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[Tim McCulloch]

Pink noise ....

In honor of Prince (and the Artist Formerly Known As ), I'd upvote some purple noise. 

Also, welcome to the LAB!  Seeing the word "newbie" under your name has a certain bit of irony to it.

[Peter Kowalczyk]

I've been meaning to update my playlist and download high-res tracks for quite some time.  We just got the PA connected in a new venue I'm working on, and I plan to tune tomorrow.  That was the motivation I needed to get some tracks on-deck.

Taking cues from the suggestions in this list, and adding a few of my own:

Steely Dan (Babylon Sisters has been my go-to for ever, i'm in that camp)
Jennifer Warnes (thanks for the reminder Russ)
Sting
Tower of Power

I've been really digging 'The Whitest Boy Alive - Rules' lately.  Very clean dry recording, with this great detailed electric piano.

Some Erykah Badu for that hip hop bass

Nicholas Payton - Zigaboogaloo - it'll tell you if your subs are over-the-top, or if your mid-highs need some love.  Jazz mixed like Hip-Hop.  The horns are

My question for you all:  Where are you sourcing your high-res tracks?  I downloaded all of this from 7digital.com.  But they don't have some things I was looking for.  I'm not looking for freebies - happy to pay for the material!

[John Schalk]

My question for you all:  Where are you sourcing your high-res tracks?  I downloaded all of this from 7digital.com.  But they don't have some things I was looking for.  I'm not looking for freebies - happy to pay for the material!

I'm a geezer so I get CDs out of the local libraries and rip the tracks I want.  For general background music, I rip at 320Mbps VBR, but for any tracks that I really like or want to use for testing, I rip them using a lossless format.  So, for me high res means 16 bit / 44.1kHz lossless.

Note: At the two clubs where I'm currently working at the most, all the background music is streamed.  One uses Spotify and the other YouTube Music.  I don't even bring my music with me anymore.

[NickSmith]

"I Can't Tell You Why" -- Diana Krall.  Vocal jazz.  Like all of her tracks, the sound quality is exceptional.  The bass drum has a nice low "whumpf" and the string bass will sound muddy if your system's not dialed in.
"Human Nature" -- Trijntje Oosterhuis.  Vocal pop/jazz.  A sparse arrangement of the Michael Jackson tune featuring a VERY dynamic acoustic guitar, bass, and a smooth female vocal.  Won't do much for your subs, but will make your mid/highs sing.
"I Will Remember" -- Toto.  80s style pop-rock (from the 90s).  Big, thundering floor tom opens a drum intro with a tight kick drum.  The rest of the song kicks in with a nice balance across the spectrum. 
"No Sanctuary Here" -- Chris Jones.  Southern soul/blues.  Big bass guitar opens this track.  Use this to blow cobwebs out of your subs.  Hah!  Also a more dynamic vocal.
"Temptation" -- Diana Krall.  Vocal jazz.  Opens with a whumpy bass drum and upright bass solo.  Like above, the bass track will sound muddy if your system's not on point.  Always great Diana vocals.
"Tainted Love" -- Stella Starlight Trio feat. Karen Souza.  Lounge jazz.  Intentionally boomy upright bass mixed prominently...  Karen Souza's lush vocals sound impressive.  Use this track to impress someone...  Probably not great to tune in your system given the rather heavy mix on the bass.
"Elephants On Ice Skates" -- Brian Bromberg.  Modern instrumental jazz.  Opens with a 45 second jazz bass solo.  Very articulate sound to the bass, and nicely dynamic.  After the solo, a jazz horn band kicks in.  Very tight, with very harmonic bass guitar (sounds "growly"). 
"It Doesn't Matter" -- Alison Krauss & Union Station.  Modern bluegrass.  Lush production opens up with stereo acoustic guitars and lots of reverb.  Alison's vocals are dynamic, and sound buried at first.  Huge bass kicks in in the last half of the song.

Great descriptions of the songs and why you use them.  You are a true music lover.

[NickSmith]

Yellow Jacket - Shaun Martin - 7 Summers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlcKiizWQVI
Great music with incredible clear highs for definition and awesome lows.  Full range of well defined music.  It's my go-to for checking out a system.

[Dan Veneri]

Hello all, and happy Thanksgiving!

I'm curious about what music tracks you all are using to demo PA systems or familiarize yourself with a system you're about to use.

I know the main idea is to use tracks you are very familiar with, so you can immediately recognize when certain sounds or details pop out at you on a new system, and recognize the characteristics of the system. I understand that this is not a replacement for measurement.

I'll share my playlist:

Aaron Neville: Louisiana 1927
Stevie Wonder: Sir Duke
Adele: He Won't Go
The Beatles: I Want You
Needtobreathe: Prisoner
Phish: Free
Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody
2Pac: I Get Around
Tonic: If You Could Only See
Stevie Wonder: Love's in Need of Love Today
Bob Marley: I Shot the Sheriff
AC/DC: Thunderstruck

I mainly put mine together based on songs I already own, trying to have a variety of genres, and making sure everything was fairly well produced. I wasn't very scientific about it.

Curious to see what you all are using!

You can find below the link to my playlist from my Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZhayjwayIwVTWFVAtLgMX?si=b026e8102cd443ac

From Tipper to Steely Dan to anything in between, with some pink noise too.

Enjoy

[Dave Garoutte]

I've been meaning to update my playlist and download high-res tracks for quite some time.  We just got the PA connected in a new venue I'm working on, and I plan to tune tomorrow.  That was the motivation I needed to get some tracks on-deck.

Taking cues from the suggestions in this list, and adding a few of my own:

Steely Dan (Babylon Sisters has been my go-to for ever, i'm in that camp)
Jennifer Warnes (thanks for the reminder Russ)
Sting
Tower of Power

I've been really digging 'The Whitest Boy Alive - Rules' lately.  Very clean dry recording, with this great detailed electric piano.

Some Erykah Badu for that hip hop bass

Nicholas Payton - Zigaboogaloo - it'll tell you if your subs are over-the-top, or if your mid-highs need some love.  Jazz mixed like Hip-Hop.  The horns are

My question for you all:  Where are you sourcing your high-res tracks?  I downloaded all of this from 7digital.com.  But they don't have some things I was looking for.  I'm not looking for freebies - happy to pay for the material!

I've gotten most of my hi def tracks from HDTracks.com.  Multiple file types and resolutions available.

[ProSoundWeb Community]