Your ultimate "test" tracks for new headphones

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Music from Space Camp - Erich Kunzel/Cincinnati Pops - Star Tracks II

[King Mark 3,631]

PoA

Buckbeak's Flight>>I have to clearly hear the triangles at 0.55. If not it means the sound is muddy and the instrument separation is poor

Window to the Past opening: I have to hear the guy breathing into his flute

[crocodile 8,027]

(can someone fix the title so it makes any sense?)

Strange thing to say. Coming from the creator himself, I mean.

Karol

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Can you edit the topic title? It seems to be locked out.

The POA examples are good. Another one of mine is Main Title (The Main Story Continues) from the original ROTJ CD because it sounds so exceptional.

1:40 into Invading Elliott's House on the expanded E.T. album. You know the part where you sort of get this weird and awesome slight effect of a (non-existent) choir? It's important I hear that.

I've had so much trouble finding a decent pair of in-ear headphones for portable use, I've resorted to towing my Grado SR60s around, giant cord and all.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,605]

The triangle at the climax of "The Map Room".

[crocodile 8,027]

Piccolo players' heart attack at the end of the Mine Car Chase.

And everybody else's, for that matter.

Karol

[Richard Penna 3,715]

I have two tracks for testing general clarity. Jim Saves the Crew, where just before the main theme smashes in are several seconds of just the players moving around.

And the End Credits from The Mexican has loads of hiss when the guitar comes in a few times at the start.

[King Mark 3,631]

I've had so much trouble finding a decent pair of in-ear headphones for portable use, I've resorted to towing my Grado SR60s around, giant cord and all.

Grado SR-60's is what I use on my PC , so I know the sound very well. And the in-ear earphones that match the SR-60's sound characteristics almost exactly is the Shure SE102's (formerly named E2C) . Every other in-ear earphone I tried deviates from that sound signature

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

A major problem I have is the left channel cutting out. Every pair of head/earphones I've used for portable media eventually has a short in the left phone. I lost two expensive pairs by Sony and Bose now. I think it might have something to do with the way I carry the iPod in my back pocket and the L curve near the jack. Pressure on this when I walk and such. I realized this last week when my Bose shorted out and I could get the left channel back by messing around with the end connector. The problem seemed to be all in there. So I figure maybe I should use straight connectors like with SR60.

[King Mark 3,631]

yes it happens every few months with me also. Putting the ipod in my pocket was a big part of the problem

Now I hang my ipod Nano on a belt clip so the end of the cord doesn't go in my pocket but just hangs loose .It seems to help the cord lasting longer. The SE102 has a 2 part cord ,so I can just replace the extension (the section that usually shorts out) every few months (it costs 20$ but there's no way around that)

[Trent B 337]

If you have FSM's Star Trek II release how about "Enterprise Attacks Reliant"? Or maybe "Surprise Attack".

[King Mark 3,631]

Also cues with heavy strings like the the first part of Harry's Wondrous World. Strings tend to get muddy and distorted if the sound quality is no good

[Datameister 2,053]

Hmmm, I've never had any specific test tracks...then again, I haven't done much headphone shopping. I've been enjoying my Sony MDR-7506's for years, and nothing else I've heard has been able to compare. (I'm sure there are somewhat better headphones for much higher prices, but that'd be overkill for me.) If and when my current pair finally stops being usable, I'm sure I'll replace them with the same model.

That being said, I think TPM would be an excellent score to do some comparisons with. Intrada's BTTF release sounds stunning as well...and perhaps E.T. or TMP...any of those would be good to compare. I know how amazing they sound on my headphones, and I don't think I'll ever be able to settle for less. That also means in-ear headphones. As convenient and fashionable as they'd be, I just can't bring myself to sacrifice the quality of the music.

[Taikomochi 1,136]

A major problem I have is the left channel cutting out. Every pair of head/earphones I've used for portable media eventually has a short in the left phone. I lost two expensive pairs by Sony and Bose now. I think it might have something to do with the way I carry the iPod in my back pocket and the L curve near the jack. Pressure on this when I walk and such. I realized this last week when my Bose shorted out and I could get the left channel back by messing around with the end connector. The problem seemed to be all in there. So I figure maybe I should use straight connectors like with SR60.

Yeah, that always happens to me. I figured out that by using tape, I can squeeze the end connector in a way so as to make the right channel(it's usually the right channel for me) come back as long as the end is held in place by the tape. It looks completely shitty, but it lets me put off buying a new pair.

[TownerFan 4,991]

There are several albums I use as testers for hi-fi systems, or earphones. If a recording is done properly, it should sound very good on every system.

Round-Up, spectacular album of western-themed music performed by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops--it's really one of the most stunning recording of orchestral music I've ever heard. I use "Theme from The Magnificent Seven" track to test every single hi-fi piece.

Otherwise, "Prologue" from Hook--the bass drum hits towards the end of the piece must really "boom" without saturating.

Other good JW album for testing amps and systems is Yo-Yo Ma Plays the Music of John Williams--I used the first movement of the Cello Concerto to choose my actual CD player.

"The Egg Travels" from JNH's Dinosaur is also another good tester for hi-fi systems.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

A couple I like from the 90s are Drummers' Salute from JFK, which really is a superb recording, and various tracks from Far and Away. That one has a really crisp and dynamic sound. I feel like I'm right in front of the orchestra.

[Datameister 2,053]

Otherwise, "Prologue" from Hook--the bass drum hits towards the end of the piece must really "boom" without saturating.

...

"The Egg Travels" from JNH's Dinosaur is also another good tester for hi-fi systems.

Those are good ones.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

yes it happens every few months with me also. Putting the ipod in my pocket was a big part of the problem

Now I hang my ipod Nano on a belt clip so the end of the cord doesn't go in my pocket but just hangs loose .It seems to help the cord lasting longer. The SE102 has a 2 part cord ,so I can just replace the extension (the section that usually shorts out) every few months (it costs 20$ but there's no way around that)

Shures have a 3 year warranty. My cord for my SE102 predecessor (the E2c with a mike) broke, i sent it in, got a new pair of SE102 with the mic model two days later, with what I presume to be another 3 year warranty since it came with a new warranty card and an invoice (where i owe $0.00 of course)

[King Mark 3,631]

yeah I got the E2C replaced twice with the warranty

now I have one broken SE 102 to send back. I wasn't sure if they'd replace the cord only but now the earpiece is broken too

I'm using a spare pair I bought on special for 60$

I just hope Shure doesn't stop making a model with that specific driver

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

If you had really awesome headphones you'd hear the triangles in Buckbeak's flight about 5 seconds before even that!

[SF1_freeze 131]

I have such awesome headphones, but damn they were expensive ... but worth it

there are also slight triangles in Buckpeak's Flight from 1:46 to 1:51, even quieter than the ones before

[King Mark 3,631]

yeah the Grados can pick those up too

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Another thing I didn't hear until I got better headphones is the faint sound of Williams talking at the end of Sabrina and Linus Date.

[Faleel 5,382]

with a certain pair of headphones i was able to hear what sounded like someone smacking drumsticks together in The Battle of the Hornburg

[Richard Penna 3,715]

About 0:04 in?

[Faleel 5,382]

actually its when the Isengard theme kicks in, its "underneath" the "5 beat pattern" drum beat

[Nemesis 245]

If you had really awesome headphones you'd hear the triangles in Buckbeak's flight about 5 seconds before even that!

And if they are phenomenal you can hear that it is a glockenspiel

[Richard Penna 3,715]

I think I need to actually read the copy of Doug's book sitting on my bookshelf as I've no idea what the '5 beat pattern' is

[nightscape94 965]

Any sound system or headphone set up gets the "Escape/Chase/Saying Goodbye" treatment.

Tim

[King Mark 3,631]

it's about hearing music you know well

If the earphones are crap ,something will be "off" . Little details like the tone of the instruments..

[Maglorfin 196]

This is a very useful thread, I'm looking forward to revisiting as many of the mentioned tracks as possible with my mighty AKGs.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

So I'm able to hear all these triangles/glocks on shitty iPod headphones. Ssssooooooo there goes that theory. Now they don't sound anywhere near as robust as they do on say, AKG K701 or Sennheiser HD25 1-II Pro but good enough, but still clearly audible.

The best benchmark, in my opinion, of headphones (or any stereo equipment) is this.

http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Demonstration-Disc-Critical-Listening/dp/B00002MXUH

Sadly, due to the unique way Chesky is funded, your order may take 6 or 7 years to arrive.

[King Mark 3,631]

I'd be scared of getting that c.d. and become too obsessive

Seriously though I know my Grado sr-60's are the crappiest in the line (but still superior to most run of the mill stuff you can get at Best Buy)

I'd like to upgrade to Grados in the 300$ range but I'd probably hear the static from my computer motherboard

[Zoey79 0]

As motherboard guru :To measure your headphones' highest frequency, play back the second file until you start hearing the underlying (high pitched) sweep tone as it descends. Good headphones will reproduce frequencies up to 20 kHz, the upper limit of human hearing range.
 

[Thor 7,558]

11 years later.....  (don't know if it was spambot or what).

 

I rarely use headphones due to my tinnitus, but I have some HiFi stereo system test CDs. One that I've used often, I got in a Danish HiFi magazine in the 90s. To my amazement, this album is on Discogs!

 

 

https://www.discogs.com/release/8779542-Various-High-Fidelity-Reference-CD-No-4