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The hardest piece of music?


juniper8

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Just curious, some of us have a recording or piece of music that we gauge speakers or equipment on. I am wondering what some of the more difficult tracks people use are? I have some decent speakers but one track no speaker can handle that I own is "please, please me" by the beatles, I always find it shouty muddled in the middle and a little confused. I am Curious as to some of the recordings all of you use as a test, that are difficult. Thanks

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one track no speaker can handle that I own is "please, please me" by the beatles, I always find it shouty muddled in the middle and a little confused.

I'm just curious... if no speaker can handle this, is it possible that it is simply poorly recorded and that muddled sound is actually what's on the original tape?

I would think you would have a handful of tracks to showcase different attributes. Some movie scenes (Jurassic park T-Rex?) to show bass performance, other tracks (Bonnie Rait?) to show raspy female vocals and so on?

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one track no speaker can handle that I own is "please, please me" by the beatles, I always find it shouty muddled in the middle and a little confused.

I'm just curious... if no speaker can handle this, is it possible that it is simply poorly recorded and that muddled sound is actually what's on the original tape?

I would think you would have a handful of tracks to showcase different attributes. Some movie scenes (Jurassic park T-Rex?) to show bass performance, other tracks (Bonnie Rait?) to show raspy female vocals and so on?

I hoped it was the recording but I have several and it seems that none of my speakers can handle the complexity of this piece of music! I know that most speakers have limitations and all that I have, have a difficulty with this piece of music! I just wanted to know if someone has a similar "difficult song to test with" T-rex and such seem simple!
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"Oh Atlanta" by Allison Krauss-- femlae vocals that will put a hurtin' on speakers at high volume...

"Sinkin Soon" by Norah Jones-- close-mic, compressed very little, some sharp transients with Norah's voice

"Lucy & Linus" by David Benoi-- Sharp piano attacks

"Flight of the Cosmic Hippos" by Bela Fleck & the Flecktones-- if a speaker can play the bass in this song clearly, it's got a brutal bottom end.

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The opening track of the Telarc Time Warp recording will give any speaker a good workout. Hearing protection is recommended for some of the nasty high content. The organ pedal that opens the ensuing Also Sprach Zarathustra will max out the bass capabilities of just about any speaker. While direct radiators can do deep bass powerfully, the continuous demand of that pedal will gas most of them. Klipschorns like it.

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The organ pedal that opens the ensuing Also Sprach Zarathustra will max out the bass capabilities of just about any speaker. While direct radiators can do deep bass powerfully, the continuous demand of that pedal will gas most of them. Klipschorns like it.

I have always loved that piece of music.

[Y]

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Mickey Hart's DAFOS on Reference Recordings.

Of course you will need a top class turntable/arm/cartridge to go along with this 45rpm LP. The CD is not nearly as substantial as the LP. I first heard this recording at a Summer Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago. My wife and I were waiting in line down the hall to get into the Infinity IRS demo room when Arnie Nudell (Infinity founder/president) apparently decided to use this recording to demo the IRS V. The hotel walls and floors were shaking (read: not vibrating, SHAKING). My wife sounded out "What the hell are they doing in there? Killing somebody?"

On a good system it basically sounds like someone dropped a Kenworth from 5 stories up onto the concrete floor in a warehouse.

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/audiophile-reference-recording-dafos-93409981

Have fun [li] [8-)]

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Mickey Hart's DAFOS on Reference Recordings.

Of course you will need a top class turntable/arm/cartridge to go along with this 45rpm LP. The CD is not nearly as substantial as the LP. I first heard this recording at a Summer Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago. My wife and I were waiting in line down the hall to get into the Infinity IRS demo room when Arnie Nudell (Infinity founder/president) apparently decided to use this recording to demo the IRS V. The hotel walls and floors were shaking (read: not vibrating, SHAKING). My wife sounded out "What the hell are they doing in there? Killing somebody?"

On a good system it basically sounds like someone dropped a Kenworth from 5 stories up onto the concrete floor in a warehouse.

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/audiophile-reference-recording-dafos-93409981

Have fun LightningRoll-eyes

And, being a bass player myself, I might mention track 3 "Reunion", Bobby Vega plays bass (not listed in the credits on the early releases). This is some pretty awsome bass playing. Anyone want to bet that Bobby is not playing a 4 stringer? Or more specifically, his 1961 Fender Jazz Bass? That's just voice, percussion and electric bass guitar on that track!

Professor Thump ~ check this out!!!

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[*-)] Ooops.

I must apologize.

I listened to the LP Thursday night. And the CD last night.

They are not the same. There are different and more tracks on the CD. I'm sure some of the "takes" of some tracks are also different. My CD is also an original release from Reference Recordings. The LP I bought as a promotional copy at CES in the mid-80's. White cover w/hole~no info/basic info on label .

The more recent CD on Rykodisc has an even different track listing. So I guess unless you have/can get the original promo LP you're not going to get the Kenworth ceiling drop kinda thang. The CD sounds very different.

But.......Its still a really great recording. Lots of rhythmic percussion, vocals. And of course Bobby Vega on bass (one track). (that's one guy playing that my friends, most likely on a his 61 Fender Jazz bass)

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Sometimes I don't trust my own senses

There was so much difference between the CD and the original LP, I went snooping around. I guess my first impression of the LP's Gates of DAFOS track is the truth. Here's what I found from another person on another forum with audiophiles looking for something to test low end system performance (pretty much on par with my Kenworth description):





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Mickey Hart: Dafos. Recorded by Keith Johnson and released on
Reference Recordings. The track "The Gates of Dafos" has a moment that
an Abso!ute Sound reviewer measured as going down to 16 Hz. He
described it as the aural equivalent of having a UPS truck crash through
the wall of your living room, IIRC.






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