Any song recommendations for testing purposes?


Hi y'all,

So me and my pal came up with an idea about testing our own " streaming system " and see which is better, but yeah ofc, there can only be one variable, otherwise the test wouldn't be fair, no?
we decided to only change the streamer/player in each test, well luckily, my friend who happens to be an ultimate PC Hi-Fi fanatic, so the test itself which became rather easy haha, equipment-wise for sure.

Last Sunday, we were just chilling in my living room and chitchatting, he said he wanted to listen to some new modern pop song, so I played Shiver by Ed Sheeran, and he said the dynamics don't seem quite enough, I was like what the heck do you mean, and he said his system could present more details in the music than mine, anyways, so I brought my streamer over to his place, and would like to have a competition hahaha.

As I mentioned, he's a PC Hi-Fi dude, so he's done a lot modifications and all that upgrade stuff to his PC, so he used USB port to connect to his DAC and the rest to play the same song, Shiver by Ed, well truth to be told, I also thought the dynamics weren't quite sufficient as well lol, ofc he said my perception was biased bc he judged my system first, thus, we both agreed to play some more complicated tracks, like classic genre or something, however, both of us aren't that much of a elegant music admirer I'd say, which I sincerely hope you guys can share some nice songs with me!!!

BTW, we both played TIDAL via Roon, the only difference is just he used PC, I used Munich M1T, no network switch or linear power supply attached.

Best,

preston8452

Aja by Steely Dan. Better pick well recorded albums though, as many have said a lot sound terrible.

 I was at the Hotel California over tour and it did sound good, but I'm not sure great.

Actually just about anything by Steely Dan will let you know.

Jeff Wayne's musical version of War of the Worlds, isn't a bad test either.

Cat Steven's Tea for the Tillerman is also a good choice.

When I demonstrated Dali speakers back in the 80's we always played Michael Jackson's THRILLER. Now I would use Dire Straits IN THE GALLERY or SWITCH BLADE KNIFE, also Tony Joe White's album HOODOO for bass lines.

Dave Young's Two by Two sessions I find to be a good audio test.  The Acoustic bass is recorded so well that you will hear detail appearing and disappearing across different systems.  Same goes for the piano.

my go-to is "paranoid android" (radiohead), which runs the full gamut from quiet/loud/open/dense. alternatively, "black metallic" by catherine wheel or "i feel alright" by steve earle, which has a lot of subtleties on his acoustic guitar.