Songs you use when auditioning gear

Whatever I’m most familiar with or have lately been listening to so I can hear what is different or improved from what I usually hear.

—Clarity, Female voice: Gravity (Alison Krauss/Union Station)

— Human voice: Gjeilo: Ubi Caritas (Voces8)

— Bass/Slam: Sing, Sang, Sung (Gordon Goodwin’s Big Fat Band)

— Bass Drum: March from Suite 1 (Holst) (Cleveland Symphonic Winds, Frederick Fennell (Telarc))

— Pipe Organ: Toccata and Fugue in D minor (Bach) (Michael Murray (Telarc))

— Large Orchestra:  Mahler Symphony 5 (Benjamin Zander, Philharmonia Orchestra (Telarc))

— Big Everything: First minute of Mahler Symphony 8 (Robert Shaw, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (Telarc))

@hilde45 @jastralfu @soix 

Yesterday I listened to LPs of Aja and Gaucho back to back.  I wouldn't say Gaucho  was that much brighter than Aja.  Maybe the horn sections were a little bright on Gaucho, but that LP was one that received better treatment.

More generally, I would rely more on well-recorded classical orchestral pieces and jazz for auditioning components.  They can inform about both timbral accuracy and soundstaging better than pop/rock records, which are generally multimic'ed with artificial reverberation and often EQ added.  When auditioning gear, I did use a few rock records because I was very familiar with them and wanted to be sure they would sound good, since I listened to rock as much as classical and jazz.

Yesterday I listened to LPs of Aja and Gaucho back to back.  I wouldn't say Gaucho  was that much brighter than Aja.

@drmuso I was referring to the CD version of Gaucho, which sounds like a lot of early 80s CD recordings in that it’s thin and glassy sounding. Personally I use Patricia Barber’s live Companion CD and Keb’ Mo’s Slow Down CD among many others as well-recorded reference material. As for rock “Tin Pan Alley” from Stevie Ray Vaughn’s Couldn’t Stand the Weather CD is always a good go to.