SH Spotlight Test the midrange purity of your system and/or your computer speakers using Bing Crosby!

Could barely hear it playing through my Galaxy S6.

But when I plugged my phone into my tube amp I easily heard it!

 

I've been trying to tell people this for years.

It helps to know what the various reverbs used on records are supposed to sound like. but most anybody should be able to learn to hear these distinctions if their system can faithfully reproduce then.

I do have this CD and will give a listen tonight. Thanks Steve.

 

Ha-ha, what a test

Not much fidelity here. I actually made a flac of that stream (great tune - one of my faves of that kind of music -, and just as great singing) and listened to it couple of times.

Around at 17-19 seconds there's a change of tone, the next change around at 27-29 seconds, and then at 32-34 seconds. I gave the times as such "ca. times" because I'm afraid my flac ain't beginning exactly at the same second as the Youtube track. The last one is the most discernible. It sounds as if he changed slightly his position (in relation to microphone) with every new line he sang. But that's not the point Steve is making, I believe.

At 27-28 it sounds only as his voice goes one inch backwards (for a fraction of a second): I won't call it muted.

But no, I'm afraid I cannot discern such a change in room/ambience Steve obviously means.

 

Thanks - much clearer now . However, I'm sure there are other and more efficient ways of testing your system's midrange capacity than one second on an old Bing Crosby recording . I remember those Lps from the 60's and 70's which had different frequencies so you could test your amp and speakers .

 

Subtil on my system. Something happens, a bit less intimate from 0:21
Nice test, thanks.

 

It's obvious on my computer's Yamaha multimedia speakers.

 

I can't say I heard much of a difference on my computer speakers (Altec) or my TV system (Sony receiver and Boston speakers). I have ordered the CD and will check on my 2 audio systems.

 

Will order a copy then. Thanks for caring so much about how we hear music. I have no clue why, but since I was a small child I cared about that. It's great to be a part of this group, just knowing I'm not the only one!

Edit....found on Amazon. Had to pay a bit more than others....a whole $4.77! Will report back.

 

I've always used Bono's voice at 2:24 to test the goodness (based on my tastes..) of my speakers.

Honestly, I didn't know this Crosby's song: anyway his voice at :27 is surely a good test (for midrange). Thanks.

 

I picked it up with my headphones, a modest sony mdr 7506. Man, was that brief.
As for my rigs, I have three, so it will be fun to check this out. I generally hear the same little things on my main rig that I hear on the headphones, so I'm hoping all goes well. Thanks for this tip.

 

Bing is now #21 on Amazon's Broadway and Vocalists category and moving on up. Back when I was working in record stores, we called this "the NPR effect."


When listening to the YouTube clip via AirPlay directly to my Yamaha 775 from iPad, I heard it, but I didn't hear any midrange magic, but I am just glad I heard something!

 

Nope that's a perfect way to describe it! On my upstairs system I can hear a bit of "unnaturalness" to the sound when he says "Fooled" but on my downstairs system in my room, his voice floats in a small space up to that very point, then it's as if his voice has a drop shadow for that quick phrase and you can hear the echo of it trail off. ScanSpeak ring tweeter and ScanSpeak midrange in that system.

Great test - between this and The Kinks test, all I can say is THANKS!

 

That took me six or seven times to dial in via youtube > nad d 3020 > nht classic two which I had been feeling was better at the midrange than anything else. I will track down the CD and try it flac on the Pono into it and also the main system to see if I can get any more extension. Fun test and I can see its efficacy.

 

"However, I'm sure there are other and more efficient ways of testing your system's midrange capacity than one second on an old Bing Crosby recording"..... haha, cant get much more efficient than a 1 SECOND test!...

 

It just so happened I was reading this last night at an audiophile friend's place who has this CD in his vast music collection. We played it on his stereo and it is clearly heard.

So I ripped a copy of his CD and tried it out at home a couple hours ago. It comes through cleanly. So all good I guess.

Thanks for the tip.

 

I hear it, even though I don't have a decent digital DAC (sound card from 2003)

 

Well, once I heard it, it's everywhere now. Lumia 640 smartphone speaker...."Fooled by[buuupp] a feeling".

 

This CD used went from .01 to $8.71 in one day on Amazon.

 

Yes, it is now an "Amazon #1 Seller" thanks to this thread!