# Strickly SQ music.....



## demon2091tb

I know on other boards this type of thread has always existed, but i would like to know based on Extreme levels of SQ, what you use to show off your SQ.

I'm still tuning and whatnot with my car, its getting very nice (in my eyes) but would like ALOT more material to base my car off of.

When listing the song, if you do list one, Give a brief run through of what it should sound like.

My favorite song right now to play to test and show off my car is a song called, Distant Moment by John Serrie.

*John Serrie - Distant Moment*
The song should be very light and smooth, extended top end sparkle, Low end should be very deep, clean and accurate. I really like this song, its really mellow, and laid back. The epitome of ambient space, if you like this style.


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## minitruck_freq

ive got some Dave Weckl stuff that really wangs.


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## af22

Personal Favorites:

Eagles - Hotel California XRCD version

George Duke - The Black Messiah (Part Two) 

Spanish Harlem

What always impressed me was the focal demo disc that they give to authorized dealers to show off there speakers. I haven't found a copy yet to own myself, but that cd always puts a smile to my face when i listen to the utopias.

Also, this one.

http://www.amusicdirect.com/products/detail.asp?sku=CCHEUD95


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## demon2091tb

We really aught to get a server or something to put these CD's or references on, sorta over my limit this month on the CC, wish i could get that Demonstration Disk, it looks awesome........Looks to be a really wide range of music, with sections dedicated to explination of the different parts they outline, and examples....Wow.

Another Song, this time Jazz, Its sorta old, SQ man not be top notch but as far as accuracy and instrumentation and such you can't beat some Big Band.

*Benny Goodman Band - Sing Sing Sing (Sing, Swing, Sing)* I played this song back in highschool jazz band, i played the Tuba, Did the string bass part, was really fun. The song is extreemly fast, and frantic, and has pretty good drum and trumpet intrumentations, Very nice. Lots of dynamics, Hopefully will be able to play this tommorrow in my car to see how it really stacks up.


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## Ludemandan

Zero 7 - Home

That's all I can think of at the moment, but the Zero 7 albums I have - Simple Things and When it Falls - are both pretty good SQ albums.

Dan


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## simon21

Great post. We need a way to send these things to each other.


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## minitruck_freq

demon2091tb said:


> wish i could get that Demonstration Disk, it looks awesome........Looks to be a really wide range of music, with sections dedicated to explination of the different parts they outline, and examples....Wow.



Chesky demo disc??? i can burn u a copy and send it to u.


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## Finleyville

Ludemandan said:


> Zero 7 - Home
> 
> That's all I can think of at the moment, but the Zero 7 albums I have - Simple Things and When it Falls - are both pretty good SQ albums.
> 
> Dan



Yes, yes, and yes.


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## sheepdog

Earth, Wind, and Fire



highs from the horn section, drums, solid bass, vocals... little bit of everything


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## AzGrower

Hmm I might be the only one who says this, but I like all the albums from A Perfect Circle. They tend to play smooth music then without warning go into some faster paced notes, then back to smooth. YOu can really test to see if your system can gracefully keep up.


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## WLDock

Cheskey Demo discs are nice as well as some of the IASCA and USAC discs. Many of these give the actual placement of the instruments/performers. This helps out quite a bit. I also have demo discs from Boston Acoustics, FOCAL, Alpine, and Telarc and all are nice. I use several discs to set up a system.

Lately I have been listening to Nora Jones to test for imaging. The best way to find out how this disc should sound is to go to a "HIGH END" home audio store and listen to it. Then get in your car and play it.


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## MiniVanMan

My favorite has always been Peter Gabriel. His music isn't all cluttered up. Everything is clear and precise, and really extends for a really solid frequency range. Many songs the bass guitar really drops. It'll make a believer out of you.


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## demon2091tb

A few other SQ songs that i like well that arn't really songs, would be

Buddha Bar Mix 1
Hed Kandi - Winter Chill Vol 3
Pink Floyd - Meddle (more specifically, Song #2, Very awesome song, Very light, occasional string bass 1/2 through the song.)
Pink Floyd - Echoes - You just can't beat this song, its top notch, Sub/Midbass integration is a must to get the string bass to sound right.

Common people keep throwing songs out, and yea we really need somewhere to store all of these for a rainy day


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## tf1216

Have to check out Jeffrey Osborne - "Plane Love"

This song has very nice kick in both channels and there are little bongos that get hit at different speeds in both channels. This song will really take your breath away. He as a singer has a deep voice as well that is a challenge to get the pitch just right.


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## Jim85IROC

I have a few "go-to" songs.

1. Hotel California from Hell Freezes Over.
This song sounds good on almost anything, but once you begin to listen to it on some truely high-end stuff (B&W 703s are my favorite so far), you begin to learn that there are entirely new layers to this song that you never realized. I've listened to this song very often since the cd first came out like what, 10 or more years ago? I've probably listened to this song 5,000 times or more. Even still, as I listen to it on better quality stuff, I still find more to it. Truely an involving musical experience.

2. Mary Jane's Last Dance by Tom Petty. This song isn't as complex as Hotel California, but there's still an awful lot to listen to. It has a very wide soundstage, and on a good enough stereo, you can decide which guitar you want to listen to and focus on it from start to finish. Tom Petty's voice also sounds VERY different from speaker to speaker, so it makes for some interesting comparisons.

3. Money For Nothing - Dire Straits. Mark Knopfler's guitar playing is outstanding, and sounds very good in this song, especially in the beginning. Bass drum also has a lot of impact early on.


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## af22

I got a chance to listen to Hotel California DVD audio version on a pair of Genesis Flagship speakers... one of the most amazing experience in my life.

$120,000 speakers playing on a $30,000 cd player.... the wires comming out from the speakers and deck were like the size of my arm.... After listening to that setup, everything i owned sounded like garbage. 

Excellent cd.



Jim85IROC said:


> I have a few "go-to" songs.
> 
> 1. Hotel California from Hell Freezes Over.
> This song sounds good on almost anything, but once you begin to listen to it on some truely high-end stuff (B&W 703s are my favorite so far), you begin to learn that there are entirely new layers to this song that you never realized. I've listened to this song very often since the cd first came out like what, 10 or more years ago? I've probably listened to this song 5,000 times or more. Even still, as I listen to it on better quality stuff, I still find more to it. Truely an involving musical experience.
> 
> 2. Mary Jane's Last Dance by Tom Petty. This song isn't as complex as Hotel California, but there's still an awful lot to listen to. It has a very wide soundstage, and on a good enough stereo, you can decide which guitar you want to listen to and focus on it from start to finish. Tom Petty's voice also sounds VERY different from speaker to speaker, so it makes for some interesting comparisons.
> 
> 3. Money For Nothing - Dire Straits. Mark Knopfler's guitar playing is outstanding, and sounds very good in this song, especially in the beginning. Bass drum also has a lot of impact early on.


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## DS-21

Ludemandan said:


> Zero 7 - Home
> 
> That's all I can think of at the moment, but the Zero 7 albums I have - Simple Things and When it Falls - are both pretty good SQ albums.
> 
> Dan


Another Zero 7 fan? Awesome! I saw them maybe 7-8 months ago and was blown away.

As for my standard "impress the newcomer" discs, here are a quick handful:

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, "Live Art". Three words: Victor Lamonte Wooten. If you put "Sinister Minister" on and toe-tapping does not ensue, either the system sucks or the listener has no soul.

Shostakovich 7 "Leningrad", mvt 4 (Allegro non troppo I believe), Yuri Temirkanov conducting the St. Petersburg (nee, of course, Leningrad) Philharmonic on RCA Victor. I'm a DSCH nut and probably own 15 interpretations of just DSCH 7 - were I ever to pull a Gilbert Kaplan, my muse would be DSCH 7 no matter how worthy Mahler 2 is - but this one from ca. 1997 is still by a large margin my go-to 7. (That said, if anyone has a CD/SACD/DVDA/LP of Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting DSCH7, I'd be interested in buying it off of you.) OUTSTANDING dynamic range: be careful that you don't turn it up too high in the beginning because it'll knock your ears off later on, long before the trombones shove everyone to the backs of their chairs about 14:30 through the piece. If you don't have either good horn-loaded mains or at least direct radiators with SERIOUS cone area (12"-15" midbasses MINIMUM, with subs to match) then once you do listen to it on such a system it'll never sound right again. I'd love to hear this piece on the Gedlee Summa someday....

Natalie Merchant, "Live in Concert". This CD is a great one to show off your upper midrange/lower treble, because of the way Ms. Merchant's peerless voice lilts away. ("San Andreas Fault" is a very good demo track, as is the cover of Bowie's "Space Oddity".) This CD will also very quickly disabuse anyone of the notion that kickpanel-mounted mids or in-car 3-way front stages are remotely good ideas....

Stevie Ray Vaughan, Greatest Hits. After "Sinister Minister", my next never-fail go-to track is SRV's instrumental cover of Hendrix's "Little Wing". I wouldn't call it the highest of hi-fi, but the emotion that comes through the disc is just perfect.

That said, the disc with the highest play count on my music server over the past month is Death Cab for Cutie's "Transatlanticism", so that's what I've been playing for people of late. Not to say that "Plans" is a bad CD - it's the 4th most common CD iTunes has sent to my Airport Express in September - ut after I bought it I was only reminded of the surpassing genius that is "Transatlanticism".


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## |Tch0rT|

Some of my favorite SQ discs are :

The Beatles - Yellow Submarine (Songtrack) [1999]
Van Halen - The Best of Van Halen, Vol. 1  
Opeth - Damnation
Steve Von Till - If I Should Fall To The Field
Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine
Bjork (any album from her)
Isis - Panopticon
Pink Floyd - Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live
Metallica - Ride The Lightning DCC Gold Remastered [2000]

Ryan


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## cam2Xrunner

I gathered this info up from an ECA post. 

For downloads, check out these free downloads from Mercedes Benz
http://www.mercedes-benz.com/mbcom/...tml?flashstop=0
http://www.sexy-admin.de/modules.ph...download&sid=10


For regular CD's check this out.
http://www.regnar.com/Sheffield Recordings.htm

PINK FLOYD!!!!


Quote:
Gladiator - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'. Specifically, Track 3 is a superb test track that would test the best of the equipment. It consists of very complex passages full of instruments covering the whole spectrum.. Use this to test accurate imaging and instrument seperation.




Individual Songs


Quote:

Alice In Chains - No Excuses
Off the Unplugged cd its just raw and the drum is what your listening for it should be right up in front along with the rest of the band. The Drums are very tight and crisp.

Batman Oveture
What can I say the highs are screaming, there are some very hard passages in this song, and the ending with the ultra low bass makes this a most have for any SQ test cd

Bela Fleck and The Flecktones - Far East Medley
One of my favorite bands and one of my favorite tracks by them, This recording is flawless for being live. And the song mixes up so many different styles. Victor Wootens bass lines are stunning.

Boyz II Men - So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday
All accapella gives you something to see if your system can accuratly produce the male voice.

Breathe A Tribute To The Dave Matthews Band - Dont Drink The Water
Well first off this is a bluegrass band and this track has some nice low end extension but the true point of this song is the mandolin, the fiddle, and the banjo all hard instruments to recreate accuratly.

Christina Aguilera - Beautiful
They say the female voice is the hardest to recreate, in this song Christina goes thru many octaves proving again like it or not she has a amazing voice.

Dave Matthews And Soulive - Joyful Girl
Excellent recording with a pounding bass line. The mixture of instruments and Daves voice smack dab in the middle make it a great tune.

Dave Matthews Band - Intro Listener Supported
This is the intro to the bands live cd Listener Supported it has a killer kicker drum thru out the song simulating a heart beat and Leroi Moore on the saxaphone is incredible. Has a nice build up to it finally goes into the next song which you dont get LOL..

Dave Matthews Band - Two Step
Incredible imaging and space. Subs will get a work out with the fast paced bass line. Incredible SQ song

David Gray - Please Forgive Me
Excellent recording his voice should be right in the middle of your soundstage. Incredible bass drop towards the end of the song.

Eric Clapton - Lonely Stranger
This is one of the most respected live recordings ever. So much going on in this song it should really bring your system alive from Eric keeping a beat tapping his foot on the floor, to the triangle hits in the percussion section.

Genesis - Dance On A Volcano
Old school SQ Track, Crazy intro should have your subs pounding and your highs screaming. Proceeds into a crazy off beat measure.

Genesis - Squonk
One Word BASS, killer old school SQ track

Grant Green - Idle Moments
Excellent recording, Piano one of the hardest instruments to reproduce correctly then to top it off throw a Xylophone into the mix for a excellent SQ track

Grant Green - 'Round Midnight
This guitar should jump right out at ya, Grants playing is so smooth and recording is perfect in everyway picks up every little nuance of his playing. The very subtle drumming is incredible add in a nice upright bass line and you got a classic mellow Jazz tune.

John Mayer - Daughters
John has such a distinct voice and this recording puts it right in the middle of the soundstage, it also is the focus of the song.

John Mayer - Victoria
Excellent recording and killer bass from such a simple song. Just a simple guitar, bass, vocal track

John Williams - Jurassic Park Ending Credits
Nice low end extension and the strings make it a great song to show off your system.

Klaus Badelt - Swords Crossed And Walk The Plank
These two tracks are from the Pirates Of The Caribean Soundtrack and is a complete system workout. I use these two tracks to demonstrate my system more than anything else. It will work out your speakers. Beware of LOW LOW Bass

Madonna - Vogue
Excellent intro from the finger snaps to the bassline.. Great old school demo song

Maroon 5 - Secret
The first thing you notice is your subs are going nuts during the thunderstorm intro, but then it leads into the
song which is extremely detailed and sounds fantastic on a well balanced system

Nickel Creek - Reasons Why
This song is incredible, from the instruments(Mandolin, Guitar, Bass, Fiddle) to the two part harmonies which
will have your front stage sparkling

Nora Jones - Cold Cold Heart
She has such a amazing voice and as stated before the female voice is one of the most difficult things to
reproduce. And hers is simply jaw dropping..

Nora Jones - Dont Know Why
See Above

Orff - O Fortuna
Well we all know are systems can play loud but what about subtle nuances in music often lost in translation this song is incredible and the ending will have the subs pounding.

Phish - You Enjoy Myself
This song covers just about every instrument you can think of. Incredible musicianship and pinpoints instruments
as each player gets his moment in the spotlight. At times it is very complex as each musician is making his point.


Steely Dan - FM
Excellent intro for left and right seperation as two guitars appear on seperate channels. Add to that some killer bass and kick drums and you got a excellent tune. Another old school SQ track

Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathoustra
Low LOw LOW bass line, the timpanis the strings and brass section.. Cant beat it for just pure excellence. 



Eagles Hotel California, is known as a Reference for SQ

Dire Straights- Brothers in Arms

Eagles-Hell Freezes Over

Flectones-Live Art

Anything from Tool, Lateralus especially

Boston-Greatest Hits

If you like Classical music

Reference recordings release of "Pines of Rome" by Respeghi (grammy a few years back for best engineered album)

Reference Recordings release of "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Mussorgsky/Ravel

XRCD24 release of "Rites of Spring" by Stravinsky

Jazz:

A Love Supreme by Coltrane

Take 5 by Dave Brubeck

Mingus Ah Um by Charles Mingus.

If you like Trance check out
Paul Van Dyck
Armin Van Buuren
Ferry Corsten
Tiesto
Sasha and John Digweed


Frank Sinatra has clean recordings

Vanessa Carlton - Be Not Nobody
Enigma - Love, Sensuality, Devotion
Alice in Chains - Down in a Hole (Live Version by MTV Unplugged)
Loreena McKennitt
Chesky Jazz
Dido - Life for Rent
Pink Floyd - DarkSide of the Moon
Rem - Best of 1988 - 2003 (Special Edition)
Sarah McLachlan - Mirrorball
Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
Evanescence - Fallen
Depeche Mode - Exciter
Norah Jones - Come Away With Me
Orgy - Vapor Transmission
Fleetwood Mac - (Any/All Albums)

Tony Bennett: Steppin Out. Great recording, great performer. Wonderful piano sound.

Tracy Chapman, very good recordings.


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## Ludemandan

|Tch0rT| said:


> Bjork (any album from her)
> 
> Ryan


Oh yeah. Duh. :foreheadslap:

Also: Tool - Sober

Hey Zero 7 fans, are there any other albums (other than the two i mentioned) also worth buying?

Dan


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## demon2091tb

BTW MiniTruck, you have a PM.


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## minitruck_freq

you have 2 PM's.


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## DS-21

I'm pretty sure they only have two CDs. Well, they edited a compilation CD of some of their favorite obscure musicians called "Another Late Night", but I've never seen it in the US. I bought my copy in Dubai last May. It is perhaps less trip and more hop than one is used to from Zero7, but I quite like it regardless.


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## ArcL100

Quincy Jones - Back on the Block
Track 8 (Jazz Corner of the World) into Track 9 (Birdland)

Powerful.

-aaron


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## Ludemandan

Yeah, I saw "Another late night" in a store a while ago, didn't pick it up though. I guess that was what I'm talking about. I'll look for it again. And yes, it was here in 'murka.


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## simon21

Can I get 2 PMs too please??? :blush:


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## haibane

I thought I would add one that I think no one would notice... But I really enjoy the drums and just the all over sound of Dave Matthews Live at the Gorge 6 disc collection.


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## Jim85IROC

af22 said:


> I got a chance to listen to Hotel California DVD audio version on a pair of Genesis Flagship speakers... one of the most amazing experience in my life.
> 
> $120,000 speakers playing on a $30,000 cd player.... the wires comming out from the speakers and deck were like the size of my arm.... After listening to that setup, everything i owned sounded like garbage.
> 
> Excellent cd.


I've got that DVD-A as well. The remastering is out of this world. I think that's got more to do with the sound quality than the medium format, but either way, it's amazing. You can easily focus on any of the 4 different guitars on the right system, and they are so lifelike and detailed. In comparison, the original cd sounds so flat and lifeless.


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## GhettoSQ

Some mainstream stuff I like, don't know about extreme...

James and The The both have excellent tonal quality and frequency range on almost everything I've heard, though the snare drums are a little thin IMO. 

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Tori Amos, her stuff is very challenging, esp. From the Choirgirl Hotel and Boys for Pele. Also, take your pick from the Cocteau Twins.

I don't have the CD but my vinyl copy of the Smiths' The Queen is Dead is fantastic at home.

Prince's Musicology -- very well-balanced.

And one last track, the live version of "Suzanne" from Leonard Cohen's More Best Of, no bass but the guitars are really detailed and the backing vocals are neat. Amazing space and transparency.

Of course, since I got my sub amp hooked up all I want to hear is the new Kanye West CD


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## excelerater

The wall,pink floyd 
Genesis,almost anything off "Seconds Out" life album with superior SQ
drum solo at the end is smokin!
Tom Petty,"Dont do me like that",nice rock demo song,hits really nice...
George Thoughrogoods Greatest,nice!
ACDC BinB
Stealy Dan,has a bunch of really well recorded songs,Hey 19 comes to mind
Dire Straights,many of them
Alanis,jagged little pill,track one is fun
Jimi Hendrix,some very cool tracks on "smash hits" that do some crazy stuff to your system -


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## demon2091tb

The new Kanye is pretty good CD, some of the songs are a little annoying but overall the cd is quite nice, Diamonds are forever, pt 1, and 2 are my favorite songs on the CD i think. I just like the Origional probobly lol.

Anyone know any good Barbershop Quartets or anything similar, to test out Vocal ranges, and such, that has individual parts for each voice, like bass, baritones, tenors, and lead vocals.....Should be very good recordings also. Any ideas or suggestions?



GhettoSQ said:


> Some mainstream stuff I like, don't know about extreme...
> 
> James and The The both have excellent tonal quality and frequency range on almost everything I've heard, though the snare drums are a little thin IMO.
> 
> I'm surprised no one has mentioned Tori Amos, her stuff is very challenging, esp. From the Choirgirl Hotel and Boys for Pele. Also, take your pick from the Cocteau Twins.
> 
> I don't have the CD but my vinyl copy of the Smiths' The Queen is Dead is fantastic at home.
> 
> Prince's Musicology -- very well-balanced.
> 
> And one last track, the live version of "Suzanne" from Leonard Cohen's More Best Of, no bass but the guitars are really detailed and the backing vocals are neat. Amazing space and transparency.
> 
> Of course, since I got my sub amp hooked up all I want to hear is the new Kanye West CD


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## FoxPro5

I'm bringing this back from the dead and adding...

Metallica - Black album
Jennifer Warnes - Famous Blue Raincoat
Sublime - Sublime
SRV - The Sky Is Crying
Benny Banassi - Satisfaction


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## SQ_Bronco

No one has mentioned dream theater- _images and words/awake_; those 2 cd's are recorded very well. I'll also add Therion's _A'arab Zaraq Lucid Dreaming_- this cd combines a huge number of musicians, including violins, chellos, and tympanis, and vocals that range from extreme male bass/growling to female flageolet notes.

And my current addiction, late 70's/early 80's leonard cohen. If you don't have midbass speakers that can reproduce subbass frequencies, you will think he is sitting in your trunk.


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## 300Z

Nice post... dont know how i missed this... thanks...


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## Smoked Tails

These are usually my gotos:

Led Zeppelin - Since I've Been Lovin' You and Bron-Y-Aur Stomp. Great nuances in the drums.
Too Short - BJ Betty and Cocktails. Stresses a 2-way setup to the extreme.
Pink Floyd - On The Turning Away. Well recorded song, 'nuff said.
Dire Straits - Almost anything by these guys, but my faves are Money for Nothing and Sultans of Swing.
Justin King - His CD Le Bleu is amazing. It's pretty much nothing but acoustic guitar. A very amazing midrange test. Simply amazing. If you have some time do a google video search.
Cracker - Kerosene Hat. I love this song. I don't know why, but it's awesome.
Alice In Chains - Unplugged. The whole CD. It may have been mentioned, but it rules.

Invariably, I'll listen to some SRV, Joe Bonamassa, and Tori Amos at a minimum for serious listening. I think the most important thing in critical listening is to be familiar with the source. The songs I have listed, I have listened to on at least 10 different systems, on top of my headphones and home setup.


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## lightspeed

SQ_Bronco said:


> No one has mentioned dream theater- _images and words/awake_; those 2 cd's are recorded very well.


 I second that buddy. I'll toss in K.D. Langs' Ingenue. (sp?), last track. That's what I have used as a test track forever on every system.

If you are into prog, Bronco, I can give you a list a mile long of stuff you may or may not have heard that's worth trying out. The new OSI sounds pretty cool in a car.

I'll second the Opeth Damnation someone shouted out earlier.

Cibo Mato has some whacked stuff with nice sonics.

Sugarcubes 'Birthday'

Most Donald Fagen

Treetop Flyer by Steven Stills sounds really great on any stereo, lotso processing but really cool.

The Confessor is similar but hard to crank too loud cause I don't think they did the drums very well. Sounds like your speaker is poppin. But some of the lush natural phase stuff at the beginning sounds really cool.

Lisa Germano, Mellencamps violin player has a solo CD called Happiness that has some really great sonics on it. I am pretty sure Daniel Lanois had his hand in that one a bit.

Either release from Latin Playboys has all manner of wicked recording, and mind expanind stuff. Much Los Lobos as well. Try Collosalhead and Kiko.

Have fun with that brothers!


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## bassfromspace

Miles Davis above ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL


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## DS-21

B-Squad said:


> Sublime - Sublime


How did we miss that one in four pages of threads?  

Another I'll add is Death Cab for Cutie's first EP, Forbidden Love.


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## Weightless

I'm really digging Zero 7. I am listening to them on Pandora right now. I like the music alot, but not too sure about the vocals. It always takes awhile for vocals to sink in though...Thanks for the recommendation guys...


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## Rbsarve

Things that has gotten a lot of playing time lately
Eva Cassidy - "Songbird". Her voice is just amaizing, and the recording is top notch. If you don´t already have this disc RUN to the shop an get it.
The Cranberries - "No need to argue". The tiltle track has a wicked organ track that will test your bass, and a lovely faint acoustical guitar.
Sunscream - "O3". An old trance/big beat disc with amazing tracks. 
Robyn - "Robyn" Latest release from Swedens R&B princess. Been playing so much I thing the laser soon burns through it! 
Rihanna -"S.O.S". Damn catchy Soft Cell - "Tainted love" variation, but it is the sub that is the important thing here. VERY complex stuff, you need something with huge resolution in the lowest octave to disconsern the individual notes of the bass track.


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## fuscobal

Kevin Gibbs - A piano for all seasons (XRCD)

What other exceptional XRCD have u listened to ?


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## Neil

anything with cello, particularly in the 200-400hz range. i find this area to be particularly difficult to reproduce well, especially over several bars of staccato'd notes.


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## banginheep

ive got some rock songs for ya guys that i thought are pretty high quality cant really give a explanation for them but just listen to them and youll find out 

alice in chains- got me wrong (live)
- heaven beside you
- no excuses
-nutshell ,i think that right there is prolly there best song 
-down in a hole, thats pretty good
dream theater-Octavarium - good cd
stp-creep, good song 
nickleback- leader of men (acoustic ver.)
godsmack- other side, that hole cd is killer shows a acoustic side of godsmack
faith no more- midlife crisis
a perfect circle- 3 libras live (acoustic)
peal jam- man of the hour
-better man (this song is great love that you can here is tongue come off the pallet so clearly in the beginning)
-yellow ledbetter (like it just for the guitar at the beginning and the end)
metallica- fade to black(if you can find a good quality ver.)
-one (another song thats hard to find a good quality ver. of)
-tuesdays gone (remake of a lynyrd skynyrd song)
-hero of the day(probably my fav. song)
nonpoint- in the air tonight (cool remaking of an old phil collins song, the original is good to 
deftones feat maynard from tool- passenger (cool song i like the lead singer from deftones voice for some reason  lol)
evanescence- my imortal (man here voice is fantastic is this song 
dave matthews band - where are you going (thats probably the only song i like from them :blush

thats pretty much all my really good songs ive got right now


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## cotdt

you guys sure listen to some weird music. i never heard of any of this stuff! except rihanna of course...

my opinion is that you don't even need hi-fi music to test your audio setup, since even with poor recordings the difference is usually quite obvious. that said, real percussive instruments (drums, cymbals) are the most useful for judging setups, since you already know how they should sound like.


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## banginheep

wow this thread fell off, nobody like my choices :blush:


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## Derek

banginheep said:


> wow this thread fell off, nobody like my choices :blush:



i tired replying....but ie locked up again....

and that was a few days ago


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## Derek

the evanescence song is good....if you have the right version....they released their "demo" cd online....recorded very cleanly....that version of the song doesn't have any gay violins...or any gay "we gotta throw in a guitar riff that ruins the whole song"...stuff.


both versions of that nickelback song are good....that was from a long time ago  pretty decent cd...too bad they are on like their third cd in a row of songs about abused women....variety is sometimes good.


aic unplugged is an amazingly clean disc. the very first cymbal crash in heaven beside you lingers on forever....i love it....good dvd as well....


that's one of the two godsmack cd's i can listen to...their first one and the other side....other side is very clean....cool acoustic remakes....


----------



## Neil

the string quartet tribute to evanescence is fantastic.


----------



## cotdt

guys don't forget Matisyahu


----------



## DeLander

Rush's "Moving pictures" cd - In particular the track "YYZ" has great left to right pans and sounds tight on a good system


----------



## alanranch

Jazz meets cuba - percussion at its best
moving pictures - RUsh (rock)
Sympathy for the Devil - Rolling stones 
Sweet lady Jane - Jane Duboc ( one fine voice)
donald fagen albums
woman in chains/advice for the young at heart - tears for fears
best of OMD
Linda Ronstadt with Nelson Riddle
When I dream - Carol Kidd (amazing vocal track)
Tusk/ Big Love - Fleetwood mac 
Mfsb - Mfsb
Mediterranean Sundance - Paco De Lucia, John Mclaughlin and Al Di Miola
Claire Marlowes let go (what a line up shes got. The best of the best musicians)
live at the jazz cafe - swing out sisters 
chicago sessions - Sting (jam session w/ timoty white, dave sancious and vinnie the drum god!!
Chicago early hits 
Ahvia Musicom - ERic Johnson
acoustically yours - China Crisis
live at red rocks/ live at luther college (amazing concert albums) - dave matthews 
music and wine - Blue six
live in las vegas - u2
steal my kisses - Ben HArper
Dead in the water/ pls forgive me - DAvid Gray
Brothers in arms album - Dire Straits


----------



## zapjay

"Sea Change" from Beck is a well recorded album imo. I will also concur with whoever mentioned SVR's version of "Little Wing". 

Weezers first album, especially on the song "Say it Ain't So", has some parts where fingers moving along the frets of the guitar can plainly be heard on a good system. 

It's funny that someone mentioned A Perfect Circle. I was listening to "Judith" this morning REALLY loud on my way to get breakfast for myself, wife and kids. 

I'm a HUGE Faith No More fan. Their version of Sabbath's "War Pigs" on their "This Is It" best of album is great. My CAL28's ability to recreate symbol taps is uncanny imo. Also, FNM's final album has some really good songs that are well recorded. "Stripsearch", "Ashes To Ashes" and the 10th and 11th tracks on the album are just awesome imo as far as well recorded rock music is concerned....


Gotta give a shout out to just about anything from Rush too. "Working Man" and of course "Tom Sawyer" never fail to bring a smile to my face in my truck...


----------



## chuyler1

DeLander said:


> Rush's "Moving pictures" cd - In particular the track "YYZ" has great left to right pans and sounds tight on a good system


Heh, I was just listening to this yesterday on my way home from work. I love that album start to finish.



> Brothers in arms album - Dire Straits


...and I had this one in my CD player last week!


----------



## jtholley03

Natalie Merchant - any, live one is good. Her voice goes pretty low so it will show you anything wrong in xover.

Joss Stone

Pink Floyd - The Final Cut

Roger Waters:

Amused to Death - really good phase stuff on there, can't remember the name of the software used.

In the Flesh

Any Tool

The live John Mayer Trio is recorded really well


----------



## cdj

You can checkout the Telarc site for a variety of free downloads. Full length tracks, not the typical 30 seconds. Most are 128K but many of the newer listings are also available at 320K.

http://www.telarc.com/dd/default.asp?mscssid=2M0PJN732JPB8H7A74WNUKAGEW22AUG5


----------



## alanranch

@cdj
wow I downloaded all the 320k files. Thanks for the info!! cheers


----------



## jtholley03

Telarc is killer! Remeber you are listening to MP3's and not the real deal.

Only one that is similar in recording methods is Mapleshade.


----------



## bassfromspace

Try this joint by Miles Davis:

Concierto de Aranjuez


----------



## cvjoint

U guys should really try Sasha's album Involver, a real masterpiece. U'll apreciate it whether you are into electronic music or not. 
Other cds that I play as reference:
Benny Benassi - Hypnotica (mind numbing lows and all kinds of goodies)
Dj Tiesto - Just Be (top end sparkle, and fast midbass)
Roykscopp - Roykscopp (a throughout test of your midbass)
Infected Mushroom - B.P. Empire (elements are laid out clearly; all nouances of lows)
Tiziano Ferro (good test for male vocals, clear elements)


----------



## DS-21

DeLander said:


> Rush's "Moving pictures" cd - In particular the track "YYZ" has great left to right pans and sounds tight on a good system


I used to be a big Rush fan. Now, however, Geddy Lee's voice makes my skin crawl.

That said, one of the last CDs that will ever leave my collection is the Mobile Fidelity UDCD-II remaster of Moving Pictures. Just for the airport song. 











(YYZ = Pearson Int'l Airport, Toronto.)


----------



## sigma6

No one into Ben Neill? Amazing dynamic range and detailed production.

Primus for a real midbass workout. When my system can do Tim Alexander's kickdrum justice I'll call it finished.


----------



## caohyde

Hiroshima's Between Black and White almbum. The whole thing is pretty well recorded. I like track 11 esp., it has the combination of koto drums and the regular ones that pans from left to right, plus track 3, which has a mixture of strings, vocals and purcussions. great cd.


----------



## SQ_Bronco

cotdt said:


> guys don't forget Matisyahu


His latest cd is recorded terribly though. Massively compressed; even at low volumes it sounds awful.


----------



## tf1216

Nice, finally more Matisyahu fans on this website.

You guys rock!! I have all 3 of his CDs. For those guys with DVD players, I suggest getting his live DVD when it comes out. 

I think "Live at Stubb's" is a great CD for testing your stereos. I find it very difficult to get his voicing right and the bass levels set properly. But if you do all of this, be prepared for one great live CD.


----------



## AzGrower

Morcheeba


----------



## slaterbj

AzGrower said:


> Morcheeba


I just started listening to them. The lead singer has a great voice. I got hooked with the song God Bless and Goodbye.


----------



## cdj

Ran acrossed this site from a link on Gamespot.  

http://www.metacritic.com/music/bests/2005.shtml

It lists the annual top ten lists from a couple of dozen sites with links to the individual reviews.


----------



## |Tch0rT|

Sufjan Stevens - Illinois is a great album with great SQ.

Ryan


----------



## Ludemandan

LTJ Bukem. (If you're not into electronic yet, you might do well to start here.)



AzGrower said:


> Morcheeba


+1 
Morcheeba - Women Lose Weight


cvjoint, thanks for the tip on Sasha. I'll have to check that out.


----------



## cvjoint

Ludemandan said:


> cvjoint, thanks for the tip on Sasha. I'll have to check that out.


He is said to be the greatest Dj presently but not in the way Tiesto was for years. Tiesto is comercial mainstream stuff, Sasha is beyond that, and he changed his dj set to one of the most advanced software program so that he can have better control over his work and perform throughout mixes. Involver is the first album of this kind.


----------



## FoxPro5

cvjoint said:


> He is said to be the greatest Dj presently but not in the way Tiesto was for years. Tiesto is comercial mainstream stuff, Sasha is beyond that, and he changed his dj set to one of the most advanced software program so that he can have better control over his work and perform throughout mixes. Involver is the first album of this kind.


^^^ Love that album....just put it in and let it go. Paul Van Dyk is good too.


----------



## ilvwhtgrls

Morcheba-Blindfold


----------



## Ludemandan

Welcome to DIYMA.


----------



## yermolovd

I haven't gone through the whole thread, just first 4 pages. So far downloaded Zero 7. Really liked it, since I listen to this type of music. Also, if you like Zero 7, you might like Ministry of Sound's Chillout Sessions series good to listen too. They might be a bit more on the electronic side though, but same chilled-mellow style.


----------



## gray bishop

If you can find a cd there is a compilation from a company called Shadow Records called Abstrakt Workshop. I bought it new and lost it in a stolen car 2 years ago but found another copy on amazon for .88 cents

the engineering done on this cd is nothing short of amazing, I listened to it with my new system while on the I95 this weekend and it really made me appreciate the equipment I chose..............


----------



## ilvwhtgrls

Ludemandan said:


> Welcome to DIYMA.


Thanks bud.


----------



## ragnaroksq

Anyone know any good Barbershop Quartets or anything similar, to test out Vocal ranges, and such, that has individual parts for each voice, like bass, baritones, tenors, and lead vocals.....Should be very good recordings also. Any ideas or suggestions?[/QUOTE]

The King's Singers. you want barbershop tunes, I would definitely check them out.


----------



## Rivers

Eagles - Hotel California (hell freezes over)
Alice in chains - Jar of flies album. Amazing vocals and guitars.
Andre Bocelli - The prayer (with celine dion) Amazing orchestra and vocals!


----------



## eqsandleds

I just got Depeche Mode Violator Remastered as an import. Sounds awesome. Soon to be released as a domestic.


----------



## eqsandleds

cvjoint said:


> He is said to be the greatest Dj presently but not in the way Tiesto was for years. Tiesto is comercial mainstream stuff, Sasha is beyond that, and he changed his dj set to one of the most advanced software program so that he can have better control over his work and perform throughout mixes. Involver is the first album of this kind.


Check out his Fundacion NY CD. He uses Ableton Live on that CD too. More of what he was doing in clubs around that time with his Fundacion nights in NY and LA. For classic Sasha, which IMHO is the better Sasha, check out his Global Undergrounds, San Fransisco and Ibiza. Even better check out Renaissance The Mix Collection, Vol. 1 with him and Digweed.


----------



## FoxPro5

eqsandleds said:


> Even better check out Renaissance The Mix Collection, Vol. 1 with him and Digweed.


....and the Nothern Exposure disks


----------



## eqsandleds

B-Squad said:


> ....and the Nothern Exposure disks


True, true. Back when progressive was not a dirty word.


----------



## Xtreme03

Several have already mentioned Pink Floyd, AIC Unplugged, and anything Tool, especially Lateralus. I'm suprised no one has mentioned 311. Here are a few of my SQ recommendations.... 

311 - From Chaos :
Amber
Champagne

311 - Transistor :
Inner Light Spectrum 
Prisoner 
Creature Feature
Rub a Dub

All these songs have a very open/spacious sound, and if you have a high noise floor, you'll definitely hear it.

One of the best sounding metal CDs would have to be Pantera - Reinventing the Steel. In particular :
Revolution Is My Name
I'll Cast A Shadow
It Makes Them Disappear
You've Got To Belong To It

Also, no one mentioned Nine Inch Nails....there are some cool textures that sound awesome on a good system.


----------



## Diru

Yellow Jackets

Chick Corea

Andreas Vollenweider

Al DiMeola

Accoustic Alchemy

Spyro Gyra

Flim and the B.B's


Just some SQ music I really enjoy.


----------



## FoxPro5

Some vocal tracks I use all the time...

The Kings Singers - And So It Goes (just crank this one...goose bumps!)
Jennifer Warnes - Somewhere Somebody
Ambrosia - Holdin' On to Yesterday
Holly Cole - I Can See Clearly Now
Steve Strauss - This Again
Emiko Shiratori - Amazing Grace


----------



## demon2091tb

Xtreme03 said:


> Also, no one mentioned Nine Inch Nails....there are some cool textures that sound awesome on a good system.


I would say yes, but getting proper sound would be ideal first before using something like this, as some of the textures, and sounds are rather strange, i tried useing reznors latest cd, and had a hard time getting it to sound good, since then its improved considerablly, will need to try it again soon.


----------



## Ludemandan

demon2091tb said:


> ...i tried useing reznors latest cd, and had a hard time getting it to sound good, since then its improved considerablly, will need to try it again soon.


That reminds me, NIN Pretty Hate Machine is good. Check out the track Down In It.


----------



## JasonH

af22 said:


> Personal Favorites:
> 
> Eagles - Hotel California XRCD version



What is XRCD? I like Hell Freezes Over by The Eagles.


----------



## nauc

|Tch0rT| said:


> Some of my favorite SQ discs are :
> 
> The Beatles - Yellow Submarine (Songtrack) [1999]
> Van Halen - The Best of Van Halen, Vol. 1
> Opeth - Damnation
> Steve Von Till - If I Should Fall To The Field
> Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine
> Bjork (any album from her)
> Isis - Panopticon
> Pink Floyd - Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live
> Metallica - Ride The Lightning DCC Gold Remastered [2000]
> 
> Ryan


Bjorks Hyperballad sounds SICK in my car, love it, esp the live version

So Broken live is awesome!! too


----------



## MIAaron

If you're a major NIN fan, check out the disc "Still"...it's the second disc to the "And all that could have been" single. It's him and a keyboard. While he isn't in a professional studio, it's close mic'd goodness. There are some bad traits that go with this kind of recording, but the amount of detail in the vocals is worth it.


----------



## c0mpl3x

I have only 2.  

Tony Bennett: Simply Frank

and

Sinatra-Basie


----------



## yermolovd

I've recently seen a concert from Peter Frampton on PBS and damn I think he's amazing live. I searched the forums and he hasn't been mentioned. I think he's worth a listen!
Just thought I'd resurrect this thing from 06 and put a first post in 07 here .
Let another year of fine tunes go on .


----------



## t3sn4f2

"Heart of Mine" by The Peter Malick Group featuring Norah Jones. Ending credits song on the movie "Runaway Jury"


----------



## s10scooter

Do XRCD work in a normal CD Player?


----------



## fuscobal

Flipx99 said:


> Do XRCD work in a normal CD Player?


Yes !


----------



## Kenny Bania

Flipx99 said:


> Do XRCD work in a normal CD Player?


Absolutely, and they sound great too.

IMHO there's really no "STRICT" sound quality music, unless you're strict about what sounds good to you. Having said that, there sure is a HUGE variety of music to consider IF you look at the quality and mastering of the music, not necessarly if the songs are great or the music is to your exact liking. The problem, it seems, is finding a decent pressing of your favorite music.

For me, I like electronic music because it's easier for my system to get 'right.' [slaps on flame resistant jumpsuit]


----------



## demon2091tb

Kenny Bania said:


> For me, I like electronic music because it's easier for my system to get 'right.' [slaps on flame resistant jumpsuit]


Agreed, i listen to alot of chill, lounge, etc and usually seems that its not that hard to get these genre's onpoint, depending on song though.

I do wonder how old this thread is though......

Hmm 9/28/05

Does this get vote for oldest backfrom the dead thread?


----------



## Kenny Bania

demon2091tb said:


> Does this get vote for oldest backfrom the dead thread?


I don't get it. So the thread is not on the first page and therefore it's pronounced dead??  

I hope this becomes the most viewed thread in the history of DIYMA!! It should be, because I don't know about you guys but the whole reason I spend time and money on my car stereo is to listen to music.


----------



## foreman

How about the old sheffield labs cd's? Anyone remember Clair Marlo? God, she has an amazing voice......


----------



## saMxp

foreman said:


> How about the old sheffield labs cd's? Anyone remember Clair Marlo? God, she has an amazing voice......


I've still got my Sheffield/Coustic demo disc! Claire Marlo and Michael Ruff are the reason I bought it. "Lover's Mask" could very well be my favorite demo track of all time.


----------



## solacedagony

The new Porcupine Tree album sounds totally awesome. Crank it up!


----------



## demon2091tb

Kenny Bania said:


> I don't get it. So the thread is not on the first page and therefore it's pronounced dead??


Somehow the internet just dosent convey any sense of humor......That was supposed to be a joke, i actually remembered when i made the thread, just reminiscing on the beginnings of diyma. back in 05  No reason for nitpicking. And yea i know you didn't bump it up first, just thought i'd mention how old this thread is, dunno of any other thread thats still frequent.

Anyway Broke out the best of Led Zeppelin few weeks ago tuning and the recordings are just extreemly realistic, Stairway to Heaven has a very easily definable stage, with ambience of the less dampened recording studio (ala more echo from surrounding walls). Alot of good recordings there.


----------



## 99IntegraGS

Ouch, XRCD's ain't cheap.  

I wouldn't mind having The Eagles Hell Freezes Over or Dire Straits Brothers In Arms. 

JD


----------



## ECLIPSEsqfan

Always With Me, Always With You - Joe Satriani


----------



## Xander

Well...I haven't heard of 3/4 of the bands mentioned here. I'm into a lot of rock, alternative, punk, and some indie. It's hard to find good recordings sometimes.

Has anyone heard of Thousand Foot Krutch? Their early (first?) album is called Set It Off. I have it ripped at 192 kbs, and it is one of the best recordings I've heard. I run sound at concerts, so I know how drums should sound, and I absolutely love listening to this CD. The guitars jump out at you, the cymbals aren't distorted or smushed sounding, and the kick drum sounds amazing. I only recently started paying attenention to SQ. I played a song from the CD and was blown away...the kick drum sounds like...a kick drum! And the bass guitar in a few of the songs digs real deep. Lots of dynamics and placed guitars too.


----------



## Hayabusa

just bumping this kickass thread to keep it alive and kicking with more song suggestions.


----------



## T3mpest

Xander said:


> Well...I haven't heard of 3/4 of the bands mentioned here. I'm into a lot of rock, alternative, punk, and some indie. It's hard to find good recordings sometimes.
> 
> Has anyone heard of Thousand Foot Krutch? Their early (first?) album is called Set It Off. I have it ripped at 192 kbs, and it is one of the best recordings I've heard. I run sound at concerts, so I know how drums should sound, and I absolutely love listening to this CD. The guitars jump out at you, the cymbals aren't distorted or smushed sounding, and the kick drum sounds amazing. I only recently started paying attenention to SQ. I played a song from the CD and was blown away...the kick drum sounds like...a kick drum! And the bass guitar in a few of the songs digs real deep. Lots of dynamics and placed guitars too.



Just downloading some TFC, so far I'm impressed.


----------



## bigjae1976

The Sheffield Drive CD. And I actually like the music.

Fortune Faded by the Red Hot Chili Peppers will test you midbass and subs Not only should it be loud, but you should also feel each note distinctly.

Then I like the album "Throwing Copper" by Live.


----------



## oneiztoomany

cotdt said:


> you guys sure listen to some weird music. i never heard of any of this stuff! except rihanna of course...
> 
> my opinion is that you don't even need hi-fi music to test your audio setup, since even with poor recordings the difference is usually quite obvious. that said, real percussive instruments (drums, cymbals) are the most useful for judging setups, since you already know how they should sound like.


are you being sarcastic with this post? LOL


----------



## Arc

I use HFO Hotel California alot. I love that track.
I also use A Perfect Circle, pretty much all three albums.
Also I use Audionutz Demo disks 1-4. The percusion disks are amazing. For Xmas I'm adding the whole collection.


----------



## Bremsen

Found DIYMA through some other MA forums and have been lurking for a few weeks. I'm still researching/learning for my first sq oriented system so you'll have to excuse my random first post. Just wanted to say what a great forum and wealth of information this is.

Anyway, I absolutely love these threads and find so much great music through them (thanks to all-btw). I am somewhat surprised nobody's mentioned Blind Melon (unless I missed it). I'm no SQ expert by any stretch of the imagination but I thought I'd mention it b/c it's been my standard test/demo disc in every install I've done since 93.


----------



## 02bluesuperroo

I was wondering if you guys would be interested in me hosting a site where we could share non-copywrited music. I have it all set up with login and password but there isn't any music on it.

PM me for details.


----------



## oneiztoomany

so if hotel california sounds absolutely mint on your system does that mean there is a good chance it is tuned properly? just wondering because i think that song sounds amazing on my system.


----------



## michaelsil1

For me Jazz usually has some of the best SQ.

Fourplay X

The SQ on this recording is *great*. 

The music is awesome as well.


----------



## kactussjack

I'll show my age

Supertramp
Remastered Zappa
Mayall's Turning Point


----------



## invecs

michaelsil1 said:


> For me Jazz usually has some of the best SQ.
> 
> Fourplay X
> 
> The SQ on this recording is *great*.
> 
> The music is awesome as well.


I love Fourplay. I use their cd's in tuning midbass and sub. BTW, how's the bass on the X? Is it anything like their older albums?

I like Lauren White's At Last cd. It's a SACD Hybrid disc. Kinda like Norah Jones.


----------



## michaelsil1

invecs said:


> I love Fourplay. I use their cd's in tuning midbass and sub. BTW, how's the bass on the X? Is it anything like their older albums?
> 
> I like Lauren White's At Last cd. It's a SACD Hybrid disc. Kinda like Norah Jones.


Bass on X  

I wanted to mention the SQ of the other cd's, but I didn't want to seem to biased. 

Not just for tuning Subs and Mid Bass, Drums, Cymbals!


----------



## Hayabusa

I like Nuttin But Stringz & Miri Ben-Ari.They are freakin awesome with the violins . Anyone else happen to know of any other good violinist that are modern and use jazz,hip/hop,classical influence in that realm of area.


----------



## ArcL100

kactussjack said:


> I'll show my age
> 
> Supertramp
> Remastered Zappa
> Mayall's Turning Point


I like your style! I love Zappa, and I just got Supertramp's Paris CD, heh.

Will have to check out this other group you speak of...

-aaron


----------



## michaelsil1

Hayabusa said:


> I like Nuttin But Stringz & Miri Ben-Ari.They are freakin awesome with the violins . Anyone else happen to know of any other good violinist that are modern and use jazz,hip/hop,classical influence in that realm of area.


Jean Luc Ponty


----------



## Z28SS

ECLIPSEsqfan said:


> Always With Me, Always With You - Joe Satriani


Satch! I was wondering why no one mentioned him yet! He does a killer extended version of that song on his Satriani - Live! CD/DVD. 

His self titled CD with songs like Cool # 9, Home, etc. are fantastic for drums, cymbals, and imaging. Very dynamic with little or no compression.

All of Dave Weckl's CD's are amazing. The first track on 'Synergy' will give your tweeters a work out. Some of the best recorded drums I've heard in a while.

The 'Drum Nation' series CD's from Drummer Magazine have excellent sound quality.

'Rudess Morgenstein Project' has some very good tracks - especially track 7. It's a recording project by the keyboardist from Dream Theater - Jordon Rudess. It's out of print but used ones pop up on Amazon once and a while.

'Sheffield Jazz' CD - gold. Lots of great jazz SQ songs to choose from. Again, it's very rare and out of production. I have a copy. 

Here's a few I reccomend to try (don't laugh!): 

"Then Came You" by the Spinners - nice blend of drums, guitar and voices. I was surprised when I listened to it on my HD-650 headphones.

"Let's Groove" by Earth, Wind and Fire - I think someone else mentioned EW&F; very good mix of drums, synth and horns.

"Oh, What a Night" by the 4 Seasons - the drums and synth are very prominent, especially at the 1:30 second mark. His voice is recessed back in the mix yet still clearly heard.


----------



## TJHUB

I have to tell you that I'm really liking this forum. I wish I had found this one before CAF.  

For any of you that like Fourplay (I have ALL their CD's) and/or Jean-Luc Ponty (I have 6 CD's), you should check out Peter White (I have his last 3 CD's). His acoustic/electric guitar playing is nothing short of greatness. Great stuff and the recordings are usually very clean.


----------



## jj_diamond

Buckethead - Giant Robots

the whole album is cool to listen to.


----------



## lightspeed

|Tch0rT| said:


> Sufjan Stevens - Illinois is a great album with great SQ.
> 
> Ryan


I'll +1 that.

I think what you want is music that YOU KNOW. On several systems. What really helps though is music that is not too "thick", is open and has a representation of most frequencies. Nice super low bass (I use Madonna of all things, Vogue), tinkly highs, nice vocals and harmonies (see if you can distinguish individual voices in harmonies), and really round and percussive bass and acoustic guitar.

The best single track I have is the last track on kd Langs Ingenue (sp?). Dream Theater Images and Words is good from tight and clean compressed sounding rock (for crankability, see if the drivers hold up), and good old Hell Freezes Over for center image and fidelity. I use tracks 2 and 9.
And I use an IASCA disc, the center image track, and Clair Marlos "Too Close" that's a demanding one to get right.


----------



## demon2091tb

Gotta bring this back from the dead.....

Lamb of God - Ashes of a wake. Play this on a well tuned/impactful setup. Very easy to listen too, no growling/yelling. Very driving Kickbass rhythm, incredible guitar solo's.....you can visualize based on staging the drum layout as they would be wrapped around you, guitar is front and center.

Incredible song.......Very nice recording too, which you don't always see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cynXGdWFmE


----------



## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX

bigjae1976 said:


> The Sheffield Drive CD. And I actually like the music.
> 
> Fortune Faded by the Red Hot Chili Peppers will test you midbass and subs Not only should it be loud, but you should also feel each note distinctly.
> 
> Then I like the album "Throwing Copper" by Live.


I was wondering when someone was going to mention Throwing Copper... Such a raw gritty disc, well recorded and all the instruments are very distinct...


----------



## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX

Bremsen said:


> I am somewhat surprised nobody's mentioned Blind Melon (unless I missed it). I'm no SQ expert by any stretch of the imagination but I thought I'd mention it b/c it's been my standard test/demo disc in every install I've done since 93.



God I love BM...  There are so many "nuggets" in all of the albums RIP Shannon... 

Blind Melon- Blind Melon
Soup
Nico Blue... 

Look them up...


----------



## GlasSman

Anything from Dream Theater

Opeth - Damnation

Opeth - Deliverance

Anything from The Riplingtons

Sarah Mclaughlin - Fumbling

ABC from JAckson 5 will test the tweeters out.


----------



## Poowill

Wow, great thread! Although i've got some to add that really should be checked out..

*The Dave Matthews Live at Radio City with Tim Reynolds* is phenomenal, i'm very surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet (even though its kinda new). Tim Reynolds' guitar comes through so sharp and pure and the twangy effects from his amp are very bright to show the true capabilty of the tweeters. Although it is just acoustic, you get the most out of your midbass woofers as Daves background riffs keep the beat going. Plus Daves Vocals really shine. His opening vocal intro in Bartender is one that will never leave your head. You must check out this album! 

Also any other DMB Live, they do an awesome job of recording Carter's badass drumming. I especially like Warren Haynes' Guitar in* "Cortez The Killer"* off the Central Park Album. Great Song as well...hell anything by Warren with *Gov't Mule*... 

Some other good ones that jump to my head that i've listened to in the past...

*John Butler Trio - Sunrise Over the Sea, Better Man*
Both GREAT albums, he uses a standup bass and his slap key guitar really sounds awesome. Great mix!

Anything by *Blues Traveler* has great punchy bass with some excellent guitar playing and instrumentation.

*Incubus - S.C.I.E.N.C.E.*
A bit different album, but the scratch table table, and guitar effects, along with great natural bass recording is a good sound combination.

There are a lot of others I agree that are already mentioned, Rage Against the Machine, Tool, Weezer, Some Jazz, etc


----------



## tcguy85

opeth- damnation
opeth- ghost riveries
incubus- science
porcupine tree's new cd
lacuna coil- karmacode(has lots of low end but also just sounds good)
epica- cosign to oblivion
joe satriani
metalica- the black album


of course dire straits, alice in chains unplugged, and hotel california have all been mentioned.

i'm sure i'll think of more.


----------



## Octopus Jonny

I am a HUGE fan of Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9) and own many of their soundboard recordings in .flac format. This band produces so much sound and just absolutely blows me away on a good setup. Most of their soundboards are really crisp and I really love just kicking back and jamming the live shows, especially the ones I've been to. Their studio album Artifact is also quite nice.

Also, The Derek Trucks Band has some very nice studio material out. 

Lately I've been real into electronic music from artists such as Ricardo Villalobos, Trentemoller, Skream, Gui Boratto, Amon Tobin (his new album is very interesting "The Foley Room", google it), and pretty much anyone that creates a lush and vivid soundscape to give the speakers a nice workout.


----------



## Blackcharger06

Time to get these all on cd


----------



## GlasSman

Steve Vai - Passion And Warfare


----------



## skibum

When my last system was installed and tuned I would demo with Donald Fagan, Steely Dan and Pink Floyd.


----------



## oneiztoomany

where can you find lostless files? and can they be put on an IPOD?


----------



## smooth72

Ipod lostless files are a option in your itune setting do to preference - advance - importing - import using- select apple lossless encoder


----------



## jj_diamond

lossless files such as .shn files and .flac files are mostly used for live recordings as far as i am aware. i've seen some .flac torrents ever so often. ipod won't play these two file formats. i believe ipods can only play these formats

Audio formats supported: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, WAV, and AIFF 

.wav files are lossless but very large files. i guess if you have the 160gb you could waste some space with .wav files.


----------



## drake78

Jack Johnson's albums are very well recorded. Him and Michael Buble are my two favorite male vocalist.


----------



## jj_diamond

Octopus Jonny said:


> I am a HUGE fan of Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9) and own many of their soundboard recordings in .flac format. This band produces so much sound and just absolutely blows me away on a good setup. Most of their soundboards are really crisp and I really love just kicking back and jamming the live shows, especially the ones I've been to. Their studio album Artifact is also quite nice.
> 
> Also, The Derek Trucks Band has some very nice studio material out.
> 
> Lately I've been real into electronic music from artists such as Ricardo Villalobos, Trentemoller, Skream, Gui Boratto, Amon Tobin (his new album is very interesting "The Foley Room", google it), and pretty much anyone that creates a lush and vivid soundscape to give the speakers a nice workout.


i've been groovin' to sts9 ever since they were sector9. sic ****e. you into The New Deal, Disco Biscuits, The Frequency or MMW at all? 

here's a nice assortment of good music to check out.... Derek Trucks - Joyfull Noise is a nice recording. JJ Cale & Eric Clapton too. Incubus - Make Yourself, NIN - we're in this together, Alice in Chains - Unplugged, Disco Biscuits - Señor Boombox, Widespread Panic - Live in the Classic City.


----------



## Hayabusa

The Eagles Hotel California MFSL edition is vicious. So are the Beatles and Pink Floyd albums done by MFSL :-D.


----------



## FoxPro5

Telefon Tel Aviv - "Bubble and Spike"

Incredible....


----------



## pianist

B-Squad said:


> Telefon Tel Aviv - "Bubble and Spike"
> 
> Incredible....


you sir are a badass


----------



## pianist

i was wondering if anyone has heard of Gotan Project...?

http://www.myspace.com/gotanproject

they have some awesome rhythms, and combine so many different latin cultures into one great group with the inclusion of electronic beats. its very lush and dynamic


----------



## eqsandleds

B-Squad said:


> Telefon Tel Aviv - "Bubble and Spike"
> 
> Incredible....
> 
> QUOTE]
> 
> I still like Sound in a Dark Room Better.


----------



## Need-sq

Didn't read the whole 15 pages but a recent "find" was some great Dub/reggae dub. I had listed to some dub when younger befor I got into car audio but when out at our little NE meet in Watertown, Mless had some realy great material. Awsome mids/highs with the higher frequency percusion, nice use of reverb (don't know if that's the right term) and echos that come from various places on the stage, along with great bass. He was kind enough to let me copy a shnit load of his stuff. Good guy there.

Probably already been said, but if we could come up with something like an FTP site where we could all upload, download, share our various content, that would be kick A&$. Of course someone would need to have a server capable of dealing with all the music, especially when I imagine most of it will be at the highest quality recording, regardless of formatt.


----------



## 99IntegraGS

Hayabusa said:


> The Eagles Hotel California MFSL edition is vicious. So are the Beatles and Pink Floyd albums done by MFSL :-D.


I'm not sure I've ever seen The Eagles Hotel California on any MFSL list. I think that's a DCC Gold CD.

JD


----------



## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX

I just opened up a few people at the Detroit meet to *Rusted Root* which is very "world" music-y.... They do an incredible cover of Santana's Evil Ways... there is some REALLY good thing to check out, VERY dynamic music... 

On the more reggae side of thing, PLEASE, take a look as *Slightly Stoopid*.. it's much more than just reggae and very well made...


----------



## xcoldricex

pianist said:


> i was wondering if anyone has heard of Gotan Project...?
> 
> http://www.myspace.com/gotanproject
> 
> they have some awesome rhythms, and combine so many different latin cultures into one great group with the inclusion of electronic beats. its very lush and dynamic


i actually brought this cd to the meet- i never got around to playing it though - they're good! they released a new cd semi-recently i believe. funny i got exposed to them by picking up one of their cds in the shady markets of southern china!

+10000 on telefon tel aviv


----------



## oneiztoomany

Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX said:


> I just opened up a few people at the Detroit meet to *Rusted Root* which is very "world" music-y.... They do an incredible cover of Santana's Evil Ways... there is some REALLY good thing to check out, VERY dynamic music...
> 
> On the more reggae side of thing, PLEASE, take a look as *Slightly Stoopid*.. it's much more than just reggae and very well made...


where can i find the slightly stoopid album?


----------



## FoxPro5

eqsandleds said:


> B-Squad said:
> 
> 
> 
> Telefon Tel Aviv - "Bubble and Spike"
> 
> Incredible....
> 
> QUOTE]
> 
> I still like Sound in a Dark Room Better.
> 
> 
> 
> So did I until it blasted my doors right off their hinges.  But yea, that's baby makin' music right there.
> 
> Here's an oldy, but goodie..."Where Is My Mind" by The Pixies.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A track of this nature would sound like pure ass if it were produced today. Thank GOD we still have quality recordings to go back to.
Click to expand...


----------



## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX

oneiztoomany said:


> where can i find the slightly stoopid album?


Amazon.com, better yet buy from them... check there site, they have samples to listen to, so you can decide if you like or not...


----------



## tcguy85

i just bought Opeth's new live cd called Roundhouse Tapes. anybody who likes well recorded metal should buy this cd. just like all Opeth, it is recorded extremely well which is hard to find in the metal genre.


----------



## Hayabusa

99IntegraGS said:


> I'm not sure I've ever seen The Eagles Hotel California on any MFSL list. I think that's a DCC Gold CD.
> 
> JD


http://cgi.ebay.com/the-eagles-hote...goryZ306QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
[/I]
Is a Mofi. I could tell by the CD Case.


----------



## dtviewer

Try Alicia Keys new CD.


----------



## tbreihan

A couple that I have recently discovered/rediscovered...

Terence Blanchard/_Inside Man (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)_
Elliot Smith/"Tomorrow Tomorrow" (_XO_)
Sarah McLachlan/_Surfacing_
Led Zeppelin/_Presence_ (in particular "Nobody's Fault But Mine" and "Tea For One"


----------



## Hayabusa

Wu-Tang Clan's new CD sounds nice. Justin Timberlake's CD has some nice songs on it too.


----------



## FoxPro5

dtviewer said:


> Try Alicia Keys new CD.


You ain't kidding, either. Great tracks for SQ there!


----------



## cheesehead

FoxPro5 said:


> You ain't kidding, either. Great tracks for SQ there!


For me it's one of those cd's.....the more you listen to it the more you like it. Alecia has a strong voice! Is there any other recordings of hers that showcase her talent?


----------



## FoxPro5

cheesehead said:


> For me it's one of those cd's.....the more you listen to it the more you like it. Alecia has a strong voice! Is there any other recordings of hers that showcase her talent?


I have this CD/DVD combo called Live Earth where she does a cover of "Gimme Shelter" with some country dude. He kind of sucks and the recording isn't that great, but she is phenomenal in that song. I don't mind looking at her either. She's a gorgeous babe, for real.  

Clip of that song: http://youtube.com/watch?v=9aeWdTbjbx8


----------



## Tx_Flip

Paul Anka - Rock Swings

Really it's a fun album and quite a conversation piece. Gotta love his rendition of 'Wonderwall' and 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'.


----------



## michaelsil1

Lee Ritenour, Jazz.

CD: Rit's House, SQ is great and so is the music.


----------



## FoxPro5

If it hasn't been mentioned yet, Roger Waters "Amused To Death". Mixed in quadraphonic sound with QSound technology and got a nod by Katz on the CD Honor Roll.

If you <3 Pink Floyd, you will love this.


----------



## jj_diamond

FoxPro5 said:


> You ain't kidding, either. Great tracks for SQ there!


x2

..refering to Alicia Keys - As I Am

someone d/l or listen to this show and tell if i'm crazy but to me it sounds amazing.

http://www.archive.org/details/skb2006-01-22_16bit


----------



## Tommy

Dont know if this one's in here yet, but
Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing

Heard it the other night in my car for the first time, and WOW, the range in that song blows me away.

anything by him though is great.


----------



## zukiaudio

FoxPro5 said:


> If it hasn't been mentioned yet, Roger Waters "Amused To Death". Mixed with QSound
> 
> 
> 
> track 6
> 
> if you try the start of track 6
> 
> a good system will allow you to hear the over saturated clipped guitar signal @ 20.5 seconds
> at 23 seconds you will hear a cow moo twice in the distance ..... in the top of the right channel.
> 
> most systems cannot convey this part of the cd.


----------



## FoxPro5

And the dog barking at 11 sec on track 1. If you are at home, you'll probably think it's your next door neighbor's dog....the one that lives to the right of you when listening to the track, that is.


----------



## Oliver

Yes, Pink Floyd also has layer upon layer of details


----------



## zukiaudio

FoxPro5 said:


> And the dog barking at 11 sec on track 1. If you are at home, you'll probably think it's your next door neighbor's dog....the one that lives to the right of you when listening to the track, that is.


***********************


@ 14 seconds into track 12.

you can begin to really appreciate how great q-sound can be.

sit between speakers to get max effect.

the womans voice ................who went to buy a gas heater.............. 



__________________________________________________

@ 2:11 seconds you will hear a over saturated bass note 
which will distort/flap most woofer set-ups

@ 5: 10seconds the neighbors dog will bark again.

i cannot believe more people do not own this cd


----------



## finebar4

As a HUGE Pink Floyd fan, i did not have this recording in my possession until Zuki turned me on to it. I have the redbook version and the Mastersound singlebit mastered version (now) on a gold CD and have to say IMHO, one of Roger's best works. I had the "pro's and con's of hitchhiking" which I since have been revisiting as well Radio KAOS, but this has to be his finest solo effort.


----------



## FoxPro5

Well, then add both of Floyd's live disks, "Pulse" and "Is There Anybody Out There" to the list as well as Roger's "In The Flesh." All three are mixed in QSound. 

For me personally though, I never thought Pulse sounded that great.


----------



## finebar4

FoxPro5 said:


> Well, then add both of Floyd's live disks, "Pulse" and "Is There Anybody Out There" to the list as well as Roger's "In The Flesh." All three are mixed in QSound.
> 
> For me personally though, I never thought Pulse sounded that great.


I couldn't agree more about Pulse, but haven't given it a good listen in a while...have to break it back out. I bought that one the day it hit the shelves and my little LED just stopped blinking about a year ago....guess I need to change batteries  "Is There Anybody Out There" is incredible, I did not know it was recorded in Qsound...but that sure explains a lot to the quality of that one. Highly recommend it to anyone.


----------



## FoxPro5

finebar4 said:


> I couldn't agree more about Pulse, but haven't given it a good listen in a while...have to break it back out. I bought that one the day it hit the shelves and my little LED just stopped blinking about a year ago....guess I need to change batteries  "Is There Anybody Out There" is incredible, I did not know it was recorded in Qsound...but that sure explains a lot to the quality of that one. Highly recommend it to anyone.


That's funny. I think I bought that disk in like '95 or so and it took like 5 years for it to stop pulsing!  I'm like, when the F is this thing going to die?! Anyway, it's a pretty quiet disc IIRC from my SoundForge scans so you really have to crank it. 

Artists that've used QSound in their recordings: http://www.qsound.com/spotlight/users/recording-artists.htm


----------



## finebar4

FoxPro5 said:


> That's funny. I think I bought that disk in like '95 or so and it took like 5 years for it to stop pulsing!  I'm like, when the F is this thing going to die?! Anyway, it's a pretty quiet disc IIRC from my SoundForge scans so you really have to crank it.
> 
> Artists that've used QSound in their recordings: http://www.qsound.com/spotlight/users/recording-artists.htm


You must of had a weak battery....mine just died maybe a couple three years ago    and it must of been 95 when I got mine...right after it hit the shelves  

Thanks for the link....going perusing now


----------



## shaunly

For those of you who attended 08 CES. Usher Audio Suite at the Venetian has free demo CDs. I have both disc. Very nice compilation CD with great SQ.


----------



## jj_diamond

Vida Blue (self titled)
Galactic - From The Corner To The Block


----------



## fastfreddy7

Hadnt seen this mentioned anywhere-
*John Legend*, anything from hsi two albums.


----------



## audioman42

fastfreddy7 said:


> Hadnt seen this mentioned anywhere-
> *John Legend*, anything from hsi two albums.


I have _Get Lifted_, his first studio album. The reason he hasn't been mentioned is because almost all of his songs are too compressed. His music is mixed for stock systems; I usually turn my subs down when I put his CD in.


----------



## Phiber Optik

What an amazing post,

I would like to add these tracks to the sq collection

from the Miami Vice sountrack track 6, manzanita - arranca, it's an amazingly colorful track with so much going on and also a clean recording, I *HIGHLY* recommend listening to this track.

Also pretty much all Micheal Jackson songs are recorded very well, Man in the Mirror and dirty diana will give your entire system quite a workout.

Dream Theatre - The Silent man is a great acoustic that will even bring your subs alive with the low end strums

Joe Satriani - Strange Beautiful Music (album) I was trying to think of a specific track that stood out to me, I couldn't because they are all so dynamic, powerful and CLEAN. I remember reading somewhere that Satriani is also an audio nut, he puts effort into making the best possible recording, from what I hear it's working very well.


----------



## audioman42

Phiber Optik said:


> dirty diana


----------



## smgreen20

Tori Amos. She doesn't record in a normal studio and it shows. Shes a VERY picky person on how she sounds.


----------



## FoxPro5

Janet Jackson - 'Design of a Decade'

Her greatest hits from '86-96. Another Q-Sound recording that sounds similar to the Immaculate Collection and rivals anything that her bro Michael has put out IMO. It's alive, punchy as hell, clean and not driven hard to the wall. It's Ms Jackson, if you're nasty.


----------



## Tommy

smgreen20 said:


> Tori Amos. She doesn't record in a normal studio and it shows. Shes a VERY picky person on how she sounds.


i will never forgive her for what she did to Smells like Teen Spirit...


----------



## Hayabusa

Opeth is a really amazing band. I just started getting into them and I'm loving them. Keep the metal recommendations going. :-D


----------



## tcguy85

Hayabusa said:


> Opeth is a really amazing band. I just started getting into them and I'm loving them. Keep the metal recommendations going. :-D


X2 opeth kicks ass!!


----------



## Phiber Optik

Korn - Throw me away (Unplugged)

This song has some awesome midbass from the japaneese drums at the beggining, and the whole album seems to be quite well recorded and fairly diverse.


----------



## tcguy85

Phiber Optik said:


> Korn - Throw me away (Unplugged)
> 
> This song has some awesome midbass from the japaneese drums at the beggining, and the whole album seems to be quite well recorded and fairly diverse.


throw me away is the name of the album also? the whole album is unplugged?


----------



## Electrodynamic

Well...bare with me guys. 

I almost said that I wouldn't use SRV and A Perfect Circle for SQ demo's, but then I got to thinking about it and I've used them for demo's a few times myself.

What I was really thinking was that the recording quality of APC ("Thirteenth Step" or "Mer De Norms") and SRV just isn't there. I use certain tracks from each album to demo depending on what the person sitting in the other seat listens to on a daily basis. 

Like I said, I really really enjoy those CD's but I can't recommend them for a really good recording since there are so many others out there that are much better recording-quality-wise. Having said that, Tool's "Undertow" is probably my favorite recording for popular music. They got it down right with that album. But again, for "SQ" demo's I don't use anything like that. More just a really well recorded hard-rock'ish album. 

My favorite recording to show off the SQ side of my systems is Chic Corea's "Eye of the Beholder." The album is *VERY* well recorded - chock-full of dynamic range, huge depth, and hardly any noise. 

Second - Pat Metheny "Imaginary Day." This album has almost zero noise, good dynamic range, and has a plethora of music styles in it. It has soft, hard, and medium styles all throughout the CD. Oh, if you've got it turned up a good bit don't wonder why your subs are bottoming out on the last track.  The last track's drum hits are LOADED with *deep* undertones/harmonics and it fools a lot of people. When people listen to my setups the usual response on the last track is "what the f*ck is that" because they've never heard the lower part before.

Bela Fleck "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo" for the Star Spangled Banner re-mix. That track has some of the most dynamic hits I know of. The build-up in the begining is also nice because it allows you to show off the range of your system. And of course track 4 is a crowd pleaser but that's just for the bass (not particularly an SQ track).  

Anything from Stanley Clarke is also an honorable mention. Wanna see if your subs can blend with the rest of your system? Pick up "East River Drive" and listen to virtually any track on that album. Back in the Great 8 Challenge Jacob and I used a track from this album to quickly either pick or toss aside the 8" contestants.  That CD is a quick decision maker for subwoofer quickness and/or accuracy.


----------



## doczg

for metal bands.... Lamb of God.... Chris Adler is a beast at drums. Also try some Dark Tranquility have some pianos and it sounds really sweet. Last but not least Insomniom they are heavy and melodic... I just wish my system could give them any justice what so ever....


----------



## miztahsparklez

Anyone up for more electronic music?

DJ Tiesto - Elements of life album... pretty good mixture of a lot of different sounds. has both male and female vocals in various tracks.

If you can find the world tour version, you can listen to a pretty awesome show with a wider track selection than the original album..  i must say his live performances are awesome though. 

A few other artists/albums (not trance).....

Basia - time and tide
Sade
B52's - cosmic thing
Tony, Toni, Tone - lay your head on my pillow (not an album, but i like the opening electric guitar)
Green Day - american idiot (drums are neat to listen to in a few of the songs)
fall out boy - (fast kick drums in some of their songs)


----------



## FoxPro5

electrodynamic said:


> I almost said that I wouldn't use SRV and A Perfect Circle for SQ demo's, but then I got to thinking about it and I've used them for demo's a few times myself.
> 
> What I was really thinking was that the recording quality of APC ("Thirteenth Step" or "Mer De Norms") and SRV just isn't there. I use certain tracks from each album to demo depending on what the person sitting in the other seat listens to on a daily basis.


Funny you say that. I used to use Thirteenth Step a lot...especially The Noose because it has such a great pop to it. Of course it ends very loud, but I never thought it would clip. Then I scanned the *****!  

One clip at the very end at 0 dB and then look at this nightmare. Clip detector set to 94% tolerance or -.5 dB. Sound Forge will count up to 100 clips and the stops numbering them after that. Looks to be 150 or so...barfarama.....










I still use Little Wing and absolutely love the track. It's very clean, too.

Agreed on Undertow. Lateralus is slowly becoming intolerable (or i'm becoming a snob) and 10,000 Days is insanely loud, flat and belongs in the dumpster - no where near a demo car. 

Great recommendations on the rest. I'm looking into them.


----------



## ArcL100

miztahsparklez said:


> Basia - time and tide


Haha, surprised anyone knows of that cd - sounds straight up amazing on a good set up.

-aaron


----------



## 96dak

Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX said:


> I just opened up a few people at the Detroit meet to *Rusted Root* which is very "world" music-y.... They do an incredible cover of Santana's Evil Ways... there is some REALLY good thing to check out, VERY dynamic music...


you think they did a great cover of evil ways, i saw them "THE KNOB" in the late 90's (id have to dig out the ticket stub to find out what year, i hit about 45-50 concerts in a 3 year period) when they opened for Santana. should have heard it when santana pulled the entire band onstage for evil ways. it was just magical. love that group


----------



## miztahsparklez

ArcL100 said:


> Haha, surprised anyone knows of that cd - sounds straight up amazing on a good set up.
> 
> -aaron


indeed 

Swing out sister isnt so bad either theres a few other ones im missing.. ill have to dig up the CD's some older funky discoish stuff sounds pretty good.. heatwave, for example. live instruments are usually more interesting to listen to.


----------



## drtool

Ricky Lee Jones the one with last chance Texaco on it. 
Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego Track 10 (rockapella)
Madeline Peyroux-careless love whole cd shines.
For rock Arc Angels SRV bandmates put one out of the park.
For live (very few I like for sq) the master Harry Chapin Greatest Stories live.
I have yet to find my 1812 on cd I like but Stravinsky Petroushka I never heard a bad one,just not a perfect one yet.I'am so much a LP type for sq.


----------



## Fixtion

i'd be careful with many of these songs. most of the share a great deal of clipping. 

the eagles - hotel california from the uscai cd has been altered, even the clapping hands and yelling at the end was increased significantly. 

maroon 5 is by far the worst clipping in the kick bass. 

place the tracks in windows movie maker, and if it peaks beyond the title it's more than likely clipping.

*-fixtion*


----------



## fuscobal

Probably the best recordings I've had the chance to listen to were made by "Clarity Recordings". This little company produced only about 8-10 albums and then went out of business. Their recordings have no masterings and the depth pf field, ambience and natursalness is beyond any imagination. To me, not even the best Chesky or Telarc recordings come close to theese !


----------



## miztahsparklez

Fixtion said:


> i'd be careful with many of these songs. most of the share a great deal of clipping.
> 
> the eagles - hotel california from the uscai cd has been altered, even the clapping hands and yelling at the end was increased significantly.
> 
> maroon 5 is by far the worst clipping in the kick bass.
> 
> place the tracks in windows movie maker, and if it peaks beyond the title it's more than likely clipping.
> 
> *-fixtion*


indeed. most newer songs are remastered for LOUDNESS! and not quality and depth. i suppose many people figure the loudest the better... people like the overblown bass on their factory sound systems. though i need to figure out what this horrible resonance in the vocal/upper guitar range is... it "echos" like crazy in my car sounding much like a test tone, screaming your ears out after awhile.

however.. i just like the overblown bass coming from two 18" subwoofers  can you say lowwww?


----------



## fatherfish

Tommy Emmanual, self titled. Acoustic guitar solo. When played it should sound like he's playing live, right in front you. Very pure sounding.

Keb Mo' first cd also self titled. Blues done really well. Should sound very natural and relaxed. Like you're in a smoke filled dark bar with the band a table away.

Jim


----------



## fiveoh

I know this is an old thread, but I came across a good album. Walter Becker - Circus Money.


----------



## Nitin

miztahsparklez said:


> indeed
> 
> Swing out sister isnt so bad either theres a few other ones im missing.. ill have to dig up the CD's some older funky discoish stuff sounds pretty good.. heatwave, for example. live instruments are usually more interesting to listen to.



i dont know how i missed this thread 

i really have almost everything done by Basia including the older stuff when she was with Matt Bianco - and also everything done by swing out sister as well lots of heatwave

in terms of pure SQ i have many original discs still - loads of stuff from sheffield labs and telarc as well as chesky - and if i have to list all of my music it will take a long time - but this thread is bringing back many memories - lots of the music listed here i have in my collection


----------



## baseballfan698

recently got some new albums for christmas: 

Emerson Lake and Palmer- Brain salad surgery
King Crismson- Court of the Crimson king
Frank Zappa- Hot Rats
Rush- Spirit of the radio
*Metal*

All shall perish- Awaken the dreamers
Opeth- Watershed
Arsis- we are the nightmare
The Faceless- Akledema
Born of Osris- The New reign


----------



## fcarpio

AzGrower said:


> Hmm I might be the only one who says this, but I like all the albums from A Perfect Circle. They tend to play smooth music then without warning go into some faster paced notes, then back to smooth. YOu can really test to see if your system can gracefully keep up.


Not fully agree, "Mer De Noms" is just OK as far as recording quality goes, but "Thirteenth Step" is out of this world, I highly recommend that CD for system testing.


----------



## fcarpio

Suzuki - Tosca (Kruder and Dorfmeister)
Live in Tuscany - Sting
Toolbox - Toolbox <-- all tube recording by VTL
A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step (will blow your mind!)
Acoustic Alchemy - Reference Point
Sade - Love Deluxe (a real bass tester)
Sasha and John Digweed - Expeditions I and III (have not heard II yet)
Soda Stereo - MTV Unplugged (the remastered version that comes with the DVD)
Anything by Cerati

I have lots more but none off the top of my head.


----------



## trunks9_us

Just thought I might add this in it sounds amazing to me.

R-Kelly : The world's greatest

I like some five for fighting music as well.


----------



## pjhabit

Pearl Jam Benaroya Hall & AIC Unplugged are two of my favorites


----------



## pythagoras

gota love those drum solos of dave weckl., and hotel california.,


----------



## B_Rich

bump! Thanks for all the suggestions guys!

You guys are gonna laugh at me but.....

Love Like This by Natasha Beddingfield


The kicks in this song simply blow me away. I'm no magician with it comes to SQ, but I'm slowly working my way there.


----------



## cjag

Porcupine Tree- Fear of a blank planet....really tears it up in my truck
and
anything by 
Beck
SRV (as mentioned)
Madeleine Peyroux (not something I would normally listen to,but great on a nice setup)
Mars Volta
and on and on


----------



## douggiestyle

Where to pick up a good quality recording of Hotel California.

I use the Kill Bill soundtrack to do most of my testing... good mix of instruments and vocals


----------



## Hernan

Patricia Barber sounds nice.
Rebeca Pidgeon.

A lot of 80's albums sounds awesome.
Pat Metheny 80-81

A very interesting album:
Eric_Clapton-Jeff_Beck-21-02-2009-Saitama_Super_Arena-Japan.4738342.TPB.torrent

Must have:
Deep Purple Machine Head. (Lazy is Perfect!)

Clarke_Carlton_Cobham_johnson - Live at the Greek!!!

I'm rediscovering a lot of old albums...

Steve Vai... Special!

Do you have listening BungleFever?


----------



## Xtreme03

Yes - Fragile (Remastered)

This album sounds awesome. It sounded good on my stock HU/speakers so I can't wait to listen to it when I get around to installing my components.


----------



## InterHat

These are my demo songs based on what I know from my own music.

The Cure - Show - Lullaby
Sting - Bring on the Night - Bring On the Night
Sting - Bring on the Night - Moon Over Bourbon Street
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia - Trains ** rock part is slammed a bit :\
The Evpatoria Report - Golevka - Cosmic Call
The Corrs - Brid Og Ni Mhaille

Dredg - El Cielo - entire album recorded at Skywalker Ranch. HDCD and you can get it in SACD as well

Electronic
================
Edward Shearmur - K-PAX - Taxi Ride (the bass line should be DEAD CENTER imaged in this)
cliff martinez - Solaris Soundtrack - Wear Your Seat Belt (this album is impossible to find and expensive but this song is scary and HUGE)
Hooverphonic - Blue Wonder Power Milk - Eden (some limiter)


----------



## Blake Rateliff

Michael Hedges - Taproot

Ritual Dance
YouTube - Michael Hedges - Ritual Dance


----------



## OSN

John Mayer- Where the Light Is- Live in LA (I have DVD but managed to get in on a CD)
Norah Jones- Live in New Orleans- House of Blues (ditto) 
Gipsy Kings

Definitely agree on the Alice in Chains Unplugged.

Now I have a lot of music hunting to do.


----------



## tspence73

bigjae1976 said:


> Then I like the album "Throwing Copper" by Live.


YES. The track "You are the World" is very very SQ. Not at all bright, very acoustic, many subtleties, quality vocals and has incredible dynamics as the song starts out low and builds to a stronger level. Definitely a good SQ track.


----------



## tspence73

Hmm,

I seem to remember years ago hearing a CD that was made from a "direct-to-disc" recording of live jazz studio music. The process bypassed magnetic tape and lathed the mix directly to vinyl. I don't own any CDs like this. An old-timer friend of mine had the CD and it was one of the best old recordings I've ever heard.

These recordings were made before CDs were ever invented. I have to admit the results were as good as any full digital recording I've heard made in the modern era. Definitely worth looking into finding one of these recordings just for kicks. I'm looking on google to see if I can find an example but so far, my ninja-search skills are failing. 

Here is a link I found to some backround info on the subject:
http://www.auldworks.com/AESDD/dd1.htm


----------



## Vigarisa

Wynton Marsalis - The Magic Hour

Track 1 - Feeling of Jazz - Stage and image close to perfection, good for dynamics show-off , female voice very sensitive at mid-highs, to show 2-way integration or midrange performance on a 3-way set.


This is K2 HD Sound!

Track 1 - Symphonic Dance No. 1 Excerpt - Dynamics from beginning to end, close to 1:20 min of track record, your eyes should blink if the system is fast enough


If the person is not that SQ enthusiast, I put Dark Side of the Moon


----------



## boltupright

Was just looking thru this thread and 3 selections came to mind, which have some interesting sounds which maybe not a lot of you have heard..."heaven and hell" by Vangelis. I bought it years ago on vinyl...you'll have to listen for awhile but there are a few short pieces in it which I think are very cool. Also "Sacred Space Music" by Constance Demby and "Tibetan Tantric Choir" by The Gyuto Monks


----------



## johns

SQ,Mmmmmm lets see,or should say hear! Bread "1st" album if you can find it. That album amazes me every time I hear it I don't know who mixed/produced it but very well done. That's the first time I ever noticed SQ in recorded music at least the kind I listened to at the time. NOW MY FAVORITE PERFORMER:I LOVE everything he's done but... Peter Gabriel "UP" Cloudless,I Greive, I like IG the way the sound is layered. Delerium "Semantic Spaces" WOW! got some bass there, if you have never heard it you owe it to you ears buy it trust me Eric Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra "Fantastic Journey" & "The Great Adventure Fantasy Album" warning on liner (contains infrasonic freq's that may damage your speakers) James Horner "Cocoon" Soundtrack, "Bicentennial Man" Soundtrack 
Dishwalla everything Great Band and very well recorded 
Euphoria "Euphoria"


----------



## Nitin

douggiestyle said:


> Where to pick up a good quality recording of Hotel California.
> 
> I use the Kill Bill soundtrack to do most of my testing... good mix of instruments and vocals


look for the original EAGLES cd - its called "HELL FREEZES OVER" some other good music on it besides for Hotel California


----------



## PPI_GUY

Soraya- Suddenly
Cincinnati Pops(Telarc)- Batman Suite
Dire Straits- Iron Hand
The Police- Spirits In The Material World

and one you MUST listen to on a high quality system...

Wagner (London Symphony Orchestra 06/14/72, Leopold Stokowski conducting)- Siegfrieds Death & Funeral Music...breaktaking!


----------



## so cal eddie

My favorites are Blues Traveler, Sade, Dave Mathews Band, Dave Koz, Tracy Chapman, and Buck o'nine as far as regular music goes.

From my demo disc collection the Focal discs are great, Sheffield Drive, Monster Cable has a few discs, Telarc demo, some of the Boston Acoustics stuff, and some of the Bose stuff are pretty good.


----------



## MrLister

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium .. one of the best SQ CDs I've ever heard


----------



## shadowfactory

MrLister said:


> Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium .. one of the best SQ CDs I've ever heard


If compressing a track to the edge of clipping is SQ, then sure!


----------



## br85

Have to agree with a few in here so far

Eagles: Hell freezes over XRCD
Dire Straights: Brothers in arms
Opeth: Damnation
Opeth: Ghost Reveries (if you like metal AND progressive this is a goldnugget)
Tool: Lateralis
Silverchair: Diorama

Soundtrack: Shawshank redemption
Soundtrack: Gladiator
Soundtrack: Braveheart

And I've recently discorvered 10 Years. Considering the occasionally whiny vocals, and the Nu-metal/modern hard rock style, the surprise is that most of their songs are *incredibly well recorded and mixed*. You get a real sense of acoustic space (rare on almost all modern distorted guitar recordings), a wonderful dynamic drum sound with a deep but powerful snare, and very transparent mixing without sounding thin. Has to be heard to be believed.


----------



## malibuss7

I've been lurking on here for quite a while, but I thought finally I'd chime in...

Some of my favourite recordings:

Blues Traveler - almost any
Dave Matthews Band - almost any, but their live version of Cortez the Killer is amazing
Rush - Moving Pictures
Eagles - Hell Freezes Over
Alicia Keys - Live
Nirvana - Unplugged
Alice in Chains - Unplugged
Erykah Badu - Live
Neil Young - many albums, but Live at Massey Hall is awesome
Manu Dibango - African Soul (it's a _best of_ with some really cool tracks) 

There have been some great suggestions here - I will definitely try out several.


----------



## snaimpally

Cowboy Junkies - Lay It Down. Most of the CJ albums are pretty good quality but this one is outstanding. The bass and drums are especially well recorded. Track 6 is on many audiophile samplers.

Janis Ian - Breaking Silence. The recording quality is stunning. Apparently done in a 16 track analog studio in Nashville. Lots of excellent percussion, particularly frame drum. The title song has made it on to many audiphile samplers.

Kraftwerk - Minimum Maximum. The pioneers of techno release a superb live album with new takes on their most famous songs. Quality is excellent.

The Rolling Stones - any of the DSD remasters. Wow! Bob Ludwig is a genius. The direct stream digital process makes you feel like you are right in the studio. The albums sound like they were recorded yesterday. Unreal. I can't imagine what the SACD version must sound like. Can't wait for an SACD HU.


----------



## jsun_g

Herbie Hancock - Rockit
Old school rap feel and a great recording. Good for testing midbass BTW.


----------



## jsun_g

My favorite for challenging content is Dynamix II, the Bass Planet album...either track 5 or 6 (can't remember). It is an instrumental song with some very difficult passages. If you system doesn't sound like ****, you've done something right


----------



## tspence73

Ryan Adams - Demolition album


----------



## br85

The 300 soundtrack. BOY does that sound awesome on a good system


----------



## ARCuhTEK

Great thread..thank you.


----------



## nickpapa

af22 said:


> Personal Favorites:
> 
> Eagles - Hotel California XRCD version
> 
> MUSICDIRECT - ULTIMATE DEMONSTRATION DISC - CHESKY'S GUIDE TO CRITICAL LISTENING ( TEST CD )


one of my favorites as well


----------



## conehunter76

Does anyone know where to find XRCDs in Houston?


----------



## Ziggy

Tears for Fears remake of "Ashes to Ashes" (David Bowie) -you know... the Major Tom song


----------



## gijoe

I guess I haven't contributed to this thread yet, so here are some of my suggestions:

Pixies- Any of their albums, they sound great, good dynamics- not everyone's cup of tea though

Bright Eyes- Very self loathing music, very emo, but brilliant lyrics and an amazing sense of mood. I like the interesting assortment of instruments and recording techniques used.

Rachael Yamagata- Very interesting singer/song writer. Like Bright Eyes, she uses some cool instruments and breaks up the monotony that is your typical rock band.

Of course there are plenty of others, but most of them have already been mentioned, like Dire Straits, and Eagles.


----------



## slomofo

Spies- Music of Espionage - track 1,2,3,4,10 This is one of THE ULTIMATE test discs from back in the day. It has a little of everything
Boston Acoustics Bass Disc
10,000 Maniacs - Blind Man's Zoo track 4
Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing Greatest Hits - Sultans of Swing, Where do you think you're going, Money for Nothing
Dave Matthews Band - Crash track 1
Madonna - Immaculate Collection - Holiday, Into the Groove
Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine - Bombtrack
Sublime - Second Hand Smoke - Doin Time Uptown Dub
Counting Crows - August and Everything After - Omaha, Blue Buildings, 
Ace of Base - The Bridge - Never going to say I'm sorry, Lucky Love
Lindsey Buckingham - Out of the Cradle


----------



## Transit

Lyle Lovett's Joshua Judges Ruth, especially the North Dakota track.


----------



## sublime_ac

Dream Theater Metropolis - Part I "The Miracle And The Sleeper"
Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
Metallica - Fixxer
Tool - 46&2
Alice In Chains - Rooster
Dire Straits - Money For Nothing
Pink Floyd - Money
ZZ Top - Sleeping Bag
Prince - Seven
Natalie Merchant - Wonder
Faith No More - Epic
Faith No More - The Morning After
Fates Warning - Monument
Black Eyed Peas - Pump It
No Doubt - Hella Good
Gwen Stefani - What You Waitin' For


----------



## khairil

La Fille Mal Gardee, Excerpts, conducted by John Lanchberry, Decca recording track 1


----------



## tommyjiggallow

I'm new here, but I've aways love the sound of comfortably numb by Pink Floyd, and also Time by Pink Floyd.


----------



## Deton Nation

Dave Matthews, Live at Luther College.. very nice recording.

Grateful Dead, Winterland 73 Box set

Chucho Valdes, Briyumba Palo Congo

Jimmy Smith, Midnight Special


----------



## kevinski118

Coldplay - In My Place
Mutemath - You Are Mine
Dark Knight Soundtrack
John Mayer - Gravity
Lauryn Hill - Sweetest Thing
Led Zeppelin - Since I've Been Loving You
RHCP - Stadium Arcadium (the song, I like the album but specifically this song)
EWF - Show Me The Way


I'm new car audio, not sure if these qualify as good sq songs but they are more or less my favorite songs that show off the clarity/impact in my system.


----------



## jbholsters

Dire Straits-track 4 of Brother in Arms-Your Latest Trick (whole album really)
Flim and the BB's-New Pants
Jennifer Warnes-Famous Blue Raincoat
Donald Fagen-Nightfly
Pink Floyd-The Final Cut
Police-Murder by Numbers (great for mid-bass)
Rickey Lee Jones-Flying Cowboys


Does anyone remember what track RC demoed in the GN? If I remember right it was Linda Ronstadt.


----------



## MarkB

Yello - The Race. 

Actually, just about anything by Yello is well produced with big dynamics.


----------



## SQ27801

Dave Grusin - Mountain Dance
Diane Krall - The Look of Love
The Angels - Mapleshade Cd- a capella choir


----------



## Sulley

"Mary Jane's Last Dance" - Tom Petty (hard to find a good recording)
"One Evening" - Feist (off the Focal Disc)
Rise Against - Appeal To The Reason (Full Album sounds great in my Civic)


----------



## hot wheels

Kari Bremnes - Svarta Bjørn

norwegian and being scottish don't know what the songs are about but for mid bass vocals and highs
if your system can play this then your on to a winner


----------



## zerodistortion

Temptation - by Diana Krall


----------



## chauss

tommyjiggallow said:


> I'm new here, but I've aways love the sound of comfortably numb by Pink Floyd, and also Time by Pink Floyd.


Pink Floyd always pays alot of attention to the details in their recordings...I guess they are audiophile rockers!


----------



## Vega-LE

Basically everything on the Expose Greatest Hits cd

Johnny O - Fantasy Girl

Stevie B - Dreamin' of Love/In My Eyes/Spring Love

Sweet Sensation's "Take It While It's Hot" cd

Seduction - You're My One and Only

Madonna's "the Immaculate Collection cd"

Oingo Boingo - Dead Mans Party/We Close Our Eyes

Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Welcome To The Pleasure Dome

Talking Heads - Burning Down The House/And She Was

Queen - I Want To Break Free


----------



## sstock...not

all time favorites:

rumors....fleetwood mac
speaking in melodies.....michael ruff


----------



## Ziggy

Vega-LE said:


> Madonna's "the Immaculate Collection cd"
> 
> Oingo Boingo - Dead Mans Party/We Close Our Eyes
> 
> Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Welcome To The Pleasure Dome
> 
> Talking Heads - Burning Down The House/And She Was
> 
> Queen - I Want To Break Free


Wow... I just recently played ALL of these at my Halloween Party and everyone said the music was off the hook... 
Including some of the Michael Jackson greats off of the "History" CD...


----------



## lucas569

craig david, john mayer, shawn mcdonald, and for you spanish members or anyone intirested in some awesome clean clear instruments check out monchy y alexandra its a male n female duo that makes a true system shine. heres a youtube vid but you have to hear it on a nice sound system to fully appreciate em

YouTube - Dos Locos - Monchy y Alexandra


----------



## ChotaBoy

Any time I do a system (both times)I always listen to the following after tuning:
California Project Papa Doo Run Run by Telarc---- pretty much the whole cd
Steeley Dan Gaucho----Hey 19 and Time Out of Mind
Blues Travler Four-----Hook


----------



## Vega-LE

Ziggy said:


> Wow... I just recently played ALL of these at my Halloween Party and everyone said the music was off the hook...
> Including some of the Michael Jackson greats off of the "History" CD...


I DJ'D a Halloween party a few years back with related music and it too was off the hook. All the neighbors heard the music and started flocking in. It was great! Everyone was dancing and having a great time.


----------



## don_chuwish

The Manhattan Transfer - lots of their recordings. But one that surprised me recently was "Coo Coo U". Voices jump all over the stage.


----------



## lucas569

argggg i found my speed of sound cd by alpine and its all scratched up!  lots of great tracks on it...


----------



## pjhabit

Dynamic Range Database


----------



## nathanz

I see Zero 7 was mentioned several times - can anyone give me 2 or 3 must listen to songs to start with????


----------



## nathanz

pjhabit said:


> Dynamic Range Database


Can you explain this a little further?


----------



## pjhabit

nathanz said:


> Can you explain this a little further?


Bringing Dynamics Back To Music


----------



## nathanz

pjhabit said:


> Bringing Dynamics Back To Music


Thanks man, that's a worthy site. As someone who has been in the music business as both an artist, recording engineer and manager I would add that it's not always the volume of the mix. I have mastered tracks that are plenty loud (within a few db of a major label pop release) without much compression that have retained enough dynamics to call the track "dynamic" if you will. Mastering techs at large studios these days just get lazy and through the tracks into a protools plug in and let it ride the limiter until it's squashed to death. Sad.

In addition to educating the listener, someone needs to really get to the producers and label and sell them on the value of a more dynamic master. There are way of achieving both overall track volume while retaining dynamics but its time consuming and requires more talent.

In addition there are also various plug ins that will decompress your your music in your own computer. It won't be where you might want it BUT it will help. Do a google search on the subject if you don't already know a few programs that work (something tells me you do though .

Somone posted this recording earlier in the thread - but give a listen to The Dave Matthews Band "Listener Supported"...a GREAT example is track one and two. Track one is an amazing dynamic recording with terrific staging and clarity. The toms on the drums ring beautifully while the sax is clear and spacious. Then as the track closes the band transitions into track 2...and it bangs the compressor hard. You will hear the compression and limiter kick in to control the bands harder playing and notice a HUGE different in dynamic SQ.


----------



## redcalimp5

shadowfactory said:


> If compressing a track to the edge of clipping is SQ, then sure!


LOL I've heard that about that album of theirs, and also Kalifornication. Great songs on those albums, but the compression is just murderous.


----------



## sqnut

Sarah Mclachlan. Freedom sessions. This is a compilation of some of her live performances. The recording and mastering quality is insane. This is essentially a soprano vocalist with a sub and rich mid bass arrangement playing the piano which takes care of your mids and upper mids. So this cd tests everything in your setup.

Specific songs, track 2 - Elsewhere pure test of you sub and lower mid bass linearity. Track 6 'Hold On', amazing track of her solo on a piano. If your stage isn't 8" higher than your dash with her singing live and breathing faster as she goes along, the misc stage noises, your setup isn't set up right. 

Strong words.  but the dsp and the sr's really help. Anyone else have the flash moments with the sr's?


----------



## coronamike

Some of my favorites. These always seem to end up on my playlist

Michel Buble - Call Me Irresponsible
The Eagles - Greatest Hits 1971 -1975
U2 - The Joshua Tree
Peter White - Glow
New Order - Singles
Nora Jones - Come Away with Me


----------



## threatcon07

"Home" and "Destiny" are ones that I listen to often, very nice. I also heard "Crazy for you" by Madonna which sounds excellent, and Norah Jones sounds incredible on a good system. "Come away with me" and "don't know why" 



nathanz said:


> I see Zero 7 was mentioned several times - can anyone give me 2 or 3 must listen to songs to start with????


----------



## Kpg2713

I know metal is hard to reproduce in a car, but I am surprised no one has mentioned Alive In Athens noth discs, by Iced Earth. I thought it was really good. Not Opeth good, but close. A couple other metal recording that are decent imo are Bullet for my Vallentine- Scream Aim Fire, Chimaira's Infection, and Unearth's latest cd is leagues above thier old stuff.


----------



## nathanz

Was just listening to Dave Mathews Band - Crash record.


----------



## Frijoles24

tchaikovski's only violin concerto in d major. opus 35.
YouTube - Perlman in Russia Violin Concerto in D Opus 35

also. the piece im practicing now. if u have clear mids. oh baby. the piano creams around your ears and the violin is the whipped cream and sprinkles on top
saraste's zapateado
YouTube - Pablo de Sarasate - Zapateado (Itzhak Perlman)


----------



## Frijoles24

nathanz said:


> I see Zero 7 was mentioned several times - can anyone give me 2 or 3 must listen to songs to start with????


i thoguht so too. 

just get everything. its all good to start with.


----------



## Nophix

This may date me a bit, but I always used Collective Soul. They have a very warm sound, plus there is a solid distinction between the different instruments. 

I'll usually throw on Isreal's Son by Silverchair for a bit of tuning on the low end as well. The opening bass guitar riff can wake the subs right up. 

NIN's Pretty Hate Machine album can do some wicked things to a system. 

And one of my all-time fav's, Type-O-Negative's October Rust. Peter Steele's voice alone is something to be marveled at.


----------



## Wattser93

shadowfactory said:


> If compressing a track to the edge of clipping is SQ, then sure!


That's my biggest complaint with RHCP, anybody know where to get a NON-clipped to high hell version of their Stadium Arcadium album?


----------



## MDubYa

I really like the sound of Andy McKee... All acoustic guitar he does a version of everyone wants to rule the world that really showed some discrepancies in my mids... Makes me cringe when I think about some of the freq resonating like a female k-9!

Also foo fighters acoustic and matchbox 20 acoustic and there cd mad season has a lot of orchestra that helped me with some rough patches as well

@Nophix...I also say a resounding yes to collective soul... Listen to perfect day when Elton John goes crazy on the piano and also the song Heavy. Great stuff!


----------



## SQ_Bronco

pjhabit said:


> Dynamic Range Database


Way OBE, but that's an interesting list. I've wondered why I could never really get Megadeth to sound good in my car, which is a shame, since it should be awesome road trip music. I'm actually a bit comforted, now. It's not my fault 

Fates warning, Parallels, did well. That's not a surprise, since that album has always felt "clean". I've listened to it a lot more than I should have, over the years, since the music itself wasn't spectacular, but I often feel compelled to listen. I'm guessing chasing time and pleasant shade of gray are up there, too, though they aren't in the database. OTOH, Metallica's Ride the Lightning did well, while I would have guessed it was much worse. They need a fourth box for "recording quality", I guess. I love that album everywhere else, but hate it in my car.

it would be nice if you could sort by "date". Seems like most of the greens are from albums 10+ years old, except for things like "Nordic Sound - 2L Audiophile Reference Record", which, duh, won't be compressed.


----------



## ousooner2

- Dave Matthews Band
- Eagles- Hotel California (obviously)
- A Perfect Circle (this might not be some peoples type of music but their songs have TONS of midbass & are well recorded)
-


----------



## Viejo Y Lento

Al DiMeola - Elegan Gypsy
Here are a couple of tunes from that CD

Mediterranean Sundance - Al Di Meola - YouTube

Al DiMeola - Race With Devil On Spanish Highway - YouTube


----------



## Dzaazter

Is that the 4 disc focal demos? I have it as flac files. Let me look for it.


----------



## antikryst

sqnut said:


> Sarah Mclachlan. Freedom sessions. This is a compilation of some of her live performances. The recording and mastering quality is insane. This is essentially a soprano vocalist with a sub and rich mid bass arrangement playing the piano which takes care of your mids and upper mids. So this cd tests everything in your setup.
> 
> Specific songs, track 2 - Elsewhere pure test of you sub and lower mid bass linearity. Track 6 'Hold On', amazing track of her solo on a piano. If your stage isn't 8" higher than your dash with her singing live and breathing faster as she goes along, the misc stage noises, your setup isn't set up right.
> 
> Strong words.  but the dsp and the sr's really help. Anyone else have the flash moments with the sr's?


Ahhhhh. Sarah mclachlan mirrorball complete is way better.  


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## sqnut

antikryst said:


> Ahhhhh. Sarah mclachlan mirrorball complete is way better.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


I have mirrorball too, Freedom Sessions is it's 'unplugged' version. Highly recommended. Then again, when it comes to her, I'm a bit biased. Specially her older stuff......... Bens Song, off Touch. Wow


----------



## antikryst

sqnut said:


> I have mirrorball too, Freedom Sessions is it's 'unplugged' version. Highly recommended. Then again, when it comes to her, I'm a bit biased. Specially her older stuff......... Bens Song, off Touch. Wow


Now that you have mentioned it... I guess it's tune time for me to look for my old Sarah discs. Fumbling is my favorite of all her albums by the way though I have freedom sessions too. 

Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk


----------



## computerjlt

Has anyone mentioned Diana Krall yet? 
I like the album girl in the other room. 
All of her albums i've found are very clean and i love the guitar sound all analog/tube from real instruments. 

Also Barenaked Ladies. I love stunt, i think it sounds good but I really love BNL so there might be some bias lol. 

Also a few songs from Rammstein can really test a systems limits but probably not best for SQ as there is a fair amount of artificial distortion and compression.


----------



## supermotofan

Thanks for the tips in this thread.


----------



## dsmith26

Holy **** I HAVE to bump this thread! I just finished my first install and was searching for SQ music to test drive it. Hell Freezes Over is absolute utopia to me and I'm not even close to the systems some of you guys have. Thanks for the recommendation!


----------



## hurrication

I am going to bump this one up because I have discovered two incredible SQ albums.

Yuna's self titled album
Amazing quality and the female vocals are off the chart! It just came out a few weeks ago.

SBTKRT, also self titled album
This one is a quite a bit more eccentric.. kind of like Telefon Tel Aviv, but the mastering on it is excellent and will give all aspects of your system a workout. Lots of fast bass.


----------



## CrossFired

One of the best SQ albums I've heard in a long time is one of the later Yello albums called Touch. Fantastic low end, smooth mid range and airy top end. Great soundstage.


----------



## fcarpio

hurrication said:


> I am going to bump this one up because I have discovered two incredible SQ albums.
> 
> Yuna's self titled album
> Amazing quality and the female vocals are off the chart! It just came out a few weeks ago.
> 
> SBTKRT, also self titled album
> This one is a quite a bit more eccentric.. kind of like Telefon Tel Aviv, but the mastering on it is excellent and will give all aspects of your system a workout. Lots of fast bass.


You got me, on both counts. Thank you.


----------



## hurrication

^ I'm glad to be able to share good music to people who are likely to enjoy it.

I would kill a man to have a high quality uncompressed copy of Yuna singing her song "live your life" on Conan.  Smooth drummer with an *incredible* sounding set.
Yuna Performs "Live Your Life" - CONAN on TBS - YouTube


----------



## hurrication

I have another weird eccentric SQ album to add to the list:

Pictureplane - Thee Physical


----------



## CrossFired

I just listen to it, and it's anything but SQ!



hurrication said:


> I have another weird eccentric SQ album to add to the list:
> 
> Pictureplane - Thee Physical


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## mires

I always loved Billy Joel's "It's still rock & Roll to me"

I also really love the sound of the acoustic guitars on any Days of the new album.


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## hurrication

CrossFired said:


> I just listen to it, and it's anything but SQ!


Some of the looped samples in a few songs are rough, but the album sounds great through my amped Senn 555's VIA .flac..  

I guess this is a good example of the subjectivity of sound/music. The guy above me likes DOTN's guitar but I can't *stand* the way their guitars sound on their albums.


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## mires

hurrication said:


> The guy above me likes DOTN's guitar but I can't *stand* the way their guitars sound on their albums.


I guess I can't say that I love the way the guitar sounds on ALL their songs. In fact, it's what I hate most about the song "Touch, peel and stand" which is arguably their most popular song. The guitar is very sloppy and sounds muddy as hell. It's a sweet riff, I just like the way I play it better!

Anyways, since you are into the acoustic guitar, can you give me any suggestions for music that has incredible sounding guitars? I love listening to new stuff.


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## antikryst

i normally hate pop music. more of a rock/alternative guy... and i like a lot of the live/unplugged/concert stuff... though i found this one and it is GREAT!

katy perry mtv unplugged

http://www.amazon.com/MTV-Unplugged...XNDO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336791956&sr=8-1


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## hurrication

Thanks, antikryst!

Mires, I will agree with you and say that some of their guitar sounds good.. especially the solo towards the end of "Now", but I always get real bad listening fatigue after only 2 or 3 songs on that album no matter what system they are played through. 

If you want acoustic guitar, look no farther than Kaki King. Her first few albums are nothing but acoustic guitar.. no words. Later albums become more progressive and the quality of the mastering increases. Didn't know she existed until I saw her playing at a casino and was like 

My absolute #1 favorite guitar track is Big Sur Moon.


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## CrossFired

hurrication said:


> Some of the looped samples in a few songs are rough, but the album sounds great through my amped Senn 555's VIA .flac..
> 
> I guess this is a good example of the subjectivity of sound/music. The guy above me likes DOTN's guitar but I can't *stand* the way their guitars sound on their albums.


Must be my Senn 650's and tube amp.


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## hurrication

yeah... well... different strokes..


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## mires

hurrication said:


> If you want acoustic guitar, look no farther than Kaki King. Her first few albums are nothing but acoustic guitar.. no words. Later albums become more progressive and the quality of the mastering increases. Didn't know she existed until I saw her playing at a casino and was like
> 
> My absolute #1 favorite guitar track is Big Sur Moon.


Thanks for the suggestions man. I have been a long time fan of buckethead, but don't have any of his albums somehow.


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## hurrication

No prob. Yeah, buckethead is the man! 

Here is a video to show you how Kaki King plays. It's one thing to listen to her albums but seeing her play is incredible. 

Kaki King - Bone Chaos In The Castle - Dickies - YouTube


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## CrossFired

hurrication said:


> ^ I'm glad to be able to share good music to people who are likely to enjoy it.
> 
> I would kill a man to have a high quality uncompressed copy of Yuna singing her song "live your life" on Conan.  Smooth drummer with an *incredible* sounding set.
> Yuna Performs "Live Your Life" - CONAN on TBS - YouTube


Her CD showed up today, and she does have a great voice, but if she could get away from the childish lyrics and low cost drum machine, She could be hugh.IMO


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## abdulwq

eagle all the way....


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## hurrication

CrossFired said:


> Her CD showed up today, and she does have a great voice, but if she could get away from the childish lyrics and low cost drum machine, She could be hugh.IMO


Yeah I agree.. lots of potential there though. 

I like her the best when it's either live with a band or just her and her guitar. Just wish there were more high quality recordings of it out there..
Yuna: A Flawless Voice From Malaysia : NPR


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## fcarpio

ousooner2 said:


> - Dave Matthews Band
> - Eagles- Hotel California (obviously)
> - A Perfect Circle (this might not be some peoples type of music but their songs have TONS of midbass & are well recorded)
> -


Definitely! APC's banana slug has some great mastering and the music is very good. So is the music in Mer De Noms but the recording there is not that great, I still love the CD.


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## cel4145

Orjan Nilsen "La Guitarra"--Great midbass drum sounds that dip down into some fairly low frequencies with some very nice balearic guitar to show off the upper mid range and tweeters. Nilsen is often described as a trance artist, but I'd say this song is more chill genre.


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## hurrication

^ Oh man, I have been searching for that song for a long time! You da man! I heard it over an online stream of an older episode of ASOT but never found out the name.

I am going to submit another album: James Blake self titled. Your bass response *will* be tested with "Limit to your love".


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## hurrication

Lana Del Rey - Born to Die


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## audioxincsq

Believe it or not, if you let rock,,,most of the old Van halen disc were recorded well! Ie,vh 2, fair warning, woman and children first,,,, I found the remastered HDCDs at a used cd shop for $4 ea!! Spend some time at your local rec store for some great deals


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## audioxincsq

VTTII is killer bass and drum cd!


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## audioxincsq

Get the 2nd disc in the new Godsmack live cd! It's remakes of songs like Time from pink Floyd ! Best vs ever!!!


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