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Disks to demo your setup?


Chris A

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Every once in a while, I find some disk gems on this forum that really show off the system. In the past, I've used various sampler and test disks like Chesky and DMP, SACDs like Patricia Barber, and DVD-As like Diana Krall to show off the system (some are multi-channel disks). Additionally, I've found other CDs that are really good, such as: Norah Jones' Not Too Late, Nadja Solerno-Sonnenberg's It Ain't Necessarily So, and Stevie Ray Vaughan's The Real Deal: Greatest Hits Volume 1.

What digital disks are your absolute favorites that you use to show off your setup?

Chris

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For drums, I use:

Circle of Drums (SACD) by Babatunde Olatunji

Acoustic guitar and all-around great show:

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds: Live at Radio City Music Hall Blu-ray

For jazz (trio genre) with the occasional fantastic drums, I like

Diana Krall, Live in Paris (DVD)

Diana Krall, Live in Rio (Blu Ray) - but only a few tracks are fast-paced.

Norah Jones, Come away with me (DVD, but unless there's a new one out, it's 4x3 format!)

Diana Krall, The girl in the other room (SACD)

Diana Krall, Love Scenes (CD) - contains some tracks that are too orchestral for my taste, but three great tracks that make it worth 10 CDs.

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Diana Krall, Love Scenes (CD) - contains some tracks that are too orchestral for my taste, but three great tracks that make it worth 10 CDs

That Diana Krall disk is also available in DVD-A, and was the one that I was referring to above (although I didn't identify it). It sounds VERY BIG on DVD-A. No bomb-droppers (drums/percussion) on this recording of course--bass, guitar and piano only--but very interesting nevertheless.

Keep 'em coming...good stuff!

Chris

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http://www.ilike.com/artist/Martin+Zellar/album/Two+Guitars+Bass+and+Drums

The above disc is absolutely awesome. Locally born musician. My wife went to one of his concerts a few years ago and bought me the CD there.

The Telarc Fantasy album on CD is also an amazing disc with tracks from movies from the 70s to the 90s.

Elton John's 60th b-day Blu-Ray is one of the best sounding concerts I've heard.

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Elton John - Madman Across The Water - SACD - (or most any EJ SACD)

Thelonious Monk - Straight, No Chaser - SACD

Art Pepper - Straight, No Chaser - SACD (just a coincidence, not a misprint)

Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade (Reiner/CSO) - Living Stereo SACD

Diana Krall - The Girl In The Other Room (I use the title track to demo) - SACD

Steely Dan - Gaucho - SACD

Yes - Fragile

DSOTM - either MFSL or SACD (only time I turn on the sub - not that it needs it......)

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I've found Flim and the BB's Big Notes- track 4 "Funhouse" to be the most revealing test song I've found.

Telarc's Holst "The Planets" is extremely good at what most speakers don't do well.....Silent passages.

I'm curious about the above Flim and the BB's "Tricycle". What are the best tracks on that album, I've never heard anything but Big Notes and Further Adventures Of.

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It's sad............as much as I've spent on my audio system I pretty much have a pitiful unorganized music collection. I have no "go to" reference music as you guys are listing. NONE......I have different TEST CDs. To be clear, I have some of the very same CDs you all mention..............I couldn't tell you where any of them are though. They are on a shelf of CDs somewhere in the haystack.



I just play the music I like to listen to regardless of the recording quality. In fact, most of the stuff I listen to is live concerts and festival music that isn't recorded anywhere near as nicely as what's been mentioned in this thread. I'm happy with the sound of all that to death on my MCM Grand setup.



I've spent a fortune on audio equipment and need to stop and reconcile my music library.



About 6 months ago I was GIVEN a giant hard drive with a new computer purchase that has over 30,000 lossless songs of all genres on it. I also got a high performance 24/192 sound card with all the bells and whistles in teh new PC. The music hard drive is still in a box and I haven't even tried it yet. I hope to this winter when I get more time.



Shoot me in the head............... I spend most of my time listening to Sirius Jam Band and Grateful Dead channels over my Dish network receiver. I know it's only pretty good in quality but it suits me. Remember...........MCM-3 Grand + subs, and all McIntosh. It's good enough for me. My poor Jolida Tube CD player is an orphan.

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Just for starters:

SRV - In Step album - Riviera Paradise track

Chesky Records - The Ultimate Demonstration Disk

Steely Dan - Aja

DSOTM

Dave Grusin - Collection

Doobie Brothers - What Were Once Vices are Now Habits

Elton John - Madman Across the Water

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About 6 months ago I was GIVEN a giant hard drive with a new computer purchase that has over 30,000 lossless songs of all genres on it. I also got a high performance 24/192 sound card with all the bells and whistles in teh new PC. The music hard drive is still in a box and I haven't even tried it yet. I hope to this winter when I get more time.

That must be one huge hard drive. My collection is in .flac lossless format with about 10,000 songs and takes a good part of a 500 Gig drive. What format are your lossless songs in? 30,000.....Nice!

Time to get your media PC up and running. You will never use a CD player again!

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My poor Jolida Tube CD player is an orphan.

LOL......Mine was, too.......until I rolled tubes in and out of it and my 222c. When I found the right combination, that's when the magic happened. I had almost sold the Jolida until I did this. Now, I burn everything onto a disc because listening through the Jolida is a must. [Y]
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Amazon has some more of my money now. Keep the suggestions coming--this is good.

I'll add one more to this list: E. Power Biggs, The Four Great Toccatas and Fugues: this one is magnificent, but it demands some volume to hear the experience.

Note that I didn't pay the price that Amazon is now asking...

Chris

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Amazon has some more of my money now.

Mine, too! I was listening to "Morph The Cat" by Donald Fagen all last evening because of the reccomendation on this thread. It sounds great......right up there with "The Nightfly". Thanks! [Y]
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The disks that I like to try on different systems:

Vox Tempus - In the Eye of Time:

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Xystus - Equilibrio:

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Suspyre - A Great Divide:

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Project Creation - Floating World:

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Also like trying any of the Aryeon albums as well.

These albums have a lot going on them that makes listening to these on various systems quite interesting, plus these also have some excellent recording quality. There are plenty of others that I like trying on other systems as well, but these are my standards

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