What are your favourite reference recordings?

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Irene Idler
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#1 What are your favourite reference recordings?

Post by Irene Idler »

This evening Dave and I are listening to the finished Newton 300b monoblocks with a few of our favourite reference records (and they are amazing, though it appears we have a bad 12SN7 valve so we're getting some crackling -- Dave will post about that later).

It occurred to me that it would be interesting to hear what everyone else uses to try out new toys.

So far we've listened to:
Ana Moura - Desfado
Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue
Maria Callas - Greatest Opera Arias
Handel* - George Szell, London Symphony Orchestra* ‎– Water Music / Royal Fireworks Music

Other favourites we've used to evaluate systems include:
Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter with Billy May
Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club
Sam Phillips - Martinis & Bikinis (This one is interesting -- it's extremely well-recorded according to several friends who are audio engineers, but can sound either harsh or anaemic on some systems. The Hørnings made it sound like crap, but Cressy Sr's Mets do it full justice.)
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Nick
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#2 Re: What are your favourite reference recordings?

Post by Nick »

In no order:

Mark Coln: Walking to Memphis
Rage Against The Machine: Bomb Track
Shpongle: Are You Shpongled
Stanley Clark: Under The Bridge
Oscar Peterson: Corcovado
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Irene Idler
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#3 Re: What are your favourite reference recordings?

Post by Irene Idler »

That 'Under The Bridge' cover by Stanley Clarke redeems what I personally believe to be the single most insipid Red Hot Chili Peppers track of all time. Very fine indeed. And the Shpongle is definitely the sort of thing that could give a system a good workout. I'm also a huge fan of that Marc Cohn record, which is really well recorded, though 'True Companion' is a bit stalkery, in much the same vein as The Police's 'Every Breath You Take'. Great choices!

The only thing we've listened to tonight to which the 300Bs didn't truly do justice was The Who - Who's Next. Admittedly this is not an audiophile recording, but I think the real issue is that these amps provide a separation and clarity that isn't flattering to dense hard rock noise. I want to check out some Bowie and Stooges but it's a bit late at this point. I made the possibly unforgivable suggestion that Dave consider introducing a switchable device that could boost bass for rock recordings only.
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#4 Re: What are your favourite reference recordings?

Post by Nick »

Yep some rock just doesn't improve when you look at it in higher resolution. Hence the RATM in that list that's better recorded imho than you may think. I also suggest the first van Hallen recording. I have said this before, I think that what seems like badly recorded stuff can give better insights into a systems capabilities. Velvet underground is a good example of that. Again imho. Aja makes any hifi sound good.
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#5 Re: What are your favourite reference recordings?

Post by ed »

I'm torn between crackin tunes and technical or critical evaluation....this list is not definitive

Van Morrison - Astral weeks
Peter Gabriel - So
Kings of convenience - riot on an empty street
Patricia Barber - companion
Robert Plant - raising sand
Vaughn Williams- lark et al - Iona brown - Neville Marriner - academy of st Martin in the field
Rachmaninoff 2nd piano concerto
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#6 Re: What are your favourite reference recordings?

Post by chris661 »

I can usually get a decent idea of what a new piece of equipment is like by playing music that's familiar, and has a decent amount going on.

Familiarity is important, because I need to know about any quirks of the recording. For example, anyone hearing Radiohead's Creep for the first time will think their >10kHz range is 6dB too hot because of how that ride cymbal sticks out. Similarly, the Buzzcocks' Ever Fallen In Love is a good piece of music, but the vocal sibilance is a big problem.

"Having a decent amount going on" is also important. I listened to someone else's pick of "evaluation music" recently, and it was minimal-ish jazz. Bit of noodling of the bass, and then the drummer might hit a couple of things, three notes from a trumpet, and then half a bar from a piano.
Sure, everything was close-mic'd and you could hear each thing very clearly (fingers on strings, snare rattle, etc etc). The arrangement was so sparse, though, that I had no idea how everything balanced out. Did the drummer hit that cymbal too hard, or is the speaker on the bright side? How can I tell?


Based on that lot, here's my list:
Morphine - Buena
Jennifer Warnes - Bird on a Wire
Santana ft. Rob Thomas - Smooth
Newton Faulkner - Better Way
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
Dawn Penn - You Don't Love Me
Avenged Sevenfold - Buried Alive
The Choir of Trinity College, Melbourne - Lullabye


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#7 Re: What are your favourite reference recordings?

Post by Cressy Snr »

Van Morrison - Avalon Sunset
The Temptations - 1990
Slowey & The Boats - Beneath An Amber Moon
Eric Clapton - 461 Ocean Boulevard.
Argent - Nexus
Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life.

None of this stuff is particularly demanding on the system, but they are just cracking albums.
I really can’t be arsed with ‘putting my system through its paces’ anymore. It gets frustrating and life’s too short. That’s not to decry anyone else’s efforts of course, it’s only a personal issue I’ve had to confront and accept, through lack of cash. :)

I remember well Alvin Gold (or possibly somebody else on the magazine, it’s over 40 years ago) telling a punter who had written into the Hi-Fi Answers problem page because his cartridge wouldn’t track the cannons on the infamous Telarc 1812:
“Throw the bloody record away” was his reply. Richard Dunn would have loved that. :mrgreen:
Another gem was:
“If your system makes your favourite music sound like crap, it’s not that it’s showing up your records, it’s because it’s no bloody use, period!” :lol:
Can’t imagine a magazine reviewer getting away with that sort of statement nowadays.
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#8 Re: What are your favourite reference recordings?

Post by Ant »

I use a couple, usually if I've made a change of some sort.
Level 42 first album if I've changed a cart to make sure it tracks the last track on side 1
Police ghost in the machine
Foo fighters the colour and the shape
The beat wha appen
Fine young cannibals the raw and the cooked
Deacon blue raintown
Florence and the machine high as hope.

Bear in mind these are all vinyl because that is predominantly what I'm buggering about with
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#9 Re: What are your favourite reference recordings?

Post by shane »

Some are just tracks rather than albums, but these are what I always seem to end up going to after making any changes:

The Blue Nile - Hats
The Walker Brothers - No Regrets
Arne Dominerus - Jazz at the Pawnshop
Swingle Singers with the MJQ - Place Vendome
Hadouk Trio - Live at Satellit Cafe
Christina Ortiz/BSO - Shostakovich 2nd Piano Conc.
Gervase de Peyer/LSO - Mozart Clarinet Concerto
Fotheringay- Fotheringay (specifically The Sea and Banks of the Nile)
Caravan - Land of Grey and Pink
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
The Carpenters - any
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#10 Re: What are your favourite reference recordings?

Post by IslandPink »

Sabicas - Artistry in Flamenco ( 1959, ABC paramount)
John Renbourn 'Sir John Alot of Merry Englandes.. etc ' 1970 Transatlantic
Byrne/Eno 'My life in the bush of ghosts' from CD ( especially track 'Very very hungry' )
Joni Mitchell 'Don Juan's Reckless Daughter' ( 1976 ? )
Bowie 'Diamond Dogs' ( 1974 ) because it's tough to make this sound good.
Philip Glass 'Koyaanisqatsi' ( 1982 ? ) from CD
Sonny Stitt track 'Propagoon' from 'Sonny Stitt', Marble Arch.
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#11 Re: What are your favourite reference recordings?

Post by vinylnvalves »

The majority of the tracks I use for “challenging” a system have been mentioned. One not mentioned is “storybook love” Mark Knophler and Minky Deville, from the princess bride soundtrack - the low end content is quite detailed if you have the LF extension otherwise it sounds like mush.
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Ray P
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#12 Re: What are your favourite reference recordings?

Post by Ray P »

Almost impossible to come up with a succinct list but some that spring to mind,

PCM Format

Peter Gabriel - 3 (Melt)
Eva Cassidy - Songbird
Alina Ibragimova - Bach Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin
Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
Christine Collister - Love
Hanover band - Beethoven Symphonies
Tori Amos - Abnormally Attracted to Sin
Fairground Attraction - First of a Million Kisses
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Rebecca Pidgeon - The Raven
Taylor Livingston - Ink
Tanita Tikaram - Lovers in the City
Elizabeth Wallfisch - Tartini Violin Concertos
Antal Dorati - Respighi, Ancient Airs and Dances (Mercury Living Presence)
Kreisler String Orchestra - Britten, Simple Symphony
Musica Nuda - Quam Dilecta
Stece hackett - Genesis Revisited (particularly Fly on a Windshield/Broadway melody 1974)

DSD Format
Antonio Lysy - Te Amo, Argentina
Rachel Podger/Brecon Baroque - Vilvaldi's Four Seasons
Ricard Gallen - En Silencio

and lots more...
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Dave the bass
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#13 Re: What are your favourite reference recordings?

Post by Dave the bass »

Some of my faves.

Brand X - Nuclear Burn (for the drive in the drums and fretless bass sounds)

John Martyn - Grace and Danger ( for the 'space', and grace...and danger. Seagull sound guitar solos n'all )

John Martyn -Solid Air (can you hear the songs AND the awethumne playing and recording at the same time?)

Cypress Hill - Black Sunday (wha?? Well-recorded samples and rap together, no really)

John Scofield - A GoGo ( its just brilliantly loose).

RATM - Bullet in the Head (best ever recording of a Musicman Stingray bass guitar (IMO) (coming from the owner/player of a Musicman Stingray bass guitar).

Everything But the girl - Amplified Heart (great album anyway, but the strings on 'Get Me' and that Mr Thompson's double bass playing + sound. If that combo doesn't make you cry, you dead!)

Living Colour - Stain (the track 'Leave it alone', I've heard it sound like a huge clattering racket occasionally, other times its an awesome classic 90's high tech hard rock driven colossus)

Moloko - Things to make and do (The Time is Now, another system tester to see if your system can convey emotive content).

David Bowie - Ziggy - 5 Years. Quiet-loud-quiet!

Metallica - ...And Justice For All. The whole album. If the D.U.T makes it sound good then something must be wrong. Its the worst sounding album ever (IMO). I love it. The songs and playing are awesome (IMO), but in the 33 years its been out I've never heard it sound 'any good' on any playback device ever EXCEPT on cassette through a battery powered Sony Walkman, why? I dunno.

Bjork - Hyperballad. Can you hear that descending bass part? Impressive innit? But, why aren't you listening to the words? aha!

Dave Lee Roth - Eat 'em and Smile (the track 'Shy Boy', try and keep up, are you out of breath by the end of the song? Yes? system tests AOK !).

Big Jim Sullivan Band - Test of Time. The track 'Peace and Quiet', it shouldn't be.
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#14 Re: What are your favourite reference recordings?

Post by jack »

Many of the above, but also Susanne Vega, Tom's Diner.

The quality and clarity of the recording are, IMHO extraordinary and with an almost total absence of background noise.

Because of the technical excellence, a great test reference.
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#15 Re: What are your favourite reference recordings?

Post by mainscablesrus »

All vinyl

Nils Lofgren - Keith Don't Go

Joan Baez - Brothers In Arms

Miles Davis - So What

Patricia Barber - Cafe Blue (all of it, new Impex 1 step box set)

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Roughest Place In Town

Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms

Amos Lee - Arms Of A Woman

Elvis - Fever

Eva Cassidy - Fields Of Gold

Just got my new toy to play them all on.

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