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.
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
"Temptation is the manifestation of desire which equals necessity." - Mikey081057
" I have always had a champange taste with a beer budget" - Rick88
"Just because the thread is getting views don't mean much .. I like a good train wreck doesn't mean i want to be in one..." - pitdogg2
"Those that don't know, don't know that they don't know." - heiney9
"Audiophiles are the male equivalent of cat ladies." - Audiokarma Member
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!
FAMILY ROOM HDTV - Sharp AQUOS LC-70LE600U 70" | AVR/Streamer - Onkyo TX-NR3008 | Amp - Parasound HCA-1203A Blu-Ray/Media/Gaming - Sony PS3-320GB / Microsoft Xbox One | Broadcast - Xfinity X1 Platform Front Spkrs - Coming...DIY Statement II | Center Spkrs - Coming...DIY Statement II | Rear Spkrs - Artison Portrait LRS Sub - DIY Stereo Integrity HT 15 | Sub Amp - Dayton Audio SA1000 Wire - Audioquest Type 4, BJC Belden 5000 | HDMI - BJC Belden | Power Cables - Pangea | Surge - Monster
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..
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 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 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.
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!
Basement: Polk SDA SRS, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,Enlightened Audio Designs CD Transport, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, Marantz SA-14 SACD, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Digital Cables, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, Wireworld Oasis 8 RCA IC's, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, PASS ACA Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's Spare Room: Antique Sound Labs Wave AV-8 Monoblocks, Tisbury Mini Passive Pre, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub Garage: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
Roundabout from the Yes Fragile album. I’m showing my age.
Really like the bass line in this song.
TV room- B&W 703, SVS PB10 NSD, Marantz NR1607, Parasound 1500a, Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (Yellow) with Acrylic platter, Pro-Ject phono pre, MIT AVT 2 speaker cables, MIT AVT 1 and AVT 2 ICs, XLO Jumpers, Signal Dig Coax, Signal Cable Magic Power Cables x3, Samsung Qled 75", Harmony 1100, Sony BDP-S6200, Marantz DV-4200 (as Transport), Cambridge Audio DAC Magic100, Monster 3600MKII, Family room Samsung 55JS7000 Android Mi Box3 and Apple TV, Polk Magnifi Max. - Pool /Gazebo Yamaha RX-A1010, Polk Patio 25x4, Rotel RDV 1045 (as CDP) MIT AVT3 ICs - Work - Spotify Premium or Neutron App to my FiiO Kunlun into my Grado SR125e
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?
Wow. Awesome.
Onkyo TX NR 5008 modified by The Upgrade Company
Oppo BDP 93 modified by The Upgrade Company
Arcam CD37
Monitor Audio Gold GS 60
Revolver Audio Music 5 towers.(surround)
Vandersteen V2W
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.
If the telephone doesn't ring ......... it's me
Harry / Marietta Georgia
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!!
If the telephone doesn't ring ......... it's me
Harry / Marietta Georgia
So this is my new reference. We ( @clipdat and @verb ) listened to this at the VAC and Von S. Room at Axpona. Astounding recording with more dynamics and soundstage than any recording I have ever had on my system.
This for me is the pinnacle of all my media. Better than DSD, SACD and any hi res.
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.
"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.
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.
__________________
* a term which, as he himself would deadpan, must be used in the loosest and most ironic possible sense of the term
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.
Comments
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.
"Temptation is the manifestation of desire which equals necessity." - Mikey081057
" I have always had a champange taste with a beer budget" - Rick88
"Just because the thread is getting views don't mean much .. I like a good train wreck doesn't mean i want to be in one..." - pitdogg2
"Those that don't know, don't know that they don't know." - heiney9
"Audiophiles are the male equivalent of cat ladies." - Audiokarma Member
HDTV - Sharp AQUOS LC-70LE600U 70" | AVR/Streamer - Onkyo TX-NR3008 | Amp - Parasound HCA-1203A
Blu-Ray/Media/Gaming - Sony PS3-320GB / Microsoft Xbox One | Broadcast - Xfinity X1 Platform
Front Spkrs - Coming...DIY Statement II | Center Spkrs - Coming...DIY Statement II | Rear Spkrs - Artison Portrait LRS
Sub - DIY Stereo Integrity HT 15 | Sub Amp - Dayton Audio SA1000
Wire - Audioquest Type 4, BJC Belden 5000 | HDMI - BJC Belden | Power Cables - Pangea | Surge - Monster
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..
S15
Sony 790S
Denon DP 300f
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?
HT - Panasonic BDP/Tivo Bolt - Marantz SR5013 - Def tech C and In ceiling - Sony XBR 75"
HT - Panasonic BDP/Tivo Bolt - Marantz SR5013 - Def tech C and In ceiling - Sony XBR 75"
Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, PASS ACA Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
Spare Room: Antique Sound Labs Wave AV-8 Monoblocks, Tisbury Mini Passive Pre, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
Garage: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
Rods and Cones...#5 I think...
Really like the bass line in this song.
Wow. Awesome.
Oppo BDP 93 modified by The Upgrade Company
Arcam CD37
Monitor Audio Gold GS 60
Revolver Audio Music 5 towers.(surround)
Vandersteen V2W
Joe, just saw this thread and I intend to enjoy the suggestions.
Your track above will be the first.
Harry / Marietta Georgia
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)
"No, that's silly talk. Dude, you can't possibly be this audio dumb so quit the act." - Doro
G flip - I am not afraid, great vocal track
"No, that's silly talk. Dude, you can't possibly be this audio dumb so quit the act." - Doro
Got the CD today. Listening now. Unbelievable percussion. Great album.
Like the track Magalenha about forty seconds in! Bam!
Good choice SCompRacer!!
Harry / Marietta Georgia
HT - Panasonic BDP/Tivo Bolt - Marantz SR5013 - Def tech C and In ceiling - Sony XBR 75"
This for me is the pinnacle of all my media. Better than DSD, SACD and any hi res.
HT - Panasonic BDP/Tivo Bolt - Marantz SR5013 - Def tech C and In ceiling - Sony XBR 75"
Richard Thompson
1952 Vincent Black Lightning
Mofi vinyl.
Just glorious.
HT - Panasonic BDP/Tivo Bolt - Marantz SR5013 - Def tech C and In ceiling - Sony XBR 75"
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.
"Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip
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.
__________________
* a term which, as he himself would deadpan, must be used in the loosest and most ironic possible sense of the term
Although wait until they have a sale. I think I paid $38
HT - Panasonic BDP/Tivo Bolt - Marantz SR5013 - Def tech C and In ceiling - Sony XBR 75"
Richard Thompson - 1952 Vincent Black Lightning
Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
Polk SDA 1C's modded
Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables