GM audio engineer lists Top 10 songs to test your car stereo

[River_Rat_459]

SOURCE: http://content.usatoday.com/communit...terstitialskip

Test driving the sound system when you're car shopping can be as key to your long-term satisfaction as checking out the handling. So we thought you'd like to see this list of Top 10 songs for testing car audio quality from General Motors audio engineer Matt Kirsch, who led the sound work on the Chevrolet Cruze.

GM also posted the tracks as a mix at the iTunes store: If you want it for your own audio test driving, you can buy here for $12 (you gotta have iTunes to download it, of course).

Here are Kirsch's "10 Songs for an Audio Test Drive" and what he says to listen for in each track:

1. "Don't Know Why" by Norah Jones. Listen for Norah's voice to sound natural, and centered in front of you.
2. "Diamonds and Rust" by Joan Baez. Listen for strong vocals, and for the instruments to be set across a wide sound stage
3. "No One" by Alicia Keys. Listen for clarity in Alicia's vocals and spacious background sound.
4. "Hotel California" by the Eagles. Listen for the clarity and dynamic range during the opening guitar solo, and of course the powerful drum beat.
5. "Boom Boom Pow"by the Black Eyed Peas. Listen for powerful, accurate bass beats, even at full volume.
6. "Rock that Body"by the Black Eyed Peas. Listen clear, intelligible lyrics over the powerful, persistent bass beat.
7. "Hide and Seek"by Imogen Heap. Listen for the enveloping ambience of the song, building on the openness and dynamic vocals.
8. "He Mele No Lilo" by Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu from Lilo and Stitch. Listen for the ambience and staging as the children's chorus is offset by powerful bass.
9. "Bird on a Wire" by Johnny Cash. Listen for the clarity in Johnny's distinctive voice, and his guitar to sound natural and free of any coloration.
10. "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box"by Radiohead. Listen for the punch from the percussive bass, and the ring of the steel drums.

-- Fred Meier/Drive On

[jxspyder]

The problem is that this list won't do squat for me, as after playing it once, 90% of those songs will never be heard in my ride.

Now if you came up with a test track that included Eminem, Jason Aldean, Motley Crue, and Travis Barker....I'd be able to test my sound system out.

[River_Rat_459]

I agree with you on the track selection. I guess the if you have an iPod or MP3 player, you could test it once then delete them. I'm just sayin'.