Test Tracks

Good stereo creates an illusion. The better the stereo, the better the illusion, specifically a perception of harmonically rich, lifelike sounds occurring a real-life space. The guidelines and questions accompanying these tracks will help you appreciate the rewards superior sound delivers.

This guide sets out to demonstrate the difference superior sound can make. Purely in terms of quality, once you become aware of various sonic and spatial distinctions, be they ever so subtle, you will all the more relish the music you love. 

Why uncompressed you ask?
Uncompressed audio formats store the data that is captured during a sound recording in such a way that no degradation occurs after the final studio mastering of the material. That means the sound recordings we provide contain all the detail, all the expression and all the ambience that are ignored by lossy compressed formats such as MP3 and WMA. Listen and you\'ll see.

Here are some music tracks in uncompressed WAV format from an album that highlight clarity, dynamics, resolution, soundstage and timbre.

• Track 01: Drum Dynamics @ 4608 Kbps / 96KHz
  

  This track demonstrates a largely misunderstood term: dynamics. Any boombox can play loud. A good stereo’s dynamics range from feather-soft to thunder-clap loud. The metal and drums (skins and rims) reveal a system’s ability to convey lightning-swift transients.<br/ > Drum Dynamics Preview @ 128 Kbps by treoocom

 

• Track 02: Cello Tonality @ 4608 Kbps / 96KHz
  

  Good stereo allows you to appreciate this 300-year-old cello’s unique timbre and rich resonance.Cello Tonality Preview @ 128 Kbps by treoocom

• Track 03: Piano Tonality @ 4608 Kbps / 96KHz
  

  This intimate yet remarkably powerful recording is especially revealing of the Fazioli piano’s percussive attacks, overtones and decays, and most especially, of its soul-stirring middle and lower range. Piano Tonality Preview @ 128 Kbps by treoocom

• Track 04: Jazz Plucked Bass @ 4608 Kbps / 96KHz
• Track 05: Classical Plucked Bass @ 4608 Kbps / 96KHz
  

  Apart from both instruments’ rich fundamentals and warm overtones, can you detect differences with respect to their individual character? Jazz Plucked Bass Preview @ 128 Kbps by treoocom
  
  Classical Plucked Bass Preview @ 128 Kbps by treoocom

• Track 06: Vocal Tonality @ 4608 Kbps / 96KHz
  

  Her sibilants should have a natural rather than “spitty” character. You should also have a sense of the singer’s physical body – lips, tongue, throat, lungs and chest. The human voice via good stereo can be very seductive. Vocal Tonality Preview @ 128 Kbps by treoocom

• Track 07: Asian Flute @ 4608 Kbps / 96KHz
  

  A brilliant yet distant, soulful and spacious sound, the result perhaps of applied reverberation? Asian Flute Preview @ 128 Kbps by treoocom

• Track 08: Binaural Tonality @ 4608 Kbps / 96KHz
  

  You should experience a strong sense of left-right separation in an intimate setting yet with no sense of a hole in the middle of the soundstage. Binaural Tonality Preview @ 128 Kbps by treoocom

• Track 09: Complex Tonal Resolution @ 4608 Kbps / 96KHz
  

  In contrast to the above, the flute and guitar appear to occupy the space between the speakers in yet another intimate setting.Complex Tonal Resolution Preview @ 128 Kbps by treoocom

• Track 10: Outdoor Ambience @ 4608 Kbps / 96KHz
  

  Does the band seem to be playing in an acoustically ideal space? – a well designed performance shell perhaps? Pay particular attention to location within the soundfield. Outdoor Ambience Preview @ 128 Kbps by treoocom

• Track 11: Outdoor Spaciousness @ 4608 Kbps / 96KHz
  

  Have you a sense of the trumpets’ knife-edged brilliance playing into the open air? Outdoor Spaciousness Preview @ 128 Kbps by treoocom

• Track 12: Harmonic Group Unity @ 4608 Kbps / 96KHz
  

  Here we have an excellent example of a fully occupied, harmonically luxuriant soundfield. Our table in this jazz club isn’t very far from the band.Harmonic Group Unity Preview @ 128 Kbps by treoocom

• Track 13: Tonal Delicacy @ 4608 Kbps / 96KHz
  

  Note the swift attacks and the harmonics they produce. Our proximity to the guitarist permits us to hear this beautiful instrument’s every intricate aspect. Tonal Delicacy Preview @ 128 Kbps by treoocom