9 Terrible Recordings I use to Test Audio Equipment

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[@cheapaudioman]

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[@khalbrando2990]

Have you tried Emotiva’s XXlr cables? I got an Eversolo Z6 I’m going to connect to a Schiit Midgard or Topping A70pro, and I want a really good connection. I live in a condo now so mostly headphones is all I can really jam with, and I’m moving up from my “beginner system” lol (it was pretty great already) oh and I’ll be connecting unbalanced to these amps from a Mani 2. I tried to order from Snake Oil first but they aren’t producing anything until the 30th of May. I guess I could always just order something on Amazon 😕

[@michelplouffe7934]

Please put your Tidal playlist

[@mattgilbert9415]

​@@michelplouffe7934It's up in the video description

[@ra-a_tsukuyomigt9298]

SONG LIST - cheapaudioman Beastie Boys - Intergalactic Lena Hall - Creep Johnny Cash - Hurt Nina Simone - Sinnerman Metallica - Harvester of Sorrow Steve Winwood - Higher Love Hans Zimmer ❤️ - Why so Serious? Korn - Narcissistic Cannibal

[@briannelson4122]

What up Cheap! I have a big living room and am on the hunt to improve my present set up. I found you looking the last time for a small speaker set up (which you helped me with!) , never intending that set up to be a permanent solution for the larger area. I bought it for my office originally, and set it up in the big room while I remodel my office. So, I'll be tuning in a little more regularly to get "inspired". Thanks Cheap! I really do enjoy your channel and content, all cheekiness aside.

[@kevinanderson422]

Holy cow, thank you so much for introducing me to Lena Hall, specifically her rendition of Creep, with this list! The moment you call out from the song gives me chills every time I hear it.

[@mgaming7]

Every speaker I have ever bought had to have Alice n Chains MTV unplugged played on them. Such an amazing recording.

[@zzzzi8586]

jar of flies EP for me, the acoustic guitars there are just the ultimate test of "musicality".

[@agustinpaz1530]

Maybe you can separate the video in sections for each song so it's easier to look for them. You can add them in the description also...

[@ssc00p]

never too overrated suggestion this...

[@cheapaudioman]

Can I take out your garbage too?

[@jaycoleman8062]

​@cheapaudioman Wednesday night, it goes out. I'll make coffee.

[@jaycoleman8062]

My favorite track for testing is Secret World by Peter Gabriel. You should feel that Chapman Stick in your bones. I enjoy your channel.

[@oohmeconkers1968]

I always put on Copphead Road by Steve Earle… opening bars have such a lot of deep bass! Also the track bounces along in a very musical way. Then I put a CD on I received from a hi fi magazine back in the day. It is a small collection of songs by Mary Black (Irish singer) and is recorded extremely well. It’s got to be over 25 years old now but it still sends a tingle on a good well set up system…

[@LorDarkGoose]

How is this becoming my favourite YT review channel lately?? This is how! On fire Randy - Great content and variety!👍

[@cheapaudioman]

Well thank you. Don’t watch too many videos though. Your IQ will drop

[@larrygaines7462]

My room has windows 1 in. Hard foam then couch foam clothes on racks line walls 16x30 room. Sound stage great. Bass is effordless to 20hz, shakes the phone 30 feet away. One guy cried when I turned up Elvis My friend that has has $50k klip system won't come by again. I broke his heart. My system is scary.. I have now a 3255cult. All your inspiration drove me to build the best bang for buck system.thanks. my health is degrading but I will jam til the corners come!

[@semabe1]

The best test album I go to on gear that crosses my desk is Stripped by Macy Gray. If you can hear the details, and I mean ALL of the details, and Macy Gray is in the room with you on a 2.0 or 2.1 system, you've done things correctly. It's a Chesky Binaural recording so there are some aspects that work really well on a stereo speaker setup and some that work well on headphones. I consider it the "great equalizer" on system setups.

[@Oldcrow77]

I certainly understand you having a list of songs that you use as a reference to compare speakers etc. But an individual needs to listen to the music they normally listen to. Doesn’t matter if my system plays some of the stuff on your list. I’m gonna have things Like Supertramp “Crime of the Century” Pink Floyd “Wish you were here” Dire Straits “Brothers in arms” CD Zeppelin “good times,bad times” Joni Mitchell “court and Spark” Elton John’s “Madman across the water” Spinal Taps “Big Bottoms” (why not?)

[@nwr99nwr99]

Don't forget to turn on the Dobly for best results with any Spinal Tap track!

[@hushpuppykl]

My fav test tracks: Kyrie - Torsten Goods Blame It On My Youth - Sidsel Storm Sixteen Tons - Jeff Castellucci Make Us Stronger - Ghost Rider Kanskje - Kari Bremnes Love Is Blindness - Cassandra Wilson I Will Remember - Toto I Can't Stand The Rain - Woongsan Fanfare for the Common Man - Minnesota Orchestra To test how wide your speaker's soundstage is, you need to listen to the horse carriage passing by on Roger Waters' Too Much Rope. A very good system will get you whopping 180 degrees.

[@ethimself5064]

For gut wrenching bass I like to listen to ELP, Lucky Man. Near the end the synthesizer really rocks my house and internal organs at volume +

[@umiami91]

Try “Firth of Fifth” and “Afterglow” by Genesis.

[@Oldcrow77]

We also need classics like Supertramp “crime of the Century” And Joni Mitchell’s “Court and Spark” to cover all the spectrums

[@ethimself5064]

@@umiami91 I forgot - One of the Buddy Holly tunes from the movie soundtrack had some fairly low base also, from the stand up Bass

[@ethimself5064]

@@umiami91 Just did, not quite the same deep bass. It appeared anyway

[@mariuszmariusz-mf5lp]

The Journey. Boston

[@marksilgalis9400]

Love, love, LOVE videos like this. It calibrates my psychoacoustics to yours. My Heco Aurora 700s were not found lacking except for the two you can probably guess. “Why So Serious?” : I could hear the low notes but quite rolled off and seemed like -12 db . “Narcissistic Cannibal” heard that low swell but I imagine it might sound like it has more punch than my speakers are willing to give. Overall, still hugely satisfied with my Hecos.

[@gebo1103]

Try the „Pink Panther Theme“ from Henry Mancini (not joking - a melody that everybody heared sometime!) Great soundstage, lot of details (some very delicate sounds from the very left), some bass (not kicking in your stomac, but very clean recorded) - some goodies of everything!

[@Punisher9419]

That Hanz Zimmer track made everything in my room shake but I have a subwoofer. I need to move everything so it doesn't vibrate. It even made the light bulbs go weird, my sub isn't even that high in gain it's tuned pretty well for movies and most music.

[@universalhead]

That’s amazing, yea I was like what the hell is that rattling. It was the side grill on the 301’s. And the mirror and the picture. It’s a great track.

[@ejreiffenstein]

Awesome stuff. Just starting back on my journey thanks to you. Currently have a Schitt Magni with their DAC card with a pair of Sennheiser HD598 Cs headphones. This has helped me discover some of the weaknesses of these headphones and my next purchase will likely be a Schit Loki Mini+ to resolve these issues and get things dialed in tonally. Nothing drops out but the headphones definitely need a boost on the bottom and top. Thanks for reigniting my love for music.

[@rickbrookes9491]

“One of the Batman movies…the one with the Joker.” Like… the Dark Knight? The best of the trilogy? The best Joker performance ever, by Heath Ledger… his last film? You mean THAT Batman movie?! 😆

[@cheapaudioman]

Yeah. That’s the one

[@gullrockgeorge9057]

In my opinion, Cash's characteristic baritone is affected far less by the 250-300hz range than the 100-150hz range. Just open a tone generator program and you find out pretty quickly that 250-300hz is higher pitched than you'd think, especially for a male baritone.

[@HarakiriRock]

One of my favorite bands for testing is No Doubt, specifically "Marry Me" on Return of Saturn. There's a guitar that sounds like it's beside the listener at a distance much wider than the speakers, and a part where it sounds like Gwen leans in and whispers in your ear. Great for testing width/soundstage and quickly deciding if speaker placement is good or not.

[@joshstearns4277]

I just got a pair of used Ohm Walsh 5000's. When they arrived the cans were damaged. Ohm was awesome. Ohm did the repair and upgraded the crossover. Anyhow, I was listening to Sinnerman, because I can't stop listening. Holy crap, that woman is literally having a religious awakening on the stage. With my new/old speakers, I could hear every detail of it. The cymbals are playing at a frenetic pace, just building her up. You can hear her losing it in her voice. Then everything stops for the clapping, and the beat is so out of this world (I will call it primitive). And then it starts up again. I felt like I had a front row seat for it. I can literally feel the percussion.

[@derekshearer9049]

I love your channel. The fact you also love watches is incredible

[@bruman2]

Thank you Randy! I was just thinking of reviewing all of your reviews for the music selections. This is a great start for me.

[@Oldcrow77]

So after eating in Italy, will you be going to “Olive Garden” anymore?

[@ethimself5064]

🤣🤣🤣

[@jasongarcia8733]

Awesome. Thanks for this. A lot of times i have no idea what you are talking about when you mention specific frequencies.

[@slyfoxx2973]

The Wildfire explosions during the Battle of the Blackwater season two of Game of Thrones are a real test of a system's brown note abilities. I'll add the opening track of Painkiller by Judas Priest will test a system's ability to physically injure the listener yet leave them not minding a bit.

[@QueOndaWhey]

LOL!!

[@BillDouglass-m9d]

Randy every audiofile should concentrate on room acoustics not equipment.! Even great systems sound like crap in untreated rooms. Work on your rooms!😊

[@Old_Sailor85]

Spent more time building the room out than picking gear. Even mediocre gear in a good room can sound great.

[@CarlVanDoren61]

Own dipoles 😊 Tuning is everything Listen to reflections

[@jonathandavis9507]

Picking the right equipment for the room is equally important.

[@Old_Sailor85]

@@CarlVanDoren61 Magnepans and subs... Good enough for me.

[@hushpuppykl]

You need to, at the very least, get the room's RT60 down to 350-400 ms. Got mine down to 300ms without spending more than say ... $500. But it's a small 14' x 12' room.

[@angusrainbow8853]

Base drop on Dirty Nice, Edit at 2:15 shows up bass limits due to distortion in the original track. Most systems can’t produce a smooth bass line including a lot of headphones. The start of Burn Your Name by Powder Finger separates the men from the boys as well. Limestone Magic City Hippies is amazing as well for the bass line.

[@alangroskreutz235]

One of my favorite, short tracks to check a system with is Aaron Copland's Fanefare for the Common Man played by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and directed by Zubin Mehta. Great testing of range, clarity, tightness and sounstage.

[@peterowings7233]

I've been using Tool's Culling Voices lately. A lot of the song is Maynard's voice coming out of a black background but when the band winds up it should feel like a chest compression and gut punch. It'll really show off how dynamic your setup is.

[@davidbartochowski7832]

My favorite test albums are Romantic Warrior by Return to Forever, early Al DiMeola and Weather Report. Thanks for your great insight and information, keep the great stuff coming

[@BobTrainor]

See, you don’t have to have measurements to assess your gear, you just need to know your music. Thanks Cheap Audio Man!

[@ethimself5064]

Killing me softly bt Roberta Flack and Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez come to mind for good testing IMHO

[@lisar3944]

killing me softly = YES. I also like Lou Reed's "perfect day" for the insane centered vocals + piano joy + potentially messy crescendo.

[@alphajam1]

Welcome to Machine is pretty good test for lows and More Human Than Human - White Zombie - Supersexy Swingin album, it goes super low in one spot that you can't miss if you have good woofers.

[@bruteforceteevee]

That Lena Hall track....DAAAMN. Never heard of her before, WHAT A SET OF PIPES! Wow.

[@sconescrewdriverson]

That's a nice list. My personal list is: The Sea - DJ Contacreast Radioactive - Imagine Dragons Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn remix) - Omi It's all about distinction, blur, and noise.

[@geo.037]

Nice video Randy. I agree completely with having a set of songs that you are familiar with, enjoy, and express your desire for listening. Of course we have are own choices but i do enjoy hearing others choices. Thanks Randy. If i may add the female vocal is a must when auditioning new equipment.

[@ComputerGeeks-R-Us]

Just a quick note, there's a typo on your "Cheap Audio Man 10 Test Teacks". Thanks for this as your old Amazon Music test track playlist hadn't been working for me for quite some time.

[@eRocko808]

Yup, adding my reply for visibility. They disappeared a while back. I'd imagine AM changed the security for the playlists, so they're private or something.

[@tomreidy1237]

I have always liked testing speakers with Wuthering Heights by Pat Benatar, Year of the Cat by Al Stewart, Music By John Miles, Feeling That Way by Journey, Hide in your Shell by Supertramp

[@l_o_c_o_666]

I enjoy metal music and Japanese rap at high volume. Trying to build a system that can transition from one type of music to another without constant adjustments has been my mission. Korn is my sound check test for it's combination of highs and lows🤘

[@zippymagee]

Lena Hall is fantastic !!! there is classic audio file track Shelby Lynne - Just a Little Lovin' has some clipping if you have detail resolution.

[@ralphmckenzie8802]

The bass kicks in at 20-21 hertz on the Dark Knight track. My full range speakers handle it no problemo - thats why I build my own speakers nowadays - IMHO good towers should always be full range for music.

[@gettnbetter7274]

Somewhat related, Denon and other AVR's with Audyssey profiles active, by default, intentionally introduce a dip in the midrange 2k-4k on all speakers. Many folks don't realize it's even there until they measure it or do like you do and listen for this in their personal reference recordings. Their Audyssey app can remove this if needed. Thanks for the songs and descriptions, very useful.

[@Timoeltejano]

I just love reading people's opinions about optimum sound. I like my sound how i like my sound regardless of measurements, room acoustics... Treatments. I used to own super high end crap but figured out, thanks to Randy (CAM) that i could have more for less. These days I'm definitely on a budget and find that my Aiyima A07 Max sounds great with my B&W bookshelf speakers and my Polk sub. Or with my Kefs or Jamos. Or my Yamaha A-S301 paired with my Klipsch RP-6000f speakers.

[@sethpennel3830]

My Sony car radio and frankincense klipsch speakers did very well with this list. Not bad for cheap audio.

[@bpalpha]

Aww...you didn't mention Give Me One Reason by Tracy Chapman.

[@brendanhoffmann8402]

I finally got some decent speaker wire (16 AWG OFC). The old wire was just cheap electrical wire. I was shocked by how much difference it made. Fuller, stronger and louder!

[@losriosprofundos2113]

I recently got new speaker stands with spikes on the bottom from Solidsteele. I’m surprised how much better everything sounds.

[@brendanhoffmann8402]

@@losriosprofundos2113 You're so funny. Not.

[@losriosprofundos2113]

@@brendanhoffmann8402 I wasn’t making light of you. I was sincere. It’s crazy how big a difference small changes can make.

[@losriosprofundos2113]

@@brendanhoffmann8402 I was being sincere. It’s crazy how some small changes can really affect a hifi system.

[@memania-]

I remember listening to Lena hall's creep on youtube and really looking forward to try it on the system. it sounded so dog awful like anything else I ever heard before, such a low quality recording.

[@ptioxon]

Metal Machine Music by Lou Reed, no blood, no foul.

[@roynusser5246]

Awesome tips for people becoming an Audiophiliac. No, not turning into Steve Guttenberg. Unless they're not a great guy, wanting to be a great guy, then fine. You know what I mean. The way you explain it, makes it easier to understand which sounds and instruments correlate to certain frequency regions. That can get confusing when you've just started the plunge down the rabbit hole.

[@gerlachsieders4578]

Awesome shirt Randy! I just happen to love the album Jurrassic Park by John Williams, it is one of my all-time favourite albums, but especially the track Journey to the Island is just magical. In fact this track piqued my interest in movie scores all the way back in 1993 when I first heard it in cinema, I was blown away by the music and have been hooked ever since. And yes, I am big fan of the work by Hans Zimmer too....Apologies for this useless information, atb, Gerlach Sven.

[@frankplissken143]

Yes, my hifi system is Schiit and I love it!

[@mannye]

I paused the video, and found (admittedly youtube versions, so probably compressed to hell) of every song and my SP-B522 Pioneers (Mr. Jones strikes again) powered by an old Orb Audio Mini-T straight out of the motherboard in a near field config are amazing. Sinnerman in particular with the piano over here and the drum kit over there and her smack dab in the middle was impressive. I'm going to get a drive with high rez versions of this list to use for my own evaluations. What a great list! I'm only now getting into digital high end, so thanks for the video! It would be really fun to see what your analog list is. My premier record for listening to analog (turntables) is a Blue Note pressing of St. Germain "Tourist" and the stereo version of Harry Belafonte at Carnegie, and Steely Dan's Aja (my copy is on red vinyl for some reason). I have a few more, but I would love to know what your "test records" are in the same way these are your digital tests.

[@timbacchus]

I tested all of those songs on KZbin and just love the tests. As I get older I love treble

[@jfr1907]

Awesome list Randy, you didn't mention Tool in the video though! I am here basking in the glow of my Amators courtesy of your spreading the word about them. How do you feel about the Yamaha AS2200 vs. the Advanced Paris you reviewed? I surrounded my Luminas with the Yamaha, a REL sub and the Or hard Labs Pecan Pi+ dac and am in pure heaven. My only knock on the Luminas are they are SO natural they need high end gear to open up, but boy when they do!!!

[@snowboarderrx]

For that Johnny Cash song. Does his voice fully fall apart near the end when the instruments pick up? it sounds like he sicking through white noise.

[@gmlgml780]

Yeah. I have a very cr@ppy system (or a few of them), complemented by a room with probably the worst acoustic on earth, so bad acoustic that even an Adam T5V sounded cr@ppy and bloated and muddy in that room, but I just stepped up a big one. I found room correction software called Cavern Quick EQ. With the simplest UMIK-1 it could calculate a correction EQ what made the sound of each of my cr@ppy systems 10 levels higher. (And I cut everything under 100 Hz.) It's stunning what room correction can do nowadays, everything should be about it in loudspeaker audio. I think we will hear about room correction much in the next years.

[@mr13mtt]

harvester of sorrow is excellent for testing speakers. one of my favorites

[@docwells7]

Truth be told, the entire AJFA album is a great test for speakers...

[@middleearthltd]

The audio component reviewers are rightly afraid of copyright strikes but you can dip in and out. Having listened to a lot of music reviewers I find it bemusing how the audio component reviewers as so very afraid. Zeos does it in the safest way, and in a funny way, so props to him. Everyone has such different music tastes and there are a couple few songs that I would use for reference in your list. Still on vacation seemingly or hopefully Contentus ad contenta causa God Speed

[@TheMatsushitaMan]

0:26 the robot is farting lmao

[@KITFLETCH1]

So cool - my Lintons managed most of it! Thank you.

[@traildoggy]

Lately all of my headphones sound like Schiit.

[@randolphblack2554]

That's what happens when you buy Schitt!

[@scr3wb4ll82]

Also... Chocolate chip trip is mind expanding 🤯

[@gregbartley2475]

The bass hit at 3:26 in war so serious is about 43hz. I get it loud and clear.

[@ElCid_86]

Great list and explanations. Thanks!

[@ethimself5064]

Great content - again👍 - 👍

[@lobagx]

Great video!!! I aproved every track with my ls50 meta. Even Batman's track, low volume but i can hear. Greetings from Argentina. Thanks.

[@tubefreeeasy]

Simon and Garfunkel’s The Boxer always had lot’s of sibilants from acoustic guitar and voices.

[@knobbshots]

Thanks for makin it a playlist 👍

[@svendeckers1964]

'Why so serious' makes my house shake.

[@bluev2srt]

Great video I look forward to putting my gear to the test!

[@starg47]

I only test my equipment with music I enjoy to listen to, I'll play 2-3 tracks of some of my favorites in each genre I like even if it's not a perfect recording

[@jeanmichel2642]

Everywhere in the world except US a cup of coffee isn't as large as a beer can

[@gisohatt59]

How about Korn - Blind from the album Live and Rare? I tried all 9 songs and still very happy with my setup (Dali Zensor Pico, Dali Sub e-12f and Marantz receiver).

[@marcparsons1726]

Dionne Warwick Deja Vu is odd in the bass. Stiffed off Sex O Ramma 2 will crack you up! Look it up!!!

[@robertdubard7959]

Intergalactic sounds (on my system, and with my ears) like the drums are in another room or something--no brightness to them at all. Is that normal?

[@ra-a_tsukuyomigt9298]

Hey thanks for your videos first off. They have been very informative and interesting. I just got the Neumi BS5s per your recommendation. Really wanted the SSCS5 but that would double the price 👀. I feel like the high hats aren't as detailed like you mentioned. Should I try and upgrade tweeter or save up for the Sony and use Neumi for surround?

[@steveh545]

awesome, thanks for this vid! Always interested in good sample tracks. I like some percussion me, and Steve Winwood is awesome for this. And my little REL likes Intergalactic (which surprised me!). I need to hook up my 'big sub' and see what i'm missing. It goes lower, but i suspect the it's more quantity than quality. I'm not sure i need 40hz, if 60 is done well.

[@Montebruno]

Greetings Randy I have a very important question (for me at least IMO) did you calibrate the decibel meter in the app "Decibel X" That you use (and I subsequently copied and now use) Because it differs depending on that phone it is installed in and this requires to be adjusted as the app itself suggests. Thank you

[@scr3wb4ll82]

Tidal playlist saved. Now to test all my gear...... Muahahaha!

[@1mctous]

Yes, my desktop system is a bunch of Schiit 😉

[@ethimself5064]

I have my Desktop audio plugged into my audio system - maybe this will help

[@1mctous]

@@ethimself5064 The test tracks from Amazon SD (MP3 level) sounded really good on my HiFiMan Edition XS. I kept the Loki EQ out of the circuit.

[@MichaelArney]

Hey Randy . I love Lena Hall . Try some Eva Cassidy . I think you will like it.

[@tudorm6838]

If we are not musicians, the simplest is to check people's voices, for which we have an innate skill. There should be more songs with female and male voices that are not covered by instruments. Likewise, there are few pieces with "classical" instruments. Electric and electronic music can sound anyway, there is no naturalness to it.

[@MrJasonfromcanada]

Oh! Sweet Nothing, is a good one from Velvet Revolver

[@unewb]

Maybe we should all vote on the best speaker for the money and anybody that doesn’t agree with it is just considered wrong. Ls50 ftw.

[@bengleason508]

No Diana Krall?

[@steveh545]

'translate to English'? ... thanks YT for the help, lol

[@werefed8613]

Radio head, fake plastic trees, terrible recording, takes a great system to make it shine

[@broederbond60]

Very informative. I like to test components with the Sparks song Dick Around.

[@jeffreymoorbeck5039]

Can't get the amazon playlist to link/open?

[@universalhead]

The 301’s lost control on “Harvester of Sorrow” The resonance was cruel. I thought they might blow up. Metallica has major output in there recordings.

[@thepracticalaudiophile]

The playlist links say no longer available.

[@mikemurel1917]

Great info!!!

[@CarlVanDoren61]

😂 the pot calling the kettle black ⚫️

[@Alamo-cz5xc]

"Injection Basic Sound" by Matmos to test your bass

[@TonkyTronicus]

Bring me some danker bud, Bring me some danker bud, ooo-ooohh

[@scrappy7571]

Your 100% correct about Alanis Morrisette, absolute finger nails on the chaulk board. Would rather have ice picks in both ears than listen to any of her whiny crap.

[@TonkyTronicus]

My Koss KPH40's pass the Why So Serious test :D

[@kamelsardine563]

These tracks sound really good on my Cantons 426.2 that I bought for 120€ (second hand) powered by a Cambridge Audio Azur 340. As a source I use the out of an echo dot (3rd gen). Should I expect a sighificant improvement getting a proper streamer?

[@cleverb3507]

Holy crap yes. You can even make one out of a raspberry pi if you like projects. The little dac built in to the dot is not super high quality.

[@kamelsardine563]

So I got the Wiim plus pro (it was on sale for 211€ on Amazon). After switching with the same tracks between the Wiim and the Dot I cannot really hear a difference. Either the TI Chip in the Dot does a better job than expexted or I'm just deaf.

[@D1N02]

Making me sign up for Tidal or Amazon for a playlist. No thanks.

[@erics.4113]

MAKING you sign up? Is Randy supposed to build the playlist in every single platform for you? Chop your steak into cubes and airplane it to your iddle widdle mouth? 🤪

[@Star1933-y8w]

Thank you.