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Just picking a few random ones from the top of my recently added
As Yet Untitled - Terence Trent D'arby
Purple Rain - Prince
Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits
I'm On Fire - Bruce Springsteen
Seems I had a flurry of adding middle of the road 80's songs recently, but they do sound good.
For something more leftfield, try Blown Away by Sivert Hayem
Add suggestions below
Unfinished Sympathy & Hymn of the Big Wheel - Massive Attack
Tin Soldier & If I Were a Carpenter (Live) - Small Faces
Controversy - Prince
This colab between nils frahm and kiasmos is one of my favs of the moment
There’s a playlist on Spotify for exactly this. Standout for me is FGTH welcome to the pleasuredome
There’s a playlist on Spotify for exactly this. Standout for me is FGTH welcome to the pleasuredome
Yeah there are a few tbh, but some of the content isn't always particularly excellent headphone tracks I've found
Private Investigations - Dire Straits.
What headphones?
My current set are Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250ohm, through a Fiio K3 amp/dac. Also have an Audeze Penrose planar magnetic wireless/bluetooth set on order for gaming/bluetooth out and about duties.
I have a few go to songs for testing stuff:
Fischerspooner - Emerge
To build a home - The cinematic Orchestra
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
Then, some others:
Closer - Nine Inch Nails
Hide and Seek - Imogen heap
Oh and this. All of this.
What headphones?
Sony WH-1000XM3
Probs not audiophile quality, but they'll do
Pretty much any Leftfield track!
Best one for me (since getting those very same headphones) has been the acoustic version of Cathedral by Jade Bird. And all of Every Open Eye by Churches. The former because you can really hear the percussion of the guitar mixed in with vocals, and the latter because of the huge dynamic range of the music, the dynamism of the sound and how much of it you can hear.
Make sure you are listening in HD and also make sure that you have the right codec set up - LDAC for Android or AAC for Mac.
Private Investigations – Dire Straits.
Yes!
Also,
Aural assault.
Jamie Woon, sharpness
Live: Osees ‘Henchlock’ in KEXP
Fool’s gold - Stone Roses
Son of a Preacher man - Dusty Springfield
My daughter tells me that Billie Eilish needs to be listened to on headphones
Funny seeing both the Dire Straits tracks. I had the same thought when ‘your own sweet way’ by ‘The Notting Hillbillies’ came on the on the other day. A lot of music is just background but I really noticed the difference on that one.
As someone who listens to a lot of stuff on decent headphones, some favourites...
Private Investigations – Dire Straits.
Honestly can’t argue with that, the original 12” single release was outstanding, and the first vinyl pressings of Love Over Gold were simply stunning, mastered by Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk.
Difficult this, trying to think of individual songs from thousands.
One that springs to mind is ‘Gravity’s Angel’ by Laurie Anderson from ‘Mister Heartbreak’. Lots of deep bass, sudden sharp sounds, just a great song and recording.
Peter Gabriel does vocals on it, as well as on ‘This Is The Picture (Excellent Birds), and he does the same song on ‘So’, but with his own style.
Both albums work really well through ’phones, I particularly like the chosen tracks.
There are a couple of songs by Paul Simon I particularly love, from an album I keep going back to, ‘Hearts And Bones’. Never really considered to be one of his best, it was supposed to be a Simon & Garfunkel album, but Simon got fed up waiting for Artie to finish doing something else, took all of Artie’s vocals off that he’d done, and finished it himself. And I love it to bits, it’s a great recording, with the title track, and also ‘René And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War’ (!) standouts for me.
Am still massively impressed and delighted every time I stick the Orb’s ‘Valley’ thru the cans. The piece has steadily revealed more and more sonic delights to my ears over the decades at the same rate that my equipment has been upgraded! (Currently AKG K550 mkIII)
Interesting snippets about the track from Alex Patterson:
We do things like turning the pages of a book and treating the tape to produce a high-hat, and using cutlery or scissors or spinning coins as percussion. We once used two huge swords. Thrash and I had a fight with them in the studio. That was fun. Apart from the fact I almost killed Thrash.
"We're also really into natural sources. Listen out for the rabbits in 'Assassin'. And the elephant I taped when I was in Nepal. We've just finished a new track called 'The Valley', for which we set up radio microphones all over this valley down in Dorset. It's amazing what we picked up. We also recorded some stuff in a chicken hut. There was one particular rooster which went mad whenever somebody clapped their hands. He was the star of the record. The snuffing horse was pretty good, too.- (INFO FREAKO, Melody Maker, October 9 1993, p.51)
Anything by Level 42, obviously.
Level 42...
😉
Another belter on headphones
My daughter tells me that Billie Eilish needs to be listened to on headphones
I'm sure she's right... just not on my headphones
If you can source a decent copy of Sibelius’ No 5 played by the Oslo Philharmonic conducted by Saraste
And I wish I could find and HD copy of Cornelius ‘Sensuous’ online. I have the album but the video really adds to the music. It's quite brilliant with headphones.
Talking of who, here’s some audiovisual fun:
Tubular Bells or Hunky Dory listen to David draw on a fag just before he sings or the creaky chair
Agree about level 42 - awful on any media. Love listening Disintegration, The Cure.
Anything by Level 42, obviously.
Oddly enough Lessons in Love is actually pretty good for testing audio equipment. If you can turn it way up and the bass line stays clean, and the wailing guitar bit stays clean, you've got yourself a pretty good set up. You might not want to listen to it though.
Gasoline by Halsey or anything from Badlands is good.
The Race by Yello
Listen to how the race engineer plays with your lugs sliding the V8 sound from left to right for 8 mins slipping in with come with me I'm gonna win the race doom biddy doom to win the race doom
Almost another out the closet Level 42 fan but just to add blown away literally at the Caird hall in Dundee by the bass, never listened to them getting on for 30 years now
Blue Mantle by the Aliens
The way it builds is awesome
Once described as the “sonic equivalent of waking up to find a spaceship in the garden”.
Some great suggestions above - I've spent an evening re-listening to lots.
How about - The Who - Who are you?
Not been through all the suggestions yet, but did listen to Private Investigations last night and yes, excellent!!!
As an aside, I've been falling asleep lately with headphones on - and at a decent volume too, it's quite strange
And just to add - I definitely won't be sampling any Level 42
Ricky Lee Jones, easy money.
Ry Cooder, down in Hollywood.
Pink Floyd, wish you were here.
(I’m old!)
I don't really listen via decent headphones, but on my posh speakers I ADORE
Kina Grannis - can't help falling in love with you...
Beautiful song and voice..
DrP
Having bought some new headphones and a portable DAC recently I’ve been listening to lots of stuff on Tidal. The sound quality is head and shoulders above Spotify especially the Masters quality tracks.
They’re currently doing 4 months trial for £1.99 if anyone is interested:
https://tidal.com/offers/blackfriday
My recommendations:
Sigur Ros - Hippipolla
Orbital - The Box Part 2
Hey Laura - Gregory Porter
Weird Fishes - Lianne La Havas
Build a better world - London Elektricity
The Chain - Fleetwood Mac
Stevie Wonder - Anything off Songs in the key of life
Tame Impala - Let it happen
Beatles - lots of the Giles Martin remixes
Royal Blood - Ten tonne skeleton
Hu Man - Greentea Peng
Flaming Lips - Do you realise (TPS Mix)
Leave at that before I disappear down a rabbit hole.....
One of my favourites
For what it's worth - buffalo Springfield
I am only listening through Spotify with my audio technica m50x
As an aside, I’ve been falling asleep lately with headphones on – and at a decent volume too,
I do this most nights.
Monster Magnets Dopes to Infinity album is great through good headphones. They were given decent studio time and money for the first time. The budget appears to have been spent on melatrons, theramins, panning,lots of incidental effects/strange noise and drugs, all of them.
Depends what you mean by decent headphones. I got seriously into them and ended up with a pair of Focal Utopia and then the Hifiman HE1000 v2 on the end of a Trilogy 931 Headphone Amp. Both would worry speakers with a £15-20k price tag and a similarly priced amp and *anything* sounded simply sublime! But then inc the amp you’re looking at £4-5k...
+1 for Tidal, have used it since March on a family plan and the quality is excellent. Wish it had customisable EQ though. But do I? The question comes and goes. Usually when listening to tin-eared classics like Zeppelin. That’s the one problem with better audio equipment is that it can render a lot of your favourites unlistenable. I’d certainly appreciate a function to tag custom EQ settings to albums in my collection.
All 9 minutes and 8 seconds of it
@trailwagger - Ben Ottowell lives near me and regularly plays local solo gigs. Not a huge fan - Bring it on was decent, everything else a bit pish
Not a huge fan – Bring it on was decent, everything else a bit pish
Every album released after has at least one belter of a track on it, the others are fillers at best. But Bring it on is a top ten album of all time for me, its was played on repeat for many years after its release and still gets a regular listen now.
I have started using a pair of middle of the road wireless in ear headphones for an exercise regime each evening.
The few re runs of radio 4 comedy shows were fun and albums by Faithless and Joy Division got me going on the trails.
However playing Pink Floyd's "wish you were here" stopped me in my tracks.
The multiple layers and the abstract stuff at the beginning is incredible and I don't mind admitting got the "Ray Meares" going as I was taken back to the moment when my brother passed.
The power of music never fails to impress.
I just got the sony wh-1000x-m3 to and have been going through the tracks above loving the suggestions so far aprart from dire straights and level 42. Think the Orb - valley, Underworld - Cowgirl and SYML Whers my love are my favs so far but will continue with listen today 🙂
Obviously depends on your musical taste but songs that I've listened to on a decent set of headphones and thought they sounded much better and it picked up parts I'd not really heard before:
Kings of Leon - Closer
Nine Inch Nails - Terrible Lie
Sneaker Pimps - Wasted Early Sunday Morning
Portishead - Roads
Great thread
e.s.t live in Hamburg - Eighthundred Streets by Feet, stunning IMO
some others to try:
Radiohead - Weird Fishes/ Arpeggi
Daft Punk - Around the World/ Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - Alive 2007
Christina Aquilera - Fighter
Morcheeba - Crimson
Bowie - Blackstar
Groove Armada - Superstylin'
Dire Straits - On every street (live version)
Chez Moon - Midnight love (Larse's Full Moon Remix)
California Soul by Marlena Shaw - the natural reverb of the room the drums are recorded on is a delight but all of the song is great
Killing in the Name of by RATM
Did they Ever Tell Cousteau by EST (actually all of that album (Seven Days of Falling) is mega)
Freddie Freeloader by Miles Davis
@djflexure - you have great taste 🙂 glad I'm not the only one who likes EST
@goby as you like Orb (ambient?) maybe you've chanced upon the Orb/Fripp album ‘FFWD’? If not, it’s worth hunting down and the audio is just as you’d expect fron Orb/Fripp
Q: What happens if you pipe the live mix straight to audience of musicphiles who are attending a gig with J D Beck and Mono Neon on drums and bass?
A: Eargasm (@1 min 57secs) 😂🤣
Everything I like sounds great to me wether it's in the car, on an ipod or through a transistor radio.
That said, when I stick the Audio Technicas on I usually reach for
Moderat, Moderat II or Moderat III or, always blows me away - Atoms For Peace - AMOK.
Obviously depends on your musical taste
Indeed: Billie Eilish over Dire bloody Straits any day! 😀
Bad Kingdom on Moderat II is excellent if your bass can handle it.
Bad Kingdom on Moderat II is excellent if your bass can handle it.
That's what I love about the Audio Technicas - such a clean bass sound, like unfiltered (if that's a thing with hi-fi (probably not, but I know what I mean)). Compared to some AKGs which seemed to compress the bass, they are amazing.
I might be biased but probably any Bowie album Let's Dance or chuck in some Van Morrison
I think this calls for a singletrack recommendation playlist on Spotify. If I get the time later this evening I’ll build a list with all the songs on this added to it.
Just listening to purple rain again, what a song
Great idea!!!
Sony WH-1000XM3
I have them as well. Bloody brilliant things they are and don't let anyone try and tell you otherwise.
For anyone that doesn't know about it, the original STW playlist here, obviously not headphone specific...
Grado SR 80's through a FiiO USB DAC/Headphone AMP are my WFH audio set up.
I also have the WH-1000XM3's for when I'm out and about but whilst they're outstanding for closed back Bluetooth jobbies they can't quite match the Grados.
Some good suggestions above (Moderat!!) But for some more suggestions to get us away from all the dad-rock:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHUAwlOHsJM
Just listening to purple rain again, what a song
Took me (IMO) too many years to listen outside of metal, rock and new wave and so at that period I just saw Prince as a showoffy rock/pop act. Started losing most of my musical virginities late (circa late 90s) and with the interwebz and file-sharing (remember the Napster and AudioGalaxy days??) began exploring dance, classical, electronica, experimental, noise, funk, soul, afrobeat, latin, folk, etc etc. Have given a lot more appreciation/respect for Prince since having my ears ‘cleaned’ and I can enjoy so much more musics. Recent years (thanks to the interwebz) I relistened Prince and I was of course found to be previously and horribly uninformed! Have you heard the Loring Park Sessions? It was 1977 and the kid was already Mr NYC Minneapolis, AKA Funkchops! Amazing and beautiful.
Ben Ottowell lives near me and regularly plays local solo gigs.
Completely OT, but I really enjoy his solo stuff. Agree that after Bring It On it all went downhill a bit though.
40 posts and no kraftwerk, autobahn. 23 mins long, 1975. Amazing, my workout music
@funkmasterp - are you local to Matlock, or does he play farther afield, or do you just hear him online?
Ah wow i got some of the Grado SR 80’s too, just what with working at home i needed the noise cancelling!
Both are great headphones, the grado are now 15 years old! still sound sublime when its quiet in the house!
Online, would love to see him live. I think his voice is great. I’m over Cheshire way in Macclesfield.
Love Grado, gloriously idiosyncratic company.
Their headphones looks like someing a WWII air traffic controller would wear to talk to Lancasters and they leak sound so enthusiaticaly they're 100% unacceptable in polite company but if neither of those thing matter they are pretty unmatched in terms for bang for your buck sound quality.
I have £300 B&W's that don't sound nearly as good as my SR80's, they can be worn on an plane without my fellow passengers wanting to throttle me with the cord though.
(non-live version probably better on headphones)
But don't watch on YouTube while listening to any headphone tracks if you can help it - it diminishes the intimate effect you're looking for imo.
One of things this exercise showed me was just how bad YouTube and Spotify sound compared to my local ripped library (some in high res).
Ugh - on most of my fav Bjork tracks I tried to find, they sounded like mush!
I’ll just add a song that popped up on my Spotify wrap playlist, Paolo Nutini - Iron Sky. Worth it alone for the Charlie Chaplain speech clip.
Iron sky the whole album one of my favourite s, don't know what Paulo is doing other than smoking his herbal puff, maybe wrapping white puddin suppers with his dad
Paolo Nutini – Iron Sky.
Good call. Seen him live, he was incredible
Some epic contributions here: dusted off my old AKG’s...
Got to add this from Nils Lofgren for all you guitar / Springsteen fans out there. Super crisp:
https://open.spotify.com/track/6ttsH99vfvkAPF3s1tIPqB?
Can't watch that, I'll be an emotional wreck for the rest of the afternoon.
Kicks me square in the feels every time.
Marshall major iii’s, albeit with an ear infection.
Ultravox always managed to get an excellent bass sound. Really cuts:
That pub looks familiar...
The Marshall headphones really bring out the attack in the guitar histrionics on tools ‘lateralus’.
Maybe I’m getting old, but John Martyn’s ‘may you never’, sounds utterly sublime.
@molgrips - Cathedral, good suggestion - never heard it before.
But - codecs, wtf - where do I even check these, never mind change them?
Maybe I’m getting old, but John Martyn’s ‘may you never’, sounds utterly sublime.
Got into John Martyn this year (vague memories of hearing my parents playing his stuff many monns ago)
I recommended Sivert Hoyem, Blown Away in my OP
Just listened to another of his - Prisoner of the Road - wow!
Going to go through some more now