Flim & the BB's or other music to test dynamic range with

[faust3d]

I have been listening to some Flim & the BB's albums lately, not my usual preferred type of music, but I did enjoy it a lot. Music is very nice and production is very 80's, but recording quality itself was so fricking cool. Dynamic range on my original CD from the 80's is very impressive, it can go from very soft to explosive in a split second and shows what a good setup can do. I have a few other CDs like that, like some Russian choir recording, but not a lot.

Any suggestion for good music with wild very dynamic recording? Binaural and extremely dynamic would be even better

[Pars]

Late 19th century/early 20th century symphonic would be good. Mahler, Shostakovitch, Stravinsky etc. A couple of recordings that I have that are good:

Holst/The Planets

[url=http://www.amazon.com/Holst-Planets-Gustav/dp/B0000041S7/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1274290533&sr=1-3]Amazon.com: Holst: The Planets: Gustav Holst, Charles Dutoit, Montr

[GPH]

Late 19th century/early 20th century symphonic would be good. Mahler, Shostakovitch, Stravinsky etc. A couple of recordings that I have that are good

Agreed. Shostakovich's Symphonic Dances is my ultimate "test track".

[Dusty Chalk]

From memory -- so (a) don't hold me to it, and ( don't ask for which performance -- Also Sprach Zarathustra and 1812 Overture are both pretty dynamic.

[faust3d]

I do have some Shostakovitch (Haitink) stuff as well as some other good classical recording with wide dynamic range, but for some reason old Flim & the BB's albums just explode on my system while classical recordings do not in the same way. Maybe it has to do with intentional soft to loud tricks these guys were playing in the studio testings new DDD recoding techniques. Some ECM classical recordings also have these crazy dynamic shifts.

[faust3d]

From memory -- so (a) don't hold me to it, and ( don't ask for which performance -- Also Sprach Zarathustra and 1812 Overture are both pretty dynamic.

Yeah, 1812 Overture, with cannons blasting can stress any lesser system no doubt. I have it on CD, but I don't my version is that explosive although I just might not remember.

[Dusty Chalk]

I do have some Shostakovitch (Haitink) stuff as well as some other good classical recording with wide dynamic range, but for some reason old Flim & the BB's albums just explode on my system while classical recordings do not in the same way. Maybe it has to do with intentional soft to loud tricks these guys were playing in the studio testings new DDD recoding techniques. Some ECM classical recordings also have these crazy dynamic shifts.

Mike Oldfield's Amarok has some of that. (Of course, that goes all the way back to Tubular Bells, and he actually lost the one sudden dynamic shift when he re-recorded it.)

Also, less so, Jeff Beck's "Star Cycle" from There & Back (I blew the speakers in my dad's Mercury Cougar back in the day with this track, but I did have it cranked pretty high.)

[faust3d]

Mike Oldfield's Amarok has some of that. (Of course, that goes all the way back to Tubular Bells, and he actually lost the one sudden dynamic shift when he re-recorded it.)

Any particular Amarok version on CD sounds better than others? I might just pick it up on Amazon, I don't have a lot of Mike Oldfield, but like what I have heard.

[Dusty Chalk]

No, it was recorded digitally, so I don't even know why they remastered it to HDCD -- sounds exactly the same to my (admittedly jaded) ears. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if you do not intend to decode the HDCD, stay away from it.

[elnero]

Dadawa - Sister Drum

This has been one of my staples for testing gear ever since the owner of Swan's Speakers introduced me to it in the early to mid 90's. I typically use it to test for dynamics, massed vocals and instrumentation as well as bass, plus it's just some really good music.

[aerius]

Russian choral music was mentioned, so if you don't already have it get a copy of Russian Favourites by the Red Army Choir.

Though it's not super dynamic, there's something undeniably fun about blasting Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries on a speaker system. Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite is also pretty fun, particularly "In the hall of the mountain king". Still trying to find a perfect version though, every one I've heard to date has something that's a little off.

Moving over to more modern music, there's the opening of "Space Dog" by Tori Amos off the Under the Pink album, and also "Sun Going Down" by The Tea Party from the album Splendor Solis.

And though it's not music, it's pretty darn fun. Danley Sound Labs has a few sound files on the bottom of this page which you can download and put on a CD. The fireworks one is pretty ridiculous and the Harley Davidson sound clip is also pretty good.

[jvlgato]

Yeah, we used to play Flim and the BB's all the time in college for the same reason. Fun music , crazy dynamic range. But when we were feeling extra mature, we'd call them Flegm and the Boogers. Ok, seemed funny 25 years ago!

I think the 1812 version you're thinking of is the Telarc:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510KFJJ5XSL._SS400_.jpg

Telarc did some great recording and mastering. This was their breakthrough recording, it was also on vinyl, of course, and

Was THE tracking test for high end cartridges. I remember a picture of the groove of the LP at the loudest canon shot, and it was nearly a right angle. The debate at the time was whether it was reasonable to expect anything to track it. Then when the CD came out, there was a warning label so you wouldn't blow out your speakers!

[faust3d]

Found another CD in my collection that is just off the hook when it comes to dynamic pyrotechnics: Victory of the Better Man - L'utopiste, great album, musically, as well.