Reference tracks
Comments
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We saw 'em in Boston someplace (maybe the Wang, but I don't think so...) years ago & enjoyed it a lot.
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Blue Man Group - "Piano smasher" will make your speaks sound 10 feet deep. It amazes me when these little 5.25" drivers reproduce that depth and scale of bass.Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
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Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
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codycatalist wrote: »codycatalist wrote: »I don't know if I have caught my stride just yet with specific reference tracks. Are there some that I listen to more than often...yes but it changes. How's It Going To Be by Third Eye Blind is pretty damn well recorded in my opinion.
Is that from the debut album? I never cared for it but one of the BEST drummers I played with in college loved the sound of the drum kit so much that he contacted the drummer and bought the exact same kit...I listened to it recently and it does have good sound quality!
Yup debut self titled album. The band as a whole...meh but I like these one hit wonders that take me back to simpler times...being young and all.
Man how old were you when that album came out? must've still been in diapers lol. You've clearly got a MUCH better memory than I do.
I was 5 based on when I read the album came out. Not saying that I remember when the album dropped XD. More of I remember listening to it in the car with my Mom and sisters. Probably around 7 or 8 years old if I remember the time correctly.
Memory isn't too great but music brings some things back like a vivid picture.Just a dude doing dude-ly things
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Now that cut takes me back to college days, my college sweetheart, dimly lit room with that cut, or soft jazz like the Dave Sanborn "Double Vision" album playing in the background, my first CD player, etc. I Love it!honestaquarian wrote: »The Art of Noise Moments in love.
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I’m also waiting for Skip’s 2 channel audio insights. Meanwhile regular viewers suspect I know little about audio subtleties & appreciation. (They are correct)
I bought one system & stuck with it, I have a few go to songs.
Many of you are streaming, you may like one of these.
Dark Star by Polica, album Give You The Ghost.
Legendary by Welshly Arms
Higher by Edenbridge, Solitaire
The Good Stuff, Schuyler Fisk, The Good Stuff
Dreams Like Oceans, Meg & Dia, It’s Always Stormy In Tilamook
Where The Lillies Die, IO Echo, Ministry of Love
Or not..
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I really enjoyed some of these suggestions that sounded to me notably realistic despite being compressed for streaming services. I can't say that I would listen to them for leisure, instead more for analytical purposes. So in my case it would be self-defeating to use them as reference tracks since I think familiarity can't be overstated when assessing output quality. It humbles me to say my reference tracks are the typical pop rock and probably overdubbed casualties of the loudness wars. However--and unfortunately for audiophiles--I guess that defines a practical business model for even the hi-fi speaker / hardware manufacturers. The other day I strolled into Magnolia to audition B&Ws that were on sale and low-and-behold the house sample tracks consisted of Jack White and Dave Matthews among other comparatively unremarkable tracks for critical listening. The McIntosh / Martin Logan set-up in the next room was playing the Eagles. So, that said, I feel more comfortable adding Radiohead's Jigsaw to this list. The acoustic guitar can easily be too clicky and scratchy if something is amiss. The drums should sound subdued like a classic jazz track. Electric and acoustic guitars complement each other throughout, and the more differentiation the better IMO.Denon X7200WA
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I really enjoyed some of these suggestions that sounded to me notably realistic despite being compressed for streaming services. I can't say that I would listen to them for leisure, instead more for analytical purposes. So in my case it would be self-defeating to use them as reference tracks since I think familiarity can't be overstated when assessing output quality. It humbles me to say my reference tracks are the typical pop rock and probably overdubbed casualties of the loudness wars. However--and unfortunately for audiophiles--I guess that defines a practical business model for even the hi-fi speaker / hardware manufacturers. The other day I strolled into Magnolia to audition B&Ws that were on sale and low-and-behold the house sample tracks consisted of Jack White and Dave Matthews among other comparatively unremarkable tracks for critical listening. The McIntosh / Martin Logan set-up in the next room was playing the Eagles. So, that said, I feel more comfortable adding Radiohead's Jigsaw to this list. The acoustic guitar can easily be too clicky and scratchy if something is amiss. The drums should sound subdued like a classic jazz track. Electric and acoustic guitars complement each other throughout, and the more differentiation the better IMO.
I agree and that’s what this thread was started for. My moving target is my downfall. I still have old favs like Peter Gabriel and Floyd that I’ve listened to thousands of times and are very familiar with all the sounds, but I don’t want to miss anything out of principle so I changed it up with that Angus Stone song. Which btw is more and more becoming one of those “further down the rabbit hole” tracks. Seems very simple at the offset but has such subtle recording nuances it’s ridiculous.
It’s funny how we all have our favs but then someone gives us new ref tracks and we try them, sometimes abandoning ones we could write in our sleep. But that’s the beauty of music.
So did you buy them? -
Roundabout from the Yes Fragile album. I’m showing my age.
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So I’m digging the heck out of the imaging in this track. I first heard it on HBO’s Sharp Objects and dug it. What do you guys think? Towards the end of the track there is a noise that goes left to right and I swear it’s right in front of my forehead.
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Well I just found this thread! Thanks Joe for bumping it! Lot's of stuff to go through, which is cool. Love the comments on BMG, as I just recently seen em for the first time in Vegas! Bought a couple of their albums since!
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I've had that CD for years now. Played it about a month or two ago to demo their sound to one of my old friends.
Rods and Cones...#5 I think...
https://youtu.be/DRtaQcVhNGE Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
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pelhamplace wrote: »Roundabout from the Yes Fragile album. I’m showing my age.
Really like the bass line in this song. -
joecoulson wrote: »I know Skip has that other thread going, and I didn’t want to hijack but I did want to ask what others use for ref tracks.
Mines a moving target but I have recently pushed this track to the very top. When all is right with my setup, jaws drop with this track.
Try that one. I dare you
How about you guys?
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joecoulson wrote: »I know Skip has that other thread going, and I didn’t want to hijack but I did want to ask what others use for ref tracks.
Mines a moving target but I have recently pushed this track to the very top. When all is right with my setup, jaws drop with this track.
Try that one. I dare you
How about you guys?
Joe, just saw this thread and I intend to enjoy the suggestions.
Your track above will be the first."Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"Anger is just anger. It isn’t good. It isn’t bad. It just is. What you do with it is what matters.
You can use it to build or to destroy. You just have to make the choice. Jim Butcher
Harry / Marietta GA -
Ajr - weak (extreme imaging and dynamics)
Ajr - burn the house down (extreme imaging and dynamics)
Gov't mule - I'm a ram (just a good track, great imaging and bass)
Blue man group - time to start (great dynamic build up and instrument detail, super wide staging)
Meute - you and me (separates the men from the boys)
Lp - muddy waters (dynamics and staging)
Maryln Manson - new s h I t (large dynamic swings, watch the volume)
King princess - p u s s y is god ( solid vocal track and bass)
Rage against the machine - know your enemy (dynamics and staging. Great drum mix that good speakers draw out)
- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit. -
Oh this one I stumbled on the other day
G flip - I am not afraid, great vocal track- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit. -
SCompRacer wrote: »Sergio Mendes - Brasileiro.
This one is fun and features percussion. It will make gals get up and dance. Available on CD also. My fav track, Magalenha with volume at 11. About forty some seconds in.
Got the CD today. Listening now. Unbelievable percussion. Great album.
Like the track Magalenha about forty seconds in! Bam!
Good choice SCompRacer!!
"Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"Anger is just anger. It isn’t good. It isn’t bad. It just is. What you do with it is what matters.
You can use it to build or to destroy. You just have to make the choice. Jim Butcher
Harry / Marietta GA -
Plus it reminds me of Austin Powers - can't go wrong there!
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A pricey vinyl but I'll probably order a copy when I get my turntable going again.
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Newest addition to the reference tracks
Richard Thompson
1952 Vincent Black Lightning
Mofi vinyl.
Just glorious. -
joecoulson wrote: »Newest addition to the reference tracks
Richard Thompson
1952 Vincent Black Lightning
Mofi vinyl.
Just glorious.
Been one of mine for years. Glad you stumbled upon it.
The entire Highwayman album from The Highwaymen is my go to time and time again.
It is one of the few 80s albums that was over-produced in a very good way. The extra production gives it a great over all feeling and adds to the musicality of the album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFkcAH-m9W0 "Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."
"Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip -
I recently saw Richard Thompson do that song acoustic solo, great song - I need to pick up that album. Perhaps the most underappreciated troubadour of our times! I have several of his albums on vinyl and CD and really enjoy them. Speaking of reference tracks, Mark Knopfler will be playing four hours from me in the not too distant furture, wondering whether to just drive there and hope for a miracle. The high ticket prices for his (and many others) shows have extra tickets available day of show written all over it. I hope. Lol.
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We see RT roughly every other year solo and acoustic. He's one of my very favorite-est ever; he's the whole package... and perhaps the best rock/folk guitarist extant.
We saw him just a few weeks back at the Flying Monkey in Plymouth, NH (which is also one of our favorite-est venues). Our friends who attended with us agreed it was perhaps the best ever performance we'd ever seen from him -- which is saying something.
So... which album with 1952 Vincent Black Lightning exists as a MoFi licorice pizza? I have it only on the little polycarbonate diskies.
I do have, and would recommend, the fairly recent re-recording of many of RT's greatest hits* solo and acoustic (Acoustic Classics)... only on polycarbonate discs, though (AFAIK).
Very much of a piece with his live solo acoustic concerts.
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* a term which, as he himself would deadpan, must be used in the loosest and most ironic possible sense of the term -
https://www.musicdirect.com/vinyl/richard-thompson-rumor-and-sigh-strictly-limited-to-3000-numbered-180g-vinyl-2lp-set
Although wait until they have a sale. I think I paid $38 -
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
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Bob Dylan played 1952 Vincent Black Lightning in a concert in 2013 as a tip o' the hat to the great R.T. Dylan from time to time will play songs in concert of those he really admires. That tells you something.
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I love small venues like this. We go to about 3-4 a year like this. Very magicalGustard X26 Pro DAC
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https://youtu.be/Psx3qB0t7do
https://youtu.be/W-yLfm5HsHc
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