Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater My Audition Thoughts

I've grown to like the songs, but the mastering still bites. There are bits where it's really good, but then it switches back to muddy, bass heavy crap.

Hi all,

I thought I'd chime in sice I'm the new guy around here (I have been lurking for a while though).

Might be a good time for a thread on suggesting well-mastered CD's for demo purposes. Maybe there's one already and I just didn't see it....I am new - and you know how us newbies are.
I have had the opportunity to do an extended in-home comparison of the Axiom M80's, PSB 5T & 6T, Audes SOULs, B&W 704's, and the Paradigm Studio. Because of all this comparison listening, I have found a few of my CD's are of very good quality, and many of them are of significantly poopy quality. It might be helpful for us to share our thoughts on some good CD's to try.
As a side note - I'm considering posting my thoughts or maybe a short mini-review of my side-by-side listening sessions with all the speakers.

RJ

"Hoo-ray beer!...Booo tea!"

I use Dave Matthews Band to audition. Those are some well-mixed albums. Your m22's will be shining in all their glory with his music. Just about any track will do, but I like to start with "Satellite" as it reveals some crisp acoustic plucking and then gradually adds in other textures and colors. The song "Oh" off of his solo album is also really good for this. Queen's "Bicycle" is good for another style of rock. I use Beatles as well, since they were known to be so meticulous in their mixing. The studio mix was an art in and of itself for those guys. Check out "A Day in the Life" and of course, "Eleanor Rigby."

In reply to:

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Queen's "Bicycle" is good for another style of rock

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of course, then you'd be forced to listen to Queen!

Eagles - Hotel California has always been a favorite, as has Norah Jones - Come Away with Me

Excellent! I'm a huge Dave Matthews Band fan. Glad to know the brand of speakers I'll end up with will mesh nicely.

Too bad to hear that Train's mastering stinks. I was planning to pick up those discs at some point...curses.

BTW while we're on the subject of albums...does anyone play rap or R&B on these puppies? I have a vast collection...I'd hate to think it'll sound like garbage...and no snide comments about it sounding like garbage on any speakers!

-Nick

i 2nd the opinions of Eagles and Norah Jones. For Norah, I have both the 2 channel and SACD and both sound great.

Regarding R&B and rap, both sound great. However, considering that the genre doesn't really exploit great acoustics, it doesn't matter too much. I have a number of neo Soul CDs and those sound fantastic.

Excellent...Neo Soul..double excellent!

-Nick

The only rap I allow through my M22s on anything close to a regular basis is Jurassic 5. I love it.

It's sad how far out of the loop I fell musically when I locked down the CD budget a few years ago. Thanks for the tip on Jurassic 5. I looked them up on allmusic.com and I'll have to pick up their albums.

-Nick

Yes, J5 is OFF THE HOOK. I saw them in concert at Shoreline with Roots and Outkast. One of the best shows I've seen. Outkast is like the "new" Parliament. DJ Numark and Kut Kemist are unbelievable.

If you like J5, Justice System and Freestylers are good. I can go on forever, perhaps this is another thread...