Car audio fans, check this out:

[AZhitman]

I'm not a car audio guy. Dabbled in it in the early 90's, then soon learned that I drive much better with no stereo on (or turned down low). Now I rarely "crank it up" - call it habit. Plus, I want to preserve my hearing.

Anyhow, this is pretty interesting. What would you add to the list?

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... titialskip

[tigersharkdude]

pretty cool find greg

[AppleBonker]

Interesting article, and a couple of those songs are great test songs, IMO. The only problem I have with this is that some of the songs aren't entirely familiar to me. I've always thought that the best test tracks for a system are those you are intimately familiar with. If you don't know what nuances to look for, it wont mean a damn thing if they are clearly audible or not. For that reason, I don't think any two reviewers should ever use the same tracks (unless they have identical taste in music which is highly unlikely).

[Warped161]

nice list.i used to have a cd that i would tune a system with. back when i had more time for the car.

[Chaotic_Warlord]

Something told me that Applebonker would be one of the first people to post in this thread... Don't know why I thought that.

[marlin29311]

Something told me that Applebonker would be one of the first people to post in this thread... Don't know why I thought that.

If I didn't go out to lunch, I would have beat him

Interesting article, and a couple of those songs are great test songs, IMO. The only problem I have with this is that some of the songs aren't entirely familiar to me. I've always thought that the best test tracks for a system are those you are intimately familiar with. If you don't know what nuances to look for, it wont mean a damn thing if they are clearly audible or not. For that reason, I don't think any two reviewers should ever use the same tracks (unless they have identical taste in music which is highly unlikely).

+1. As Adam said, if you don't know what to listen for, how are you going to know what it should sound like, or have any other reference to what the song sounds like? It's like listening to a Bose system at Best Buy, completely separate from everything else - it sounds good because someone told you it sounds good, not because you have any other frame of reference.

Also, in terms of Dynamic range...some of those songs are severly limiting. I want to hear a song that can fulfil a large chunk of the audible spectrum at once - THAT'S a real measure of how good a system really is, not if someone's voice sounds natural and "centered in front of me." Boom Boom Pow? Great, lets hear how well the bass works.

Give me a song like Sacred Worlds or Wheel of Time by Blind Guardian (first songs that came to my mind - listening to the new CD now) that infuses both melodic orchestral parts with powerful, chugging guitars, booming double bass drums, and multi-octave choral singing to really see how well your system can respond.

[Encryptshun]

Greg, is that from "Operation: Mindcrime"?

If so,


I'd settle for one that could correctly reproduce the full range of Rachmaninoff's 3rd piano concerto.

[AZhitman]

Yep. Favorite album ever.

Deleted my post because I had the wrong song. Lemme find the right one.

[Encryptshun]

Is it "Eyes of a Stranger"?

[AppleBonker]

if you don't know what to listen for, how are you going to know what it should sound like, or have any other reference to what the song sounds like?

I also forgot to mention, your memory when it comes to audio is pretty poor. You could set an audiophile in front of an amazing setup, and then move them a few rooms down and put them in front of a slightly less amazing set and they probably couldn't tell the difference (especially if you are playing something that isn't extremely familiar to them). When comparing things like this, the best method is to actually be able to do a side-by-side A to B comparison. Without it, you better know for certain what the tracks you are listening to sound like to try to make a definitive mental note of what is better/worse about given setups.

Also, like all other audio stuff, this is completely subjective. Don't take this guy's list and try to use it yourself. Find what you like, and test that. If it sounds good to your ears, perfect. Don't worry about ANYONE else's opinion. If you can't hear what they hear, there's no point in trying to please them!

[AZhitman]

Is it "Eyes of a Stranger"?

The end of Electric Requiem. Not sure why, it's just the right frequency to make it hard to reproduce.

[Alfador]

Altogether a great article. Personally though, I'd rather suffer with poor audio, or swallow a pitcher full of broken glass for that matter, than listen to "Boom Boom Pow."

I do think though that as long as the music you like sounds good, the rest is irrelevant.

[Chaotic_Warlord]

GM also posted the tracks as a mix at the iTunes store

Funny thing is GM used to do something similar to this way back in the day, when my mom bought her Olds Cutlass Supreme in '84 it came with a cassette tape full of various genre's from Classical to the Pointer Sisters so that you can fully experience the bose system of the time.

[Nobodysful]

Soooo new to this, dont know how to post search or even communicate on here,
recently bought a car i have been wanting since i got into the sport of drifting
(89 nissan 240sx base model) i 'm looking to upgrade 2 a decent amount of
horse power on a budget of course, if anyone can help in any way it would
sooo be greatly appreciated

[Chaotic_Warlord]

Soooo new to this, dont know how to post search or even communicate on here,
recently bought a car i have been wanting since i got into the sport of drifting
(89 nissan 240sx base model) i 'm looking to upgrade 2 a decent amount of
horse power on a budget of course, if anyone can help in any way it would
sooo be greatly appreciated

welcome-to-nico-need-answers-look-here-t203223.html

Noob fail...

[PoorManQ45]

Anything from:
diana krall
Alison Krauss
hall and oates