Thread: Any song recommendations for testing purposes?

Hi y'all,

So me and my pal came up with an idea about testing our own " streaming system " and see which is better, but yeah ofc, there can only be one variable, otherwise the test wouldn't be fair, no?
we decided to only change the streamer/player in each test, well luckily, my friend who happens to be an ultimate PC Hi-Fi fanatic, so the test itself which became rather easy haha, equipment-wise for sure.

Last Sunday, we were just chilling in my living room and chitchatting, he said he wanted to listen to some new modern pop song, so I played Shiver by Ed Sheeran, and he said the dynamics don't seem quite enough, I was like what the heck do you mean, and he said his system could present more details in the music than mine, anyways, so I brought my streamer over to his place, and would like to have a competition hahaha.

As I mentioned, he's a PC Hi-Fi dude, so he's done a lot modifications and all that upgrade stuff to his PC, so he used USB port to connect to his DAC and the rest to play the same song, Shiver by Ed, well truth to be told, I also thought the dynamics weren't quite sufficient as well lol, ofc he said my perception was biased bc he judged my system first, thus, we both agreed to play some more complicated tracks, like classic genre or something, however, both of us aren't that much of a elegant music admirer I'd say, which I sincerely hope you guys can share some nice songs with me!!!

BTW, we both played TIDAL via Roon, the only difference is just he used PC, I used Munich M1T, no network switch or linear power supply attached.

Best,

Chuck Mangione - 'Children of Sanchez'

Children Of Sanchez — Chuck Mangione | Last.fm

Link to my Qobuz reference tracks playlist. I use the term reference loosely; it's just a bunch of tunes I think exercise different aspects of a system's capabilities, and/or sound pretty cool.

Open Qobuz

Hahaha I was thinking about Hotel California though.

Ozone Percussion Group, Jazz Variants. All types of percussion, along with drums, vibes, bells etc. This particular track has a large bass drum that comes in, you should feel it.

It might not seem audiophile but I use Eric Clapton, either Lay Down Sally or Wonderful Tonight. Back in the day it's a CD I brought with me so stuck with it and have heard it on many systems. Eric should be in the middle sound stage and you should hear background singer(s) in both left/right sound stage at various times. It really is a pretty good album for listening once familiar. The album is Slow Hand. On my system the female singers have a in the room feel.

Joey Defrancesco, Tuxedo Junction off All In The Family. B3 and some well done Tuba, if your system can cleanly define those bass lines you know it's doing the job.

Tierney Sutton Band, On A Clear Day off Screenplay. A smoking acoustic bass kicks off the track, then Tierney's vocal the the band.

This should get you started and variety to play with

Well... one more Tom Mitsch, title track to What Kin of Music Is This. Drums begin the track, a synthesizer comes in behind enveloping the back and should sound taut.

Night Verses, song Copper Wasp, from Gallery of Sleep. I'll let you figure this one out

OK, I'm really stopping now. But, I could go on

Originally Posted by RDSChicago

Great list, Jon! I’m listening now. Many songs I haven’t heard before. Really digging “Raising Venus” by Malia.

Glad you're enjoying it! Yeah, Malia is an incredible talent, and her music really highlights a good system.