Test Pieces

[Peter Wieck]

I have a couple of test-pieces that I use when running new (to me)
equipment through its Fitness Tests. Initial test bits (short for quick
filtering and in no particular order) are:

Handel: Let the Bright Seraphim

Ronstadt & Harris: Highwayman

Clarke: Trumpet Voluntary

Final Test Pieces: For those that have passed the first without flaw:

Saint-Saens: Organ Symphony

Mozart: Exultate Jubilate

All of these have enough going on that restrictions in headroom,
speaker response or other subtle defects will manifest pretty
obviously. I have several versions of the classical stuff, but I lean
to Kiri TeKanawa for the Handel & Mozart, The
Telarc/Philadelphia/Murray/Ormandy version of Saint-Saens as St.
Francis de Sales actually has 30' pipes, not electronic reinforcement,
and Wynton Marsalis for the Clarke.

What are yours?

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

[Eeyore]

Peter Wieck wrote:

> I have a couple of test-pieces that I use when running new (to me)
> equipment through its Fitness Tests. Initial test bits (short for quick
> filtering and in no particular order) are:...........
>
> What are yours?

Well.............

When I used to do live sound regularly with my own rig I used to use the
following tracks to check the sound and equalise it as required prior to a
soundcheck with the band.

Police: Walking on the moon

Eric Clapton: Motherless Children

and I'm blowed if I can remember the 3rd track I had on that tape too now ! They
were chosen for very specific reasons of course.

Pink Floyd's The Wall was good for testing too. I recall one of occasional
'hands' who helped out who had been in the Royal Navy comment 'that really does
sound like a helicopter' !

More recently I like to use Joni Mitchell's album Blue a real test of
'definition'.

The Sisters of Mercy album 'A slight case of overbombing' has very challenging
tracks too !

Graham

[Ned Carlson]

Peter Wieck wrote:


> What are yours?

I'm thinking... Men Without Hats, Johnny Paycheck,
Mexican bootleg CD's of Montez de Durango and Shakira,
78 RPM Toscanini discs from garage sales, Steppenwolf
8-track tapes. Spike Jones and Arthur Godfrey.
Basically the worst stuff I can pull out of my a--,
that's real field testing.
If your gear can make Arthur Godfrey sound listenable,
you're REALLY onto something, peddle your gizmo to
major market FM stations and skip the audiophile
market.

--
Ned Carlson
SW side of Chicago, USA
www.tubezone.net

[Peter Wieck]

Ned Carlson wrote:

> If your gear can make Arthur Godfrey sound listenable,
> you're REALLY onto something, peddle your gizmo to
> major market FM stations and skip the audiophile
> market.

True, true.

But, how would you know?

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

[Ned Carlson]

Peter Wieck wrote:

> Ned Carlson wrote:
>
>
>>If your gear can make Arthur Godfrey sound listenable,
>>you're REALLY onto something, peddle your gizmo to
>>major market FM stations and skip the audiophile
>>market.
>
>
> True, true.
>
> But, how would you know?

About Arthur Godfrey, or major market FM stations?

All I know about Arthur Godfrey was (a) he played
a ukelele and (b) he couldn't sing worth a hoot.
Oh, yeah, and he fired some guy on a live broadcast
in 1954.

Anything anyone needs to know about signal processing
at major market FM stations is pretty obvious if you
compare recordings to what's broadcast.

--
Ned Carlson
SW side of Chicago, USA
www.tubezone.net

[Peter Wieck]

I would not.

a) Anything that made Arthur Godfrey listenable would clearly be adding
McCoy-levels of distortion, and therefore should be canned.
c) If unlistenable, there would be no discernable means to determine
the quality of the equipment, as GIGO would obtain in the most absolute
sense.

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA