Volume 2 - Team Audionutz

www.teamaudionutz.com
www.teamaudionutz.com
Layout by Mike Soliven of Laurel
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
email: [email protected]
1- “Brother”
2- “At The Pershing”
3- “Jesus To A Child”
4- “Round Here”
5-“Trans-Island Skyway”
6- “Africa”
7-“Tinman”
8- “Time”
Media
9- “Solitude”
10- “Ode To Billy Joe”
11- Bob James-type jazz fusion
12- “Temptation”
13- “CloseTo You”
14- “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again”
15- “Whats Goin’ On?”
ECA Sound Quality Series
Volume 2
These tracks were compiled using my regular method...Rip to HD using EAC saved a lossless .WAV
files, burned back with Lite-On DVD-RW drive at 1X. NO equalization, no volume normalizing,
nothing. The copies are 1X direct disc-to-disc rips using a Phillips dual CD recorder/player.
~ Steven Head, Team Audionutz
Track 1- “Brother” from Alice in Chains Unplugged
Simply remarkable track!!! The recording quality of this disc is superb, and it is full of dynamic
and microdynamic content, excellent tonality spanning the entire spectrum, great ambience and
audience ambience, and awesome image placement. This track features acoustic guitar at far right,
bass guitar at right center, another acoustic guitar at far left, Layne Stanley and Jerry Cantrell at
just left and just right of center on Vocals, full drum kit behind the vocalists spanning across the
stage with a variety of percussion sounds. The image separation is remarkable and it should literally
sound as if the band is live in front of you. The goal here is to keep all instruments firmly affixed
in their respective places, and of course, the tonality of the string instruments is tested over a very
wide range of frequencies. A Must Have disc!
What to listen for: Double male vocal placement, far left and far right image location and stage
width, room and audience ambience, tonality, clarity, instrument placement
Track 2- “At The Pershing” by Jazz Mandolin Project
A contemporary jazz instrumental with smooth balance, nice mellow percussion and cymbals, and
very good bass fretwork. The strings super and there is just a plethora of instruments that come
into play, including a very nice piano and fabulous cymbal brushwork giving us a sense of stage
space. Wide frequency ranges present.
What to listen for: Instrument tonality and realism
Track 3- “Jesus To A Child” by George Michael
A good vocal track with nice ambient synthesizers and acoustic strings, and the room ambiences
are readily apparent on his vocal sybillances and the percussion echoes, almost to the point of being
exaggerated.
What to listen for: Upper male vocal location and room echo
Track 13- “Close To You” by The Carpenters
Another landmark from the 70s, here is SACD remaster form. It is absolutely INCREDIBLE in
every aspect. If you tough guys can get past the cheesiness of the song, you will be rewarded by
outstanding image placement, a complex and full stage, depth like a mo-fo, great tonality, and
one of the silkiest voices ever recorded. All instruments remain firmly planted in their positions
throughout, NO IMAGE WANDERING SHOULD BE APPARENT WITH ANY
INSTRUMENT OR VOCAL, except when the horn at right stage comes in, there are some
immediate echoes from the left side, making it sound like two horns, but then it clears up and
boy howdy. Maybe I’m a fairy, but damn this song is excellent.
What to listen for: Strong center female vocal image and tonality, solid piano image placement,
back up orchestral resolution, ambience, stage width
Track 4- “Round Here” by Counting Crows
A rock group with distinctive vocals at center stage, good slappy basslines and drumwork, excellent
snare drums and powerful dynamics. Clean resolution is what to look for here.
What to listen for: Male vocal location and image, electric guitar and bass tonality, dynamics
Track 5- “Trans-Island Skyway” features the well-known vocalist from Steely Dan backed up by a
trio of other vocalists. The bass and drums stay constant and are crisp and defined, and guitars and
horns fade in and out at various locations. The key here is to localize the drums and bass clearly
stable in front of you and high, with the bass in front of the drums, and be able to pinpoint each
additional instrument as they appear at various points.
What to listen for: Midbass, clarity, detail
Track 14- “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again” by Burt Bacharach with Elvis Costello on vocals
A well-known ballad with full orchestral back-up. Burt plays piano, multiple horns back Elvis, who
is center stage and very intimate in presentation, well in front of the horns, just a smooth wide fun
track.
What to listen for: Strong male vocal image and tonality, instrument image placement and location
Track 15- “What’s Goin’ On” by 4 Non Blondes
This track features both acoustic and electric guitars at opposite locations, good midbass,
wide dynamic vocal ranges, and good room ambience. System should not distort at all, even
loud volumes. Great for vocal tonality and clarity. You will like it, I promise!
What to listen for: Slightly abrasive female vocals, dynamics, electric instrument location
Track 6- “Africa” by Toto
Yes it IS the song from the ‘80s, but dammit it sounds very good. The percussion and synthesizer
work with xylophones at the beginning is very involving, and the range of dynamic volumes is
pretty good. Toto generally uses multiple vocalists singing in unison, with no real dominating
center vocalist, although you can pick out the separate voices as the arrivals of the syllibances of
each are slightly different. Throw in an occasional electric guitar, shaker, drum roll, and gong and
you have the classic 80’s track. Enjoy!
What to listen for: Microdynamics, complexity resolution
Track 7- “Tinman” by America
One of many hits from the ‘70s, timeless and world-reknown. This is a large band with a very full
soundstage, great center vocalist and multiple backup vocal positions. Drums should be behind
the singer with the piano in the foreground, bells in the background, acoustic guitars at far left and
far right, bass just to the left of the drums, excellent tonality. If this soundstage sounds cluttered
and you are unable to distinguish separate locations for every instrument and vocalist, there is a
problem.
Track 10- “Ode To Billy Joe” by Lou Donaldson
A cool older jazz track featuring drum set far right, lead horn in the center, organ behind the horn
slightly left, mild guitar left of center, and all cymbals at right with drums. Recording quality isn’t
spectacular, but for an old track, it is very acceptable. The bluesey electric guitar that comes in
should be a little harsh on certain notes but distinct and focused.
What to listen for: Stage width, layering, and instrument location
What to listen for: Center male vocal, stage position and instrument location, midbass
Track 8- “Time” by Pink Floyd
The quintessential rock epic that anyone over 25 has heard on more than one occasion. Recorded
in 1973, then remastered at least on one occasion, it is a dynamic, eerie, and pristine recording sure
to give your system a workout. The alarm clocks should all be distinct and separate from each other,
the room size should be apparent by all the echo locations of the various synth sounds and toms,
and the frequency range should be very wide. At first, Back up vocals are distorted on purpose and
the vocalists like Toto, seem to sing in unison. This track is not for the vocals, and I don’t really care
for the high-hat and crash cymbals used at right center stage, but everything else ROCKS! Dont
play this too loud at first until you find your systems distortion threshold.
What to listen for: Outer stage width boundaries, treble resolution, complex dynamics, sound effects
Track 11- This jazz fusion is reminescent of Bob James, Ray Obiedo, and Boney James. Good
dynamics good bass response, mainly electric guitar playing lead. Horn section back up comes in
occasionally, and you can hear certain members of the band hollering periodically. Very full and up
close soundstage with this one, but horns are definitely behind the guitarist and percussion.
What to listen for: Bass and midbass reproduction, instrument tonality
Track 12- “Temptation” by Diana Krall
Features excellent stand up bass that will definitely point out midbass resonations if they are
present! Keeping the bass focused up front and center will ONLY be achieved when you have
dialed in the best possible install, sub to midbass transition, tonal balance, resonance control,
and arrival times. As always, Diana sounds like good sex, and UNLIKE most of her stuff, there
is synth in the background, a lone guitarist to her left, and very little piano. Hmm.
What to listen for: Center female vocal, stand up bass reproduction, tonality
Track 9- “Solitude” by Edwin McCain
A sort of acoustic rock ballad, Edwin is joined by Darius from Hootie and the Blowfish on vocals.
Focus with this track should be Multiple instrument clarity, acoustic string tonality, left center bass
guitar that does NOT move in location, and strings that are noticeably in front of the drum set and
cymbals.
What to listen for: Male vocal duet location and image, acoustic tonality