Headphone Evaluation: Test Tracks

All Things Music
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I’ve put together my list of test tracks here for reference so that anyone who has a chance to hear headphones I’ve evaluated can get a sense of what I’m talking about. Keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list of what I use to test headphones with, just a selection of tracks that have a specific purpose. Also keep in mind that this is not necessarily going to match with everyone’s genre preferences, and for my part, this isn’t an endorsement of all the musical material either, even though I do like most of it. This list may change over time as I include more test tracks and remove others.

General testing:

  1. Sinne Eeg “We’ve Just Begun” - Female vocals and multi-layered brass section. Great for identifying texture.
  2. Steven Wilson “Three Years Older” - This whole album is good for evaluating electric guitar tone - Guthrie Govan’s guitar solos in particular.
  3. Molly Johnson “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” - Female vocals, upright double bass and good piano tone.
  4. Leslie Odom Jr. “Under Pressure” - Male vocals, well-recorded jazz orchestra.
  5. Eric Clapton “Change the World” - Slightly forward recording but with good layering and instrument placement.
  6. Yo Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone “Ecstasy of Gold” - Testing acoustic instruments (strings).
  7. Adam Baldych “Spem in Alium” - More acoustic instruments.

Tonal balance:

  1. Tingvall Trio “Beat” - Listening for upper-midrange recessions, getting piano tones right.
  2. Michael Wollny Trio “Little Person” - Great for both piano tone evaluation and bass drum hits.
  3. Pain of Salvation “Stress” (from the Falling Home album) - Close-mic’d instrument and percussion balance. This will also reveal percussion compression issues between 5-6khz.
  4. Ulf Wakenius “When God Created the Coffebreak” - Testing upright double-bass tones and guitar tones
  5. Ostura “The Room” - Resident metal track. Good for evaluating distorted guitars. Reveals emphasis in upper mids. Also helps identify how the headphone handles busy passages
  6. Michael Buble “When I Fall in Love” - Identifies the balance for orchestral swells in the intro.

Listening for problem areas:

  1. Patricia Barber “Code Cool” - Checking for sibilance and issues between 7-9khz
  2. Patricia Barber “Just One of Those Things” - Another sibilance test track, also reveals percussion compression issues.
  3. Hans Zimmer “Why So Serious” - Checking for sub-bass extension
  4. Renee Olstead “Midnight at the Oasis” - Checking for sibilance and issues between 7-9khz
  5. Christian Scott “New New Orleans” - Reveals percussion compression issues, specifically tambourines. Also will reveal any shout, glare or peak issues for trumpets.

Identifying technicalities:

  1. Ulf Wakenius “Suffering” - Just the intro section, an individually isolated instrumental line. Listen for decay in intro tones. I often use this to help identify detail and image clarity.
  2. Yosi Horikawa “Letter” - Soundstage and imaging test track.
  3. Yosi Horikawa “Bubbles” - Another soundstage and imaging test track.
  4. Tool “Chocolate Chip Trip” - Yet another imaging test track.
  5. Michael Buble “La Vie en Rose” - Vocal harmonies reveal image separation capabilities. Try this with planar magnetic headphones.
  6. Pink Floyd “Dogs” - Great test track for tube amps. Listen for image placement, depth, and textural qualities.
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