Gear Tests Playlists and Test Albums

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I was considering posting this thread in the music section, but to help keep it gear focused I thought it might fit better in the hardware threads. I don't recall seeing one of these threads, and it sounded like fun.
Mods - feel free to move/merge it if you think it's better suited elsewhere.

VMPs announcement of their test albums coming out in partnership with Marantz got me thinking - we should share playlist of music that is specifically designed to test various aspects of systems. I really enjoy finding these and building them, and I love when they come with notes of why various songs were selected. I'll share some of the ones I have, but I invite everyone to join in on ones you've found and built.
We can also stick to our vinyl origins here with test albums. I think as long as an album showcases something specific you can point to, it's fair game. Trying to avoid suggestions based on mood or personal favorites for the music, but more albums that really test various elements - dynamics, groove tracking, etc.

I'll kick it off with the threads inspiration - the VMP/Marantz list.
tidal.com

Explorations in Sound - VMP / Marantz

Listen to Explorations in Sound - VMP / Marantz on TIDAL
tidal.com tidal.com
and associated article: http://magazine.vinylmeplease.com/magazine/explorations-in-sound

On the vinyl front, I'll start with the suggestion of the dreaded side C locked groove of the original VMP pressing run of Gorillaz - Demon Days.
If you're TT/cart can track through that hot cut and dynamic album, you should be able to track through anything.
Another good tracking test is Daft Punk - Homework. I've seen a ton of tables that can't get through the inner grooves of this album without skipping. Great torture test for tracking ability.

Lastly, a resource for anyone that doesn't use Tidal/Spotify/whatever. This link will let you transfer playlists from one service to another. It's not perfect, but it's pretty solid: Transfer Playlists Between Music Services! 100% free | Tune My Music
 
Next up is "Paul's Picks."
This list was created by Paul from PS Audio, and it's a good variety of stuff. Lots of classical, classics, and modern classics, and he provides a quick couple sentences on why he likes each of these.
https://www.psaudio.com/pauls-posts/pauls-picks/

Couldn't find them all on streaming, but I think the bulk of them are here.
tidal.com

Paul's Picks

Listen to Paul's Picks on TIDAL
tidal.com tidal.com
 
displayname said:
I was considering posting this thread in the music section, but to help keep it gear focused I thought it might fit better in the hardware threads. I don't recall seeing one of these threads, and it sounded like fun.
Mods - feel free to move/merge it if you think it's better suited elsewhere.

VMPs announcement of their test albums coming out in partnership with Marantz got me thinking - we should share playlist of music that is specifically designed to test various aspects of systems. I really enjoy finding these and building them, and I love when they come with notes of why various songs were selected. I'll share some of the ones I have, but I invite everyone to join in on ones you've found and built.
We can also stick to our vinyl origins here with test albums. I think as long as an album showcases something specific you can point to, it's fair game. Trying to avoid suggestions based on mood or personal favorites for the music, but more albums that really test various elements - dynamics, groove tracking, etc.

I'll kick it off with the threads inspiration - the VMP/Marantz list.
tidal.com

Explorations in Sound - VMP / Marantz

Listen to Explorations in Sound - VMP / Marantz on TIDAL
tidal.com tidal.com
and associated article: Explorations In Sound: VMP And Marantz Partner on Creating the Ultimate Hi-Fi Demo Record

On the vinyl front, I'll start with the suggestion of the dreaded side C locked groove of the original VMP pressing run of Gorillaz - Demon Days.
If you're TT/cart can track through that hot cut and dynamic album, you should be able to track through anything.
Another good tracking test is Daft Punk - Homework. I've seen a ton of tables that can't get through the inner grooves of this album without skipping. Great torture test for tracking ability.

Lastly, a resource for anyone that doesn't use Tidal/Spotify/whatever. This link will let you transfer playlists from one service to another. It's not perfect, but it's pretty solid: Transfer Playlists Between Music Services! 100% free | Tune My Music
Click to expand...


To me, this looked like a ridiculous collaboration.

I checked the playlist. And the last track? Noooooooo!

The Lemon of Pink.

I have to excuse myself. I just threw up in my mouth a little. 🤢
 
HiFi Guy said:
To me, this looked like a ridiculous collaboration.

I checked the playlist. And the last track? Noooooooo!

The Lemon of Pink.

I have to excuse myself. I just threw up in my mouth a little. 🤢
Click to expand...
Haha, I know you hate it. Ironically, I listened to it earlier today before I saw the partnership announcement.
Love it or hate it, the VMP pressing of LOP is actually very well pressed, has great imaging, dynamics, and allows a quality system to show off dynamics, bass, acoustic tone, and recording quality variance from mixed sources. It's complex and loaded with musical and binaural elements.

You might hate the music, but it's actually a decent test album once you're familiar with it. A good example of a quality test album actually. But I don't expect anyone to instantly love it. I rarely try to expose people to it unless they've shown some interest in some other odd and abrasive music.
 
I suppose all of these things are personal in a way. I'd never use any of the playlists above because it isn't music I listen to a lot.

My go-to approach has always been to throw shit at it and see if it sticks. Rather than playing good quality recordings I tend to play lesser quality recordings that I know (usually Black Dots by Bad Brains) and see how they sound.

Then once that's done it's My Father My King by Mogwai, as it's quiet/loud, and I know it well.

It's not a scientific approach, but it's mine...
 
Thackeraye said:
I suppose all of these things are personal in a way. I'd never use any of the playlists above because it isn't music I listen to a lot.

My go-to approach has always been to throw shit at it and see if it sticks. Rather than playing good quality recordings I tend to play lesser quality recordings that I know (usually Black Dots by Bad Brains) and see how they sound.

Then once that's done it's My Father My King by Mogwai, as it's quiet/loud, and I know it well.

It's not a scientific approach, but it's mine...
Click to expand...
I think playing bad stuff is an important part of the demo process. It's something I keep in mind, especially for speakers. Yes, I want all the detail and yadda yadda. But at the end of the day, I also don't want the speakers to just ruin Metallica for me. If they aren't forgiving enough to play Metallica and make it fun, they aren't the speaker for me.

But I have found a lot of really great artists via demo lists. That's a big thing that draws me back to them. If you find a demo track you really like, pretty often the whole album is well done, if not the artist's whole catalog.
A good example for me was Gotye. I liked his few radio songs, but hadn't even thought about him in ages. Then stumbled across one of his songs I hadn't heard on a demo list. Listened to that whole album, it was great. Turns out a LOT of his stuff is great, and all well recorded and produced. That's a gold mind that makes it worth sifting through various things that are impressive but things I might not come back to outside of testing.
 
kvetcha said:
Even if you don’t like the record, it *sounds* fabulous.
Click to expand...

I never even got through the whole thing. It’s kinda funny- an obscure album (for a reason IMO) keeps popping up.

I have a much better name for them than The Books. But it’s offensive, so I’ll keep it to myself. It’s a perfect fit though. If you want to know, PM me.
 
Splunders said:
I enjoy listening to music I might not necessarily enjoy for it's musical merits, if it sounds amazing in an "audiophile" way. Really well recorded and mastered music tickles a certain part of my brain in a different way than a catchy hook might.
Click to expand...
I totally agree. I often tell people there is a lot of music that I listen to on a good system that I would never listen to in a car or via a BT in the yard. My favorite example is that I feel like I "get" jazz much more then I did years ago. Hearing good jazz on a good system is unreal.
 
Tossing in another playlist (I told you had a few of these).
I wanted to get a better feel for the bass capabilities on my new speakers, and I came across a list WhatHiFi had made specifically for testing bass.
25 of the best tracks for testing bass

My favorite thing about this list is that it isn't just focused on testing how low your system can go and how much slam you have. A lot of the tracks are focused on speed, texture, and detail. And several of these tracks really showcase space, making them more than just bass test tracks. I've only worked through about half of it so far, but it has been a very fun test list.
www.whathifi.com

29 of the best tracks for testing bass

How low can your system go?
www.whathifi.com www.whathifi.com

Edit - forgot the Tidal link
tidal.com

What HiFi Bass Test Tracks

Listen to What HiFi Bass Test Tracks on TIDAL
tidal.com tidal.com
 
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displayname said:
Tossing in another playlist (I told you had a few of these).
I wanted to get a better feel for the bass capabilities on my new speakers, and I came across a list WhatHiFi had made specifically for testing bass.
25 of the best tracks for testing bass

My favorite thing about this list is that it isn't just focused on testing how low your system can go and how much slam you have. A lot of the tracks are focused on speed, texture, and detail. And several of these tracks really showcase space, making them more than just bass test tracks. I've only worked through about half of it so far, but it has been a very fun test list.
www.whathifi.com

29 of the best tracks for testing bass

How low can your system go?
www.whathifi.com www.whathifi.com
Click to expand...

Before clicking I knew there was gonna be a RATM song (and I figured it would be Bullet in the Head). If I hadn't seen that, I would've called the rest of the list into question! Really nice mix though - I can hear Moondance bouncing around my system in my head.
 
My favorite test tracks:

Mannheim Steamroller - Toccata (from Fresh Aire III - don't knock it til you try it)
Lincoln Mayorga and Distinguished Colleagues - Camarillo
Fleetwood Mac - Never Going Back Again
The Books - There is No There
Fiona Apple - Sleep to Dream
Radiohead - 15 Step
 
kvetcha said:
My favorite test tracks:

Mannheim Steamroller - Toccata (from Fresh Aire III - don't knock it til you try it)
Lincoln Mayorga and Distinguished Colleagues - Camarillo
Fleetwood Mac - Never Going Back Again
The Books - There is No There
Fiona Apple - Sleep to Dream
Radiohead - 15 Step
Click to expand...

+1 for Never Going Back Again
 
Haim - Women in Music Pt III has become my go to reference album (besides being a great listen). The song styles are really varied, the production very crisp and spacious.

I just swapped out the Ultratracker cartridge that came mounted on my Ultradeck, for my Grado Gold3 8mz, and it sounded fine on a couple albums. Not incredible, just fine.

I put Haim on and the soundstage had obviously collapsed, given how big it normally sounds. Messed around with the VTA a little bit and everything opened back up. Thank you Haim!
 
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