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Favorite tracks to demo new gear


Harryfan

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Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overtue (Telarc SACD)

Yellowjackets: Time Squared (SACD)

Steely Dan:  Everything Must Go

Dianna Krall:  Temptation (off The Girl in the Other Room)

Norah Jones:  Not Too Late (SACD)
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  • 1 year later...

 

 

Quote

 

Quote
Frank Zappa - Apostrophe
 
GOOD one...hard to find!
 

Well it's a two year old post but, what the heck...I struggled to find Apostrophe also. I found it on a Ryko compilation  single cd with Overnite Sensation. 1986...#RCD 40025  and it's a great recording as is most of RYKO's stuff...

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While i'm on the subject, an absolute must reference record or CD to hear is  Fun Lovin' Criminals  100 % Colombian.
It's like listening to a Quentin Tarantino  movie...a brilliant album by a very hip, clever band. They are are one of the tightest trio's around...
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All of Zappa's official CDs are very well done.

Some time back I mentioned that I wrote to Gail Zappa and they will be coming out with vinyl releases again which I'm really looking forward to. 

They must have had to wait for an agreement with Ryko to expire or something like that.
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What a great job, getting paid to blow stuff up. 

The most fun I have at work is giving people who commit fraud penalty weeks, talk about lame. 

I used to get paid to wind motorcycles out in top gear, now I mail out determinations. 

Maybe I should tweet myself.

An explosives engineer, that's more like it.

 

Back to music, Gail stuck my question about the albums on the Zappa site:

 


 

She's still a pretty woman and the entire Zappa family just came across as really nice people. 

 
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OMG!...What a great site.I still have a lot of Zappa on early vinyl. I'd buy anything newly remastered by the right people...Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray come to mind first and foremost. I'd prefer 180 gram over 200 and 45 rpm similar to Music Matters Blue Note Re-issues...http://www.musicmattersjazz.com/index2.html

 

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  • 6 months later...
Chris Rea - The Road To Hell
 
Celine Dion - Water From The Moon 
 
John Mellencamp - Ain't Even Done With The Night
 
Gregg Allman - Lead Me On
 
Robert Cray - The Forecast Calls For Pain
 
Kim Mitchell - All We Are
 
Nu Shooz - Point Of No Return
 
Rickie Lee Jones - We Belong Together
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  • 4 months later...

What is the first album or track you listen to when you want to compare/test something on your system?

 

New amp? New speakers? Change your sub phase? New cables?

 

What's your benchmark recording AND format?

 

I always seem to go to Patricia Barber's Cafe Blue on SACD...

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I just repaired an old sae a210 amp for an associate, I checked it out with some pink floyd, track was run from the wall. nice sounding amp..
ddd recordings mostly for benchmarking, which is totally subjective.....
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I usually start with Tricycle by Flim & The BB's (the piano is telling) or Jazz at the Pawnshop (exceptional live recording)
For vocals I like Diana Krall Steppin OutManhattan Transfer Vocalese or Steve Miller Born 2 B Blue
For SPL Steps Ahead (Trains, Beruit), Dave Uhrich (Liquid Glass, Fuzzbuster) and Joe Satriani (Ice 9, Satch Boogie)
Other favs: Steeley Dan GauchoDire Straight Brothers In Arms, Queen Bohemian Rhapsody (from Live at the Opera).
 
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'You can try' by Saraya. Freaking dirty, rotten, sassy MF guitar that will test any system. Sandy Saraya's timbre pipes against the heavy demon distortion is hard for most amps to image. If an amp can handle the opening of this song without choking, then it gets my respect and I let her have more.
 
Typically, I don't use 'audiophile' tracks, I use challenging tracks to test gear. If they can get me past the nasty shit, then I try something like Sting's Summoner's Tales or Pink Floyd's gold DSotM. 
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Typically, I don't use 'audiophile' tracks, I use challenging tracks to test gear. If they can get me past the nasty 5hi7, then I try something like Sting's Summoner's Tales or Pink Floyd's gold DSotM. 

 
Since you just "had to" mention that Sting recording, I had to play it.  I use it quite a bit as far as a SQ recording for evaluation of staging, etc.  Fields of Gold is the usual track I play from it.   
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Stereo_dog - when you list Dire Straights / Brothers In Arms, what format are you playing? I use that one a lot too, in the SACD format, and I can't really imagine it being any better, but I'm always open to options:-)

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Robin Vassy's album Bon Voyage is a real stunner and has the virtue of being something most have never heard. I find this takes away all expectations from the listener and puts everyone on the same sonic footing ~ so to speak.  No one can bring the color of their own listening prejudices into the introduction of my system.
 
Check out some samples, particularly La Reprise at this link. 
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I always go for :
 
1) Supertramp / Crime Of The Century ~ "School"  clear vocals(with and without echo), very good dynamics, piano and good bass
 
2) Gary Moore / Bad For You Baby ~ "I Love You More Than You Will Ever Know" (the epic 10min.+ version on 180 gm LP) 
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