I recently saw an interesting article in which the speaker maker Sonus Faber revealed 5 songs they use to test their speakers before release (below). I thought this would be an interesting topic to explore because there would be specific reasons why audio professionals would select particular songs.
When I test new gear, these are the first three songs I play:
Norah Jones, Come away with me (Redbook CD)
Andy Bey, Never let me go (Redbook CD)
Dire Straits, Latest Trick (SACD/DSD)
What are yours?
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Thank you @keiserrg for finding this article. I understand that the described approach makes sense for a developer. As a consumer my approach is different. It corresponds with how I use the system.
I’m playing what I listen to at the moment from various genres and with different recording qualities. And whole albums not individual songs. That’s what I will do after the upgrade anyway - listen to whole albums from various genres. This approach works when the difference a potential upgrade makes is large enough. That’s a useful threshold. Keeps me from buying things that are marginal improvements or sidegrades.
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Have been fine tuning the system lately and these are albums I returned to more often than others. When evaluating I prefer listening to whole albums. That’s what I’ll be doing after the upgrade anyway.
Aventine . Agnes Obel
Wanderer . Cat Power
Dark Sky Island . Enya
Live In London . Leonard Cohen
Trading Snakeoil For Wolftickets . Gary Jules
At Folsom Prison . Johnny Cash
The Great Plains . Thomas Dybdahl
Chopin: The Nocturnes . Maria João Pires
Purple . Baroness
Night Eternal . Moonspell
The above albums are all good recordings except the metal ones. As Pete @PAR mentioned in another thread, it’s good to listen to mediocre or crappy recordings too for evaluation.
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