Hifi Test Tracks

[dustyvalentino]

https://www.whathifi.com/promoted/your-20-favourite-hi-fi-test-tracks

Seems some MK fans hijacked this poll!

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[Pottel]

amazing. and true. strange BIA was not in there.

[dmg]

Used to get What Hi-Fi every month many years ago so I can vouch for their readers taste in music. 

[dustyvalentino]

Whenever I set up a new piece of AV equipment, speakers, TV, turntable, amp etc I ALWAYS test with MfN.

A while back I heard a pro sound engineer on the radio saying that it is commonly used in their community as it has a great mix of treble/bass/whatever.

[dmg]

Whenever I set up a new piece of AV equipment, speakers, TV, turntable, amp etc I ALWAYS test with MfN.

A while back I heard a pro sound engineer on the radio saying that it is commonly used in their community as it has a great mix of treble/bass/whatever.

Interesting.  I seem to recall taking a copy of Making Movies into Hi-Fi Corner in Rose Street to test out an amp/speaker combo in the '90s.  Still have them to this day!

Edit:  It might have been OES.  Such a long time ago.

[JF]

Dark side has been for years the reference for testing Hi Fi turntables equipments

BIA was more a reference for CD players

[Fletch]

I recall being struck by just how 'nice' the acoustic guitar of Privateering sounded on my system, great to see it on the list.
As a test track i've used Roy Obrisons rerecording of In Dreams to try out different speakers - its like the opposite of MFN, lush and orchestral but still has a proper spectrum of frequencies to judge.

[binone]

I like to test HI-FI equipment with local hero soundtrack.

[dmg]

Take in a bootleg and watch the look of horror on the shop assistant's face as he tries to explain his equipment is still good!

[Stanko]

Take in a bootleg and watch the look of horror on the shop assistant's face as he tries to explain his equipment is still good!

sometimes you just have to smile, pretend everything is ok, hold back the tears, and just walk away.

[mschaap]

Some odd choices for DS songs, though PI and TR are good test tracks. Usually I would also use some of the following songs to test hifi equiptment: Ride across the river, Planet of New Orleans, 5.15 am, Back to Tupelo, Our Shangri-la, So far from the Clyde.

[vgonis]

It is very odd that there are no Pink Floyd tracks, since this seems to be solely, a rock repertoire. Because if the range of music was wider, surely classical and jazz records make a better hi fi test tracks. Or are they confined for hi end systems? I remember some time ago a sound aficionado I knew (you can tell them by the size of their record collection and the price of their sound system - very small, very high respectively) told me that hi fi dealerships prefer to play CDs or Vinyl that are recorded to sound amazing, like the Three Blind Mice recordings, or some classical music like Mussorgsky, from Decca. I happened to come across them, and even cheap systems sound pretty amazing when you play these recordings through them! I guess it is like putting sawdust at a broken down gearbox... 

[dmg]

It is very odd that there are no Pink Floyd tracks, since this seems to be solely, a rock repertoire. Because if the range of music was wider, surely classical and jazz records make a better hi fi test tracks. Or are they confined for hi end systems? I remember some time ago a sound aficionado I knew (you can tell them by the size of their record collection and the price of their sound system - very small, very high respectively) told me that hi fi dealerships prefer to play CDs or Vinyl that are recorded to sound amazing, like the Three Blind Mice recordings, or some classical music like Mussorgsky, from Decca. I happened to come across them, and even cheap systems sound pretty amazing when you play these recordings through them! I guess it is like putting sawdust at a work out gearbox...

Good to see you back! 

[vgonis]

Thanks dmg!    It is so good to see there is stability in this part of life, even while I am not around!

[Justme]

There is so much music to enjoy. To me, the music comes first - and then the recording matters.
Let's start with some of the old jazz heroes.
Miles Davis
Wes Montgomery
Kenny Burrell
Charles Mingus
Chet Baker
John Coltrane

It's only the tip of the iceberg. And I didn't even mention Howlin' Wolf, JL Hooker, etc.
Then I'd like to recommend some Scandinavian singers like Sinne Eeg, Inger Marie Gundersson, Silje Neergard, etc., when it comes to recent quality recordings.
There are also Asian artists to consider, try Jhenna Lodwick, Kojima Mayumi, Susan Wong, for example.

I'm a bit of a metalhead, to be honest. The first "Rage Against The Machine" sounds really huge. And so do some tracks of "Opeth".
I just realised, that I did not even mention Classical Music now.

Enjoy the ride and be curious! There is so much to explore!