Auditioning Audio Gear - The Music Used

as with most folks here, i begin equipment auditions with recordings of male and female voices. my selections change over time, mainly 'cause i eventually get bored with "test" cd's/lp's. for several years i used jennifer warnes' "famous blue raincoat" as a primary test lp (i actually bought out a record store's sale stock of this recording; still have 4 or 5 sealed copies). presently, i'm using the persuasion's "might as well" (covers of the dead) and "frankly acapella" (covers of frank zappa). i also favor the fairfield four, "standing in the safety zone" and "the unaccompanied voice" on the secretly canadian label. all of these acapella recordings help me establish the "character" of the equipment i'm auditioning and lay a foundation for other tests. bass response is generally tested using the "poem of chinese drums" track on the burmester sampler "vorfurings cd III" (the u has an umlaut, which i can't insert with a-gon's text creator). rythym and pace are first heard with the "stimela" track from hugh masekela's "hope" (which is also on the burmester cdIII). after listening to these bits, i usually switch to some cd's or lp's that i just plain enjoy. among those i've just pulled out of my "test cd container" (one of those neat little bags from starbucks) are: lou reed "new york"; music from "steal this movie" ; "dead man walking," music inpired by the motion picture; "badlands" (covers of bruce's "nebraska"); and the corrs "unplugged." playing tracks from all these recordings gives me as complete a picture of the equipment under review as i can acomplish in a hour or so. for really important components (speakers, amps and pre's) i want to have at least a week of listening time, during which i throw several dozen more lp's and cd's onto their transports.

Hi Angela:

Here is my short list:

"Kepa Junkera" modern Basque music with many different instruments including percussive, distributed by Alula Records and is a two CD set.

"Clapton Unplugged" of course, and I use tracks one and thirteen.

"Engineer's Choice" John Argle's favorite demo tracks - classical.

Diana Krall "When I Look into Your Eyes", any track.

Cowboy Junkies "Lay it Down", track nine for female vocal.

K.D. Lang "Ingenue", any track.

And like Brulee I use a sampler "Voice Reflections, Women of Song" which was a give away at Barnes & Noble.

Since DanVet recently turned me onto a score of Lyle Lovett material I will also include much of this material as soon as I am better aquatinted with it.

For R&R I use The Eagles, "Hell" and "Hotel" CD's

I used to use a Sarah Vaugn and Billy Ekstine CD but gave it to my parents.

For "hall acoustics" I use "Celtic Solstice" by Paul Winter and friends, recorded at ST Paul's Cathedral in NY.

Another future candidate is the "Dead Man Walking" soundtrack and I also use various (many) tracks by Ry Cooder and some by Taj Mahal.

I use basically the same methods listed above. Have a standard set. It evolves, as do I. I also use this rotation when inserting a new component in my system, and again after break-in. Basically, I want to evaluate familiar recordings for male/female voice, saxophone/trumpet/piano/drums/cymbals(I love the cymbal test). I want to hear the tonal characteristics of a component, laid back or forward presentation, dynamics, bass response, weight, sound at low and high volume, and tendency to harshness or brightness. My list? Steely Dan-Aja(Black Cow and Aja), Francis Dunnery-Tall, Blond Helicopter(The Johnny Podell Song and I Believe I Can Change My World), Dar Williams-Mortal City(The Christians And The Pagans and Southern California Wants To Be Western New York), Lucinda Williams-Car Wheels On A Gravel Road(Car Wheels On A Gravel Road and Drunken Angel), The Cure-Mixed Up(Pictures Of You), John Coltrane-Blue Train(several tracks), and Sade-Best Of(several tracks).

Since I primarily listen to classical music, there are a few discs I bring--Bernstein-Candide, Reference Recordings for full scale orchestral, dynamics and bass, Handel--Arias for Cuzzoni and Corelli, Concerti Grossi, both with McGeagan and the Philharmonia Baroque, on Harmonia Mundi, for female voice, small orchestra and natural sound, and the Delos Mahler 2nd, for full scale orchestra and chorus. Sometimes I'll bring The Cars and Linda Ronstadt, too, just for fun. Ultimately, I advise my friends to bring the discs they like the most and listen to the most, because a system that won't convey the enjoyment they get from their favorite discs isn't worth getting, IMO, no matter how good it is.

Stevie Nicks 'Enchanted' HDCD boxed set is my acid test. There's something about her voice that's very difficult to resolve cleanly; if the rig handles Stevie smoothly, only then do I continue testing.