Thank you all for giving me examples of what being an audiophile involves. It helps me learn how to listen and appreciate music presented by audio equipment of varying quality.
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?
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I'm surprised there are not a lot of responses to this perfectly reasonable posting. As it happens, there are "annotated playlists" (and CDs) that are specifically designed to demonstrate various audiophile virtues. Consider, for example, Chesky's "The Ultimate Demonstration Disc: Chesky Records' Guide to Critical Listening." This CD contains 30 tracks, half of which are voice announcements that tell you what each track demonstrates and what to listen for. A sampling: "Depth"; "Atmosphere"; "Midrange Purity"; "Transparency"; "Rhythm & Pace"; "Holographic Imaging." And so on. The voice announcements are brief (less than 30 seconds), and the musical examples are all well-chosen to illustrate what the voice announcements describe. Another Chesky Records disc ("Jazz Sampler and Audiophile Test Compact Disc") contains, besides sonically dramatic musical tracks, the famous LEDR imaging tests that are difficult to find elsewhere. These sounds, created by computers at Northwestern University in a sound lab (Chesky describes them as "the world's first objective stereo imaging test"), demonstrate stereo effects left-to-right and also above and below. Then there are various favorite familiar tracks anyone has easy access to that are recommended by particular individuals to demonstrate particular system abilities. Among my favorite are three tracks used by the CEO of Sonus Faber to show off his speakers: "What a Wonderful World" by Eva Cassidy; "You Want it Darker" by Leonard Cohen; "Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes" by Paul Simon. Finally, some of us have put together our own "mix tapes" (as they used to be called) of favorite demonstration tracks. Musical taste (i.e., "subjectivity") comes into play for all of these options, of course, but at the same time, when the primary criterion is audio quality—or, in fact, some particular audio quality—then there is some "objectivity" to the selections.
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An interesting effect that I’ve encountered. On the Beatles Love SACD, as they "work into" Lucy in the Skies as the harpsichord pans left, it pans rearward (toward the front wall) and when it then pans right, it pans forward toward the listened to form an "oval" rotating in front of you. Only happens as they work into the song and for a moment at the end. |
Plus 1 @snilf I use Chesky albums all the time for this very reason and to check the bass in speakers. All the best. |
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