Only 3-5? Wow…hmm. I suppose the tracks below would give me a good enough audition impression:
Jennifer Warnes - Bird on a Wire
Dream Theater - Fall Into the Light
Patricia Barber - Gotcha! (live)
Ray Charles and Norah Jones - Here We Go Again
Persefone - The Great Reality (this one is an acquired taste haha)
That covers female vocals, male vocals, imaging, string and electric bass, the sound/crunch of electric guitars, instrument separation, timbre, cymbals, sibilance, etc. I use Letters by Yosi Horikawa for a true soundstage and imaging test, but I don’t typically listen to it for enjoyment. Also, honorable mention goes to:
Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
Joe Satriani - Rubina
The key thing is to listen to tracks you’re extremely familiar with. Some may criticize your choices if they don’t cover a variety of genres, but I personally think that’s less important than being familiar with the tracks and also having a reference point, such as attending live music performances.
I guess I could make it a decathlon if that helps… , but I wanted people to really hone in on the listening that provides them the most information to make a decision.
I actually do just that, drawing from my 50 song evaluation list. Given my focus on fatigue management and issue mitigation I consciously bounce between good and bad tracks.
Categories include:
A well recorded vocal with acoustic instruments – hear the air, hear the room
A poorly recorded vocal that’s tough to take but shouldn’t be tough
A complex technical track where the details potentially break down or become grainy (e.g., orchestral, speed metal, layered stereo studio productions)
A track with challenging, bright, or brutal treble (when the recorded treble is bad, headphones sound very very bad)
A deep bass track, as headphones routinely have difficultly generating bass or become rubbery and booming.
Hi my friend. I really appreciate your questions and the way your mind works, but what you are asking is so damn hard for me because of the many different variables that apply to music quality and in relation to the headphones tuning itself.
For example, I own 3 different headphones that are completely different in tuning. No similarities apply, however I absolutely love my sonics and have spent over 15 years researching and discovering what I truly love, sound-wise and quality wise.
If you are ever interested I’d be happy to give you some test tracks for these specific headphones.
Sennheiser HD 800
Final Audio D-8000
AUDEZE—LCD XC
Sony MDR Z7.
I’ve spent enough time with these headphones to truly get an idea where they can perform the best. The D-8000 I may need a little more time with. Only have had it for 5 weeks.
Lol, no worries. The point was to make it a challenging question and make you think about song choices. You’re obviously serious in the hobby because you’ve invested in a great collection of gear. My fictional scenario was that you show up at CanJam with 20 minutes of audition time each on the Susvara, Utopia, D8000 (assuming you didn’t own it already), and whatever other TOTL headphone you want and you have to buy one! What tracks in your library would you use to compare and determine what to buy? Also, in “hypothetical-world”, everything costs the same and plays beautifully on your all of your equipment at home. I was just interested in seeing what everyone’s “go-to” tracks were for auditioning and comparisons.
My question may be a little odd here, because maybe most people live in a place where can more easily listen to gear before they buy than I can, and don’t have to think about this scenario. Either way, appreciate everyone’s thoughts!
Well I love the question and really you bring up some good points where it should be fair to answer.
I’ll do the D-8000. I’m absolutely loving this headphone and I’ll go right into your question scenario.
Classical music. (Vivaldi : The 4 Seasons. Naxos recording on Blu Ray Audio. ) —- String Bravado. Tone and detail of Violins specifically.
Electronic/Ambient. Aphex Twin- Selected Ambient Works 85-92. ( strictly looking at depth. I’ll choose the track THA.
Electronic/ Dub Step. The Orb ( Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld) Bass slam! Best track would be GAIA.
Progressive Metal — Tool. (Fear Inoculum.) Imaging and Separation, snare drum pop. Gotta go with the track DESCENDING
Prog Rock/ World Music—-Peter Gabriel (4: Security) Dynamic range and PRAT as well as bass control. Track is RYTHEM OF THE HEAT.
Reggae/ pop rock—UB40 ( Black Rain Soundtrack. ) Vocal Clarity and Bass Control. Track. THE WAY YOU MOVE.
Instrumental/Scoring— Goblin (Back to the Goblin) tonal balance and PRAT. Track MAGIC THRILLER.
These tracks really set the tone for me to judge if my D-8000’s would be a keeper and really any other headphone as well. You’re right. I don’t have to overthink this.
Omg… Just now listening to the Persefone track. My throat hurts just listening to it, but I can definitely see why it’s on your list! Technically pretty great.
Nice. That Motley crew track does have a nice kick to it. Pretty good choice.
Also, I know it is one thing for music to sound awesome fidelity wise, but you gotta love it too!
I don’t go for all these elevator, dentist office vocal lounge piano light jazz tracks.
Some have their merit, but if I walk into an audio show room and hear Diana krall or Patricia Barber I’m afraid I gotta leave. Heard it too much. lol.
It’s funny because the only time I’ve heard people talk about Patricia Barber is when people are testing for sibilance, which made me wonder how she feels about her music getting downloaded to test for something not pleasant.
Also to complement your question or scenario I don’t usually use live music tracks at audio shows. Those require science and a nice easy going atmosphere to soak in the air of the recording. Audio shows are noisy as hell. Gotta go with the studio stuff.
My 2c, pick something you know inside and out.
I almost always start with the same 3 tracks off Dire Straits Brothers in Arms, it’s a good recording and I have heard them hundreds of times, so I know what I’m hearing and not hearing compared to others.
After that I base what I listen to on what I just heard, either because I think it will be something the headphone does well or poorly, again from recordings I know well.
, but I wanted people to really hone in on the listening that provides them the most information to make a decision.
