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Music For Testing Bass

Too much to list. But a fun quick test for me is Rick Wakeman’s Merlin the Magician from the original LP version of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It’s not that it was on LP—the later CD reissue works just as well—it’s the mix for that album. The 2016 remake is excellent but doesn’t have the same feature. The relevant bass is produced by the Moog Synthesizer, probably the Poly-Moog which he was using by 1975 when it came out.

If a system’s bass isn’t right, this recording reveals it. My friend who just built a new system used Revel F236 towers and a pair of Revel subs. It sounded flat to me, and for some reason had lost its calibration. That music was the reference. When the system is right, it gets a Wow.

Rick “avoiding the usual tuba cliché” Denney
 
Check this piece with good headphones like Stealth:

Low rumbling bass notes (it feels almost like sine waves somewhere around 30hz) are just breath taking.
If you like classical music I can strongly recommend you the whole album.

ps. Lately I listened that track at dealers show room with very very expensive bowers and wilkins speakers (their reference top of the line) luxman dac, luxman preamp and pass labs huge mono blocks. It sounded medicore. Lacked deep deep bass. Stealth + Topping stack at home for fraction of the price made circles around it.
 
Some great recommendations here. I originally thought this thread was dead in the water, but I’m pleased to see it’s picked up a bit!
 
So far nobody has mentioned Nitin Sawhney's "Beyond Skin", especially track 6, "Nadia".

You know how people criticize objectivists for only listening to sine waves? Well, this is literally a bass sine wave that is mixed in with music. I am guessing it is a sweep that starts at 80Hz or so and goes down to 20Hz. Don't bother listening to it with your laptop speakers, there are no harmonics and you won't hear anything at all. So even the missing fundamental effect won't help you reconstruct the sine wave in your head. On MY laptop speakers, I can catch the top of the bass sine wave sweep and nothing after that. You actually need a system capable of reproducing those notes.

 
How to annoy the neighbors ;)

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Are 'Friends' Electric? - Horehound
Sail Away - White Ladder
Have Mercy On Me - Chulahoma
Help Me Stranger - Help Me Stranger
Celestica - Crystal Castles II
Graceland - Graceland
Handshake Drugs - A Ghost Is Born
Worst Of Me - SSM
Rattler - Sparkle Hard
Tommy The Cat, Shake Hands With Beef - They Can't All Be Zingers
 
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Toto I Will Remember
Tears for Fears Woman in Chains
Hanna Boel After Midnight
Dean Peer Lord Zuthula
Roger Waters Three Wishes
Jeff Lorber My Bass
Nenad Basilic Bass Drops
Phil Collins I Don’t Care Anymore
Rob Wasserman Ballad of the Runaway Horse
 
Zola Blood - Islands
The Weeknd - Nothing Compares
Herizen - Come Over to My House
Can - She Brings the Rain
Lo Moon - Loveless
 
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