What's the best jazz cd to test sound equipment?

[medjuck]

I know there's a word for this but I forget it (like many things). Anyway what's a good cd to use when testing audio equipment? Something on Contemporary maybe?

[Jay]

I know there's a word for this but I forget it (like many things). Anyway what's a good cd to use when testing audio equipment? Something on Contemporary maybe?

Whatever you love and enjoy (and know very, very well). No magic disc will guide you. Trust your ears.

[PHILLYQ]

maybe a good, dynamic big band?

[Chuck Nessa]

I'd suggest a few (3 or 4) discs with varying densities.

[Stefan Wood]

Peter Brotzmann - Machine Gun

Any Art Pepper on COntemporary

[mikelz777]

Dark Side Of The Moon

[Free For All]

[Free For All]

Bonger Tests

I was excellent at these in college.

[Van Basten II]

Not jazz but Felt Mountain by Goldfrapp was among the few CDs I brought when I shopped for my sound syste.

Bsides that ECM records seems natural to test them.

Edited November 9, 2010 by Van Basten II

[Dave James]

Agree with those who recommend listening to a piece of music with which you're very familiar. If you know what to expect musically, you can concentrate on the quality of the reproduction.

A couple of other thoughts:

Don't fall into the trap of believing that a system will sound the same in your house as it does in the store. Stereo shops have rooms that are specifically designed to reproduce the best possible sound. To compensate for this, some places will actually let you take a system home with you with the right to return it if it doesn't measure up.

Also, take note of where in the showroom the speakers are positioned. The closer to a corner, the better they will sound.

Lastly, be careful about the sales guy pushing one brand over another. Retailers strike different deals with different manufacturers so their profit margins can vary.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

steely dan- gaucho mca japan-for-usa

felt mtn is amazing but im always afriad to listen to it cause its a cd made after 1990. is it very compressed? goldfrapp are the only modern band i love....

gaucho is great, but the next cd i talk about next post, is incredible.....

Edited November 9, 2010 by chewy

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

wait, theres a miles at the blackhawk MOSAIC?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?? never knew that!

scractch that. scratch that.

best jazz audio test cd:

DON GRUSIN- 10K LA

the cd:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/141/323744943_17d9289546_m.jpg

the cover:

http://i43.tower.com/images/ss106612797/10k-la-don-grusin-cd-cover-art.jpg

how many people have actually heard this cd. if you havent, and dont mind contemporary jazz, i strongly, strongly suggest you purchase this

[sidewinder]

Something like Pat Metheny Group 'Imaginary Day' is a good test for a system, I find. Or 'Secret Story'.

Edited November 9, 2010 by sidewinder

[mikeweil]

I would use only a recording made with a minimalistic approach, as far as microphones are concerned, and a natural room ambiance - if this sounds great, everything else will, or simply reveal the limitations of other recording procedures.

Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section was the first to come to my mind, too - those guys sound like they are right in front of you. 

Cliffors Jordan's live CD on Mapleshade is good for testing. 

The SACD of the Cal Tjader with Stan Getz on Fantasy - vibes are good, if they sound crystal clear, it's all right.

I'd never use an ECM CD - too much digital trickery involved, they never sound natural. 

For classical I would take a good harpsichord recording - those overtones are the ultimate sound test!

[BeBop]

The idealized answer is a good recording of someone that you've heard live. Better yet, as Mr. Nessa suggests, a few recordings of varying density (solo piano, quartet, big band...) One recording that has always sounded "natural" to me is Getz/Gilberto. I know it well only in its LP form, so I can't speak for the CD.

[jostber]

Duke Ellington - Such Sweet Thunder

[Ted O'Reilly]

I've always loved Vic Dickenson Septet on Vanguard for real, true, natural acoustic (mono) sound. John Hammond was the producer, and reported in the original 1954 release "Instead of the over-engineering and hectic atmosphere of the customary recording session, a single full-range microphone was set up to capture the sound of a live performance and the acoustics of jazz in a real hall. The engineers were in another room, out of sight." I think it was the ballroom of a NYC hotel, and Vanguard made a lot of sessions there.

[marcello]

Ted, I believe it was a church in Brooklyn...

[paul secor]

Ted, I believe it was a church in Brooklyn...

Brooklyn is correct. The liner notes for Vic Dickenson's Nice Work CD state: "Almost all of Hammond's recordings were done in a small Masonic Hall in Brooklyn, at the corner of Lafayette and Clermont Avenues."

[kh1958]

For small groups, perhaps Shelly Manne at the Blackhawk.

For large groups, Duke Ellington, All Star Road Band, or Ellington Indigoes.

[Leeway]

I agree with using music with which you are very familiar. I distrust "audiophile" productions. Too often they are aiming for sonic effects that "wow" but are not natural over extended listening. If you want a completely unfiltered recording, try something like Trio X from CIMP, or pretty much anything from their label. About as transparent a CD yyou ar elikely to find.

I would add: don't compare systems to systems or discs to discs. Compare each system to what you have heard "live." The more you go to live shows, the better you will be able to identify those audio components that come closest to how musical instruments actually sound.

[AllenLowe]

I don't like those Vanguards - too reverberant for me.

[jazzbo]

Use a disc that you know very well and have heard on several systems over the years. That's a good way to sort of help you make educated guesses of what the system may sound like in your home if you can't preview it there.

I'm lucky in that I have recordings of two bands I was in, recorded by me in my then garage apartment to two track (analog). I know the room, the players, the instruments, the nature of the mikes and the tape deck, and have listened to these recordings on many systems. These really help me evaluate the sound of a system.

Edited November 12, 2010 by jazzbo

[JSngry]

FWIW, a "Masonic Hall" is not a church, it's a lodge hall.

[medjuck]

I agree with using music with which you are very familiar. I distrust "audiophile" productions. Too often they are aiming for sonic effects that "wow" but are not natural over extended listening. If you want a completely unfiltered recording, try something like Trio X from CIMP, or pretty much anything from their label. About as transparent a CD yyou ar elikely to find.

I would add: don't compare systems to systems or discs to discs. Compare each system to what you have heard "live." The more you go to live shows, the better you will be able to identify those audio components that come closest to how musical instruments actually sound.

I find that one so rarely hears unamplified music anymore that what I hear live is not necessarily what I want.