AVForums reference source material

[Cleansound]

I absolutely agree with you on Patricia Barber. Feist I also enjoy, but sometimes feel that her voice sounds "distant" on the CD. I don't know how to describe it, but maybe I am too used to close mic(and over-processed) recordings

Have you heard Kate Bush's Aerial? Quite different to her previous albums, but I enjoy it.

I have Aeriel on vinyl, simply stunning.
The Feist on the cd. also sounds distant at times, I have this record on vinyl and it's just so dynamic.

[Viagara]

The Feist on the cd. also sounds distant at times, I have this record on vinyl and it's just so dynamic.

Phew, so at least its not my imagination

[Byrd]

What!!

SACD, very small market, I don't understand this question at all..

http://ww.sa-cd.net/showthread/25946/25994

[RR]

http://ww.sa-cd.net/showthread/25946/25994

Damn, nothing in the world escapes 'fake' treatment. Still, there is no market in SA for this. Most CD shops don't even know what SACD is (Look & Listen and musica comes to mind).

[DRNB]

Damn, nothing in the world escapes 'fake' treatment. Still, there is no market in SA for this. Most CD shops don't even know what SACD is (Look & Listen and musica comes to mind).

Don't be fooled by thinking its in S.A. only. I've asked around in Munich where could I find specialist CD and also HiFi shops. I've most of the times been refured to a shop named "Saturn". Just a glorified version of HiFi-corp (but their products are not gray at least) .

[RR]

These are my reference albums:

1) Vanessa Williams - The sweetest days. (CD) this disc will show up any midbass attenuation immediately. It also has the most beautiful soundstage and instrument arrangement. As said before, my reference/test albums must be stuff that I like, and I like this one a lot.
2) Sarah Mclachlan - After glow (CD). A real torture disc, will again show up lack of neutrality, this time in the lower bass range.
3) Sarah Mclachlan - Surfacing (CD) - Just because its so beautiful. O ja, midrange clarity to die for on a good setup.
4) Micheal Buble - The original album and 'Come fly with me'. Both excellent recordings. I have heard it on systems where the fluidity of his voice is lost, including a really expensive Krell Based system. This is a good test along with the Vanessa Williams album to hear if one would be able to still relax with the music, instead of hearing how the numbers are crunched.
5) Antiphone Blues (stereo SACD). This disc is SACD's best marketer, because it kicks the Antiphone LP out of the park.
6) Jazz at the Pawnshop Disc 1 (Stereo SACD) - Just the intro track, the part where one can hear the next door club banging away (Only on BIG speakers).
7) Beethoven 3&4th Piano Concerto's - Sony Classical - Murray Perahia - Again this disc is used to ensure that the music is put first, not the system. I've heard CD players that **** this one up badly by disrupting the flow of the music in favour of analysis. A good CD player should give all the detail whilst allowing the music to flow.
8 ) Boardwalk Pipes & Bach on the Biggest (CD & LP) - Atlantic City Organ - Oh dear, if you ever want to hear if your amp can control your speakers, or if your speakers have any audible resonance frequencies. The only music I have ever heard that tripped up an REL Stadium subwoofer.

[Shonver]

OK. I just had a thought...

Any chance someone could compile a disk of high quality recordings that also serve to highlight particular system attributes? A sort of standard forum reference, if you will. I realise there'll be copyright issues, but has not stopped anyone so far (and it's for the greater good). Alternatively, we could agree on a set of discs that form a standard reference library. This, of course, extends to all formats.

[GearSlave]

That is a great idea!!!!! I'm in!

At least it'll help us to even the playing field a little as to source material. Any thoughts on a track list yet?

My contribution:

The first track off Tubular Bells II - Sentinel - Mike Oldfield.
The 9th track off Only Trust Your Heart - Crs Craft - Diana Krall.
The 4th track off Romanza - Il Mare Calmo Della Sera - Andrea Bocceli

[Shonver]

Nice start, but you have say what each track is good for. The idea occurred to me when I realised that we'd be discussing the GerDAC's performance.

[GearSlave]

It's hard for me to say, as I don't know/want how to describe music.

I have specific things I listen for and as I get better gear more of the recordings come out. If it'll help, here are the things I listen out for, usually doing an A/B:

1. The decay of the strings of an acoustic guitar. This shows how effective the kit is at retrieving detail.
2. The hihats on the drums. If recorded properly, these are not supposed to have single tones, but almost a "warble" (probably the wrong word) as they decay. Also, listening to ride cymbals, you want to hear the bell like decay, not just an abrupt ending of the note.
3. Stereo image. This is one of the trickiest ones as there are so many factors in the chain that can affect it (as I recently experienced).

So, to relate that to my selection:
1. Sentinal has such a varied "palette" of sounds. It is a reasonably busy piece and it helps to figure out how well your kit handles these kinds of passages. Can you still isolate instruments or does it just become a noisy affair?
2. Crs Craft is nice to me personally because of the jazzy drum solo that the guys do. Also, there are some really nice ride cymbal passages and a fair amount of bristle work on the snare. It is recorded very well and the sound of real drums is a known entity to me.
3. Il Mare Calmo Della Sera - I just like this song for the emotion. It is quite a dynamic piece of music and I listen to possible "screechyness" in Andrea's voice in the opening passages.

These are the things I can think of

[LAV]

On B&W's Society of Sound pages there's a remastered instrumental album by the Afro Celt Sound System. Ooooohhhh!!! Definitely worth a try.  Downloadable as 16 or 24-bit FLAC. Give it a whirl! 

[GearSlave]

Very catchy tune!

[Shonver]

Now... about that compilation...

[fdlsys]

^---- definitely...

[surfsup]

I am by no means an Audio seller, but if I want to show what my Cambridge 640A Azur can do i put on track 9 of the latest Example CD. When you mix good solid bass and an acoustic guitar being played at the same time, along with vocals, it really tests things quite nicely.

The song is not everyone's cup of tea, but try it and let me know.