[Closed] What music to test a hi-fi ?

I always go for something by Michael Jackson, the production on his stuff is consistently awesome 🙂 If the drums on the Billie Jean intro don't sound crisp and punchy then it's not worth having.

Something you like that is well recorded. We used certain discs when I was in hi fi and I would expect older stuff not to be so well recorded.

Brass can be very revealing, as can strong vocals or acoustic instruments.

Naim stuff is all about timing IIRC and so I wouldn't expect as much in terms of depth/imaging etc (stop wasting your time and try DNM 😀 )

I'm no expert - but something new but "quiet" would be good

something like "Master and Everyone" by Bonnie Prince Billy, or one of the Rick Rubin produced Johnny Cash albums

LOLs at tom.

bTW a lot of U2 is really badly recorded (over-compressed) - in order to sound good in cars IIRC.

I often use Big Calm by Morcheeba to audition hifi's. The production quality is impeccable I know it well.

Knowing it well is the most important thing as it gives you a frame of reference against which to judge.

There is also an Album called Spirit of '76 by Spirit. It has a version of the 'Like a rolling Stone' which is one of the most sensational recordings of all time. Utterly stunning and makes the kit really work.

What Naim kit you looking at?

good choice on "Billy Jean" tom - ridiculously good record 🙂

cynic-al - Member
LOLs at tom.

bTW a lot of U2 is really badly recorded (over-compressed) - in order to sound good in cars IIRC.

this is true of pretty much all records recorded in the last 15 years or so

DNM

Ooooh, DNM, my boss is trying to get rid of his PA3 as he is upgrading to a PA3S and I am sorely tempted to take it off his hands. for the cash though I am not sure it will be that much better than my Meridian.

Veeeery tempting though.

Soul Bossa Nova by Quincy Jones. Really parpy brass to stretch the legs of a speaker.

Track one on this CD is actually pretty good:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Evanescence/e/B000APR0NU/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2?qid=1296061763&sr=8-2

I also reckon "I've had the time of my life" by Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley might be good as I thought I had my system set up ok and then the wife (without my permission) put this on and it sounded awful, leading me to realise there was somthing wrong.

You really need a variety as you don't want a system that is only good at one type of music.

Modern stuff is more compressed, so often the older recordings can be better.

For a more "live" sound, Fugazi stuff tends to have nice sounding production. I love the drum kit/bass sounds on 13 Songs and Red Medicine.

Surely you just take a selection of your favourite CDs? - and if they sound better on the new system then Bobs 'ya mothers brother!

I'm looking at NAIM Uniti with maybe NAIM n-SATs or cheaper Kefs
....awaits deluge of alternative advice.

Light and Day by The Polyphonic Spree - tons of layers and everything from high to low frequencies.

Standard test is In the Air Tonight though 🙂

My dad has a Naim Uniti and it is a cracking little system. The DAC in it is particularly good if you have a variety of external digital inputs. Enjoy!

Surely you just take a selection of your favourite CDs? - and if they sound better on the new system then Bobs 'ya mothers brother!

Agreed. The whole "test tracks" thing harks back to the idea that there can be objective perfection in hifi. There isn't. It's just the boxes that play your favourite music in a way that appeals to you.

I have usually taken no more than four or five CDs, each with a preferred track.

Naim is good, and has an established house sound, but don't fall into the whole Naim upgraditis nonsense. It's way more expensive than bikes....

Oh, and as it's Naim, if the salesman starts tapping his foot, get up and walk out. I thought it was a myth until I had it happen to me...

I imagine it's best to make comparisons using music you are familiar with and are likely to play on the equipment.

Corrrr-ectamundo.

Welcome to NAIM. You are about to elevate your quality of life. 😀

I would take both well recorded and not so well recorded CDs.

My reason being is that if the set up you buy only sounds great with well-recorded CDs, but not so hot with the rest then you are only going to listen to your well recorded stuff going forward.

Oh, and as it's Naim, if the salesman starts tapping his foot, get up and walk out. I thought it was a myth until I had it happen to me...

Sounds interesting but not sure I understand, can you explain please?

Assuming you are testing hi-fi with a view to buying it and listening to it, surely all you need is a cross-section of the stuff you actually enjoy listening to. If you like the Stones but all your old Stones CDs sound naff on a "good" hi-fi, then don't buy that hi-fi.

I've made this mistake myself, searching out that "well produced" recording that actually I'll rarely listen to, rather than taking the poorly produced stuff I like to listen to

Might sound great in the shop, in their "listening booth".

But will it sound good in your "space"?

SB

Sounds interesting but not sure I understand, can you explain please?

It was said that salesmen of Naim and Linn kit (as the main proponents of the "flat earth" sound) would seek to accentuate the famed rhythm and timing of the kit by sitting next to you tapping their foot as you listened.

I thought it was a myth, until I auditioned a faily simple Cd5/Nait5/Quad 11L (I have 21Ls) set up, and the salesman sat with his leg stretched right into my line of sight and tapped his foot vigorously at every track. 👿

Gotcha. Yeah, I would have left too.

Surely you just take a selection of your favourite CDs? - and if they sound better on the new system then Bobs 'ya mothers brother!

I agree, take some music your currently enjoying, and turn it up loud. If you have to 'try' to hear if you like it, don't buy it.

Dealers make subtle comments and tap their feet more vigorously when demoing the more expensive options and if your not careful, you can convince yourself the differences are greater then they are. This is especially true for the brands which try to put you on the upgrade ladder. If you can't hear much of a difference, then there ain't much of a difference.

It's also important to try some less well recorded material, it's no good having a Hi-Fi which only sounds good with well produced material. This is especially true for the brands which have a brightish tonal balance 😉

Good luck!

Damn! Try again.

Whatever CD. Whatever system.

You need to hear it where you are gonna listen to it before you buy.

SB

It was said that salesmen of Naim and Linn kit (as the main proponents of the "flat earth" sound) would seek to accentuate the famed rhythm and timing of the kit by sitting next to you tapping their foot as you listened.

Bloody hell..that's spooky...posted at the same time!

If you can, do a blind test between the systems. I did and to the salesman's annoyance consistently picked the cheaper system as sounding "better" to me.

accentuate the famed rhythm and timing of the kit

What does this even mean? Surely the rhythm and timing is defined by the music that has been recorded, not the stuff it's played through?

Take your 10 most listened to albums, forget production values and forget all the hifi guff you read about. If you like how the music sounds then it sounds good.

I quite like naim stuff but you'd be wise to listen to lots of other stuff too. The naim upgade path brings madness and despair.

My take on hifi these days is a good source and a decent amp are a given but it's the speakers that make the thing sing and have to work with your room. Changing amps from one that retails at 4k to a little nait 5 made hardly any difference, sticking in a pair of martin logans blew me away. I'm currently using a 300 pound amp to drive very expensive speakers and its works fine and sounds better.

Oddly enough good hifi is a great leveller it seems to make shite old record sound decent and better ones sound fantastic.

What does this even mean? Surely the rhythm and timing is defined by the music that has been recorded, not the stuff it's played through?

Not worth getting involved with....

But, essentially, Naimees (as Naim adherents are called) will tell you that a condom with a hole through the end is better than industry standard. And that Naim kit delivers the natural timing and rhythm of the music so much better. Yes, really, they do.

There's a reason why all this weirdness gets called "flat earth".... 😐

It means that some British hifi manufactures make/made hifi gear with a very bright tonal balance which emphasises the transients. They 'educated' their customer base that timing was everything and everything else was 'boring'.

They combined it with clearly laid out upgrade paths and clever marketing, so if you thought your hifi was bright, you might need another power supply/power amp/go active/better CD player to give it that final tweak.

Basically, sell a flawed product, but market it well and make a killing on the upgrades 😉

haha, I see. Think I'll stick to simple studio monitors!

Naim systems can be quite troubling because of this upgrade route, for instance

[img] http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS-UfRWaApMmgybPUzx1PrhWW3cNEFskT8dcD_9IJxgFJ4Ibx30qw [/img]

Think I'll stick to simple studio monitors!

Now that's good thinking. If you really want an upgrade, a modest amount of acoustic treatment will do far more. The picture joolsburger posted sums it up....a fortune on hifi and supports with make no difference and no room treatment. How did the dealer allow that to happen?

Take vinyl, it sounds better.

Doesn't it?

[i]Any informed comment would be gratefully received.[/i]

Ha!

Fleetwood Mac Rumours on vinyl.
Paul Simon's Graceland on CD but it MUST be the 1986 version.
Dire Straits Love Over Gold on either vinyl(180gr) or CD
Police Syncronicity on vinyl (180gr)
Ry Cooder Bop Till You Drop on CD

I always used to listen to:
- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
- Something classical to hear stereo placement
- Couple of things I'm currently into.
Dont' ask me why Tom Petty, I think probably because of the pared down production and quite accoustic nature. After that it became a bit of a superstition.

And take it home to listen if possible, your room will probably make the biggest difference.

I've always found Playing Dead by Bjork has proved to be a good test of sound equipment.

Pink Floyds Dark Side of the Moon.

Just play the whole album 😉

though I am not sure it will be that much better than my Meridian

A HA HA HAH AH HAH

Best one for a while 😉

As others have said, take some music you know well.

I usually take some Peter Gabriel which tends to sound better and better as you listen on more expensive systems.

Expect a lot of modern music to still sound compressed.

Maybe take something you've never really liked as well.

Alison Krauss and Union Station - Baby, now that I've found you
Slade - How does it feel
Motorhead - Ace of Spades
Pat Benatar - Shadows of the night
The Alarm - The Deceiver
Andy Williams - Happy Heart
Band of Horses - The Funeral
Blondie - Call Me

My recommendation is listen to the music with your feet.

If your feet aren't tapping involuntarily when listening to music played on an all NAIM system (or all NAIM bar the standard recommended sets of speakers that go well with NAIM), then there is something wrong IMO.

Seriously, I am half serious. NAIM should have your feet tapping and wanting to get up to dance, with a caveat regarding Bach etc, then it may be more of an emotional flow.

I've got a Uniti and also now a Qute as well. The Uniti runs through a set of Rega RS5s and the Qute is attached to some mission m35's which also do TV duties. I love my Uniti's - mainly the sound quality of the UNiti/RS5s is stunning and the Qute is just so damn useful - we have the Uniti in the 'other' tv-less lounge and the qute in the kitchen/lounge area. Love it, iRadio, uPNP from an iMac with lossless library running DBPowerAmp to stream - works perfectly and sounds incredible. I'm sure there are better more expensive systems but i get all my Naim kit at cost and this fitted my requirements for streaming media and good quality well made stuff. The range and cost of the kit is eye watering though.

One cd that auditions stuff quite well is Turin Brakes The Optimist - it is very very well recorded.