Whether a speaker or headphone sounds good is usually a very subjective impression. Too many personal preferences play a role in judging the sound on the drawing board.
Some people like a balanced, neutral sound. Others need a powerful bass foundation that you can not only hear, but also feel.
Other people love fine highs and want to hear every single nuance in classical pieces.
Test with favorite songs
If you want to test your new speakers extensively, I therefore always recommend working with your own favorite songs.
With these songs, you know best how they should sound and which instruments should be heard.
This makes it easy to compare different speakers and hear the smallest differences.
Quality as the basis
Nevertheless, I am always asked for songs that are particularly suitable for testing loudspeakers. So what are the requirements for such songs?
I don’t want to philosophize about high-end audiophile requirements at this point. Nevertheless, it is of course important for a loudspeaker test that the recording quality is right.
A poorly recorded or produced song cannot sound good through even the best speakers.
Compressed songs when streaming
It’s not just the recording that plays a role, but also the degree of compression. Most of the songs we stream these days via providers such as Spotify or Apple Music are compressed. This makes the files smaller, but unfortunately also reduces the quality somewhat.
So if you are streaming music for the test, you should make sure you use the best possible quality.
With Spotify, for example, this can be defined in the settings; I use the “Very high” option.
The whole spectrum in one song
When selecting songs for a speaker test, it is important to have the widest possible range of tones. This means low bass, mids and highs in different variations.
These sounds can either be generated electronically, as is often the case with electronic music, or come from recorded instruments such as drums, string instruments, wind instruments or even vocals.
For a loudspeaker test, the loudspeakers should preferably be positioned so that they are approximately at head height and in front of the person performing the test.
It’s best to imagine that the speakers are a concert stage and you are sitting in the audience.
Spotify playlist for speaker test
In the Spotify playlist below, I’ve put together my personal favorite songs for testing speakers.
I’m always on the lookout for more ideas for songs and am happy to receive tips.
Amazon Music with HD quality
In addition to some other streaming providers, Amazon Music now also offers songs with virtually lossless playback.
The provider distinguishes between the self-proclaimed labels HD Songs and Ultra HD Songs: “HD Songs have a bit depth of 16 bits, a minimum sampling rate of 44.1 kHz (16/44.1, also known as CD quality) and an average bit rate of 850 kbps.
Ultra HD songs have a bit depth of 24 bits, sampling rates from 44.1 kHz up to 192 kHz and an average bit rate of 3730 kbps.”
If you want to try it out: Amazon Music can be tested free of charge and can also be canceled without paying a single cent.
Listen to music in Dolby Atmos
In the meantime, not only films and series but also songs can be played in Dolby Atmos.
In these songs, the sounds come not only from the front, but also from the side, from behind and from above.
Lars Grudzinski has been working as a sound and lighting technician since the 90s, was a DJ for electronic music, has a large collection of vintage speakers, and has been working for various radio stations in Germany for 20 years. At home, he enjoys high-quality home theater products such as soundbars and projectors and has installed an extensive Sonos system in his own home.