Demo music
Posted by: bluedog on 06 March 2011
I have recently been demoing replacement speakers for my venerable but ageing 'briks. The obvious choice of music for a demo is the repertoire one listens to most often for pleasure. In my case this comes down mainly to jazz and classical, but within those genres there are, of course, thousands of recordings.
The vinyl LP's I used for the demo to test musicality, pace and timing, presence and quality of vocal rendition were:
Art Pepper and the Rhythm Section: 'You'd Be So Nice to Come Home to'
Alphonse Mouzon: 'St Thomas'
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: 'An die Musik'
Janet Baker: Elgar 'Sea Songs'
Zubin Mehta LPO: Stravinsky 'Petrushka'
What would be your five tracks?
In case you're wondering: I have narrowed down my speaker choices to the Naim Ovator S400's and the Focal 1028be. Both fantastic speakers
Posted on: 07 March 2011 by graham halliwell
By coincidence I was checking out our new NDX/Dac combo on 400's this weekend using the Art Pepper!! Great album for sorting out dynamic range and timing. The drums on 'Jazz Me Blues' are a killer, especially on 400's. I find the original CD issue excellent, and pre digital vinyl stunning.
I tend to use discs records I know well and I don't have a top 5, although a good copy/mastering of Ellington's 'Blues In Orbit' is a good one for spatial information, scale and timing. The recent Petrenko 'Shostakovich 10' on Naxos is also an excellent orchestral recording especially for timbre and dynamic range - I'll be copying this onto our network soon.
Good luck with your auditions.
Posted on: 12 March 2011 by Phil Harris
Hmmm...
1) Peter Gabriel - Mercy Street.
2) Sarah McLauglin - Angels
3) David Sylvian - Orpheus
4) Massive Attack - Butterfly Caught / Inertia Creeps
5) Faithless - Insomnia / God Is A DJ / We Come One
Yes, I know I snuck in a few extras there... ;-)
Phil
Posted on: 12 March 2011 by Jan-Erik Nordoen
1. Paul Simon 'The Capeman' - Trailways Bus (for midrange voicing)
2. Kruder and Dorfmeister 'The K&D Sessions' - Bug Powder Dust (for bass)
3. Leonard Cohen, "Live in London' - If It Be Your Will (for goosebump factor)
4. Amon Tobin, 'Supermodified' - Marine Machines (for ability to navigate complex music)
5. Ray Lamontagne 'Till the Sun Turns Black' - Be Here Now / Empty (for atmosphere & emotion)
Jan
Posted on: 12 March 2011 by Dungassin
I'm not going to list any specific recordings, but I usually take at least one which I consider technically poor (after all, it's nice to be able to play these without cringing too much), as well as one I consider superb and another which is "middling". Not a great jazz fan, so my demo stuff tends towards classical/opera, heavy rock, and something "poppy". Depends very much on what I've been listening to recently.
