What is the first CD or LP you pull out to test your stereo?

Abbey Road, 1987 digitally remastered EMI CDP 7-464462

 

It seems to be the MFSL CD "Days Of Future Passed" because that blend of orchestra and rock gives me a good variety of sounds to work with. Second up is usually the "Abbey Road" CD. And occasionally I use the song "A Beautiful Song" from the Nazz album "Nazz Nazz" for the same reasons as DOFP. I also have one of those Stereophile test CDs from around 1990. Now that I have the DCC gold Everly Bros I'll probably put it to use when I do a little set up tweaking.

 

Ugh...

 

I second that Beagle. That Abbey Road is a rather um..."poor" recording to use as a reference disc. I can think of at least 200 others that would be better.

I have a Japanese Vinyl needle drop CDR of Abbey Road that toasts the EMI release in terms of dyn range and warmth.

 

Any of the following:

The Eagles: Greatest Hits vol.1 DCC

Pink Floyd: Dark Side Of The Moon MFSL UD1

CCR: Green River DCC

Bind Faith: S/T MFSL UD1

Queen: A Night At The Opera DCC

Alan Parsons Project: I Robot MFSL

oops all most forgot, Lynyrd Skynyrd: Second Helping MFSL UD1

 

Re: Re: What is the first CD or LP you pull out to test your stereo?

Originally posted by Beagle
Ugh...


Beagle, does that mean good choice of music, poor choice of recorded version?

I use the EMI because it's a CD and easy to pop in. I do have the MFSL 1-023 vinyl, I should use that instead, eh?

Better yet, I should pick up on what RicP talked about, make a needle drop CDR of the MFSL....

 

When I test an audio component... I always take CDs with natural instruments and voices. Violin, acoustic guitar and piano are the best check for a good sound... and a piano is the most difficult instrument to play at home!

I have never heard a loudspeaker, who can translate an instrument perfectly! That's impossible... even with a 200.000 bucks speaker!

 

I usually play "Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day" by Jethro Tull. (especially now that Steve did the gold disc!) THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

I used to play the "Heavy Horses" album by Jethro Tull first, but now I start with my Original Masters on DCC.

Then, I play some more Jethro Tull...

Eventually I get around to other things, but i always start with my favorite!

 

These are among the ones I usually pull out:

Abbey Road, The Beatles (original British Apple LP)

The Doors (original US Elektra gold-label LP, and DCC gold CD)

Led Zeppelin II (late-70s US Atlantic LP ... a great dynamics tester)

Aja, Steely Dan (Canadian ABC red-vinyl LP)

Blue and Court & Spark, Joni Mitchell (DCC gold CDs)

The Times They Are a-Changin', Bob Dylan (Sundazed mono LP)

Kind of Blue, Miles Davis (original Columbia 6-eye mono LP)

At Carnegie Hall, Tony Bennett (original Columbia 2-eye double LP)

Wonder Wonder, Edith Frost (I forget which label, US LP ... to see how the system handles more current stuff)

 

Depends on what I'm listening for...

"Quicksilver Girl" & "Gangster of Love" on Steve Miller Band: Sailor (Capitol CDP 7 94449-2) for imaging and inner detail.

Atrium Musicae: Musique De La Grece Antique or La Folia De La Spagna (Harmonia Mundi 90.1015 or 90.1050) for micro-dynamics and uncolored sound.

On SACD

Various artists: Showcase "Depth of Image - Timbre - Dynamics" or Test CD 4 "Depth of Image - Timbre - Dynamics" (Opus 3 SACD/CD 21000 or SACD/CD 19420)

These two can tell you just about anything that's wrong with your system. Very natural sound throughout.

 

I use Paul Simon's Graceland to dial in the analog system. The most important thing is that I am very familiar with every cut so its easy to tell if something is missing as a result of a system change. Also there is a lot happening on that record that lets me check soundstage, bass, the mids and the highs.

 

Discovered Again- Sheffield Labs, Eagles Greatest Hits DCC LP, Any of a dozen contemporary Big Band recordings. List upon request, and selected wind band recordings from Fenell etc.

 

First: Motown's "Year By Year 1975" CD

Second, "Abbey Road" by the Beatles, standard Capitol CD

 

Yeah, Paul Simon's Graceland is a good choice too...

 

Yeah, I second Graceland and Abbey Road - mostly for the familiarity of the material rather than any specific sonic goodies. For that reason I also only use the stock vinyl of Graceland and the standard CD of Abbey, as I am aware of their sonic limitations (when checking equipment, why would I want to use an issue of unknown quality - either better or worse, that may color my judgement of the equipment?). I also like to use some solo piano, vocal and violin to see if I get "air" around the sound. If the equipment has a deteminable coloration - it will reveal itself on recordings of accoustic music.

 

When I have to check my system, I pull Rickie Lee Jones's "Pop Pop" CD off the shelf and go to No. 6 "Dat Dere". When the bass and the guitar sound right, the child at the beginning sounds right, the saxophone sounds right and Rickie Lee's very little nasal voice comes from a more or less defined place between the speakers, I know my system sounds right...
Happy listening!
Thomas

 

Hey, I've just became a real member!

 

"I have never heard a loudspeaker, who can translate an instrument perfectly! That's impossible... even with a 200.000 bucks speaker!"...


Have you ever heard the Quad 57 or Spendor BC-1? not perfect
but amazing what they can do..
CJ

 

No, but I know the english manufactures build some fine speakers!

 

Re: Re: Re: What is the first CD or LP you pull out to test your stereo?

Actually, my comment was uncalled for. If you have listened to that CD and know it by heart, then it is a good thing to use that to demo equipment.

When I get a piece of new equipment, I always use the LP "Round The Back", a 1978 release by Cafe Jacques, produced by Rupert Hine. Even after 1000 plays, this album still sounds fresh and I know it so well. Using something familiar will tell you what differences/changes are present. New CD players, I use the CD "Walkabout" by The Fixx.

 

Heck, I would certainly NOT recommend using the commercial ABBEY ROAD CD,
because of its compression, noise-reduction, and who-knows-what EQ and digital uglification.
I mean, that commercial CD has an unpleasant, thumpy, one-note bottom, yech!

At least use the 1983 JPN Toshiba ABBEY ROAD CD instead!

As for the first thing I play after making a change, well,
it's usually pink noise (correlated and uncorrelated),
then low-frequency square waves, some spot frequencies, and then (at last!) some music.

Then, lately I've been using the DCC Gold CD Linda Ronstadt's Greatest Hits a lot as a music test disc,
because it seems that every track has a different swing to the bass,
and I swear that it gets better with every listen (if the system is working all right).

 

...my comment was uncalled for.

No offense taken. I actually laughed, for one word it certainly conveyed a lot!

Glad you followed up with further details.

 

ahh...I promise not use that bad Abbey CD anymore for testing too. For what it's worth though, my IL40s reproduce that compressed, NR'd, thumpy one-note bottom etc. fairly realistic.

 

Re-read my orignal statement.

I use material I am familiar with to calibrate my equipment - or to evaluate new equipment. While I am aware that there are better issues available, there are also worse. I could use the MoFi Abbey Road lp to evaluate my analog end, but I prefer Graceland. I currently have an offer from a board member for a copy of the Japanese version (thank you, you know who you are - I will e-mail you), but as I am currently unfamiliar with this version - why would I use it for evaluation? This is not a question of determining the best available version - it is a matter of evaluating equipment using material familiar to you.

Am I wrong? Did I miss the point?

 

Exactly right Uncle Al. Use material you are familiar with and/or use acoustic music. Mason Williams Phonograph Record is an excellent recording to test your system with due to the acoustic guitar and orchestration throughout the album and I don't mind using Gordon Lightfoot albums for this purpose either due to their "natural" sound quality plus I am familiar with his work.