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My best demo albums


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5 hours ago, TheAttorney said:

 

I have only redbook files and CDs, but I did get the Analogue Productions hybrid SACD versions of Temptation and Don't Smoke in Bed. In both cases, the redbook layer of these "audiophile" remasters are better than the original, losing some hash and splash, but the difference is quite subtle, partly because the originals were pretty good to start with. I've heard bigger improvements by upgrading my hifi system. Probably the SACD layer would have been better still.

 

Continuing the thread of jazz/pop cross-over artists with demo quality recordings, two other contenders are:

 

Patricia Barber - I wasn't convinced at first, but now I love her minimalist/moody/aloof style. Based my 3-CD retrospective, no albums are more moody, or better recorded, than Modern Cool and the live Companion. If you're looking for a demo quality fretless bass solo, then go straight to the Use Me track on Companion. Her Mythologies album may well be the best recording of the lot, with some real wow moments, but I find it rather "intellectual" musically and not so easy to get into.

 

Diana Krall - The Girl in the Other Room. This is the album to get if you reckon you don't like Diana Krall. It's mostly her own compositions (co-written with hubby Elvis Costello) and a couple of modern covers. Just short of true demo status IMO because the rather hotly recorded vocals will show up any brighness in your system. But try it if only to compare Diana's sultry/sexy version of Temptation against Holly's darker, almost paranoid, interpretation. I love both versions.

 

 

Agree on Patricia Barber being very audiophile. However, her music never stuck with me.

 

The Girl In The Other Room is indeed Krall's best ever album, and I use it quite a bit for demoing as well.


 

 

 

 

 

 

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Funnily enough (or not, there seems to be some consistency in demo pieces), several of the demo tracks mentioned here I often use myself as well, be it Norah Jones (I use One Flight Down), the above mentioned Temptation by Diana Krall, So and So on Holly Cole's Don't Smoke In Bed (nice bass and finger snipping). 

 

Some other tracks that haven't been mentioned that I use quite a lot for demoing are:

 

 

0002894761938_600.jpg

 

In 24/96, although the original Redbook version I had was also quite spectacular.

 

"Twins" starts with a lot of very subtle cymbals and high-hat usage, I use this for soundstaging, and high frequency resolution (plus it's music I actually listen to).

 

image.jpg

 

The opening track of the St. John Passion in 24/96 (Track 4, "Herr, Unser Herrscher") is a nice test for how the system copes with a full orchestra and chorus.

 

And finally, I like the opening of Fabrizio Sotti's guitar on "Red Guitar" in the 24/96 recording of Cassandra Wilson.

 

image.thumb.png.b4b6cb8a4c4d6c41fe3f904a28eb3209.png

 

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I must confess I never used a entire album for demo-ing. Always used several discs/tracks. Some Bruckner (the late great Gunther Wand), some BB King (Eyesight to the blind), Brad Mehldau (Bittersweet Symphony), Angela Hewitt (Bach, Scarlatti) etc. Just my favorite music.

 

But the real test for my is Roberta Flack: The first time ever I saw your face. When I close my eyes, and I see a beautiful woman singing beautiful music, its good. When I jus hear " music": move on. Ms Flack saved me from some (over)hyped headphones more than once..

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, Musicophile said:

Funnily enough (or not, there seems to be some consistency in demo pieces), several of the demo tracks mentioned here I often use myself as well

 Likewise.

 

Quote

But the real test for my is Roberta Flack: The first time ever I saw your face. When I close my eyes, and I see a beautiful woman singing beautiful music, its good.- WAM

 

 

 IF your system is low enough noise, an excellent 3D sounding track is 01. Killing Me Softly from the first release CD.

 There is NO sign of any compression, and it just sounds great.

 

 

Click on the image for a much larger image.

Roberta Flack-Killing Me Softly.jpg

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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22 hours ago, sandyk said:

 

 Since when are the Remasters usually better than the originals ? (except perhaps for some Japanese SHM releases)  

Do you already have this album in 24/88.2 ?

 If not, you could always purchase a single track to see how it sounds, and what the DR is like.

I didn't think I had implied that they were. But it certainly possible that they can be. I do own the original cd and could certainly buy a track to check things out, as you noted. I just got excited about the new remastering when I heard a portion of a radio interview where Holly Cole talked about the new remasterings capturing a purer sound for these recordings than she had heard before. Of course, as we know, singers and/or musicians are not always even the best judges of their own music in this regard. 

 

JC

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1 hour ago, TubeLover said:

I just got excited about the new remastering when I heard a portion of a radio interview where Holly Cole talked about the new remasterings capturing a purer sound for these recordings than she had heard before.

 

 Let's hope they do better than the one I showed, which was supposed to be "Holly Cole - Temptation (Studio Master, Official Digital Download 24Bit 96Khz) It was a blatant rip off from the SACD master , as can be seen from it's noise profile, and with no content to even 22KHZ ! :o

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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3 minutes ago, sandyk said:

 

 Let's hope they do better than the one I showed, which was supposed to be "Holly Cole - Temptation (Studio Master, Official Digital Download 24Bit 96Khz) It was a blatant rip off from the SACD master , as can be seen from it's noise profile, and with no content to even 22KHZ ! :o

I couldn't agree more. The number of crappy ripoffs from SACD's that have been foisted on the unknowing public over the years is unforgiveable. 

 

It does say "Remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original master tapes" 

 

If that's true, this could truly be something. I guess we will see in September, again, IF, a digital version is offered. 

 

JC

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7 minutes ago, TubeLover said:

I couldn't agree more. The number of crappy ripoffs from SACD's that have been foisted on the unknowing public over the years is unforgiveable. 

 

It does say "Remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original master tapes" 

 

If that's true, this could truly be something. I guess we will see in September, again, IF, a digital version is offered. 

 

JC

TubeLover

FYI ONLY, and not for arguments/" discussion" with the usual suspects.

 

Out of curiosity, I just tried saving .flac to .wav 24/96 "Temptation""  to USB stick using an Uptone Regen powered via a12V Li Ion Battery , plugged into a front USB 2.0 port via a USB-A to USB-B adaptor without +5V and shield connected through.

Her voice is now more clearer in the mix.

 

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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12 minutes ago, sandyk said:

TubeLover

FYI ONLY, and not for arguments/" discussion" with the usual suspects.

 

Out of curiosity, I just tried saving .flac to .wav 24/96 "Temptation""  to USB stick using an Uptone Regen powered via a12V Li Ion Battery , plugged into a front USB 2.0 port via a USB-A to USB-B adaptor without +5V and shield connected through.

Her voice is now more clearer in the mix.

 

Very interesting. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

JC

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5 hours ago, TubeLover said:

I didn't think I had implied that they were. But it certainly possible that they can be. I do own the original cd and could certainly buy a track to check things out, as you noted. I just got excited about the new remastering when I heard a portion of a radio interview where Holly Cole talked about the new remasterings capturing a purer sound for these recordings than she had heard before. Of course, as we know, singers and/or musicians are not always even the best judges of their own music in this regard.

 

5 hours ago, sandyk said:

 

 Let's hope they do better than the one I showed, which was supposed to be "Holly Cole - Temptation (Studio Master, Official Digital Download 24Bit 96Khz) It was a blatant rip off from the SACD master , as can be seen from it's noise profile, and with no content to even 22KHZ ! :o

 

I am very fond of Tom Waits' music and I bougth Holly Cole's album after reading about it in a newspaper review.

Found it over-stylised and emotionally a bit dead. It reminded me of unavoidable torture sessions with Krells & Pigeons & Barbies of audio shows.

Demo music allright, but couldn't listen to it for pleasure and ended up selling it...

 

I do have maybe a handful of audiophile recordings which I use for evaluation purposes (one of them is of two loudspeaker designers talking in an anechoic chamber) but long gone is the time when I used to listen ad nauseam to the same three or five audiophile-approved tracks trying to indentify changes that resulted from all the fruitless fiddling and tweaking.

How nice it feels to be free...

"Science draws the wave, poetry fills it with water" Teixeira de Pascoaes

 

HQPlayer Desktop / Mac mini → Intona 7054 → RME ADI-2 DAC FS (DSD256)

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For a show off piece I suggest playing this vibrant jazz track LOUD, though beware that when it comes to system performance it'll sort the men from the boys ? (video not available in Europe for some reason):

 

 

 

Europeans can listen here:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56KtmUqQIYk

 

"Science draws the wave, poetry fills it with water" Teixeira de Pascoaes

 

HQPlayer Desktop / Mac mini → Intona 7054 → RME ADI-2 DAC FS (DSD256)

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19 hours ago, Mayfair said:

 

Could that breathtaking recording be Eugen Jochum's 1967 DG ?  

Image result for eugen jochum carmina burana orff

It was this one below - Thielemann’s. I will listen to your recommendation.

5F9ED686-1B73-44D8-B379-CD5A43A743BE.jpeg

NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock 

SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono 

Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo

Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono

Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul

system pics

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2 hours ago, mevdinc said:

Doesn’t look to be available in the US!

NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock 

SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono 

Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo

Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono

Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul

system pics

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9 hours ago, TubeLover said:

I couldn't agree more. The number of crappy ripoffs from SACD's that have been foisted on the unknowing public over the years is unforgiveable. 

 

It does say "Remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original master tapes" 

 

If that's true, this could truly be something. I guess we will see in September, again, IF, a digital version is offered. 

 

JC

 

The album is available here as a DSD download:

 

http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/93697/Holly_Cole-Temptation-DSD_Download

Sometimes it's like someone took a knife, baby
Edgy and dull and cut a six inch valley
Through the middle of my skull

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18 hours ago, WAM said:

But the real test for my is Roberta Flack: The first time ever I saw your face. When I close my eyes, and I see a beautiful woman singing beautiful music, its good.

Yes, outstanding. The high res version from HDTracks is better than the MQA version on TIDAL.

 

Also of note: Patricia Barber - Cafe Blue (available as DSD download, and in a new “unmastered” SACD version which I have ripped to DSF). Amazing recording, and really like the music.

NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock 

SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono 

Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo

Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono

Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul

system pics

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22 hours ago, Musicophile said:

"Twins" starts with a lot of very subtle cymbals and high-hat usage, I use this for soundstaging, and high frequency resolution (plus it's music I actually listen to).

I use their track "Blessed Feet" for the same thing. Plus, just overall it is a good test for a system.

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

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2 hours ago, miguelito said:

Yes, outstanding. The high res version from HDTracks is better than the MQA version on TIDAL.

 

Also of note: Patricia Barber - Cafe Blue (available as DSD download, and in a new “unmastered” SACD version which I have ripped to DSF). Amazing recording, and really like the music.


I agree, Patricia Barber - Cafe Blue is a great album with fantastic music and sonics.
I particularly love Nardis, I listen to it quite a lot.

mevdinc.com (My autobiography)
Recently sold my ATC EL 150 Actives!

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I was auditioning some speakers at a dealers a year or so ago, and played a couple of tracks from Diana Krall for part of a female vocals test.  The dealer said "I don't understand why people always listen to that."

 

I almost bought the speakers on the spot, but instead said "well, she has a good voice and it is well recorded."

 

Yes, I'd take Ms. Barber over Ms. Krall, and Ms. Flack over them both.  And then there is Joni Mitchell...

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Since you guys are into female vocals, here is an audiophile recording of something different from the norm:

 

SB5nKX6.png

 

I have this in LP too, but I can't recommend RR vinyl because every one I own has noise issues. Way too expensive for such low quality. Too bad because when they're not noisy they wreck the digital version.

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2 hours ago, mevdinc said:


I agree, Patricia Barber - Cafe Blue is a great album with fantastic music and sonics.
I particularly love Nardis, I listen to it quite a lot.

One more fantastic album which has been carefully remastered:

 

Jean-Michel Jarre - Essentials and Rarities

NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock 

SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono 

Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo

Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono

Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul

system pics

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13 hours ago, semente said:

I do have maybe a handful of audiophile recordings which I use for evaluation purposes (one of them is of two loudspeaker designers talking in an anechoic chamber) but long gone is the time when I used to listen ad nauseam to the same three or five audiophile-approved tracks trying to indentify changes that resulted from all the fruitless fiddling and tweaking.

 

 

This is equivalent to testing a car's handling by driving it in a straight line down a perfectly made highway - ummm, how many ways can one say, Duummb ...

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