Merged thread of demo songs, tracks and CDs

Without going through all 380 or so posts, here's a short list of stuff I like to play for various demo purposes.

What a Wonderful World - Eva Cassidy. This one kinda sits in the room with you, but will quickly get fatiguing if voicing is off too hard. If everything is right, it's very peaceful, even at high volumes.

Spyro Gyra - After the Storm -and- Monsoon. Lots of goosebumps. Layers and layers of stuff going on that get muddled quick on lesser gear.

Grandaddy - He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot. Subwoofer food. Be careful with this one. Starts slow for the first few minutes, don't be lulled into it's trap, it will destroy your subs if you crank it and then walk away for 5 minutes.

Don Ross - This Dragon Won't Sleep. Don does knuckle percussion on the body of the guitar in this song that you can almost feel in your skull at decent levels.

B.T - 1.618. An excellent bit of Electronica. Has a really nifty joining of bass and effects that will make it sound like your room is breathing. It's awesome. If you have a theater, grab the DTS dvd version.

Lee Ritenour's 6 String Theory. The whole disc is pretty much fun to listen to.

deadmau5 - Strobe. Put this one up to a hair before clipping and just take a bath in it.

That's all I can think of for the moment.
 
My word, I forgot I made this thread all of those years ago. Yet, I still have a copy of that Gerald Albright album. Either way, I have an actual playlist now which I use when voicing (all lossless):

Gerald Albright - Georgia On My Mind (great dynamics)
Diana Krall - Frim Fram Sauce (very delicate, test of female vocals. Low presence = muddy)
Diana Krall - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Dynamic piano and percussion, great for transients)
Diana Krall - I'm Just a Lucky So and So (deep bass, female vocals, and great piano)
Seal - Love's Divine (male vocal track second to one, see below)
Seal - Fly Like an Eagle (great vocals again, and great dynamics)
Maroon 5 - The Sun (rhythm and pace defines this track, and great male vocals)
Maroon 5 - Secret (richness of the male vocals and the airiness of the background reverb shows flaws easily)
Keb Mo - Dangerous Mood (outstanding male vocals, jazz organ and lower octave test. If his voice isn't rich, back to the drawing board!)
Marcus Miller - Mr. Clean (you will struggle to find a better test for bass rhythm but more importantly, tightness. Each bit of bass in the song is slap bass, so it should be well defined)
Lyle Lovett - Church (in my opinion, the best vocal track. Male, female and choir vocals all in one)
Joshua Redman - Put It In Your Pocket (lots of varied jazz instruments spread all over the soundstage. Ergo, a great track for imaging)
 
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I am not a big fan of gosphel music, but I was listening to some speakers at a showroom today and they played These Bones by The Fairfield Four . One of the deepest male voices I have heard. Almost sounded fake.

Link to album on Amazon
I do agree with this as well. The problem I've found with this song in particular is that it tends to make ALL speakers sound nice. I prefer the tracks that pull out the flaws, but then again, I'm just odd :)
 
The test Album ?

I just bought some TDL speakers .. I've loved them for years so to test them with my amp etc I stuck in nirvana MTV unplugged in New york .. and it blew my head off .. I got the speakers for £90 off ebay what do you stick in to test your new audio ?
Many of the MTV unplugged recordings are excellent.
Nirvana
Pearl jam
Alice in Chains

These are always on my testing playlist.

Many classics too, I have listed one or two pages back, but these should be part of every test soundtrack:

Massive attack (most stuff)
Bjork
Pink Floyd DSotM (time? For sure the track with many clocks, great test of tweeters and midrange integration)

Fleetwood Mac - many
Mike Oldfield, T bells

Counting Crows - Omaha (country low kick drum)

2001 A Space Oddessy- Motion picture sound track

and many many more, complete on a 16 disc Box set, for just $199.99

🤭🤣
 
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