analyzing sound
Some recordings may demonstrate better audiophile-related variables (e.g., soundstage, imaging, blackness, quickness, microdynamics, dynamic range, low/mid/high frequencies, sibilance, etc.) than others. Playlists are therefore offered as examples of music to use when evaluating hifi components or systems. I assume, for example, that it is necessary to have a recording that is able to demonstrate a wide soundstage in order to evaluate whether a system/component produces a wide soundstage. However, I have not found a playlist that also identifies which specific recordings are good for evaluating which specific variable that an audiophile may be interested in.
For example, is there an annotated playlist that provides something like the following entirely fabricated example: Bill Frisell's recording of Baba Drame on The Intercontinentals is a good track for evaluating imaging (but not microdynamics), whereas John Eliot Gardiner's Volume 3 recording of Bach Contatas is excellent for evaluating microdynamics (but not imagining), or Imogen Heap's recording of First Train Home on her Ellipse album is good to use for determining the degree of sibilance (but not low frequency definition) of your system.
Or is any good recording capable of demonstrating all qualities of interest?
Personally, when not hedonistically seeking please with solving the n dimensional rubic cube of audio variable optimization, i use recording ive made myself of unamplified music recorded with a bare bones chain in a reverberant space… but of course, the first distortion starts with microphone selection. Multi track studio or possibly worse DAW is imo the definition of cat chasing tail |
++ @tomic601 |
I classify test-quality LP tracks by instrument and sound factor. For example, Cassandra Wilson's, Blue Light 'Til Dawn track C1: Black Crow is one of my tests of soundstage, bass, vocal separation, and imaging. Whereas track C4: Redbone is a test for analyzing reproduction of percussion. Another example is Philip Glass' Piano works. Here I listen to Etude No 6 (track A2) to test piano range and resonance. Bass notes should make palpable each pedal press with separation from the thematic melody. |
