reference music

anthony montagna -- Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:24

I suppose this could be in most any forum but I picked this one because we all listen to our music through speakers.
Question: what listening material do you mostly use to evaluate speakers? Im sure we have differing tasts in music so what music do you evaluate with and is it from cds, vinyl, or hard drives, media storage devices, what? I think this should be an interesting topic. And why if you can elaborate. Thanks Tony

TBADDER1 -- Wed, 03/30/2011 - 13:47

Bob Marley's "Catch a Fire" for mid and upper-bass tautness. Anything I have from Albert Ayler for treble response and "hotness." For vocals I use Patricia Barber and Shane MacGowan (if you can understand him buy whatever you're listening to). I use Ornette Coleman's "Free Jazz" to check for complexity. I also favor any piano work by John Cage. If a component gets piano right you're on to something. I work exclusively in cd. I may eventually switch to computer audio. Vinyl is not on the horizon--insert crying face thingee here.

jack d ii -- Fri, 04/01/2011 - 19:03

I'm not much of a fan of electronic music, but "The Bourne Identity" and "the Bourne Supremacy" are both worht listening to and will stress you as well as the speakers in some places.

Jack D II

JA FANT -- Thu, 05/12/2011 - 22:46

I use "twentysomething' by Jamie Cullum. It was recorded in the analog domain and sounds fantastic!

Jon2020 -- Sun, 05/15/2011 - 23:00

I use Mozart Concertos 22 and 25 by David Fray with the Jaap Van Zweden Philharmonia Orchestra (Virgin 5099964196404).

Cam -- Wed, 05/18/2011 - 17:03

I was using "Til the Sun Turns Black" by Ray LaMontagne. Although it's a folk CD, it's got great production that includes everything from Ray's fragile voice to guitar, strings and horns. I used other CDs for demo purposes but I wanted to mention this one because it's the only one I didn't get sick of after hearing it hundreds of times!

JA FANT -- Tue, 06/07/2011 - 05:39

My reference for many years now;
Jamie Cullum- Twentysomething (CD or SACD)- outstanding recording and production!

JA FANT -- Tue, 06/07/2011 - 05:40

Second Cam,
check out Ray LaMontagne.