Everyone's listening styles and habits are very different, so when we choose headphones, we will involve the audition of headphones. However, we often see that Cai Qin's Ferry and Eagle's Hotel California are recommended for audition. What is the principle?

The recommended audition tracks are Ferry and Hotel California, mainly because in the middle and late 1990s, friends who burned them chose these two songs for audio audition. Later, friends who burned audio switched to headphones for various reasons, and naturally chose high definition audio's audition habit. At that time, both songs were recorded well, and the most important thing is that this audition method has become a habit. Everyone listens to these songs, and there are similar reference methods to compare the sound quality of audio equipment with other aspects. Therefore, earphone enthusiasts choose these two songs, which not only continues the habit of audio enthusiasts, but most importantly, each of us is familiar with these audition tracks, so it is easier for us to identify and compare them when listening.

Cai Qin can be said to be the best singer in China's CD, and the quality and quantity of her songs are unmatched by many singers. The songs he recorded, whether accompanied by live instruments or melodious songs, made her songs a touchstone to test the quality of headphones.

In the last article, we have written the recommendation of earphone audition, including Cai Qin's The Ferry. The biggest feature of this song is the drum sound in the prelude, which is used to test the low-frequency performance of headphones. The details are shown in the three drums, whether you can feel the vibration of the drum surface and whether the drum is vigorous; When the bass is playing, you should listen to whether the bass dive is deep enough, whether it is thick or thin, and whether it can be taken back after it is released. During the guitar playing stage, listen to the feeling of plucking the strings. If you can't feel these, it can only prove that the low frequency of the earphone is worse, or that Andhadhun weakened the low frequency when tuning. Finally, after all the tracks of various instruments are input, you can feel the positions of the instruments carefully, giving people a distinct feeling, and the voices between the instruments do not interfere with each other. If the sense of hearing is a mess and it is difficult to distinguish the position, it can only prove that the audio equipment is not good.

Secondly, Eagles' Hotel California, which we also mentioned in the last article, mainly tests the sound field and resolution of headphones. In the prelude, two guitars are mainly played, which not only has a beautiful melody, but also has a strong sense of rhythm and flexibility, which can better test the resolution of headphones. In the song, we can hear the cheers and applause of the audience, as well as the singer's singing and guitar playing. This is undoubtedly a test of the sound field of headphones. The sound field is large enough to give you a wide feeling, not depressing, and bring us an immersive feeling. If the whole sound is harsh and not bright, it can only show that the high frequency of the earphone is very poor, and the high frequency is prone to sonic boom or excessive tooth sound.

The recording level of these two tracks is very good, and the performance of audio equipment can be tested from the aspects of telepresence, tri-frequency, musical instrument positioning and human voice. It is a good choice to use them to audition and test audio equipment. However, due to the development of the times, not all headphones are suitable for these recommended songs, because these two songs are recordings of the analog era, and there is no sound dyeing in the digital era. Now some audio equipment caters to the taste of digital, so it is not a wise choice when we use these audition tracks, which will lead us to mistakenly think that this audio equipment is not good and miss some suitable choices.

So I suggest you listen to the music you are most familiar with, at least the music you have recently enjoyed and listened to, so that you can feel most intuitively whether this earphone is suitable for your listening style and whether it can impress you. If you can't do the most basic, you need to consider the latter.

Because everyone's listening orientation is very different, for a person who only listens to rock, the good audio equipment we tried with classical music is not suitable. Coupled with different headphones and different sound sources, the listening effect is really different. You should choose the headphones that suit you according to your listening style and habits. After all, we choose headphones and audio equipment to suit our listening style, get moved from it and listen to wonderful sound quality, not to show off and embarrass our ears.

Finally, everyone should understand that all the auditions are not absolute. The recommended old songs can't completely detect the problems in all frequency bands, but only let you know where the headphones or audio equipment are defective. Nothing is absolute and nothing is perfect. Within an acceptable range, this earphone or stereo is good if it is comfortable to listen to and can make you feel "transparent" and suitable for yourself.

I think this question should have been asked 20 years ago, because at that time, no matter the booth selling stereos or the booth of the audio exhibition, the California Hotel of the Eagles (definitely the frozen hell concert version of 1994) and the ferry in Cai Qin were always swaying ... Now they are no longer beautiful. Take the Beijing Audio Exhibition that I just visited on National Day as an example. With so many exhibitors and so many stereos, I haven't even heard Hotel California and Ferry once ... On the contrary, most of the presentations now are high-standard digital master music, and a clip called Snow Girl has been auditioned by many businesses, and hotels and ferries in California have been eliminated miserably, hehe. ...

Understand that there are conditions for doing audition tracks. ...

First of all, the recording of this song is better, with clear high and low frequencies, which sounds good.

Secondly, the melody is relatively simple, and the details of various sounds are clearer and easier to remember.

Third, I play more often. ...

The last person, who should not have done it on purpose, should have some luck ... but the final result is a word we often say, called "cooked"!

Yes! Is "familiar"!

This is the most important point. The tracks used for audio audition must be those that you are too familiar with to be familiar with. Almost every detail in music can be memorized. Only in this way, when you hear another set of audio, you can't help but compare the differences and differences, and you can feel where it is "harsh" and where it is more "beautiful". The reason why I quote harsh and beautiful here is to show that this is just how you feel after comparing your brain. ...

To sum up, the reason why Hotel California was once widely used as an audition track may be that it was simple and pleasant at first, and then it was played too many times intentionally or unintentionally, so that it was remembered, not only the tune, but also many sound (sound effect) details, so that it was familiar. With this foundation, it can be used to test sound.

To tell the truth, the sound effects of Hotel California and Ferry are actually not so good. Because of the lack of popular high-definition digital broadcasting resources, it is normal to be gradually replaced by new tracks. However, even high-definition new tracks must be played enough times to make people form familiar memories before they are qualified for audio testing.

The equipment used to be "18 12 overture".

My personal understanding is: the label of the times.

Hotel California is a song by Eagles, a famous American country rock band, with drummer DOnHenley as the lead singer.

The classic guitar melody, strange and inexplicable lyrics, touching feelings of compassion for the world, and the sound effect of the guitar in the song may make Hotel California a favorite of speakers. However, I like this:

Many revolutionary audition discs, such as overture 18 12, red shirts, Marlboro March, sister drums, the world's number one drum, are shocking. ...

First of all, make it clear that you must choose the California hotel selected in the concert version of 1994.

This classic version has the following factors.

1. Pure alto guitar sound (overtone and air feeling of guitar)

2. High frequency sand hammer business, high dynamic range

The sound positioning of this version of the recording is completely different from the actual seat on the spot. It can be regarded as special audio (sound field and image) for stereo positioning test.

The heavy beat and weak beat of the sand hammer are skillfully placed in the left and right channels. Drums lay the foundation at the back (low frequency dive and elasticity of drums)

In addition, the cheers of the audience are arranged at the point where the prelude frequency is missing, which makes the overall frequency smoother.

In addition, the low frequency to high frequency of the whole audio coverage is comprehensive, so it is widely circulated by recording engineers.

Not only testing headphones, but also many large-scale scenes in China have used this track for audition of sound reinforcement system.

The performance of each device is almost different. These details can judge the sound quality or whether it is in line with your own preferences.

So when you audition, you still recommend the music you are familiar with, so that you can most intuitively feel whether this equipment is suitable for you and whether it can bring you emotion.

Opportunity in Cai Qin: I remember when the audio forum talked about this CD, it played a little joke. ....

A few years ago, Mr. Liu used this CD-ROM in the equipment review. He once mentioned: "The piano keys have a unique touch. Have you ever heard the details of the bass part of the piano carved ..."

But later, at the same forum, Bao Bida was interviewed and asked about the recording of the CD Opportunity, and even said: This is not a platform piano, but MIDI. ......

This is a stupid question ... how can all the speakers audition at the California hotel? Different speakers have different characteristics and strengths, and it is impossible to test them all with a piece of music. Three-frequency division, two-frequency division, bookcase box, floor box, concerts suitable for audition are completely different with the configuration of speaker units. See if the box focuses on bass performance, treble clarity or midrange depth analysis. I tried thousands of music songs. Didn't speakers already exist before I created the California Hotel?

California hotel has the following characteristics: first, the accompaniment is unique, and there are several guitars in different positions and different timbres, which is a means to test the image and analyze; Second, the square performance is a rare single that tests the sound field. The cheers of the audience broke out one after another, and the whistles were connected, but it seemed as if they were there, and the size of sound stage was vivid; Third, the singer is very distinctive, and both true and false HIFI can feel it. The above is my long-term experience for reference only.

I like to use Leslie Cheung's Storm Team to test the openness of bass and sound, use drum poems to test the low frequency, and use saxophone music to test the rising extensibility of high notes and sounds at home. If you can stand the test of these three songs, your stereo and headphones will work well.