|
Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
|
|
|
Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
|
In Reply to: What recordings do you use for evaluation? posted by Bill W on July 24, 2002 at 10:21:46:
For Bass: "Wish You Were Here" from Pink Floyd. The sound of the whirling bass in the begining of "Welcome to the Machine" and the very low Synth notes in it are quite a stress test for woofers.
For Volume and control: The Colour of My Love" from Celine Dion. The song "The Power of Love", is a hard song to play very loudly as it has screaming vocals combined with low bass notes. I have heard more than my share of speakers that could not handle Celine's Whaling and had to be turned down.
For imaging: I like to use the Song "Bohemian Rhapsody" from Queen. The multi-layed vocals are a great test of a speaker's ability to image well.
For Trebble extention: Just about anything from Metallica's S&M cd's. If the Cymbals and flutes are clearly heard over all the other stuff going on, and remain coherant, then it is a good sign that the speaker's trebble is not lacking.
For Male Vocals: Good Ol' Blue Eyes is a favorite, as is Boyz II Men's rendition of the Beatle's classic tune "Yesterday". Garth Brook's "In Pieces" is another favorite test cd for male vocals. As the song "The Cowboy Song" has no drums in it, this is a test of the weight of the vocals.
For Female vocals: "Fly" by the Dixie Chicks is a good one to use. Natalie Maines's voice on "Without You" gives me an idea of a speaker's ability to reproduce a powerful female voice propperly. The "Now That I've Found You: Collection" From Alison Krauss is another favorite of mine to test female vocals. Anything by the Carpenter's in my opinion will also Demonstrate a speaker's abiltity in the department of female vocals.
For Transparency: I like to either use Cannon in D minor or Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor(second movement). These two songs give me a sense of what instruments sound like on a set of speakers. If it sounds like a piano or a recording of a piano is the question I ask when I listen. Does Orchestra leap out of the speakers on Cannon in D minor or do the violins sound mutted? These two songs are good for transparency elvaluation in my opinion.
For accuracy: I bring some of the worst recordings that I have such as MP3's. If these sound even worse, I then say "wow, these speakers are acurate" If "Californication" does not sound bright on a set of speakers then it might be masking some Deficiency.
For wow factor: Yes, I said wow factor. For this being the most important consideration in selecting a set of speakers. The wow factor is an easy concept to grasp. It is when I play one of my favorite songs and say wow this sounds fantasic. "Master of Puppets" from Metallica, "Revolver" from the Beatles, and "August and Everything After" are 3 of the cd's that I use to test the wow factor. I have heard these cd's more times than I can recall, so to me it makes sense to use them to how some of my favorite tunes will sound.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- Re: What recordings do you use for evaluation? - tuneman 13:47:50 07/25/02 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
