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Purveyors of Electronic, Musical and Vintage goods from then, now and in between. 
Since 1982.

DEMO CUTS USED AT OAK TREE VINTAGE TO AUDITION SPEAKERS AND OTHER VINTAGE STEREO EQUIPMENT



Listing of the Demo Cuts / Songs / Selections that we use here at Oak Tree Vintage and likely have used for years to audition our hi-fi speakers, and gear as well as our 'Pro-Audio' / PA speakers on.  

 


These are songs / selections / recordings that we commonly use to test / demo our speakers and audio gear with. We primarily use CD's, but will sometimes use LP's (yes, actual vinyl records). We choose selections based on the overall recording quality (must be of the highest standards), the dynamic range of the recording (the more dynamics a recording has, the harder it is 'on a speaker', and will many times uncover 'faults' or 'short-comings' of a speaker). Along with 'dynamic range' we look for recordings with plenty of 'silence' between 'bursts' of dynamic range. That gives us an idea of the 'tightness' of it's bass response. Just as 'slew rate' and 'damping factor' are, two of the most important characteristics of an amplifier (in my opinion probably the two most important specs), I also want to see similar performance from a speaker. In 'layman' terms, it's the 'Zero to 60' spec and the 'Braking Distance' spec.
At this point we do not utilize any 'down loaded music files' or MP3 files / songs for source as the quality level of such media is generally nowhere near good enough for our purposes due primarily to the compression involved in that type of media.
 
We will soon be adding more of the material we use, as time allows...

ARTIST ALBUM SONG / CUT / PIECE TITLE MEDIA TYPE
ie: CD / LP / TAPE etc.
RECORDING COMPANY / LABLE RECORDING TYPE
ie: AAD, ADD, DDD etc.
 
NOTES
             
             
Al DiMeola, John McLaughlin and Paco DeLucia Al DiMeola, John McLaughlin and Paco DeLucia
"Friday Night in San Francisco"
Al DiMeola, John McLaughlin and Paco DeLucia
"Mediterranean Sundance / Rio Ancho"
'LP / Vinyl'
is we feel, 'all around' the better, by far over CD. We do have two different copies on CD, but they're not as 'open' sounding as our LP copy.
    I've used this for years. Amazing 'steel string' guitar sounds, mic'ing technique and recording. Makes speakers open up and loose any 'boxyness' they might have, if they're up to it.
             
             
Calvin Hampton Calvin Hampton "Digital Pipes, The Splendor of the Organ" Calvin Hampton Mendelssohn's "The Wedding March" from "A midsummer Nights Dream" CD   DDD  

 

Clown Clown "?pimp?" Clown "WHY DO I HATE" CD "DigiProductions Records", Produced by Chris Willard and Clown DDD Huge recording starts of with a digital sample of a 'klaxon' horn and only gets bigger from there. (very angry youth music). Be careful with your woofers on this one. Just about took out the 15's on my Altec Valencias.
             
Cowboy Junkies Cowboy Junkies "The Trinity Sessions" Most cuts are great, but of course Cowboy Junkies "Sweet Jane" is a standard CD   DDD This has been a 'demo Industry Standard' since it was initially released and STILL IS. Open, 'Airy' and 'live' sound. VERY WELL engineered and recorded.
             
Dire Straits Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms" Dire Straits "So Far Away" CD   DDD This has been a 'demo Industry Standard' since it was initially released. Very crisp and 'snappy' recording. Well engineered and recorded.
             
Donald Fagen Donald Fagen "The Nightfly" Donald Fagen "I.G.Y." CD     Another 'demo Industry Standard' since it was initially released. Very crisp and 'snappy' recording. Well engineered and recorded.
             
Alison Kraus   Alison Kraus "Baby, Now That I've Found You" CD     Very open and 'breathy' recording. Great acoustic instruments and of course there's 'Alisons' voice!
             
Michael Jackson Michael Jackson "Bad" Michael Jackson "Bad" CD   DDD I've used this since it was initially released. Amazing recording. Very demanding. Will damage speakers if you're not careful.
             
Nickelback Nickelback "Silver Side Up" Nickelback "Never Again" CD     Starts off 'Big' and stays 'Big'. Demanding and punches hard. Great all around test for R&R. (on a side note, maybe there are so many Nickleback 'haters' because the speakers they're listening to suck!...Hey, I think I just figured it out)
             
Nickel Creek Nickel Creek "Why Should the Fire Die?"  Nickel Creek "When in Rome" CD      
 
John Patitucci "JOHN PATITUCCI" multiple cuts CD GRP Records, Inc. by Grusin / Rosen Productions DDD Great 'modern jazz' speaker demo (as modern as 1988 anyway) featuring John Pattitucci on bass, with Chick Corea on piano and keys, Michael Brecker on saxophone, Peter Erskine on drums, Dave Weckl on drums / percussion, Vinnie Colaiuta on drums / percussion, John Beasley on synthesizers / keyboards, David Witham on piano / synthesizers / keyboards, and Rick Riso on vocals.
Great all around CD with 'speaker testing emphasis' on the following
John Patitucci cuts; "Growing", "Our Family", "Zaragoza", & "Killeen".
             
Sheffield Lab "Sheffield Drive" multiple cuts CD Sheffield Lab Inc. / Live Studio Recordings likely mostly DDD Great all around 'modern jazz' selections for speaker testing / demo:
Cut #1; from Pat Coil's, Just Ahead Album, "
Escape Clause" from 'Recoil Music and BMI'. (Solid recording with amazing punch. Hard hitting percussion.)
Cute #; James Newton Howards' 'James Newton Howard and Friends' Album, "Slippin' Away II" from David Paich (Hudmar Music Publ. Co / ASCAP)
Cut #13 from "The Sheffield Drum and Track Record", Jim Keltners', "Drum Record Improve (excerpt)" (amazing drum kit recording or in other words "HOLY S#!T")

 
Steve Barta "Rossport" multiple cuts CD Recorded Live at 'Pikes Peak Center', Colorado Springs, Co. or at 'Colorado Sound', Denver Co. likely mostly DDD Great Solo Piano recordings
TLC TLC "Fan Mail" TLC "Scrub" CD     While this entire album is recorded very well, we use it to determine 'bass response' initially. There is a 'sub bass' note recorded twice at  that is very difficult for most speakers to reproduce at all, let alone well. Interestingly a speakers ability to reproduce it does not seem to be dependant on price range, quality, woofer size, brand or model. A speaker can either do it or it can't to a varying degree. It's the first 'music' test we conduct.
             
Trapt "TRAPT" Trapt "HeadStrong" CD     Starts off 'Big' and stays 'Big'. Demanding and punches hard. Great all around test for R&R. VERY PUNCHY! BE CAREFUL!
             
"Tutti!" "Tutti! - Orchestral Sampler" multiple cuts CD Reference Recordings 'RR' HDCD This is a disc we picked up at an 'Ultra High-End' audio show, where the average speaker costs around $40,000 and amps can cost up to $125,000 per channel. Many of the cuts are great for speaker demo / testing.
Here are some of the following that stand out to us;
Cut #3; Ron Nelsons', "Rocky Point Holiday", performed by the 'Jerry Junkin/Dallas Wind Symphony,
Cut#6; from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's, 'Piano Concerto No. 21' - "Adante' Performed by Eugene Istomin on Piano, with Gerard Scharz and the Seattle Symphony,
Cut #8; from Anton Bruckner's, 'Symphony No. 9's', "Scherzo", Skrowaczewski with the Minnesota Orchestra,
Cut #10; Malcolm Arnold's "The Padstow Lifeboat" performed by the 'Jerry Junkin/Dallas Wind Symphony (very 'Phat' Bass Drum with a 'Natural and 'up-front' Brass section'),
Cut #12;  from Richard Strauss's, 'The Times of the Day", "Der Morgen" performed by Timothy Seelig and the Turtle Creek Chorale with the Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra (very 'natural notes' and sound),
Cut #'s 15-16, from Mussorgsky-Ravel's 'Pictures at an Exhibition, "Baba Yaga; Great Gate at Kiev", performed by Eiji Que and the Minnesota Orchestra (natural recording and with the right speakers, very 'in your face!')
             
Van Halen Van Halen 1984 "Drop Dead Legs" however many cuts on this album are great for speaker demos, but BE CAREFUL! This recording is 'solid' with a lot of dynamic range. CD     Starts off 'Big' and stays 'Big'. Demanding and punches hard. Great all around test for R&R. Some sections have been known to take out drivers / crossover caps!
Van Halen Van Halen 1984 "Hot for Teacher" however many cuts on this album are great for speaker demos, but I've actually 'blown up crossover caps' with "Hot for Teacher" so BE CAREFUL! CD     Starts off 'Big' and stays 'Big'. Demanding and punches hard. Great all around test for R&R. Some sections have been known to take out drivers / crossover caps!
             
Jennifer Warnes Jennifer Warnes "Famous Blue Raincoat - The Songs of Leonard Cohen" Jennifer Warnes "Famous Blue Raincoat" is a marvelous demo recording. The opening Sax and Upright Bass is spot on. The rest of the album is incredible as well. CD, 20th Anniversary 24k Gold Edition from Impex Records     Very open and 'breathy' recording. Great acoustic instruments and of course there's 'Jenifers' voice! Still and has been since introduced, an 'industry standard' for speaker / hi-fi testing.
             
             

 

 

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Again, we are not selling or distributing any of the music, referenced above Oak Tree Enterprises, LLC., nor are we in anyway related to any of the recording companies, music distributors, artists etc. The above listing is simply a list of the songs / music we use to test our gear with in-house.

 


 

 


 

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