DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

I've got a few I like to use for home 2-channel audio and also a few favorite DVDs for demonstrating home theater picture and sound...

But I haven't yet found the best demostration or reference CD for my car system. When I first got my Dynaudio's installed, the guy at the shop went nuts trying to tune my system based on everything I had in my CD changer - think I had Dianna Krall, Yo Yo Ma, Depeche Mode, an old Telarc Sampler CD, Tribe / Quest...

I'm most interested in SQ, but SPL would be interesting to hear about as well.

What's yours? Percy / Mean Gene: are there any "generally accepted" CDs that are known as reference for car audio competions or demos?

PERRYinLA

It has 20 tracks, all DDD, with extensive liner notes as to what to listen for in each track. For example:

"Track 15: Requiem, Opus 48: This track is a good test of whether the mid-high amps can handle the tremendous intermodulation created by the crescendo of choral voices and full symphony orchestra. This is between 0:50 and 1:10. The information pushes the crossover points and makes amplifiers do strange things indeed."

Or how about this one:
"Track 13: The Four seasons /Concerto #4: The winter movement with violin solo covering midrange to high frequencies. Notice between 2:26 and 2:30...do you hear live movement here? Do you get a sense of musicians in the room, rather than just notes?"

That's just two of them- there's 18 others, including selections from Jennifer Warnes (Bird on a Wire- a well known track for evaluating vocals and staging), David Benoit, and a progressive sine sweep that covers 20 to 20K Hz in 90 seconds- great for finding rattles that only occur at specific frequencies. And a track of nothing- total silence. If you hear anything, is not on the CD- it's the stereo.

I always bring this CD with me when I travel, to test out home and car systems. Everyone is blown away. And I got it FREE! Alpine was giving it away back in 1988, just for stopping by a dealership!

Mean Gene

Dave - Hard to beat those choices of Gene's & Perry. Eagles - "Hell Freezes Over" is one of the best live performance ever recorded for testing. Percy says that it was mixed with some seriously good equipment ( I think Krell was in there somewhere ). "Bird on a Wire" is excellent for vocals - Warnes' voice is smooth! Lot's of USAC judges use the following 3 CD's - Fleetwood Mac's "The Dance" for Buckingham's guitar ( looking for tonal accuracy ). For midbass, it's hard to beat Dave Mathew's Band "The Best of What's Around". Plenty of kick drums here. A strange choice ( when I first heard it ) is The Grateful Dead's "American Beauty". Listen to "Ripple" off this CD & U can heard subtle snare drum brushwork & acoustic guitarwork that U wouldn't think the Deadheads could do!! Lastly, both the USAC & IASCA CD's have that sine wave bass sweep that's used in competition. It's also good for showing U the frequency of maximium SPL that your car's tuned for. U'll be surprised that what "feels" like the point of max pressure really doesn't show up on the meter at that point. Of course, there's still the "crank it up" national anthem - "Flashdance"!! We used that for almost a decade but now I'm showing my age again, aren't I??

Percy

Some cds that I use for tuning.

1. Eagles. Hell Freezes Over via DVD transfer onto a CDR. Hotel California, New York Minute, Take it easy and a few others. It's by far one of the best live recordings that I've EVER run across. Whoever engineered and mic'd this was incredible at his/her job. No doubt Bruel and Kjaer microphones were used. (NOT the same as home theater "B&K" equipment.) These mics are 2 to 3 grand EACH and there were lots of them floating around!

2. Jennifer Warnes - Bird on a wire. There so much layering and tracks going on that only a SQ rigged system will pick up some of it. Even the most high end cd player that I've used to date, a Sony SCD-1...a 5k$ player that will compete with 20k$ offerings from Wadia, will resolve most of the detail. And then the unit has to be modified to pick up all the goodies that's going on. Great vocals. And yes, JW uses Bruel and Kjaer mics too.

3. Jewels newest "This Way" cd has excellent recording. Guitar strings have the "body", which is VERY difficult to record accurately, even in a specialized booth. Quite dynamic and there's a slight treble roll off. The boys on the panel used tube pre amps and gear for this one.

4. But by FAR the most merciless voice that I've ever encountered for tuning a system is Celine Dion. Pick a track...any track from her older album of "Falling into you". ANY weakness or harshness in the mids will be sticking out like a sore thumb. Although some don't like her (she gets annoying at times), her voice will sweep through the all important mids. If a system sounds right with her voice, then pretty much any voice will sound right on the system. This is my FIRST pick after a general RTA pink noise leveling. Then setting it by ear with Celine. If I remember right, this CD was engineered completely on Dynaudio studio monitors. Most use the Yamaha SN10 which won't compare to the Dyn monitors.

For standard demos I use Hell Freezes Over. For the CRITICAL demos (sound engineers, musicians, etc) then I plug in Celine.

Percy

mikee72

While it probably isn't widely used for "Competition" purposes, I like to use Donald Fagen's "The Nightfly" and more specifically, "I.G.Y." as my tester.

Gekko

Motley Crue - Greatest Hits

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...music&n=507846

gekisai29

all good choices. add jesse cook-gravity , anything vintage steely dan. i also think you should listen to a few of your favorites. you know what you want to hear

Gekko

Shout At The Devil!