Percussion Test CD!

[PSB_Paradigm_HSU]

Just got this and popped it in. A must own for anyone looking for a good test CD for their system! Its like having the musicians playing in your living room! Very natural sounding and can help you tweak your system until perfect. Just read the description after clicking the hdtracks link. Second link is for a good program that allows you to burn flac files to an audio cd. My friend came over while I was downstairs and he thought I bought a drum set and put it in my basement!

https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?f...detail&id=7786

http://www.cdburnerxp.se/download.php

(Sorry if this is in the wrong spot, its a SPEAKER test cd so...)

[PSB_Paradigm_HSU]

Info I was originally trying to link to:

" Audiophiles can finally enjoy a truly high-resolution drum and percussion album to test the abilities of their high-end audio system. Steven R. Rochlin, a classically trained musician since 1974 and editor of Enjoy the Music.com, has released his first album titled THTST. After nearly two decades of being away from the recording studio, Steven unleashed his musical expressiveness and captured his new solo album using only a pair of ultra-precise, hand matched laboratory-grade microphones. On THTST there are no overdubs, 'destructive' devices or techniques so as to deliver the true purity and absolute sound of a real drumset within your listening room. As one would expect, this recording provides a dynamic range from the soft sounds of studio wind chimes to woofer and amplifier testing deep bass of a large gong bass drum. THTST includes a wide variety of percussion and drum styles using an extensive assembly of musical instruments. "After many years of hiatus from the recording studio, this is my first venture back into laying down tracks" said musician Steven R. Rochlin. "Am sure drum and percussion enthusiasts will listen to this album and be amazed at the wide variety of music styles from exotic to the all-out no-holds-barred drum solo. Due to the stunning dynamics plus harmonic accuracy of this recording, every audiophile should get this album to test their system. Due to the expansive dynamics, ultra-wide frequency range and having been recorded in high-resolution, this truly is the most comprehensive test recording of this genre in decades. Audiophiles should get THTST to hear if their system is capable of reproducing one of the most challenging instruments to reproduce accurately. Of course what matters is that listeners enjoy the music." The album is available for download in high definition 24-bit/96kHz FLAC, 16/44.1 and 320kbs mp3 format from HDtracks. "

[dewd]

Any particular song you would recommend. I do not want to pay $15 for an album I'm pretty certain I will not like. $2.50 per song is ridiculous as well, but I may be willing to pay for one....

[enjoythemusic]

Hi, as the musican and engineer of THTST a huge thanks PSB_Paradigm_HSU for your kind words. Yes, the album was recorded with no compression or dynamic limiting... and lab/measurement mics so my goal was to have it sound as real as possible.

Originally Posted by dewd

Any particular song you would recommend. I do not want to pay $15 for an album I'm pretty certain I will not like. $2.50 per song is ridiculous as well, but I may be willing to pay for one....

Dewd, i placed the album 'on sale' with HDtracks and that is pretty much their lowest price for the high-rez version. You can save a bit if you get the lower resolution versions, but then that is a bit of a compromise in sound quality. The first two tracks are more melodic/mellow percussion pieces. The middle tracks are *basically* single instrument highlights. The last two tracks are all-out drum solos. If you listen to the samples on HDtrack's website you can get an aural idea what each track basically is. Feel free to e-mail me from http://www.THTST.com if you need more information as i am not a regular on this discussion board yet was alerted to this thread and wanted to help out as i can. Always glad to help.

[enjoythemusic]

PSB_Paradigm_HSU,

Many thanks for the compliment and it took a lot of work to make the album. Yes, i did all the setup, the performing, the engineering, the recording and the mastering. A single-person effort like that can be be brilliance or (usually) utter disaster. The pressure was really on as am a member of audiophile and drummer discussion boards, so if the playing stunk i'd get it double-barrel style from them. If the sound quality lacked, my audio buds would harass me.

Originally Posted by dewd

Any particular song you would recommend. I do not want to pay $15 for an album I'm pretty certain I will not like. $2.50 per song is ridiculous as well, but I may be willing to pay for one....

Best bet is to listen to the brief samples on HDtracks site. Basically, the first 2 tracks are mellow percussion, the next few tracks are single instrument items, and the last 2 tracks are all-out drum solos. If you just want a big drum solo with plenty of hard-hitting stuff, then the last 'BONUS' track is best.

Of course anyone can feel free to e-mail me (as am not a regular on this discussion board) from the site http://www.THTST.com and i'll gladly help out. Always glad to be of service.

[PSB_Paradigm_HSU]

Originally Posted by enjoythemusic

PSB_Paradigm_HSU,

Many thanks for the compliment and it took a lot of work to make the album. Yes, i did all the setup, the performing, the engineering, the recording and the mastering. A single-person effort like that can be be brilliance or (usually) utter disaster. The pressure was really on as am a member of audiophile and drummer discussion boards, so if the playing stunk i'd get it double-barrel style from them. If the sound quality lacked, my audio buds would harass me.




Best bet is to listen to the brief samples on HDtracks site. Basically, the first 2 tracks are mellow percussion, the next few tracks are single instrument items, and the last 2 tracks are all-out drum solos. If you just want a big drum solo with plenty of hard-hitting stuff, then the last 'BONUS' track is best.

Of course anyone can feel free to e-mail me (as am not a regular on this discussion board) from the site http://www.THTST.com and i'll gladly help out. Always glad to be of service.

Thanks for all your hard work that went into making this, I will enjoy it for many years to come. I will be on the look out if you release any more albums. Just curious, what speakers/system do you use for playback?

[enjoythemusic]

For speakers i use the Audio Note ANJ-Spx, which are basically older Snell design yet with updates like silver voice coil, silver wire, silver coils and caps in the crossover and hand pair-matched to 0.5dB. Amplification is Wavelength Audio Cardinal XS 300B-based monoblocks. Briefly used the Nightingale Concentus CTR 2 open baffle loudspeaker as it was in-house for review. Also used the Adam A5 for nearfield monitors, Sennheiser HD600 headphones, various in-ear monitors... plus asked co-writer Dr. Bill Gaw to give a few tracks a listen via his converted barn with very large multi-horn and tube amplifiers and a friend at a high-end store in Florida to give it a try on various systems and provide feedback. Once the album was 'done' also auditioned it on about 15 different systems (over $1M of gear total) at the RMAF show in Denver.

[PSB_Paradigm_HSU]

Originally Posted by enjoythemusic

For speakers i use the Audio Note ANJ-Spx, which are basically older Snell design yet with updates like silver voice coil, silver wire, silver coils and caps in the crossover and hand pair-matched to 0.5dB. Amplification is Wavelength Audio Cardinal XS 300B-based monoblocks. Briefly used the Nightingale Concentus CTR 2 open baffle loudspeaker as it was in-house for review. Also used the Adam A5 for nearfield monitors, Sennheiser HD600 headphones, various in-ear monitors... plus asked co-writer Dr. Bill Gaw to give a few tracks a listen via his converted barn with very large multi-horn and tube amplifiers and a friend at a high-end store in Florida to give it a try on various systems and provide feedback. Once the album was 'done' also auditioned it on about 15 different systems (over $1M of gear total) at the RMAF show in Denver.

Wow very impressive gear list. A friend of mine that is in recording school just bought a pair of Adam A5's, havent gotten a chance to hear them yet though. Any brands/loudspeakers that stood out when you auditioned your album at RMAF?

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by enjoythemusic

PSB_Paradigm_HSU,

Many thanks for the compliment and it took a lot of work to make the album. Yes, i did all the setup, the performing, the engineering, the recording and the mastering. A single-person effort like that can be be brilliance or (usually) utter disaster. The pressure was really on as am a member of audiophile and drummer discussion boards, so if the playing stunk i'd get it double-barrel style from them. If the sound quality lacked, my audio buds would harass me.




Best bet is to listen to the brief samples on HDtracks site. Basically, the first 2 tracks are mellow percussion, the next few tracks are single instrument items, and the last 2 tracks are all-out drum solos. If you just want a big drum solo with plenty of hard-hitting stuff, then the last 'BONUS' track is best.

Of course anyone can feel free to e-mail me (as am not a regular on this discussion board) from the site http://www.THTST.com and i'll gladly help out. Always glad to be of service.

I would love to have these tracks, but HDTracks is only available in the U.S. for now so I can't download it. Would it be ok if I sent you an email via the Contact link on your site?

Sincerely,

John

[enjoythemusic]

As for the RMAF, the most accurate reproduction system per my RMAF show report on Enjoy the Music.com was the Wilson Audio setup. For me, it was so very easy to hear the differences in various setups and where tonal/harmonic and/or dynamic balances were skewed or not 'correct'. Having lived with the drumset for some time now, am very familiar with how each instrument sounds.

As for the Adam A5, they are very accurate and they DO NOT try to 'fake bass' like the LS3/5. What they do produce is very true and lowermost frequencies simply are not really produced at all, so if he loves deeeeeep bass, pipe organ or the like he will need to find a way to accurately integrate a subwoofer. Am not home to give you exact details, yet did feel the need to slightly adjust the levels on my pair (see the rear adjustment on the A5).

Originally Posted by John72953

I would love to have these tracks, but HDTracks is only available in the U.S. for now so I can't download it. Would it be ok if I sent you an email via the Contact link on your site?
Sincerely,
John

Sure, please do... and ANYONE here can feel free to e-mail me directly from THTST site with questions. Am always glad to help.

As always... Enjoy the Music,

Steven R. Rochlin
http://www.THTST.com

[enjoythemusic]

As for the RMAF, the most accurate reproduction system per my RMAF show report was the Wilson Audio setup. For me, it was so very easy to hear the differences in setups and where tonal/harmonic and dynamic balances were skewed or not 'correct'. Having lived with the drumset for some time now, am very familiar with how each instrument sounds.

As for the A5, they are very accurate and they DO NOT try to 'fake bass' like LS3/5. What they do produce is very true and lowermost frequencies simply are not really produced at all, so if he loves deeeeeep bass, pipe organ or the like, he will need to find a way to accurately integrate a subwoofer. Am not home to give you exact details, yet did feel the need to slightly adjust the levels on my pair (see the rear adjustment on the A5).

Originally Posted by John72953

I would love to have these tracks, but HDTracks is only available in the U.S. for now so I can't download it. Would it be ok if I sent you an email via the Contact link on your site?
Sincerely,
John

Sure, please do... and ANYONE here can feel free to e-mail me directly from THTST site with questions. Am always glad to help.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by enjoythemusic

Sure, please do... and ANYONE here can feel free to e-mail me directly from THTST site with questions. Am always glad to help.

Thank you Sir...I will do so right now!

John

[Johnny Vinyl]

It won't let me contact you. I tried signing up for the email newsletter, but won't do that either. Is it because I'm not in the U.S.?

John

[enjoythemusic]

John, VERY weird as it should work fine... and i just tested it and all is fine there.

info@thtst.com

Check your system perhaps???

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by enjoythemusic

John, VERY weird as it should work fine... and i just tested it and all is fine there.

info@thtst.com

Check your system perhaps???

I'll try your link...thank you!

John

[Johnny Vinyl]

same thing....I'll reboot and try again. I have a new Dell Inspiron and WIN7...maybe I need to try outside of Blu-ray.com....

John

[Johnny Vinyl]

still no luck...will PM you.


John