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What tracks do you use to audition gear?


jinp6301

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I dont know if this has been done already but I think its always interesting to see what music people use to audition gear.

So mine are:

The Beach Boys - Sloop John B (a capella version and the regular stereo version)

Wilco - Jesus Etc

Ryan Adams - Winding Wheel (MFSL)

Justice - Let There Be Light

Daft Punk - Around The World

Jedi Mind Tricks - Genghis Kahn

Vince Guaraldi Trio - Linus and Lucy

Mozart - Requiem

Mendelsohn - Violin Concerto in E minor

Chopin - Piano Concertos 1 and 2

Probably some I'm missing but what do you guys like to use?

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Winding Wheel is a great audition track, but if I had to choose one from HB MFSL it would be:

Ryan Adams - Oh My Sweet Carolina

Also:

Ryan Adams - Jacksonville City Nights (entire first half of album, CD and LP. its just so exquisitely recorded, so alive and clear but raw)

Genesis - Squonk (both album version and "Seconds Out" version)

Genesis - Afterglow

Bob Marley - Natural Mystic (MFSL)

Phish - Punch You In The Eye / The Sloth (NYE 2005, SB commercial release)

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - A Night In Tunisia/Sincerely Dian (MFSL)

George Kawaguchi's "Big 4" (XRCD 20bit K2) - whole album (this is actually a brand new audition cd for me, thanks reks)

Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks 5 CD 2 - Estimated Prophet

Joy Division - Closer (whole album)

Medeski Martin & Wood - I Wanna Ride You (and other tracks off Uninvisible)

Pink Floyd - Meddle (silver harvest OR mfsl, whole album)

Soft Machine - 5th (recent japanese DSD remaster, first few tracks)

And slowly some of these new Widespread Panic SBs are making their way into the audition tracks list.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Einstuerzende Neubauten, "Sabrina" -- for bass and bass "gank" (prat)

Stabbing Westward, "Darkest Days" (and the rest of the album) -- dynamics, resolution

Nine Inch Nails, "Wish" (and the rest of Broken) -- dynamics, resolution

Camille, "P?le Septembre", "Ta Douleur", "Au Port" -- correctness of female vocals

Jenifer Smith/Code Mesa, "When The World Began" -- electronic production, femme vocals

Rob Dougan, "Furious Angels" -- electronic production, male vocals

Pink, "Hell Wit Ya (Treat Me Right)" -- bass prat, synthesized

Alan Parsons Project, "I, Robot"/"I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You" -- synthesized production, wicked good production

Talk Talk, "The Rainbow", "Desire" -- sparse production, dense production, modern production (distortion, etc.)

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Tea Party, "Winter Solstice" - If the speaker or headphone has a midrange colouration, the acoustic guitars from this track will nail it

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, "Red Right Hand" - Bass groove, texture, and dynamics

Sarah Slean, "Sweet Ones" - resolution test, along with midrange issues

Tori Amos, "Mother" - Sibilance test, also resolution

The Tea Party, "Sun Going Down" - Dynamics and freedom from congestion. Also soundstage depth.

Blue Rodeo, "What is this love" - Cymbal decays, male & female vocals test

Cowboy Junkies, "Trinity Sessions" album - resolution, low level details, soundstaging

SRV & Albert King, "Pride & Joy" - Groove & soul test

Cowboy Junkies, "He Will Call You Baby" - soul & emotion, does it make me feel?

The Tea Party, "Psychopomp" - dense production test, sees if things turn to mush or stays clean

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Tea Party, "Winter Solstice" - If the speaker or headphone has a midrange colouration, the acoustic guitars from this track will nail it

The Tea Party, "Psychopomp" - dense production test, sees if things turn to mush or stays clean

Another Tea Party fan. I like using "Pulse" and "Temptation", as well as propellorhead's "bigger?" and portishead's "wandering star" for bass happiness before switching to something like the white stripes for head-bopping happiness. "cath hell blues" and "Seven nation army" work great.

I've also used juno reactor's "insects" for the deep low bass sweep and deep bass pulse.

I guess I switch it up often though, as I hate to wear out a song.

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For soundstage: Global Communication - Epsilon Phase (last track on Pentamerous Metamorphosis EP)

Biosphere - Caboose, En-Trance (the last two tracks on Patashnik)

For bass response: Bandulu - Come Forward (on the Macro Dub Infection compilation)

General tracks:

Bisophere - Endurium, the whole Substrata album

The Knife - Off to On, Heartbeats

Peter Murphy - Cuts You Up

Waterboys - Fisherman's Blues

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