IASCA SQ cd breakdown

[SR]

track 1 don dorsey " ascent "
not officially used as a judging track but is a very good track to listen to as regards hearing if a system is capable of the full range of frequencies there is some extreme low frequency content in this track which is perfect for trying out subwoofers
the voice and introduction at the beginning of the track is that of mary ellen papadeas whom is the iasca presidents wife

track 2 left and right channel verification
OFFICIAL JUDGING TRACK
without doubt one of the most important tracks on the disc
please take time to listen to the WHOLE of this track not just the first few seconds through judging experiance ive learned that just because you get " left channel left channel " correct
doesnt necessarily mean your going to get the " right channel right channel " bit correct also

track 3 phase verification track
this track is not offically used as a judging track but the judge may sometimes play this track if he hears something which is out of the ordinary he or she may also put comments on your score sheet
this is an excellant set up track if used correctly for setting up mid and high frequencies so as voices appear as natural as possible simply listen to the track and listen to the voice both in and out of phase there should be a differance in your perception as to where the voice is originating from and how tight the image focus is
simply keep changing the phase (positive and negative) on your speakers until you get the best focus you can get

track 4 instructions for the tonal accuracy and spectral balance part of the judging section

track 5 john williams star wars "throne room and title ending "
OFFICIAL JUDGING TRACK
the reproduction should leave you with a felling of being in a massive music hall with an equally massive orchestra
around nine or ten seconds into the track there should be quite a bit of low frequency information which should be felt as well as heard the notes should be distinct and should both start and stop not run into one another
around 29-30 seconds into the track there should be a french horn at the back of the stage on the right hand side these should echo around and bounce of the edges of the soundstage at around the same time there are some high frequencies played from the xylophone they should be clean and crisp but overpower any of the other instruments

track 6 john williams superman " the planet krypton "
OFFICIAL JUDGING TRACK
this track is an excellant test of the ability of the system to play extreme low frequency information
the judges will mainly be listening for around 1.09 seconds into the track where there are a succession of eight or nine very low notes all sustained for around two seconds they should descend in order the fourth note in succession is the 18hz note when this is played correctly the music should be felt as well as heard if done correctly you should feel a small vibration through the car and the sub may appear to flutter
all this should be done without the sub ever losing control of the notes and producing just one long continuous note
right at the end of the track there is a crescendo from the tympani drums the strings and the organ these should increase in volume but not get so loud so as the subwoofer is
the dominant speaker heard

track 7 jaques loussier " gavotte in d minor "
OFFICIAL JUDGING TRACK
this track is primarilly used for testing midbass and midrange frequencies
right at the beginning of the track the double bass is very prominant the notes should be clear and concise not drone on from one to another at arond 40 seconds the double bass plays a sustained low frequency note which should last a while if it doesnt improvements can be made in this area
one of the other instruments being scrtinised is the kick drum which again should be quick and have weight behind it without being overdominant the kickdrum has two sounds one being the hammer hitting the skin then the hammer coming off the skin the judge may occasionally comment on
these
at around 23 seconds the piano begins to play it should sound larger than life and not compressed in the slightest
it should sound as if coming from the front of the vehicle not the passenger side footwell
at 45 seconds the piano plays a low sustained note which should last a for a few seconds if it doesnt again improvements can be made

track 8 instructions for the staging evaluation
in the next three tracks the judges will be looking for
information regarding THE LISTENING POSITION ,STAGE HEIGHT , STAGE WIDTH, STAGE DEPTH AND AMBIANCE

track 9 henry mancini "theme from the pink panther"
OFFICIAL JUDGING TRACK
theres a lot going on in this track but at the beginning the piano at far left is an excellant referance as to the stage width on that side of the car with the triangle on the right hand side but slightly in a bit so bear this in mind the saxophone is also quite prominant in the recording it should sound a lot deeper and further into the mix and should be positioned around left of centre to centre the brass and drums will be even deeper into the stage at around the 42 seconds mark the orchestra finally gets moving and from here on in you should be able to determine the size of the room and hear the reflections off the walls it should sound like large and lush

track 10 lincoln mayorga "camarillo"
OFFICIAL JUDGING TRACK
this track is excellant for judging stage height and also stage width
SET UP TIP ...right at the begginning of this track there is a bass playing at left of centre right at the front of the stage pay particular attention to this as every car sounds differant
simply follow the bass line and see where you think it originates from and where it moves 23 seconds into the track the bass play a particular low note to see if you have things set correctly it should not move if however it moves forwards and backwards then you have a slight imbalance of the midbass speakers and subwoofer if it jumps from one note to another from left to right in the car then you have a speaker imbalance from left to right in the car a well set up system the bass will not move and will appear to all come from the front of the car with the subwoofer undetectable
the tambourine at the beginning of the track should be right on the stage boundary on the right hand side a little deeper than the bass the saxophone should be central with the drums slightly deeper in the mix right at the front of the stage is the piano and it should sound large and bold as its the closest instrument
both guitars are the outermost instruments on the track and again can be used to determine the outermost points of the stage

track 11 carl orff "fortune empress of the world "
OFFICIAL JUDGING TRACK
at the begginning of the track only a certain section of the choir are singing and if you listen carefully a piano is playing very gently right at the front of the stage
at 41 seconds into the recording (first timpani strike) the sound should change and the whole of the choir are in full voice and the sheer size of the room should be very evident
if you cannot get the impression of a huge cavernous hall with a symphony orchestra and full choir then there are a few improvements which can be made to your system
this track is excellant for judging stage depth pay particular attention to the timpani strikes

track 12 staging evaluation track technical track
"left centre and right narratives"
NOT USED IN COMPETITION
but can be usefull for set up purposes or checking tonality on voices

track 13 instructions for imaging track evaluations
differant judges will use differant referances throughout the evaluations the end result being the same the two main parts to imaging are "relative position" and "focus"

track 14 imaging evaluation #1
"blues stay away from me " harry james band
OFFICIAL JUDGING TRACK
in this track generally the two instruments which are used for referance are the trumpet at slightly inside far left and the baritone sax at far right the trumpet is slightly inside far left and this must be taken into consideration
the judges will listen for these two instruments and then wait to see if anything catches them out
TIP.. generally the things which makes imaging either move or
briefly change in size is down to intensity and tonality changes between the left and right channel so conentrating on these things in set up can greatly improve this portion of
evaluation

track 15 imaging evaluation #2
" i will find you there " micheal ruff
OFFICIAL JUDGING TRACK
theres lots going on in this track but the main things to listen out for are the three vocals which are at centre the male vocal which is far right and the female vocal which is far left
the female vocal is located further back in the stage than the centre image there are also two instruments to concentrate on the guitar which plays infrequenctly at left of centre and the trombone at right of centre
again concentrate on relative position and focus of each individual instrument or voice

track 16 imaging evaluation #3
"too close " clair marlo
OFFICAL JUDGING TRACK
the main thing to concentrate on with this track is the female centre vocal which should be exactly in the centre and not move when either low or high notes are sung
other refernace which can be used on this track are the accordian at left of centre and the guitars at just inside far left and far right

track 17 imaging evaluation #4
seven drum beats
generally this track is not used by iasca uk judges but several other countries in europe do use this track for imaging evaluation so ill run thorugh it anyhows
tip.. when using this track listen to the tonality first before the positioning listen to the track a couple of times whilst going across does the tonality change at all ??? if so this points to an inbalance between the left and right speakers and mre work will have to be done to get this better
after this has been done then lsiten to the relative positions
of the strikes if the strikes are even and equally placed fine if one side seems to be more dominant than the other then there is a balance problem within the system if however you seem to struggle achieving a centre image then this can crossover point induced or overall relative level of midrange

track 18 explantion of linearity evaluation (tracks 19-23)
track 19 level setting instructions for track 20
track 20 level setting track for linearity evaluation

to set this correctly the volume should be set so as to be equal to the spoken voice of the judge at a normal level
once the volume has been set it will not be changed between the tracks until the evaluation is finished
the judges are looking for differnces between the three levels
the low level linearity is generally used to test if the system still has the correct amount of subbass in the system on low
the double bass and the kickdrum are difficult instruments to get right at low level even though this is not a bass heavy track at all some systems will be concieved as having a lack of subbass
the midrange should allways stay open and clear without ever becoming harsh or overbearing especially at high level

track 24 noise evaluation instructions

track 25 noise evaluation "a la valse"
OFFICIAL JUDGING TRACK
this is a very clear and clean recording which starts loud and then towards the end of the track gets quiter good systems should still have music playing at 1.03 seconds into the tarck without being overcome by gain hiss or a noise gate being induced

id advise all competitors to have a good lsiten to the disc and listen to the evaluation tracks MOST OF WHICH CAN BE FOUND IN FULL ON THE END OF THE DISC

[SR]

i recommend using an original cd and not a copy of the iasca test cd which i know has been in circulation

the cost is $150

[kurpal_v2]

copy-paste-print-bookmark.

[chosen1]

much thanks

[SR]

this thread might do more good here

[Sully]

Piece of advice for people interested. Just buy the CD. The info here is in the liner notes.

[16 cycles]

Q: which label does this CD belong to? Atlantic? Telarc?

[gt4tified]

Got my copy.....now the real work begins!