Topic: best sounding cds

[scb]

if i am going to listen to some playback gear today, which cds do you recommend I bring?  is there anything you feel is mixed so well that it's the perfect one to test gear out with?

[teamakg]

dmb - live at red rocks  

[Nick S.]

I would say to bring a cd that you a VERY familiar with.  That way you will be able to evaulate the gear since you have the test cd to use a frame of reference.  My picks are WSP Ball, Floyd DSOTM, Mule Deepest End, and some of my fav. tapes.

have fun

[scervin]

I agree with Nick.  I would also throw some tracks in with female vocals like Diana Krall, Norah Jones, etc.  I'd also say bring some jazz with some deep bass.  I would only put a few aud recording tracks in there. I have some discs that Mark Shifter (own of av123, ex-president of Genesis speakers, grandson to Irving Marantz) used in the design process of the Rocket line.  They have a huge mix of tunes.  I could make a copy and send tem if you would like.  I usually bring Mule, WSP Ball, SRV- Lenny, and those discs I got from Mark.
SC

[George]

Sarah Mclachlan-Fumbling towards ecstasy and surfacing
Guns n Roses- Appetite for destruction
Keb Mo- Just like you
Paula Cole- This fire (some killer low bass frequencies in here)

Just pick some cds your very familiar with...i would avoid live cds.

[Nick Culbreth]

when i was auditioning headphones here is what i brought:

bela fleck and the flecktones - little worlds
chris thile - all who wonder are not lost
govt mule - the deepest end
elliott smith - either/or
my victor wooten tape from 10/01/03 (lots of bass)

[leegeddy]

if i am going to listen to some playback gear today, which cds do you recommend I bring?  is there anything you feel is mixed so well that it's the perfect one to test gear out with?

i usually take these cds to a stereo shop:

Alpine Car National test cd (it has about 20 tracks of pure digital mayhem including lots of Jazz, Classical, Vocal and test tone tracks)

Rebecca Pidgeon's The Raven (Chesky records- Hybrid SACD).  play "Spanish Harlem" for amazing detailed vocal tracks that will test the mid range performance of many speakers

Steely Dan's Gaucho (Mobile Fidelity's cd or the SACD if you're testing SACD)  my fav tracks are "Babylon Sisters" and "Gaucho".   lots of warmth & details w/o any harshness

PFloyd's DSotM (SACD)  i really like "Time" to listen to ambiance and clarity in the guitars

Steely Dan's "Two Against Nature" DVD-Audio is a damn fine recording.

Diana Krall's "The Look of Love" (now on DVD-Audio) is a great recording.  my fav track is "S' Wonderful" with great clarity in the vocals and lots of warmth in the low end.

lastly, few Telarc cds with classical recording will test a system's dynamic range.  many lower end amps will fail to reproduce the full range of some of Telarcs's recordings.

i try to stay away from live recordings as test tracks.

marc

[Nick S.]

Why would you stay away from live tracks for testing?  At least 75% of the music I listen to is taped so why not test how it would sound on the new gear?  Just curious?

[Nick's Picks]

my benchmark discs:

Steve Winwood "About time" is just a wonderfuly mixed recording.  Dynamic as a mutha!, warm, juicey...just kick ass all around.

GD 2-23-93 DSBD, this is the finest soundboard recording i've ever heard.  It is transparent....throws a soundstage that will be constrained only by the walls in the room.  Simply amazing.

GD 3-25-90 FOB mk21
awesome ambience, great schempz recording.

and my favorite soundfield recording...whatever that happens to be at that particular time.