ALAN PARSONS & STEPHEN COURT: SOUND CHECK | MOBILE FIDELITY SOUND LAB | ULTRADISC II
SOUND CHECK is the definitive stereo audio test disc. It contains 92 tracks of practical material compiled as a result of careful research and investigation into the needs of studio engineers, audio technicians, serius audiophiles, record producers and musicians.
The disc has been designed not only to help assess the technical performanceof a wide range of sound recording and reproduction equipment, but also to offer the very best available musical, vocal and effects sources for experimentation and demostration.
WARNING: THIS CD, UNLIKE MOST COMMERCIAL RECORDS, CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH HAS NOT BEEN COMPRESSED OR LIMITED AND CONTAINS SIGNALS WHOSE WIDE DYNAMIC AND FREQUENCY RANGE CAN SERIUSLY DAMAGE SOUND EQUIPEMENT WHEN PLAYED AT HIGH LEVELS.
CONTENTS OF THE SOUND CHECK CD:
PINK NOISE TEST TONES
These tones are intended for equipment alignment and are especially designed for active speaker set-up. Track 01 is a 1kHz reference tone lasting 30 seconds. Monitoring equipment should be set to a useful working volume and measuring equipment set to read 0dB. All other tones in this section are at the reference level. Phase checks are on Index 2, where appropriate, in 5 second bursts.
Track 01: 1kHz sine wave reference tone @ -14dB FS
Track 02: Pink Noise - Left channel only
Track 03: Pink Noise - Right channel only
Track 04: Pink Noise - Both channels & phase check
Track 05: Bass band - 0-200Hz & phase check
Track 06: Low mid band - 200Hz-1kHz & phase check
Track 07: High mid band - 1kHz-Infinity & phase check
Track 08: High Band - 7kHz-Infinity & phase check
PINK NOISE 1/3 OCTAVE SPECTRUM ANALYSIS
This section is intended for loudspeaker frequency response analysis. System response can be plotted and graphic equalisers can be set by reading each band on The Sound Check Response Analyser (or a conventional sound level meter). Track 1 is the reference tone and lasts 30 seconds. All other tracks in this section are at the reference level and last 10 seconds.
Tracks 9-40: 1kHz reference tone, 20Hz, 25Hz, 31.5Hz, 40Hz, 50Hz, 63Hz, 80Hz, 100Hz, 125Hz, 160Hz, 200Hz, 250Hz, 315Hz, 400Hz, 500Hz, 630Hz, 800Hz ,1kHz, 1.25kHz, 1.6kHz, 2kHz, 2.5kHz, 3.15kHz, 4kHz, 5kHz, 6.3kHz, 8kHz, 10kHz, 12.5kHz, 16kHz, 20kHz
SWEEP TONES
These are intended for sweep response measurements and are especially useful for checking system resonances. Track 41 is the reference warble and lasts 20 seconds. The sweeps are in one octave sections down from 1kHz and in one octave sections up from 1kHz - for easier frequency identification.
Track 41: 1kHz reference warble for sweeps
Track 42: Sectional sweep tones down in 1 octave steps: 1kHz-500Hz, 500Hz-250Hz, 250Hz-125Hz, 125Hz-20Hz
Track 43: Sweep tones up in 1 octave steps: 1kHz-2kHz, 2kHz-4kHz, 4kHz-8kHz.
Track 44: Sine wave sweep 20Hz-20kHz
SINE AND SQUARE WAVE SPOT FREQUENCIES
This section is for recording and reproduction equipment line-up, analysis and fault finding. The square wave spot frequencies are also useful for bandwidth assessment and loudspeaker phase and time alignment. Track 45 is the reference tone, lasting 10 seconds. All other tones in this section are 10 seconds. All sine waves are at the reference level, -14dB FS. The square waves are at -20dB FS.
Tracks 45-56: 1kHz reference tone @ -14dB FS, 60Hz, 100Hz, 250Hz, 500Hz, 1kHz, 2kHz, 3kHz, 5kHz, 10kHz, 12kHz, 15kHz
Track 57: 1kHz square wave @ -20dB FS
Track 58: 5kHz square wave @ -20dB FS
MAXIMUM TONE LEVEL
Warning - This track is at the theoretical maximum recording level, 0dB FS.
THIS IS A VERY LOUD TONE - USE WITH CAUTION
Track 59: 1kHz sine wave at 0dB FS (Duration 20 seconds)
VOCAL
While the sonic complexity of music is widely recognised, the human voice is equally difficult to reproduce accurately and a voice recording that one is familiar with is a useful reference source. Before Sound Check came along, a good, unprocessed voice recording was very difficult to obtain, especially under test.
Track 60: Spoken word (mono)
INSTRUMENTAL
This section contains closely miked instrumental recordings without electronic processing such as limiting or compression. They contain subtle transients which define true high fidelity and which are often lost in the reverberation and processing of commercial records. These tracks are therefore invaluable for assessing the transient response and fidelity of audio equipment and for experimentation with effects units. These are original studio master recordings and in some cases intrument overspill may be heard.
Track 61: Piano (stereo)
Track 62: Acoustic steel-strung guitar - finger style (mono)
Track 63: Acoustic steel-strung guitar - strummed (mono)
Track 64: Nylon strung Spanish guitar (mono)
Track 65: Electric guitar - clean sound (mono)
Track 66: Electric guitar - distorted rock sound (mono)
Track 67: Bass guitar (mono)
Track 68: Flute (mono)
Track 69: Saxophone (mono)
Track 70: Vocal
Track 71: Bongos (mono)
Track 72: Tambourine (mono)
Track 73: Kick drum (mono)
Track 74: Snare drum (mono)
Track 75: Cymbals and hi-hat (stereo)
Track 76: Toms (stereo)
Track 77: Whole drum kit (stereo)
Track 78: Violins (stereo -1st violins panned left, 2nd violins paned right)
Track 79: Cellos and violas (stereo - starting with cellos only panned right, joined by violas panned left)
MUSIC TRACKS
Extracts from selected master recordings, specially selected to assess the various qualities of loudspeakers and sound equipment. Limelight, for example, has a very even frequency and dynamic balance throughout the audio spectrum and therefore is an ideal reference for overall sound quality.
Track 80: The Race by Yello
Track 81: Limelight by The Alan Parsons Project, featuring Gary Brooker.
Track 82: Seasons Of Our Lives by Graham de Wilde and Mitch Dalton.
Track 83: Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Daniel Chorzempa, organ.
SOUND EFFECTS
These sound effects provide extreme tests of dynamic and frequency range. The steam trains, the sub machine gun and the Chieftain tank are historical analogue recordings which have been digitally re-mastered.
Track 84: Sub machine gun - Chieftain tank target ranging (mono)
Track 85: Chieftain tank: Firing - shell detonation - the target (mono)
Track 86: Thunderstorm (stereo)
Track 87: Steam trains (stereo)
Track 88: F-16 and Tornado jets: flypast with afterburners (stereo)
UTILITY TRACKS
A series of useful tools - a left/right channel ident; invaluable for multiple unit hook-ups, digital black for noise assessment, a tuning reference and timecode in all three standard formats for checking timecode-based equipment and striping code onto tapes.
Track 89: EBU 25 frame timecode 10:00:00 to 10:05:00.
Track 90: SMPTE non drop frame timecode 10:00:00 to 10:05:00.
Track 91: SMPTE drop frame timecode 10:00:00 to 10:05:00.
Track 92: A-440 tuning reference.
Good for audio testing...
SOUND CHECK is the definitive stereo audio test disc. It contains 92 tracks of practical material compiled as a result of careful research and investigation into the needs of studio engineers, audio technicians, serius audiophiles, record producers and musicians.
The disc has been designed not only to help assess the technical performanceof a wide range of sound recording and reproduction equipment, but also to offer the very best available musical, vocal and effects sources for experimentation and demostration.
WARNING: THIS CD, UNLIKE MOST COMMERCIAL RECORDS, CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH HAS NOT BEEN COMPRESSED OR LIMITED AND CONTAINS SIGNALS WHOSE WIDE DYNAMIC AND FREQUENCY RANGE CAN SERIUSLY DAMAGE SOUND EQUIPEMENT WHEN PLAYED AT HIGH LEVELS.
CONTENTS OF THE SOUND CHECK CD:
PINK NOISE TEST TONES
These tones are intended for equipment alignment and are especially designed for active speaker set-up. Track 01 is a 1kHz reference tone lasting 30 seconds. Monitoring equipment should be set to a useful working volume and measuring equipment set to read 0dB. All other tones in this section are at the reference level. Phase checks are on Index 2, where appropriate, in 5 second bursts.
Track 01: 1kHz sine wave reference tone @ -14dB FS
Track 02: Pink Noise - Left channel only
Track 03: Pink Noise - Right channel only
Track 04: Pink Noise - Both channels & phase check
Track 05: Bass band - 0-200Hz & phase check
Track 06: Low mid band - 200Hz-1kHz & phase check
Track 07: High mid band - 1kHz-Infinity & phase check
Track 08: High Band - 7kHz-Infinity & phase check
PINK NOISE 1/3 OCTAVE SPECTRUM ANALYSIS
This section is intended for loudspeaker frequency response analysis. System response can be plotted and graphic equalisers can be set by reading each band on The Sound Check Response Analyser (or a conventional sound level meter). Track 1 is the reference tone and lasts 30 seconds. All other tracks in this section are at the reference level and last 10 seconds.
Tracks 9-40: 1kHz reference tone, 20Hz, 25Hz, 31.5Hz, 40Hz, 50Hz, 63Hz, 80Hz, 100Hz, 125Hz, 160Hz, 200Hz, 250Hz, 315Hz, 400Hz, 500Hz, 630Hz, 800Hz ,1kHz, 1.25kHz, 1.6kHz, 2kHz, 2.5kHz, 3.15kHz, 4kHz, 5kHz, 6.3kHz, 8kHz, 10kHz, 12.5kHz, 16kHz, 20kHz
SWEEP TONES
These are intended for sweep response measurements and are especially useful for checking system resonances. Track 41 is the reference warble and lasts 20 seconds. The sweeps are in one octave sections down from 1kHz and in one octave sections up from 1kHz - for easier frequency identification.
Track 41: 1kHz reference warble for sweeps
Track 42: Sectional sweep tones down in 1 octave steps: 1kHz-500Hz, 500Hz-250Hz, 250Hz-125Hz, 125Hz-20Hz
Track 43: Sweep tones up in 1 octave steps: 1kHz-2kHz, 2kHz-4kHz, 4kHz-8kHz.
Track 44: Sine wave sweep 20Hz-20kHz
SINE AND SQUARE WAVE SPOT FREQUENCIES
This section is for recording and reproduction equipment line-up, analysis and fault finding. The square wave spot frequencies are also useful for bandwidth assessment and loudspeaker phase and time alignment. Track 45 is the reference tone, lasting 10 seconds. All other tones in this section are 10 seconds. All sine waves are at the reference level, -14dB FS. The square waves are at -20dB FS.
Tracks 45-56: 1kHz reference tone @ -14dB FS, 60Hz, 100Hz, 250Hz, 500Hz, 1kHz, 2kHz, 3kHz, 5kHz, 10kHz, 12kHz, 15kHz
Track 57: 1kHz square wave @ -20dB FS
Track 58: 5kHz square wave @ -20dB FS
MAXIMUM TONE LEVEL
Warning - This track is at the theoretical maximum recording level, 0dB FS.
THIS IS A VERY LOUD TONE - USE WITH CAUTION
Track 59: 1kHz sine wave at 0dB FS (Duration 20 seconds)
VOCAL
While the sonic complexity of music is widely recognised, the human voice is equally difficult to reproduce accurately and a voice recording that one is familiar with is a useful reference source. Before Sound Check came along, a good, unprocessed voice recording was very difficult to obtain, especially under test.
Track 60: Spoken word (mono)
INSTRUMENTAL
This section contains closely miked instrumental recordings without electronic processing such as limiting or compression. They contain subtle transients which define true high fidelity and which are often lost in the reverberation and processing of commercial records. These tracks are therefore invaluable for assessing the transient response and fidelity of audio equipment and for experimentation with effects units. These are original studio master recordings and in some cases intrument overspill may be heard.
Track 61: Piano (stereo)
Track 62: Acoustic steel-strung guitar - finger style (mono)
Track 63: Acoustic steel-strung guitar - strummed (mono)
Track 64: Nylon strung Spanish guitar (mono)
Track 65: Electric guitar - clean sound (mono)
Track 66: Electric guitar - distorted rock sound (mono)
Track 67: Bass guitar (mono)
Track 68: Flute (mono)
Track 69: Saxophone (mono)
Track 70: Vocal
Track 71: Bongos (mono)
Track 72: Tambourine (mono)
Track 73: Kick drum (mono)
Track 74: Snare drum (mono)
Track 75: Cymbals and hi-hat (stereo)
Track 76: Toms (stereo)
Track 77: Whole drum kit (stereo)
Track 78: Violins (stereo -1st violins panned left, 2nd violins paned right)
Track 79: Cellos and violas (stereo - starting with cellos only panned right, joined by violas panned left)
MUSIC TRACKS
Extracts from selected master recordings, specially selected to assess the various qualities of loudspeakers and sound equipment. Limelight, for example, has a very even frequency and dynamic balance throughout the audio spectrum and therefore is an ideal reference for overall sound quality.
Track 80: The Race by Yello
Track 81: Limelight by The Alan Parsons Project, featuring Gary Brooker.
Track 82: Seasons Of Our Lives by Graham de Wilde and Mitch Dalton.
Track 83: Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Daniel Chorzempa, organ.
SOUND EFFECTS
These sound effects provide extreme tests of dynamic and frequency range. The steam trains, the sub machine gun and the Chieftain tank are historical analogue recordings which have been digitally re-mastered.
Track 84: Sub machine gun - Chieftain tank target ranging (mono)
Track 85: Chieftain tank: Firing - shell detonation - the target (mono)
Track 86: Thunderstorm (stereo)
Track 87: Steam trains (stereo)
Track 88: F-16 and Tornado jets: flypast with afterburners (stereo)
UTILITY TRACKS
A series of useful tools - a left/right channel ident; invaluable for multiple unit hook-ups, digital black for noise assessment, a tuning reference and timecode in all three standard formats for checking timecode-based equipment and striping code onto tapes.
Track 89: EBU 25 frame timecode 10:00:00 to 10:05:00.
Track 90: SMPTE non drop frame timecode 10:00:00 to 10:05:00.
Track 91: SMPTE drop frame timecode 10:00:00 to 10:05:00.
Track 92: A-440 tuning reference.
Good for audio testing...
Sound check
I did the sound check on my setup with Denon digital audio check CD. On the channel check -the announcement "L/channel" would come out from my RH speaker (which infront of my listening position RH side.) "R/channel" would come from LH speaker.
Is my set up connected wrongly?
In the above sound check article said that Track 02 : Pink Noise - Left channel only.???
What is the left channel? _ Is it Left speaker?😕
I did the sound check on my setup with Denon digital audio check CD. On the channel check -the announcement "L/channel" would come out from my RH speaker (which infront of my listening position RH side.) "R/channel" would come from LH speaker.
Is my set up connected wrongly?
In the above sound check article said that Track 02 : Pink Noise - Left channel only.???
What is the left channel? _ Is it Left speaker?😕
Welcome lamhf,
Somewhere in the chain you switched the left and right channel wires. Could be interconnects or speakers.
Yes, left channel is left speaker.
/Hugo
Somewhere in the chain you switched the left and right channel wires. Could be interconnects or speakers.
Yes, left channel is left speaker.
/Hugo
going further into details
I am posting this mainly because, Lamhf, I was once not able to determine which terms mean which and as a result, I trashed a lot of my equipment! I am not trying to insult anyone, so please don't reply harshly if I sound slightly condescending. Yes, the left channel is for the left speaker and the right channel is for the right speaker. I don't know if you just aren't familiar with audioelectronics much or you just missed out on that small detail, but I will write further anyways.
Impedance:
This is basically the resistance of an audio element; when they make coils as in speaker coils, it is very hard not to introduce significant resistance as every and any wire has a certain amount of resistance (remember conductance in school?). And when you have a resistive element on an electrical wire, say a speaker wire, the resistance will cause a certain amount of current in the wire. If this current is too large, it can heat up the wire and completely destroy it (along with your equipment!). So certain steps have to be taken to keep this current under control. you can usually look on the back of the stereo or whatever and it will tell you what impedance the speakers are supposed to be (e.g. Impedance: 8 ohms where 8 is the impedance).
Wattage (e.g. 100W):
Say you go out and decide to buy a 400 watt stereo so that you can throw a rock party and wake the whole neighborhood. then you buy some speakers and not really look at the ratings. You throw your party and then when the rockers get to that last loud note, suddenly- POW!, and speaker shrapnel flies everywhere! Exciting? Not for you because people are going to be laughing because you bought a 300W stereo and only bought 20W speakers! As you might have guessed at this point, wattage is the amount of power given out or recieved; a speaker wattage is the amount of power that it can handle without going POW!, and the wattage of the stereo is how much power it can dish out.
This is the last term I wish to define:
The Decibel! (db):
The decibel is very important; if a 300db sound emits from your stereo in a 12*12 foot room, your in trouble! the decibel is the standard unit of volume. If you get a pair of 100W speakers that can only emit 50db of sound, your not going to get the true 100W sound that you desire!
in other words:
impedance= whaty keeps your stereo alive
wattage= what keeps your speakers from going POW!
decibel= what keeps your hearing intact
These are the most important things for an audiophile.
If anyone else has anything they want to specify, go ahead and help me explain. also if you think you can explain something better, please do, I don't want to give misleading information. 😀
I am posting this mainly because, Lamhf, I was once not able to determine which terms mean which and as a result, I trashed a lot of my equipment! I am not trying to insult anyone, so please don't reply harshly if I sound slightly condescending. Yes, the left channel is for the left speaker and the right channel is for the right speaker. I don't know if you just aren't familiar with audioelectronics much or you just missed out on that small detail, but I will write further anyways.
Impedance:
This is basically the resistance of an audio element; when they make coils as in speaker coils, it is very hard not to introduce significant resistance as every and any wire has a certain amount of resistance (remember conductance in school?). And when you have a resistive element on an electrical wire, say a speaker wire, the resistance will cause a certain amount of current in the wire. If this current is too large, it can heat up the wire and completely destroy it (along with your equipment!). So certain steps have to be taken to keep this current under control. you can usually look on the back of the stereo or whatever and it will tell you what impedance the speakers are supposed to be (e.g. Impedance: 8 ohms where 8 is the impedance).
Wattage (e.g. 100W):
Say you go out and decide to buy a 400 watt stereo so that you can throw a rock party and wake the whole neighborhood. then you buy some speakers and not really look at the ratings. You throw your party and then when the rockers get to that last loud note, suddenly- POW!, and speaker shrapnel flies everywhere! Exciting? Not for you because people are going to be laughing because you bought a 300W stereo and only bought 20W speakers! As you might have guessed at this point, wattage is the amount of power given out or recieved; a speaker wattage is the amount of power that it can handle without going POW!, and the wattage of the stereo is how much power it can dish out.
This is the last term I wish to define:
The Decibel! (db):
The decibel is very important; if a 300db sound emits from your stereo in a 12*12 foot room, your in trouble! the decibel is the standard unit of volume. If you get a pair of 100W speakers that can only emit 50db of sound, your not going to get the true 100W sound that you desire!
in other words:
impedance= whaty keeps your stereo alive
wattage= what keeps your speakers from going POW!
decibel= what keeps your hearing intact
These are the most important things for an audiophile.
If anyone else has anything they want to specify, go ahead and help me explain. also if you think you can explain something better, please do, I don't want to give misleading information. 😀
"official" terms defined
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impedance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wattage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibel
keantoken: " ... impedance= what keeps your stereo alive "
... wattage= what keeps your speakers from going POW! " ... ( Too much of a good thing? )
... decibel= what keeps your hearing intact ..."
(Measurements are not actively effecting anything, but may be measurements of the "causes" of events, yes. I might have said: impedence is what allows your stereo to stay alive ... this is a picky symantics thing, but ... )
"All of the worlds problems may be resolved by normalizing the impedence mismatch ..." - Robert Porter, mad scientist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impedance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wattage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibel
keantoken: " ... impedance= what keeps your stereo alive "
... wattage= what keeps your speakers from going POW! " ... ( Too much of a good thing? )
... decibel= what keeps your hearing intact ..."
(Measurements are not actively effecting anything, but may be measurements of the "causes" of events, yes. I might have said: impedence is what allows your stereo to stay alive ... this is a picky symantics thing, but ... )
"All of the worlds problems may be resolved by normalizing the impedence mismatch ..." - Robert Porter, mad scientist.
I was wondering what kind of responses I might get from that one. I can explain things offhand but it is always good to have some "official" material to help clarify things. Mostly I wrote all that out to see what people think about my writing style and to see what they would think of me. I want to get to know the forum as in how things sway under certain conditions. This is a learning experience for me as for all of us and I want to get the most out of it that I can! 😉 please PM me if you have any suggestions to my writing style or if you just want to give me feedback on my work, any feedback is greatly appreciated!
Keantoken: Basis of a writing style ...
" ... Mostly I wrote all that out to see what people think about my writing style and to see what they would think of me. ..."
For getting a background in the technologies read any or all of the factual science and science histories by Issac Azimov (80+ fact books and 150+ of fiction).
For establishing a high standard of linguistics, usage and style read the Patrick O'Brian series (30+ books = "The best sea stories ever written" / London Times) and John LeCarre' (20+ books).
For shorter articles and stories, concise and to the point, read Ed McBain (50+ books) & Dashel Hammit (12 novels in 9 years).
All above wrote fiction with a very solid basis in fact, digging very deeply into subjects of their particular interest.
Your own "voice" will come naturally as you "work it through". There is a huge market for any and all content as you know. Ed McBain (pseudonym for Ian Hunter) started out criticizing others' styles as a magazine editor, learning while writing = sop.
Mostly, be prolific as you seem to be trying here ... and ...
" Plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize, don't evade your eyes, don't shade your eyes, plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize ..." song about writing master's theses by Tom Leyer circa 1960's
Now, get to work:
" ... Mostly I wrote all that out to see what people think about my writing style and to see what they would think of me. ..."
For getting a background in the technologies read any or all of the factual science and science histories by Issac Azimov (80+ fact books and 150+ of fiction).
For establishing a high standard of linguistics, usage and style read the Patrick O'Brian series (30+ books = "The best sea stories ever written" / London Times) and John LeCarre' (20+ books).
For shorter articles and stories, concise and to the point, read Ed McBain (50+ books) & Dashel Hammit (12 novels in 9 years).
All above wrote fiction with a very solid basis in fact, digging very deeply into subjects of their particular interest.
Your own "voice" will come naturally as you "work it through". There is a huge market for any and all content as you know. Ed McBain (pseudonym for Ian Hunter) started out criticizing others' styles as a magazine editor, learning while writing = sop.
Mostly, be prolific as you seem to be trying here ... and ...
" Plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize, don't evade your eyes, don't shade your eyes, plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize ..." song about writing master's theses by Tom Leyer circa 1960's
Now, get to work:
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