail" on album "Book of Souls" by Iron Maiden
Once the music starts (there is a moody monologue at first) does it sound dynamic and surprise you for a moment, or does it sound kind of flat? Is it distorted or clear? Sibilance with the vocals (S sounds)? Can you pick out the guitars? There are at least 3 separate guitars plus a bass guitar at most times and although a studio recording, recorded more live than instrument by instrument.

electronic: "Datacloud" on album "Trance 2 Metropolis - Mission to Paradise by various" artist: Moonraver
This makes most things sound pretty good, but once the song really gets into full swing does the midrange soundscape on one channel continue to remain prominent? Are you able to hear or feel the low bass? Good test of imaging (and speakers!), a lot of frequency range going on.

other: "Worrisome Heart" on album "Worrisome Heart" by Melody Gardot
Pretty well recorded intimate track. Does her voice sound as real when you switch components?

classical: "Opening movement - Mars" from Holst's "The Planets" album by London Philharmonic Orchestra/dir Vladimir Jurowski
Well recorded, very wide dynamic range so caution with volume, do you get an idea of where the instruments are placed? Does timbre and frequency prominence change when you switch components?
The music is the last thing I use.
The speakers: the measurements.
The electronics: the after sale services
 

pjn

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Thought it might be helpful and fun to discuss music you like to use when testing DACs and testing other components and your overall system. I'll start it off:

classical: "Opening movement - Mars" from Holst's "The Planets" album by London Philharmonic Orchestra/dir Vladimir Jurowski
Well recorded, very wide dynamic range so caution with volume, do you get an idea of where the instruments are placed? Does timbre and frequency prominence change when you switch components?
Great recommendation - fabulous soundstage
 

Killingbeans

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whatever-you.gif
 

Sombreuil

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A wife that is in a room next door who can also hear the difference between a $20k DAC and a cheap one.

On a more serious note, I really like this song (because of the voice) when trying a new pair of headphone:
 

tuga

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4'33" by John Cage

edit: a video is in order

 

izeek

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my tastes run grimy edm and heavy beats though i listen to nearly anything.
1.
grimy drum hits with lots of off-time hits and heavy rolling basslines. definitely a test of your kits ability to handle disparate notes as well as handling bass musically.

2.
wonderful acoustic piece that will demonstrate your kits bass musicality and maybe muscularty.
this is also a test of its detail. maybe its mid-range ability.
you should be able to hear the ridges of the bassist' fingers sliding across the strings.

3.
can your kit handle long guitar screams with accuracy, strengtha and clarity.

enjoy your music.
 

Head_Unit

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Don Dorsey: "Ascent". Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. From the Album Time Warp. There is a kind of "BOOM" that has a quite long reverb tail. Once upon a time, comparing a Magnavox CDB-650 to a Phase Linear CD player at work, we could unmistakably tell the Magna was better-smoother decay to a lower volume versus the Phase [NON-]Linear whose reverb tail was uneven and then just died. The -650 was the only thing I ever saw tested that could properly reproduce a staircase test, not that the test was done often. Mostly I recall 1-bit players failed, though it was early days for those.

I also like the intro drum then joined by bass on ABBA's "Soldiers" from The Visitors, and Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" for similar reasons. George Benson's Give Me The Night, the whole thing! Yes, Donald Fagen's The Nightly and in a very (very!) vaguely similar vein, Lee Ritenour's Color Rit and Festival both sound really great to me. For a heavier reference I still like Iron Maiden's Piece Of Mind which on a really good system sounds pretty dang hi-fi. On a further metal note I like Dream Theater's Distance Over Time, both in stereo and surround, but I haven't heard it enough on a top system to cement it into my personal canon.

Back to testing, there was an interesting track on I believe it was a Denon test CD. It had very very low frequency tone, like 1 Hz or something or maybe even lower. On top was superimposed a higher frequency which was audible. The VLF tone "swept" the HF sine wave through/across all the bits from least to biggest, and you could hear linearity defects.
 
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