Earphone/Headphone benchmarks

Status
Not open for further replies.
A

abbis

Contributor
Hi,
All of us have different suggestions for which is the best earphone/headphone out there. Those will be based on many different songs/sounds we listen through them.From that we rate each of them.
Which according to you are the best songs/sounds to rate bass,treble,soundstage..?
 
Listen thru your ears,there is nothing as such called bench mark.

Best Songs here it goes

Any trance songs esc AVB or Markus Schulz for Bass

Rock/Heavy Metal put the earphones understress

Sound stage any live recording
 
Good tracks to check following components of sound:

Bass depth, speed and accuracy:

Club Life 144: Tiesto: Louder than boom (extended version)

Club Life 144: Editors: Papillion (Tiesto remix)

Chemical brothers: Bass Test

Mids:

Johnny Cash: Hurt

Guns n roses: Dont you cry tonight

Drums, naturalism and treble:

Carla bruni: Comme un ange

Soundstage:

Tiesto: Adagio for strings

Battlefield Bad Company 2 :P

PS: Im not an audiophile. Just listed some good tracks which reveal audio components clearly. Will update when i find more tracks :)
 
@metalspree..

That's in general terms.

When u get a new headphone, surely you will always go to some tracks that you want to listen to first.Just to check.

Those are the ones i asked.
 
Lord Dagon said:
Here we go Metalspree always give first preference to Infinite Loops
Click to expand...

:chair:Goon
abbis said:
All you guys have decent earphones and no suggestions.!!:(
Click to expand...

Posted above mate.I tend to listen to any Trance songs by AVB of Markus Schulz then comes the rest ;)
 
I prefer auditioning the audio gear with music with which I am very familiar.

Only when you have listened to a song hundreds of times, can one detect subtle differences that different audio gear bring to the listening experience.

And in the end, we will be listening to our favourite music on the new audio rig & the key thing for me is to enjoy them rather than some test tracks.
 
@sato..
'Chemical Brothers -bass test' is a very good one.Listened to that.Very Good.I haven't cared abt it before.

I always go to these when i get a new earphone-
Star Wars theme- John Williams
Fear Factory- Linchpin
Mike Oldfield- Tubular Bells Part 1
Metallica- S&M- Ecstasy of Gold, The Call of Cthulhu
...the drum roll of Tommy Lee at the beginning of Motley Crue's "Too Young to fall in Love"..:clap:
 
titana said:
I prefer auditioning the audio gear with music with which I am very familiar.
Only when you have listened to a song hundreds of times, can one detect subtle differences that different audio gear bring to the listening experience.

And in the end, we will be listening to our favourite music on the new audio rig & the key thing for me is to enjoy them rather than some test tracks.
Click to expand...

+1

10 chars
 
I test using my favorite songs.

Whats the point of testing tracks you are not gonna listen to at all(or the whole genre for that matter).
 
titana said:
I prefer auditioning the audio gear with music with which I am very familiar.

Only when you have listened to a song hundreds of times, can one detect subtle differences that different audio gear bring to the listening experience.

And in the end, we will be listening to our favourite music on the new audio rig & the key thing for me is to enjoy them rather than some test tracks.
Click to expand...

Same here :)
 
titana said:
I prefer auditioning the audio gear with music with which I am very familiar.
Click to expand...

@ esanthosh

Superfrag

viralbug

That's what iam asking.....your favourite tracks..What are they??

Pls list them.
 
^^ in case you don't get the point, they use their fav tracks BECAUSE they listen to them often and know them really well.

Their fav tracks will not be of any help to you if you've never heard them before.. or even just heard them occasionally.
 
stalker said:
^^ in case you don't get the point, they use their fav tracks BECAUSE they listen to them often and know them really well.

Their fav tracks will not be of any help to you if you've never heard them before.. or even just heard them occasionally.
Click to expand...

Exactly!

@abbis,

Unless your musical tastes and mine are aligned very well, my favourite tracks are of no use to you. If it is of any help,

  • I have listened to my test tracks at least 50 - 100 times each before. I know the structure of the song very well.
  • Over a period of time, my mind has picked up some passages - say drumming is complex in one track. Another song might be acoustical with stress on vocals and minimal instruments to accompany. Yet another song would be very complex, which will fail to impress unless there is good imaging and sound stage.
  • I have the original CDs apart from the MP3 / FLAC rips for them. So, I know whether the source recording has issues. BTW, not all recordings and pressings are great. Some of the original CDs have sibilance (When the singer stresses "ss", it sounds like "ssss"), so the rips will have them too.
  • I mostly listen to them with fairly neutral reference. Clip+ is neutral. RE0 and Phonak are good neutral IEMs, but with less bass. Once I have some fair idea/benchmark of how they sound without any coloration, the differences (for example, bass is more pronounced OR say treble is harsh etc.,) can be immediately noticed.
  • Your "benchmark" need not be the same as mine. You can have your own reference. It need not be neutral at all, just your favourite headphone / IEM which is suited to your tastes.
  • For example, headphone "A" is purely divine in this vocal passage, headphone "B" does not sound as well. With HP "A", the drums solo was decent, but with "B", it's as-if the drummer is right before me. In "A", the singer was singing from the background so when he goes screaming, it was not harsh. In "B", the singer was already singing a few feet away from me, so when he screams, it hurts my ears.
  • Unless you want to write a review or share how the Headphone / Earphone sounds, your job is already done. Your ears would have already told you in no uncertain terms, which of them is better - A or B - in each area. In case you want to translate them into words, there begins another lengthy process :).
 
Hey guys,

I just asked your fav tracks.That's all.

No harm if u list them,i can have a listen(if i have them and missed).Nothing more.
 
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon(whole album)

Eagles - Hotel California/Tequila Sunrise.

3 Doors Down - Various Songs

Poets of the Fall - Carnival of Rust album

Rush - Moving Pictures Album

Snow Patrol - Hundred Million Suns & Eyes Open

Rob Thomas - Cradle Song

Bruce Springsteen - Various Songs

Bob Dylan - Various Songs

Nirvana - MTV Unplugged in NY album(has my fav songs)

Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Stadium Arcadium/Californication.

Coldplay - Various Songs

Lifehouse - Various Songs

Queen - Various Songs

Beatles - Various Songs

Dave Matthews Band - Various Songs

Rolling Stones - The Royal Dragon

I know its a long list, but I try to listen to the main songs of these artists while testing.

Also,

I love the Pink Floyd, RHCP, Eagles and few others for testing cause I have these artists in 24bit/96khz(vinyl rips) and they sound beautiful.
 
^^Really nice selection!

I pretty much listen/love all of them.

Some more of the top of my head(Only albums) :

The Beatles : A Hard Day's Night, Rubber Soul, Sgt. Pepper or pretty much any baeatles album.

Pink Floyd : The Division Bell, Wish You Were Here.

Tracy Chapman : Tracy Chapman, A New Beginning.

Dire Staits : Brother in Arms, Love Over Gold.

Eagles : Hotel California

Eric Clapton :Unplugged, Slowhand

Fleetwood Mac : Rumors

Nirvana : Nevermind, Unplugged in NY.

Dave Matthews Band : Under the Table & Dreaming, Crash.

Scorpions : Love at first Sting

Metallica : Black

Frank Sinatra : My Way The Best Of, only the Lonely

Miles Davis : Kind of Blue

John Denver : The Best of(Live)

Diana Krall : The Look Of Love, Live In Paris

Norah jones : Come away with me

Sade : The best of

I also listen to lot of old hindi classics but listing them is rather difficult.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom