Hifi audition tracks - songs and tracks recommended by SNA members

[H.E. Pennypacker]

On 07/05/2019 at 10:22 PM, JPete9 said:

Agree.

Try, Ballad of the Runaway Horse - Jenifer Warnes and Blind-Hearted - Sara K

 

Totally forgot about this, but I’ve just listened to it... amazing.

[MVJ]

A couple of tracks on CD I have used include;

 

Artist: Gomez

Album: Liquid Skin 

Track(s): Revolutionary Kind and Devil will Ride

 

Mostly for the bass lines and drums. They also have a quite airy midrange, especially "Revolutionary Kind". 

 

Artis: Dianne Reeves

Album: Best Of

Track: River

 

Double Bass and cymbals. Actually a great track accross the range, especially as it is recorded live. Clarity of vocals is exceptional.

 

Artist: Tori Amos

Album: In the Pink

Track: Cornflake Girl

 

Strident vocals and hearing how the piano is portrayed.

 

I have only recently started to listen to vinyl again so spending that time revisiting old favourites. One that does show the system capabilities is Nora Jones from the album Feels Like Home, "In the Morning". 

 

 

[lenticularis]

...Listening to a Tidal 16-bit 44.1kHz stream of Ben Harper's 'Welcome To The Cruel World' album from 1994 - absolutely stunning.

 

My system as per signature block (running Naim amps currently and an awesome Gotham Audio GAC-1 IC from the Klein DAC to NAC32.5)

Edited September 11, 2019 by lenticularis

[aussievintage]

On 29/06/2019 at 2:22 PM, furtherpale said:

Totally forgot about this, but I’ve just listened to it... amazing.

Many tracks on that same album (Duets) are fantastic.

Edited September 11, 2019 by aussievintage

[Rup]

On 30/08/2017 at 12:51 AM, Spinnergeoff said:

Perhaps the demo people shouldn't take it so seriously. I did mention that some were so off as to belittle her music. That's serious, is it not? If Krall goes out of fashion any number of jazz people can be said to be "out of fashion". Fortunately the best performers are still around in recordings so we can enjoy them regardless.

You are the nit picker here, Sir Sanders Zingmore. 

And were would true high end recording be without competent Jazz musicians? They seem to be the only musicians who can make a one take recording. One that does not have to be repaired and'' fixed in the mix''. No wonder jazz music is so highly represented at demos.

[JPete9]

I have been trying to find the best stereo imaging tracks. Here are a few that i think are pretty good.

 

Artist: Infected Mushroom

Album: Vicious Delicious

Track: Becoming Insane

Notes: Distinctly hear each of the speakers on the intro and a 3rd sound emerges in the centre, as if you you have 3 speakers.

 

Artist: Yosi Horikawa

Album: Vapor

Track: Letter

Notes: The intro is 3d. You can hear the scribbling, 1 line on the page at a time.

 

I have others, but these really stand out...anyone with a treated room and high end system willing to play these and let us know how they sound?

[Hydrology]

[H.E. Pennypacker]

On 10/01/2020 at 5:18 PM, JPete9 said:

I have been trying to find the best stereo imaging tracks. Here are a few that i think are pretty good.

 

Artist: Infected Mushroom

Album: Vicious Delicious

Track: Becoming Insane

Notes: Distinctly hear each of the speakers on the intro and a 3rd sound emerges in the centre, as if you you have 3 speakers.

 

Artist: Yosi Horikawa

Album: Vapor

Track: Letter

Notes: The intro is 3d. You can hear the scribbling, 1 line on the page at a time.

 

I have others, but these really stand out...anyone with a treated room and high end system willing to play these and let us know how they sound?

Artist: Infected Mushroom

Album: Vicious Delicious

Track: Becoming Insane

Notes: Distinctly hear each of the speakers on the intro and a 3rd sound emerges in the centre, as if you you have 3 speakers.:

 

Terrible mix, as you described.. sounds like three speakers - complete amateur hour...

 

Artist: Yosi Horikawa

Album: Vapor

Track: Letter

Notes: The intro is 3d. You can hear the scribbling, 1 line on the page at a time:

 

Stunning: an aural work of art!!! There are no speakers (but a meaningless, pointless song...).

 

 

Edited January 22, 2020 by furtherpale

[JPete9]

I was looking for something that shows stereo imaging as my amp had an issue where the image was way of centre. I wouldnt normally listen this stuff either dont think that infected mushroom effect is accidental...

[Spukee]

This thread is awesome.  With the wide availability of music on Tidal, Spotify and even Youtube, it's great to know what people listen to and see if this can be replicated on one's own HiFi equipment. 

 

Can I add "O-Daiko" by Kodo from the album "Heartbeat Drummers from Japan".

 

I find this is a good test of clarity, depth and of natural thunderous bass.  The Odaiko drum beats should occupy it's own position in space - and percussion hits should be distinct and not monotonous.

 

Careful though, as this starts softly with a flute but quickly escalates.

[Godot]

Thanks for the Taiko tip, amazing! Great with the drums resonance, pace and the background shouts, loved it. Try “Chachipen Bulerias” by Carlos Heredia, from the Chesky 30th anniversary release, very dynamic, fast, busy recording, sounds great and lots of details to enjoy. Big soundstage, acoustic instruments and great vocals, a great test. 
Follow up with Rollin and Scratchin just because Daft Punk is best loud! I’m not sure why this is all bold, I wasn’t after any extra emphasis, I just couldn’t unfold the text!

Edited April 18, 2020 by Godot
Trying to correct formatting!

[dms1]

All good stuff, too many choices to play.

[wolster]

Try 'Auberge' from album of the same name by Chris Rea.

It has some excellent sound effects at the beginning before becoming an excellent track.

[rowbo]

On 24 May 2020 at 1:08 PM, wolster said:

Try 'Auberge' from album of the same name by Chris Rea.

It has some excellent sound effects at the beginning before becoming an excellent track.

Sensational track. I am sure know his voice but never had him in my library. Thank you

[ezeikiel23]

Artist: Suzanne Vega

Album: Solitude Standing

Song: Toms Diner

 

Excellent vocal only track.

 

Artist: Funkadelic 

Album: Maggot Brain

Song: Maggot Brain

 

just listen to it! An all time favourite, and it’s a pretty good recording at that, you want to be able to feel the pain in the guitar.

[Esoterica]

On 10/01/2020 at 5:18 PM, JPete9 said:

I have been trying to find the best stereo imaging tracks. Here are a few that i think are pretty good.

 

Artist: Infected Mushroom

Album: Vicious Delicious

Track: Becoming Insane

Notes: Distinctly hear each of the speakers on the intro and a 3rd sound emerges in the centre, as if you you have 3 speakers.

 

Artist: Yosi Horikawa

Album: Vapor

Track: Letter

Notes: The intro is 3d. You can hear the scribbling, 1 line on the page at a time.

 

I have others, but these really stand out...anyone with a treated room and high end system willing to play these and let us know how they sound?

My room is untreated, but contains heaps of furniture and crap lol. My system is not exactly high end but both tracks sound crisp and dynamic.

Letter swings between channels.

 

I’m not into the doof doof but enjoying this mushroom song the start of it was in front of left channel, and the rest central, but I’m sitting as an acute angle with left balance at +2.5. That being said, it’s normal for the sound to be coming from the centre with this scenario. The start of the song was magic though.

Edited July 10, 2020 by Esoterica

[CameronPR]

 

 

I'd be interested to hear how this track presents on people's systems - as it's a favorite of mine for auditions.

 

Demdike Stare ‎from one of their early records, Liberation Through Hearing - first track "Caged In Stammheim" irritatingly not on Tidal but think it's on Spotify as well as YT.

 

Then i do a spin through some Arvo Part (stage), Betty Davis (vocals) and some Shellac (crunch) - which feels like I'm capturing a breadth of sounds.

[Pasch]

Amazing soundstaging.

 

https://tidal.com/browse/track/134442317

[gillmaverick]

On 10/01/2020 at 5:18 PM, JPete9 said:

I have been trying to find the best stereo imaging tracks. Here are a few that i think are pretty good.

 

Artist: Infected Mushroom

Album: Vicious Delicious

Track: Becoming Insane

Notes: Distinctly hear each of the speakers on the intro and a 3rd sound emerges in the centre, as if you you have 3 speakers.

 

Artist: Yosi Horikawa

Album: Vapor

Track: Letter

Notes: The intro is 3d. You can hear the scribbling, 1 line on the page at a time.

 

I have others, but these really stand out...anyone with a treated room and high end system willing to play these and let us know how they sound?

Yosi Horikawa - Bubbles is another cracket...absolutely crazy

[BugPowderDust]

This is guaranteed to melt your brain and your system if you give it some throttle.  Some great switch ups in this that really hang in the air as the intensity swings.

 

 

[Hydrology]

Love me some Clark! Love “Banjo”

[Esoterica]

On 09/09/2020 at 6:44 PM, gillmaverick said:

Yosi Horikawa - Bubbles is another cracket...absolutely crazy

Brilliant! New genre: table tennis techno

Edited November 11, 2020 by Esoterica

[EHT007]

Came across this song recently.. I was  surprised how good it sounds on my system.

 

 Dela Move

Chronixx

[Rup]

 

27.5 hz  low note opening the album. Placement and dynamics top notch. And the music is mesmerizing.

If only all engineers would pay this much attention to detail:

Quote

“There are several reasons at play why this is a One Mic plus recording.

Maybe the most important is that I realized that when we had Carmen so close to the one mic she was creating an acoustic baffle that covered up certain frequencies.

The same was true for Peter Bjørnild's double bass.

For this recording the role of drummer Bert Kampsteeg was very important. We wanted him to be able to play as freely and dynamic as possible. By moving Carmen and bassist Peter Bjørnild further away and supporting them with two Josephson C700A microphones, the drum sound got much more present.

You could argue that this is a return to old fashioned multi mic recording but I don't think that is true, drums and guitar and a big part of the double bass sound is still coming from the Josephson C700S. The microphone is absolutely central to the sound stage we have created.

The two C700A support microphones are identical to the C700S except that each has only one figure of 8 capsule.

But the beauty of these mic's are that spill coloration is much less of a problem. So they are perfect as spot mic's.

We wanted the small 'soundscape' compositions to have a very dark atmosphere (Peter said he wanted them sounding as dark as the Mississippi night), so I decided to add a spaced pair of Josephson C617 microphones up very high in the studio and let them be our main source of ambience. I think that worked very well. And also the deep drop tuned low 'A' of 27.5 Hz from the double bass got picked up very well by that pair. Such a low note is almost impossible to hear close up, somehow you only hear the upper harmonics generated, so that was an extra benefit of the ambient pair. And it made me fall even more in love with the sound of studio 2.

Another funny thing....I keep learning things about the C700S. I have to keep forcing myself to keep experimenting with distance, closer or further away from the mic, it is absolutely crucial to get the best possible sound. I don't think I have ever captured Folker Tettero's guitar better than on this album and it was a question of moving the right leg of the table with the amp on, 2 cm. (0,787 inch) backwards and there the sound was! Unbelievable.” Frans de Rond.

This is a One Mic + recording; Main central microphone: Josephson C700S support microphone Carmen: Josephson C700A support microphone Peter's bass: Josephson C700A ambience microphones spaced pair of 2 Josephson C617 Recording and mastering by Frans de Rond. Produced by Peter Bjørnild.

 

[BugPowderDust]

I find this usually leaves a few jaws on the floor at my place: