CD inspiration please.

CD = Acoustic Alchemy, 2000 - The Beautiful Game

HD = Arne Domnerus, 1976 - Jazz At The Pawnshop [24-88, 2007, 30th anniversary SACD]

My system is OK for demo 

interesting question, a lot depends on what is currently favourite at the time,,,   but Seamonsters by the wedding present , surfa rosa by the Pixies , technique by New Order , Pj Harveys storys from teh city sea  all well produced /recorded albums i take along to demo kit.

both  the wedding present and pixies are  produced by the one and only  Steve Albini and both have that  loud quite mixture within songs plus fantastic seperation with recorded guitars, bass  drums and vocals.

if i had to choose one though ,, Seamonsters it is

That would be Isam, Amon Tobin's latest release. It will exercise every bit of your system and scour every last nook and cranny of your speakers. Phenomenal. Remove any dogs, cats and small children from room beforehand.

Amon's work can be overpowering, but well worth the trip. I always bring one of his discs to the hi-fi shows I attend. Empties the room every time.

Jan

PS. The artwork is by Tessa Farmer.

The Harvest Years by Shirley and Dolly Collins

Featuring English folk music's most celebrated and distinguished talent, Shirley Collins with tracks from Anthems in Eden (1969) and others. Shirley Collins' voice is the defining sound for folk music of the 1960s. She is the emblem of traditionalism. Dolly Collins' arrangements use the instrumentation of early music and forms you'd associate with Purcell. There is a level of intricacy and detail not usually found. The arrangements featuring sackbut, harpsichord and medieval woodwind instruments elevate these performances.

For a rock album I'd use How Dare You by 10CC or Eldorado by ELO

This, of course, depends on what music you like - if a dealer tried to demo a system with Rumours or Brother in Arms or Blue Monday or Sinatra then I doubt I'd buy anything or go near the place again, but that's the kind of Guy I am. What I'm really saying is take along your favourite. 

Why not burn a CD-R with some of your favourite tracks on it with a bit of variety. 

Class.  Both albums very high on my SFABB list.

Julian Joseph - Universal Traveller. Very well recorded piano jazz with some wonderful drum and double bass sounds. A very good test for speakers, especially big 'uns.

John McLaughlin Trio Live at the R.F.H.

J McC. Trilok Gurtu. Kai Eckhardt.

ella l sachmo 1956

Patricia Barber

Live  - A Fortnight in Paris (2004)

and/or Que Alegria......

Dream Theater - A Change of Seasons and/or Falling into Infinity and/or Train of Thought  for the rock side of things. 

One of the later Ella songbooks, and/or Nat Cole/Sinatra on Capitol 

Martin Carthy/Dave Swarbrick - Life and Limb

Can't pick just one. Never can.

I have compiled a CD from iTunes that I use to help choose new equipment.

I don't normally play any CD to prove to myself how good my system is or to prove it to anyone else. Why would anyone do that?

Nightfly by Donald Fagan,well recorded cd, as are most of Dire Straits,particularly On Every Street which has some varying musical styles,same applies to There Goes Rhymin' Simon,Paul Simon,but surely most important is a cd that you like and know really well?

I have a good number of well recorded CDs in the roughly 550 transferred to iTunes. The trouble would be that if I named a dozen of them here they would probably meet with a certain amount of frowning!

Really after a while one gets to know which of one's favourite music is really well recorded, and which is simply adequately done.

For me it is crucial that any replay must be able to make the less well recorded music nicely enjoyable, and if it can do this then I know that the better recordings will be even finer.

It is my practice to use one splendid recording among say 10 or 15 less stellar ones to assess any system when I am trying to demonstrate something. I only demonstrate things with favourite music ...

At home I never select on the basis of recording quality, but only on the basis of what music I might want to listen to at any particular time.

But if you like then I can suggest one great sounding recording that has some glorious music making contained.

On the BBC Prom Centenary CD album [2 CDs issued in 1996, and blessedly free of anything from the Last Night], the Sargent BBC SO performance of the Nutcracker Suite is pure joy on every level. The 1967 air-check recording is as fresh today as it was those years ago, and the performance sparkles in a way that elevates it to a position among the best of live performances. A great moment caught on the microphone.

ATB from George 

George makes good points, totally agree.

To demo a system you need a representative selection of CD's. When you are at home you listen to the music you like, not just music that is well recorded. I do have two or three discs I always listen to first on a demo but rapidly move on to old favourites and new flames. I'd never do a demo with just one disc. A selection that covers your major musical bases makes sense too. My best system upgrades made some shoddy recordings still sound great.

My fave demo discs are relevant to me only. Choose your own!

Bruce

Thanks Guys for your input . Will check suggested titles out , you get somewhat stuck in your excisting music collection !

To George.

I listen to a lot of music , when faffing around the house , it's just great when life allows you to sit down in front of the system to stick a not only musically entertaining piece on, but actually a quality of the whole production that will make the system shine , ie a more fullfilling one ! With a badly recorded/mastered Live production you never quite get that " Being there "- feeling ! My own personal reference recording would be ; " Antiphone blues " , where Arne Domnerus plays a saxofon against a church organ , it's recorded in the mid 70s in Spanga Church in Sweden and remastered by FIM , and although sounding like a bit of a funny recepy it's amazing .

          Thanks again Peter

If you're talking about "showing off" your HiFi to your neighbour then it needs to be something accessible that anyone will know or recognize....

So if the occasion arose I'd use Rolling Stones "Miss You" via the vinyl re-issue.

In a HiFi shop I don't see the point of spinning only high quality recordings so I'd mix it up with something with gnarly production like The Dead Weather.

However Jimmy Smith's "The Cat" album has a couple of system testers when it comes to tonal balance and dynamics. 

Sometimes it's fun if you have a guest in the house to demo your new hifi for them.  In that case I use the demo cd that my dealer often uses; it has a variety of extremely well-recorded tracks that sound GOOD

AND, my hi fi is still new enough to me, that sometimes I still put on a recording because of how good it sounds; I like to bask in the glow of my good decision

Bill Frisell - Gone, Just like a Train,   Well recorded, and the bass is particularly testing, but mainly because its great music

Just remembered Stevie Ray Vaughn "Tin Pan Alley", 45 vinyl.

Did you burn the CD from iTunes? If so, won't it be in whatever compressed format you used when you imported it into iTunes?

Lossless is lossless, and a bit perfect CD can be burned from ALAC for example. A lossey file type like MP3 can never recreate the original ...

It is not quite as simple as you seem to suppose - unless I am very much mistakem [Murray Walker voice] - from your post above.

ATB from George

Good question

1) Night at the Opera by Queen (You should be able to hear into the recording)

2) 4x4=12 by Deadmau5 ('Sofi Needs a Ladder' is fantastic test of deep deep tight bass - lesser systems and speakers just wilt)

3) Ghost Town by the Specials (drums should have great definition and all vocals clearly legible)

4) Dummy by Portishead (will show up ruthlessley poor resonant ported speakers and or room resonances)

5) The Wall by Pink Floyd (Great dynamics, screeching guitars and tight bass - it should just sound right)

6) I love to Boogie by T.Rex (This is a classic toe tapper test)

7) God Bless the Master by the Watersons (A great test for natural vocals - there should be no nasality, flatness, unnatural bloat or brightness)

8) Evening Conversations - pianist David Fung (The piano should sound real and ooze emotion and dyanmics)

9) Pure Frosting by the Presidents (a good test of compressed commercial rock - it should sound fun, engaging and rhythmic)

..and if I had to chose 1 CD as per the OP question it would be 5) The Wall

Simon

"I don't normally play any CD to prove to myself how good my system is or to prove it to anyone else. Why would anyone do that?"

Erm - entertaining guests? A couple of old friends are visiting in January and I've promised them their FIRST EVER experience of listening to a quality HiFi system playing music.

We're all looking forward to it...