Any audio enthusiast should put together a selection of tunes like this. It’s convenient for checking pairs of headphones in stores, a friend’s new stereo speakers, or the audio systems you might encounter at Hi-Fi shows. You can edit the songs if you like, cutting straight to the parts you want to hear for testing purposes. To get the best possible fidelity from songs, buy the CD (or digitize vinyl LPs) to create lossless digital music files. Or, at the very least, download the highest-quality MP3 tracks available—recommended 256 kbps or better. Although your audio-test tracklist evolves over time, keep several staple tracks that you know well and do not change. The folks at Harman Research, who rank among the top audio researchers globally, have been using Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car and Steely Dan’s Cousin Dupree for over 20 years. The tinkly percussion that dances across the front of the sound stage is a great test of high-frequency performance and stereo imaging. If your tweeter can cleanly and clearly reproduce the high-pitched chime, struck right after Cole sings the line, “…never, never, never ring a bell,” you have a good one. But listen for the way your system reproduces the bass and kick drum during this song; the groove should sound punchy, not loose, bloated, or boomy. Sadly, many headphones make this tune sound boomy, and that is just plain wrong. Listen for the castanets in the recording, as they are key. If the instruments sound like they’re coming from 20 or 30 feet behind the guitars, and if you can hear them echoing off the walls and ceiling of the large church where this recording was made, then your system is doing a fine job. You’ll want to be able to pick out each saxophone individually and point to it (yes, in the air). If you can do that, you have a fantastic system. If not, don’t worry too much because this particular listening test is pretty hard. Know that this is a harsh-sounding recording if you’re listening to the mids and treble. So it might be worth making a custom version with the treble rolled off -6 dB at 20 kHz. The best part of this track is the background vocals repeating the phrase, “Keep giving me love.” These vocals should sound like they’re coming at you to the sides (45-degree angles) and from a long distance through a good set of headphones or speakers. You should feel some tingles along the spine or prickles on the skin. If not, a new set of headphones might be in order. You’ll want to enjoy it through some monster subs, such as the SVS PB13-Ultra or the Hsu Research VTF-15H. This track is absolutely spectacular and something that any self-respecting audiophile or audio enthusiast should appreciate and own. If your speakers are top-notch, the sounds of chimes will seem to swirl around and even materialize right in front of you, almost as if Gurtu were standing between you and the speakers—and this isn’t hyperbole! Put on a pair of the best electrostatic or planar magnetic headphones, and you can hear exactly what we’re talking about. Reverend Dennis’s voice is especially deep, which can sound bloated on most systems. This recording—the detuned strings of the slack-key guitar in particular—should sound amazing. If it doesn’t, there are ways you can improve the system’s audio performance.
