What music is your benchmark?

What do you use as a benchmark to judge your system and any improvements you might have made.

I first reach for classic piano music, and recordings of the Bach's Goldberg Variations come top of the list.

But this recording of the Goldbergs on the Harp is being pushed on Classic FM


Goldberg Variations

Johann Sebastian Bach

Catrin Finch

Record Label: DG

Catalogue Number: 4778165

Classic FM on a Squeezebox into my Beresford DAC with MOD21

Amazing Clarity- you can hear the pluck of the harp in every note!

What would the CD ripped to FLAC be like?

So what is your benchmark music?

I would say that it doesn't matter which type of music one uses to evaluate a system or any change of component. As long as the set of tracks are known to you intimately then any changes can be clearly heard. Whether a system sounds good or bad is a subjective matter. Over the years I have come to like a specific sound. If I hear a system that is not what I like, then I would dismiss it. That does not mean to say that it is bad, but it would not be for me. It could be just the right thing for the man standing next to me.

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It could be just the right thing for the man standing next to me.

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What if that man was wearing a chiffon blouse, pencil skirt, blonde wig, and a cheeky wee smile?

Marco.

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Originally Posted by Marco

What if that man was wearing a chiffon blouse, pencil skirt, blonde wig, and a cheeky wee smile?

Marco.

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Do Pantomime Dames have any taste, let alone musical taste?

I hear that they taste of liquorice...

Doesn't liquorice race the heart?

It does mine :o

Don't like liquorice.....

I have a collection of all sorts of music and I've found that when judging new gear it depends on what I'm enjoying that week...

When I acquired the Crown D 60's and Spendor BC2's a few months ago and once I'd fitted some replacement bass drivers of the correct sensitivity (sincere thanks to Terry Miles), I went straight to some of the albums I first heard on this particular pair of speakers with one of the D-60's in '74-'76 - L by Steve Hillage, Mirage by Camel and Blue Moves by Elton John were the first three, followed by Crime of the Century by Supertramp (my CD copy is a rather dire and bland MFSL one, which has nothing like the life and "verve" of the official A&M issue). Even though this music was on CD (all expertly remastered in this case), all the old memories came flooding back (some tears too I should add) and I was in musical heaven. Plenty of Tangerine Dream followed, along with retro EM group Redshift and with extra internal damping in the cabs, they more than rose to the task, bless 'em....

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Originally Posted by Marco

What if that man was wearing a chiffon blouse, pencil skirt, blonde wig, and a cheeky wee smile?

Marco.

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one with toroidal tendencies?

Can we get back on topic?

What music do you use when testing your system?

Piano is also high on my list, especially for assessing loudspeakers .

Recently I was rather thrown by a very pure recording with the baritone Hermann Prey ( also recommended on Classics FM ! ) - I want to get this one right ! Although some of the problems are no doubt due to the 1971 analogue recording - tape is not a friend of classical solo vocals.

I have a listening CD that I burnt for myself, this allows me to test the aspects of a system that are important to me
Amour Brahem Kashf This will allow me to get a sense of the bass and how much air the sysytem has
Jeff Buckley Grace and Lover You Should've Come OverThis shows how vocals and atmoshere are handled; basically can the item seduce me
Strunz and Farah Bola This will test its drive timing and how well the system images
Surinder Sandhu Amirah This is when I really start to test how well everything intergrates; do tablas sound real and have bounce will acoustic guitars ring through in the mix, how will the bass mid and treble intergrate and allow every note to come through in time
Dream Theater Metropolis Part 1 Will kick drums kick will cymbals crash and will it pick up all the work the guitar player is doing
If the answer is yes to all then usually I go for it; but rarely I hear the whole package

I use a few tried and tested records

Vinyl - Madonna 'Like a Prayer' - simply great production and a real test of that elusive 'foot tapping' quality
Talk Talk - Colour of Spring. Amazing dynamic range, wonderful natural sound and very complex, a real torture test in places
Willy DeVille - Miracle. Good for setting up a cartridge for inner track tracking, especially 'Storybook Love' - and nicer to listen to than the HFW test disc.
Michael Hedges - Aerial Boundaries. Again, great dynamics and presence.
Jennifer Warnes - Famour Blue Raincoat - great for vocals, especially 'A Singer Must Die', an acapella rendition with 10 or so singers. Someone once described this as an aural ball of spaghetti, and if I can follow indivdual singers then it's a well rounded system to me...

CD - Eric Bibb - Spirit and the Blues - great recording of acoustic instruments around a single mic. Good for that intangible 'tingle factor' of a real 3d soundstage where the acoustic of the recording replaces the room your listening in.
Beirut - the Flying Club Cup - again excellent dynamics and complex, almost freeform arrangements that can be hard to follow in a poor system.
James Taylor - Hourglass - Exceptional production, and great dynamics.
Al Stewart - Year of the Cat - 'cos it's a crappy master in the days when CDs could be nasty, splashy things and a good system can often make the best of a bad job. Sounds a bit skewy but I like to know what something does badly too...

Jason

From The Grave

I have a very well recorded vinyl album I use every time to trial my system or others.

Its Paul Mc Cartneys unplugged album. Its a Spanish import (I think) and is as thin as a wafer. But its by far the best recording I have ever heard!

Piano, as said elsewhere. Female voice. Good recordings like the Joan Armatrading eponymous album or Jewel: Spirit. Massed choral (the stiffest test I know for a system). Frankly, if a system can handle something like Mozart's or Durufle's Requiem with massed choir and ultra-deep organ pedals and keep it together, it's doing well. Many systems I've heard don't reproduce the pedals at all. A non-starter for me!

Above all, they must be recordings that you know well and enjoy listening to.

Last night, I played the 1976 Joan Armatrading Nimbus recut LP that I hadn't played in ages. The reproduction of the backing reverb is extremely telling and this potentially huge soundfield can be superb on a decent large-scale system, together with the musicianship and emotion in Joan's voice. When I played this on the Spendors last year it sounded horrid (haven't played it with the Decca yet), but on the upstairs setup with Dual 701/AT120E last night, it was sublime and brought back memories from the late 70's and my times working in the West End - mixed feelings there ;)

Nowadays the first record on is always auntie Krall's "The girl in the Other Room"; most of the album can be used, but if I am happy after the first 3-4 tracks I normally go on to other artists.

Another track is Cæcillie (Caecilie) Norby's edition of "Life on Mars" from her "I had a ball" live album. The girl can do that jazz, but on the particular track it is also the bass play (Lars Danielsson) in the opening and in passages. Klüvers Big Band are solid and competant.

On the electronic front it is Trentemøller's "The Last Resort" album, especially if you want to se how low it can go

Hmm been to long since Joan Armatrading came by... search and I shall find.. ah The very best of...

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Originally Posted by DSJR

Last night, I played the 1976 Joan Armatrading Nimbus recut LP that I hadn't played in ages. The reproduction of the backing reverb is extremely telling

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Yes, agreed. That reverb really separates the properly setup systems from the also-rans.

Boogie Nights by Heatwave………feet tapping, excellent, its all working then ;)

I agree with you Brian, piano and also chamber music. A comparison with acoustic instruments that I have heard live provides me with the assurance that my equipment is getting close. I have one particular piano recording of Anne Queffelec playing a Bach selection which has great presence if the equipment is up to it.
John

I have one particular Sam Brown track, one of my favourite songs of hers - which was actually a B-Side - "No Man Is an Island" - it was the B-Side to the 7" single Mindwprks, and 1 of 4 tracks on the Mindworks CD Single and 12" - I've got both so I can use it for testing either format, and of course a ripped copy.

For me this track really tests the three-dimensionality of a soundstage, as well as female vocals, there's some great acoustic guitar, and a wonderful flute solo, as well as some subtle "brush" drums, a good kick drum and an easy to follow bassline. Only problem is it is one of those "wow" tracks for me that I loved listening to on any system! ;)

(Martin - well worth seeking out the 12" of this, I think it would be absolutely stunning on the Techie... :))

Will do, Alex. Is it not on any of the albums?

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Originally Posted by MartinT

Will do, Alex. Is it not on any of the albums?

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No - afraid not. I love all of the tracks on the CD/12" but only Mindworks was an album track - true of most of her CD singles/12" - I think I'm only missing one from my collection, and I'm always amazed how much effort she puts into her "B-sides" - most could easily be album tracks. I'm a bit biased, of course as she is one of my all-time favourites! :)

I use a few for various purposes...although I listen to quite a bit of electronic music I tend to test stuff out with analogue, as I find it taxes hi-fi's a lot more

Tosca - Dehli 9 (Disk 2)

A good one for testing out speaker capabilities, all recorded on a grand piano, no compression, and I don't know how it is being played, ostensibly it's an ambient album, but when it's turned up the full range of sound can make lesser speakers fart ;)

Radiohead - Hail to the Thief

I like this as there's loads going on, several guitars with loads of effects, keyboards, drums, vocals etc....lots of stuff that can sound a bit confusing on a lesser system. If you can follow the bass through 2 + 2 = 5 then things aren't so bad, and the stereo positioning is excellent.

Dead can Dance - Aeon

Lisa Gerrard's voice should be just this side of making your ears bleed, again all played on traditional medieval instruments.

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

A bit obvious this one, but it's nice to see if you can hear the detail of the brushes on the snare drum, along with the full body of the sax and double bass.

And finally a couple for showing off how nice your system is ;)

Polar Bear - Polar Bear

Tilt - Scott Walker

Both meticulously recorded, and make most systems sound good...

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Originally Posted by Alex_UK

Martin - well worth seeking out the 12" of this

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Click, click, done!

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Originally Posted by MartinT

Click, click, done!

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Jeez Martin, you have it down to only 2 clicks now - you must have a shortcut . . . :lol:

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Originally Posted by GreatGig

Jeez Martin, you have it down to only 2 clicks now - you must have a shortcut . . . :lol:

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I reckon you'd love it too Tim. Seriously, must be at least 3 days since I got ya! :lol:

I suppose some of my benchmarks would be:

Dusty Springfield - 'Dusty in Memphis'
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanagan - 'Ballad of the Broken Seas'
Muddy Waters - 'Folk Singer'
Led Zeppelin - 1st album
Grieg's Piano Concerto - Curzon with the LSO / Fjeldstad
FZ - 'The Yellow Shark'

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Originally Posted by GreatGig

Jeez Martin, you have it down to only 2 clicks now

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We're seriously bad for each other ;)

I did a comp for Scalford, which was stuff I really enjoyed, and which didn't fall into the cocktail bar end of vocal jazz (sorry :sofa:)

Pink Floyd, 'Unknown Song' (aka 'Rain In The Country') from the Rhino extended issue of 'Zabrkiskie Point', 1969/2004



June Tabor, 'Scarecrow' from Abyssinians, 1983



John Martyn, 'May You Never' from Solid Air, 1973



Van Morrison, 'Enlightenment' from Enlightenment, 1990



Sonic Youth, 'I Dreamed I Dream' from Sonic Youth, 1982

Rush "Circumstances". Mainly because I know every inch of it, and an articulate bassline that needs to prove it's a Rickenbacker. Plus a bit of xylophone.

Massive Attack "Protection". For female vocal and a little piano, I've found that the better the system the more you can hear some soul in Tracey Thorn's voice.

Jack Johnson "Good People". Organic sounds. Is there a group in the corner of the room or just boxes and LEDs ?

Shirley Bassey "Goldfinger". Battle royal. Orchestra, electric bass and Ms. Bassey in a three way wrestling match for world domination. Always separates the men from the boys so to speak.

Pete

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Originally Posted by Alex_UK

I reckon you'd love it too Tim. Seriously, must be at least 3 days since I got ya! :lol:

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I'll check it out, but I've already bought 4 today :(

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Originally Posted by Labarum

What do you use as a benchmark to judge your system and any improvements you might have made.

I first reach for classic piano music, and recordings of the Bach's Goldberg Variations come top of the list.

But this recording of the Goldbergs on the Harp is being pushed on Classic FM


Goldberg Variations

Johann Sebastian Bach

Catrin Finch

Record Label: DG

Catalogue Number: 4778165

Classic FM on a Squeezebox into my Beresford DAC with MOD21

Amazing Clarity- you can hear the pluck of the harp in every note!

What would the CD ripped to FLAC be like?

So what is your benchmark music?

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Ian Brown "Time Is My Everything".

This album by Christine Collister > http://amzn.to/ihVSCB

Listened to this very intently for a couple of years and then went to see her to discuss how it was done, and why it was done that way. Spent no time thinking about or searching for image, depth, width and other irrelevances (within the context of this specific recording) but focused on as many tonal and musical nuances as I could handle at any one time. Followed it up by being in the front row for both live and acoustic renditions. Incidentally, those irrelevances stated above were irrelevant to the performer who, after all, is the final arbiter.

The nature of the fretless bass playing and the way it was recorded was the primary driver for the Stereonow Bass Test Tones & Textures CD which 47 AoS members received FOC earlier this year.

As a point of reference, the closest I ever achieved to reproducing her voice merely hours after being at an acoustic gig of hers was I my room was using the entry level Ayre pre/power into my very much missed Lumen White Silver Flame speakers. The source was a 25kg Micro-Seiki modified Marantz CD12 transport into a mighty valve-driven Stax DAC X1-T with Stereovox interconnects, Stereovox speaker cables and Damiel power cords.

http://open.spotify.com/user/gamalon...mIaopxUOoZlSyr
Ofeten use this to check out a system

Massive Attack - Dissolved Girl http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYo_aYlfqC8&hd=1

Silky female vocals, deeeep bassline and a combination of delicacy, big beats, effects and electric guitar. It's tough to get all this right.

Joni Mitchell - The Last Time I Saw Richard http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igj20M84hbo

If your system has ANY sibilance or unnaturalness at the top end Joni Mitchell's album "Blue" on CD will definitely expose this with the vocals! Using the vinyl version is cheating. It's this CD that forced me to ditch my DVD player as a transport & use the HagUSB exclusively.

Dead Can Dance - Spirit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MpCPe897zY

Just stunning vocals that serve as a good benchmark for naturalness. Additionally the sparse & minimal arrangement allows for me to make easy reference points and quickly spot differences between components.

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Originally Posted by John

http://open.spotify.com/user/gamalon...mIaopxUOoZlSyr
Ofeten use this to check out a system

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Some excellent stuff on there!