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Best Tracks for Bass Testing..

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9 LEE
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9 LEE Posted: Sat, Sep 26 2015 4:44 PM

We've covered this in the past when asked which tracks are best for testing BeoLab 5's, but I'd like to ask everyone (for everyones benefit!) which tracks they consider to be the best for testing Bass on their existing equipment, or potential purchases, from Headphones to Subwoofers to Loudspeakers!

My own personal 'benchmark' track is :

Daft Punk : Random Access Memories : Doin' It Right (feat. Panda Bear)

It's a fairly pedestrian track, but the Bass on it can really expose a product if it's not up to scratch. I always choose one track to use as a benchmark for all my testing - and this is it.

Over to you guys! Smile

Lee

Chris Townsend
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This is what turned our 9's a bad shade of orange.

http://youtu.be/My2FRPA3Gf8

Beosound Stage, Beovision 8-40, Beolit 20, Beosound Explore.

Chris Townsend
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Saying that Lee, just watch any scene from Mad Max Fury road. It's just about 120 of bass loaded car chase.

Nothing else

Beosound Stage, Beovision 8-40, Beolit 20, Beosound Explore.

Beoradio
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Beoradio replied on Sat, Sep 26 2015 5:07 PM

Hi all,

My reference track is:

Art of noise ,  The seduction of Claude Debussy , track #13  Out of this world ( version 138).

Only with very good speakers you will hear all the details.

Basses are going very deeeeeeeeeep and glasses start dancing in your cupboard.

Rudy

 

 

 

bramble
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bramble replied on Sat, Sep 26 2015 5:29 PM
Rammstien !

The intro to "ich tu dir weh"

That will knock your woofers / subsBig Smile

And will end up with the police at your door for disturbing the peaceWink

Beovision 7 40 mk 5 ,beovision 6x3,   beosound 3000, beogram 3300 , 2 x lc2, 2 x beocom 1401, beocom 6000 x 2,  5 x beo4, 

, 4 x beolab 4's, form 2, h2, a2,a1 and a beolab 2 😀😀

 

 

 

Søren Mexico
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My son introduced me to Jay Z and Kanye West, Watch the Throne. not my kind of music, he bought the USD 110.00 double LP, I was blown away, really, a superb grabbed and edited piece. specially the tracks with heavy bass. We played it on my BG 5000 pizza box MMC2, BM 4400 and M70 speakers, a perfect combination for these LPs. I have never heard my M70s bring out so deep and clear a bass, I had to take off the fronts to see the woofers working more than ever before I have never seen a woofer working like that. I never got afraid of damaging the woofers, the bass came out distinct and clear, no distortion what so ever. The BM was set to line, so no extra bass or treble was used. Mids and highs was perfect sounding, except for the tweeters, at volume level 8 they started distorting a little. (At volume level 8 my neighbor came in with a couple of beers)

We then connected a pair of H8 headphones, different sound, not at all as over the speakers, the bass came out deep but like cut off a little and in the highs were missing some very small tingle pingle sounds, not bad but over the speakers better. 

So if you want to test your bass, get this album

Collecting Vintage B&O is not a hobby, its a lifestyle.

bramble
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bramble replied on Sat, Sep 26 2015 5:36 PM
Soren

There is nothing better than watching a speaker "work for it's keep".

I only wish I could afford beolab 5's

Beovision 7 40 mk 5 ,beovision 6x3,   beosound 3000, beogram 3300 , 2 x lc2, 2 x beocom 1401, beocom 6000 x 2,  5 x beo4, 

, 4 x beolab 4's, form 2, h2, a2,a1 and a beolab 2 😀😀

 

 

 

Jeff
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Jeff replied on Sat, Sep 26 2015 5:38 PM

Good topic!

Of course, the traditional: Time off Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon

I have a recording of Antal Dorati and the Minneapolis Symphony doing Stravinsky's Rite of Spring that is digitally mastered and has some of the most authoritative bass drum whacks ever. With my BL9s it'll nail you back in you seat.

The album "Time Warp" by Telarc is a collection of various science fiction themes, from 2001 to Battlestar Galactica, and has some incredible bass.

I have a recording called "The Mysterious Film World Of Bernard Herman" that includes music from the films "Mysterious Island" and "Jason And The Argonauts" that is stunning. Herman used massed orchestras with doubled percussion and bass sections. Oddly enough, the LP version has better bass, which is counter-intuitive, and just shows the CD was not mixed as well as it should be.

Two albums by Chick Corea:

Romantic Warrior - by Return To Forever, from when that was Chick Corea, Al DiMeola, Stanley Clarke, and Lenny White, especially the track "Sorceress."

The Mad Hatter - later album by a few years, but in the opening section some serious synth bass diving very very deep. We used to listen to this on the only electrostatic speaker I've ever heard that had bass, the old Koss Model 1, which had like 18 square feet of bass radiating panel per speaker, but in most other ways as a pretty quirky, troublesome beast. Never sold one in the years I worked in the shop! But it did do bass.

Jeff

I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus. Sad

Duels
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Duels replied on Sat, Sep 26 2015 7:19 PM
There is a great playlist on spotify by Geoff Martin for demonstrating bass (also playlists for treble, mids, punch, vocals etc). Well worth checking out if you have spotify. A few of the Daft Punk tracks off the Tron legacy album sound excellent.
Geoff Martin
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9 LEE:
which tracks they consider to be the best for testing Bass on their existing equipment, or potential purchases, from Headphones to Subwoofers to Loudspeakers!

 

http://www.tonmeister.ca/wordpress/stereo-recordings-bass/

cheers

-g

Barry Santini
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Geoff Martin:

http://www.tonmeister.ca/wordpress/stereo-recordings-bass/

cheers

-g

Geoff

How does the new *big boy* do on the Adagio from Widor organ symphony #6, near the very end of the movement? Its a sub-contra octave, double-pedal A; 27.5Hz. My favorite note!
seethroughyou
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http://www.jukebo.com/jessie-ware/music-clip,never-knew-love-like-this-before,x5rrvv.html

.

 

 

Present: BL90, Core, BL6000, CD7000, Beogram 7000, Essence Remote.

Past: BL1, BL2, BL8000, BS9000, BL5, BC2, BS5, BV5, BV4-50, Beosystem 3, BL3, DVD1, Beoremote 4, Moment.

.

ed7
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ed7 replied on Sun, Sep 27 2015 12:17 AM

Black magic woman by 

Carlos Santana 

ed7
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ed7 replied on Sun, Sep 27 2015 12:46 AM

Also Queen’s “We will rock you” has a beat from the beginning  ., and may be Eminem - without me is a good track too.

elephant
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elephant replied on Sun, Sep 27 2015 5:59 AM
Chris Townsend:

This is what turned our 9's a bad shade of orange.

http://youtu.be/My2FRPA3Gf8 Beovision 7-55 Mk2, Beovision 8-32, Avant RF 28, Beolab 9, Beolit 15, Beoplay A2, Beocom 2, Beotime, H6, Form 2.

But for reasons other than the audio ?

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graemeben
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graemeben replied on Sun, Sep 27 2015 8:46 AM

Try 'Mirrorball' by Elbow from the album Seldom seen Kid. When the bass drum kicks in with the double punch. Gives those bass cones a real pounding! 

Graeme. 

graemeben
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graemeben replied on Sun, Sep 27 2015 8:52 AM

Try 'Mirrorball' by Elbow from the album Seldom seen Kid. When the bass drum kicks in - really gives your bass cones a pounding!

Graeme.

 

graemeben
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graemeben replied on Sun, Sep 27 2015 8:59 AM

Sorry, too many replies. iPad playing up after recent update. Didn't appear initially on posting.

G.

 

Killyp
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Killyp replied on Sun, Sep 27 2015 9:48 AM

When I visit a studio and want to hear what the low end is like in the control room, I usually use:

 

 

  • Guillermo Klein - Va Roman (!!! big, wide, smooth and deep bass covering lots of frequencies)
  • Stevie Wonder - Bird of Beauty (modern remaster, deep and busy, shouldn't sound sloppy)
  • Elis & Tom - Aguas De Marco (should sound bass light, but not unmusically so, some pretty deep notes on occasion too)
  • Björk - Venus as a Boy (that bass drum should be incredibly tight and 'short' sounding)
  • Suzanne Vega - Headshots (off Nine Objects of Desire - again, huge thunderous bassline and a tight, textured bass drum sound, one of Tchad Blake's best mixes IMO)
  • Something I've mixed but I can't tell you what it is because it's not out yet. Yes - thumbs up

 

 

I listen at all levels, from super-quiet up to really quite high volumes, sometimes I'll chuck on something off Leftism and really crank it to see what the headroom is like.

Deep and impressive bass should only be there when it's called for in the recording. I get so fed up of 'hearing' the bass when it shouldn't be there. BeoLab 5 owners will know what I mean - once you get used to tight, accurate bass there really is no going back.

Aussie Michael
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I still love Hella Good by No Doubt

Millemissen
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Having spend yeeeaaars with two kids, who listened to a lot of 'bassy' rap stuff (often really loud - so I told them), I must confess, that I am more into this kind of music:

https://open.spotify.com/album/4R3M8JUAtkDZQS9CIJW645

If you don't want to listen to the whole album, start with track 3 - Let It All Come Down

Howard Fishman is one of my favourites ;-)

MM

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AnalogPlanet
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I always play Alicia Keys - Try sleeping with a broken heart.

<3 <3 <3

Millemissen
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This is a nice one too.

You may find the stereo version on a music streaming service - I prefer the 5.1 LPCM version from the Blu Ray disc.

MM

 

There is a tv - and there is a BV

Daniel
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Daniel replied on Sun, Sep 27 2015 9:18 PM

Marcus Miller playing the bass guitar on Zoolook album by Jean Michel Jarre. Most speakers are having some troubles there.

AdamS
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AdamS replied on Mon, Sep 28 2015 1:15 PM

Some good suggestions already, to which I would add:

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones - 'Flight of the Cosmic Hippo'

Caroline Lavelle - the entire 'Spirit' album, but particularly the tracks 'Turning Ground', 'Dream of Picasso' and 'Waiting for Rain'

Trentemoller - 'Chameleon' This has about three bass lines vying for supremacy!

Jeff
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Jeff replied on Mon, Sep 28 2015 4:04 PM

I was listening to the group Cowboy Junkies the other night, mainly "Whites Off Earth Now" and "The Trinity Sessions." The last track on WOEN, Crossroads, has a deep, slow electric bass line that underscores the whole piece, and in general this album has incredible depth and reverb as well as deep bass. Not blow your head off bass, but deep, slow, articulate bass. On "The Trinity Sessions" it was recorded in  church I believe, and if you have good bass response on the quiet sections you can hear a deep, low volume rumble from the air conditioner in the building.

Jeff

I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus. Sad

IngvarW
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IngvarW replied on Mon, Sep 28 2015 4:10 PM

Slave song with SADE

Current; Beosound 2, BV Horizon 48,  2*BL3, BL11, Beolit 12, Beolit 15, Beoplay P6, Beoplay A9, Beoplay H9i

Earlier; BV 10-46, 2*BL3, BM5/BS5, BS9000, BL8000, BV7-32, MX7000, Beoport, Beocord 8000, MX4002, BL2000, Beocom1, Beotalk1200

Cooker
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Cooker replied on Tue, Sep 29 2015 12:47 AM

Blade Runner soundtrack.

Jeff
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Jeff replied on Tue, Sep 29 2015 3:35 AM

Cooker:

Blade Runner soundtrack.

Good call. The CD I have of this is recorded in Dolby Pro Logic. On a decent surround sound setup it sounds spectacular, even though it's only Pro Logic it truly demonstrates the potential of multi channel audio. 

Jeff

I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus. Sad

Cooker
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Cooker replied on Tue, Sep 29 2015 8:23 AM

I have the current limited edition version on red translucent vinyl. Some of the lowest, if not the lowest  frequencies you will ever hear from vinyl. Goes to 25hz on Side 2.

Jeff
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Jeff replied on Tue, Sep 29 2015 5:26 PM

Cooker:

I have the current limited edition version on red translucent vinyl. Some of the lowest, if not the lowest  frequencies you will ever hear from vinyl. Goes to 25hz on Side 2.

Interesting, I was unaware it existed on vinyl. My CD version on a surround system just provides the most incredible enveloping sound field, the music is very ambient to begin with. And of course Blade Runner is my favorite movie of all time. Back when it came out I was young and single and the date I took on it was expecting something science fiction (which to her meant ET: The Extraterrestrial) and since it had Harrison Ford in it she expected a cross between Indiana Jones and Han Solo. A disappointing evening for both of us, she hated the movie, and if the lady isn't happy you for sure will not be happy! I loved the movie and wanted to talk about the symbolism and such, not happening, when I looked over at her during the initial scene where Leon is tested her brow was knitted and she looked confused. Oops.

Jeff

I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus. Sad

Dave Farr
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Dave Farr replied on Tue, Sep 29 2015 6:13 PM
Jeff:

Interesting, I was unaware it existed on vinyl.

The beauty of Discogs. I've just ordered a red copy. Looking forward to it. Thanks for the suggestion.

Dave.
beojeff
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beojeff replied on Tue, Sep 29 2015 11:51 PM

Dave Farr:
Jeff:

 

Interesting, I was unaware it existed on vinyl.

 

 

 

The beauty of Discogs. I've just ordered a red copy. Looking forward to it. Thanks for the suggestion.

I also just discovered that it is available on SACD. I just now ordered the SACD and red vinyl versions! It will be fun to compare the SACD on the Oppo player against the red vinyl on the BeoGram 9500 fitted with an MMC2. 

 

Dave.

 

TWG
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TWG replied on Wed, Sep 30 2015 9:55 AM

- Phoneheads: slower
- Faithless: sunday 8 pm
- R.Kelly: home alone
- Gerald Levert: Funny

You shouldn't try the track "slower" too loud, first have a look how your speakers handle it. :-)

beo4me
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beo4me replied on Fri, Oct 2 2015 9:21 AM

Hi,

always use the Leftfield album "Leftism". First track has great highs and bass in combination. After the last track "21st Century Poem", there is a hidden track that has some very low bass. Starts low volume, so be careful. When I tested BL5 at B&O the store manager came rushing to me as the front glass window started to vibrate.

Cheers,
Frank 

Dave Farr
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I received the red vinyl limited edition of Bladerunner yesterday as suggested previously.  I'm glad I did, it's wonderful.  The first track rattles the windows!  Well worth it.

Dave.

Duels
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Duels replied on Mon, Oct 12 2015 11:01 PM
Guy Garvey. Angela's eyes.
elephant
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elephant replied on Tue, Oct 13 2015 8:01 AM
PS thank you all for these recommendations

BeoNut since '75

mbolo01
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mbolo01 replied on Sun, Oct 18 2015 2:12 PM
Marcus Miller M2 album

BS Moment, BS Core, BG 4002, BC 4500, BS1, BL18, BL19, BL8000 + RCV1, A6, M5, M3, A1, P6 (tks Botty), H5, TR1

leosgonewild
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The Boomzers - We are back (the S remix)

You won´t even hear the neighbour knocking on your door to complain :)

"You think we can slap some oak on this thing?"

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