sorry for asking a dumb question. this weekend I will be going to audition speakers as well as receivers and would like to know which music cd/ dvd(movie) to take with to audition which will bring out lows , mids as well as highs very well. I am open to suggestions for any kind of music. Thanks.
I think the most important media to bring with when demo'ing speakers or receivers is whatever you know best.
If you know what it sounds like through your current equipment and what it is supposed to sound like... then that is all you need.
For music, I've recently been using the Nickel Creek SACD tracks 2,3, and 6. Halfway through track 6 there is a mandolin solo that so far, martin logans are the only speakers that I have heard play that part loud without distorting. Oh and preludes handled it as well.
Anonymous: a question that isn't dumb and sometimes not obvious.
The type of music you should bring with you (on CDs of course) is the type which you like to listen to. Bring a broad range, but generally, for Music I bring:
female vocals (in all genres you like)
instrumentals (in all genres you like)
most mids to high (string instruments)
most mids to lows (strings, bass)
For Movies, that's another thing. If you have these, bring Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, Contact (opening scene where the camera pans away from Earth out of the galaxy and universe with audio coming from all speakers!), Speed, 1994 (elevator drop scene in chapter 1 and emergency response beginning of chapter 2), The Abyss, Special Collector's Edition (THX), Toy Story, 1996 (THX), Unbreakable, 2000 (DTS -- use the DTS track!), Eric Clapton Unplugged, The Matrix, 1999 (Lobby Scene), The Matrix Reloaded, 2003 {The 20-minute car chase!)... that's a few.
Generally, for me, I like a broad range of music. I usually bring with me, for music, mostly female vocals. I bring Oletta Adam's Get Here (Get Here: Track 2). Gloria Estefan's Greatest Hits. Janet Jacksons Greatest Hits (on DVD and CD -- she's my NEXT ex-wife!). Mariah Carey's Musicbox. For Jazz, of course I have Oletta Adams, but for mostly instruments I bring Fourplay's Between the Sheets. (The first track on Fourplay's "FourPlay" album is titled Chant. It's the most demanding soundtrack I use for testing systems and speakers to sub-subsonic bass!. Especially at about 1:20 into track 1. Alot of systems I tested just whimp out and it's an awesome test of the power supply because of the bass -- from the standup bass -- in the score.)
Hmmm... also for test CDs I have this one from Amber called This is Your Night. It's a DJ promotional CD (for radio play and extended versions) which I got because I use to own record stores. I also use this for testing because it's basically "techno" (R&B) and the beats per minute (BPM) are just so high and every second is filled with audio across every frequency -- no rest for the power supply and amplifier! I use track 5 on the CD which is an extended remix of 5 minutes! It's not a "bass killer" like some club music is... it's just high RPM!
Oh, I also carry Selena's Selena. I like track 5... I'll be Dreaming. As you can see, mostly female vocals. They are the best!
That's it for me. That's my list. I'm gonna write this all down now.
