What Tracks Are You Using To Demo Surround These Days?

[sjcorne]

I'm sure everyone here knows how tricky it is to sell people on this whole surround thing. I've found over the years it's nigh-impossible to get people to go whole hog on the home theater setup with a universal player, etc, so I've settled on a simpler goal: just spread awareness. I think with the right demo you can wow someone enough that the next time they put in the earbuds and listen to their favorite song, they'll be wondering how it might sound in surround. Sometimes all it takes is planting the idea (inception).

So what songs do you demo with? It's pretty tricky to find a track that's a) a good mix and b) a relatively familiar song. Here's a few I use:
- Eagles - "Hotel California"
- Queen - "Bohemian Rhapsody"
- Toto - "Africa"
- Elton John - "Rocket Man"
- Derek & The Dominoes - "Bell Bottom Blues"
- Pink Floyd - "Money"
- R.E.M. - "Losing My Religion"

After that, I'll hit them with something that isn't necessarily familiar, but just shows sheer separation. Here's a few of those:
- Chase - "Open Up Wide"
- Chicago - "Beginnings"
- Poco - "Sagebrush Serenade"
- O'Jays - "For The Love Of Money"
- Toy Matinee - "Last Plane Out"

Curious to hear what tracks other members are using...

 

[Frogmort]

Lark's

 

[JediJoker]

Pink Floyd - "Money"

An easy go-to, since it's a track with which nearly everyone is familiar. If introducing someone who's brand new to surround, which mix would I use: Guthrie's or Parsons'? I'm not sure. I know which one I prefer, but I'm not sure which represents the better first impression.

For pure joy and immersiveness, despite it being an obscure track, I would choose "I Will Sing" from Art Garfunkel's Angel Clare. It's a simple tune, groovy and easy to digest, with a great horn arrangement and a great mix that really shows off what surround can add to the listening experience. I think this would be most effective toggling back-and-forth between stereo and quad.

 

[salsdali]

Kraftwerk - Autobahn (BD) Atmos
Tron Legacy - Light Cycle Battle (BD) 7.1
Beatles SPLHCB - Within You Without You 6.1
Herbie Hancock - Watermelon Man 5.1
CES Demo Discs - 2009-2018 5.1 ,7.1, Atmos, DTS:X
Metallica Through the Never - One and Orion (Japan BD) Atmos
Pink Floyd (Parsons) - Breathe/On the Run 4.1
Miles Davis Bitches Brew - All 4.0
Talking Heads Brick - The Overload 5.1
Bob Marley Legend - Exodus 5.1
Peter Tosh Legalize it (SACD) - Igziabeher 5.1
Depeche Mode Violator- All 5.1
Fleetwood Mac Rumours - Oh Daddy 5.1
Chicago Quadio - Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? 4.0
Beatles White Album - Helter Skelter 5.1
Steve Miller Band Fly Like an Eagle -Wild Mountain Honey 5.1
Beck ‎ Sea Change - All 5.1

 

[BeoProf]

Dire Straits "Ride across the river" from the Brothers in Arms SACD. A completely immersive track, especially with the crickets in the back channels!

 

[MrSmithers]

- Eagles - "Hotel California"
- Queen - "Bohemian Rhapsody"
- Toto - "Africa"
- Elton John - "Rocket Man"
- Derek & The Dominoes - "Bell Bottom Blues"
- Pink Floyd - "Money"
- R.E.M. - "Losing My Religion"

After that, I'll hit them with something that isn't necessarily familiar, but just shows sheer separation. Here's a few of those:
- Chase - "Open Up Wide"
- Chicago - "Beginnings"
- Poco - "Sagebrush Serenade"
- O'Jays - "For The Love Of Money"
- Toy Matinee - "Last Plane Out"

Great choices! "Money" is always a really good showcase. I think like you say familiarity is key so people can relate to the song straight away. And you want something that is going to get their toes tapping....

I'd add -

Dire Straights - "Money For Nothing"
Seal - "Crazy"
Roxy Music - "More Than This"
Tears For Fears - "Everybody Wants To Rule The World"
Van Morrison - "Glad Tidings"
Rolling Stones - "Sympathy For The Devil"
Simple Minds - "Alive And Kicking"

Then moving things a bit more curveball...

Talking Heads - "Burning Down The House" (Alternate Mix)
Santana - "Black Magic Woman" (AF The Collection)
The Edgar Winter Group - "Frankenstein"
Deep Purple - "Smoke On The Water"
And then I'd probably end with Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Freebird"

If they're not hooked by then more fool them!

 

[ar surround]

What I usually do is determine the auditioning party's interests and then play something that is significantly better than what they are used to hearing:

Moody Blues fans: Lovely To See You (The stereo version sounds cramped and reticent compared to the SACD quad)
Eagles fans: Life In The Fast Lane (The lack of compression and opening up of this dense track in 5.1 compared to the stereo.) Of course, I hit them with Hotel California as well.
Beatles fans: Here Comes The Sun from Love. (Simply breathtaking compared to the stereo on Abbey Road) Also, Let It Be on 1+ with the surrounds turned up by 6dB...a personal favorite of mine, so they will just have to listen to it!
Deep Purple fans: Smoke On The Water in Quad. (Much more open and cleaner with better sonics than the stereo...even than the SACD stereo)
Tull fans: Crosseyed Mary (The Steven Wilson mix on the Blu-ray is possibly the most incredible improvements I've heard of a stereo track.)
ELP fans: Lucky Man (Both versions as each have a lot to offer)
Chicago fans: 25 or 6 to 4 Quadio. (Right back to the days of SQ, this version has always had balls compared to the lousy stereo; and the Quadio gives it magnificent clarity and separation.
Who fans: Pinball Wizard from Tommy
Dire Straits fans: Money for Nothin' (A really great track in even in stereo made even better in hi-res 5.1)
Pink Floyd fans: Money or Time from the Guthrie mix (I don't have the Parsons mix and, unfortunately, have never heard it.)
Skynyrd fans: Freebird (The Scheiner mix on the DVD-A blows away the stereo especially if you crank up the coda.)

The list goes on and on as there are just so many tracks in hi-res surround (even DTS) that blow the stereo out of the water.

 

[skherbeck]

You guys of covered most of mine, but how 'bout:

-Eagles "Seven Bridges Road" (to demonstrate the ultimate vocal separation)
-Billy Joel "The Longest Time" (same as above)
-Talking Heads "Burning Down The House" (alternate 5.1 mix)
-Listener's favorite Elton John song (any Greg Penny mix will do!)

 

[hwkn]

I Shot The Sheriff by Eric Clapton from the Blu ray from the Give Me Strength box[when I demo'd this track for my mom recently she walked into my kitchen and said it was like the background singers were following her while listening to this 5.1 track]

 

[antoine555]

How about "Russia On Ice" (around 9'30...) to test subwoofers

 

[musicmemorabiliashoppellc]

Great choices! "Money" is always a really good showcase. I think like you say familiarity is key so people can relate to the song straight away. And you want something that is going to get their toes tapping....

I'd add -

Dire Straights - "Money For Nothing"
Seal - "Crazy"
Roxy Music - "More Than This"
Tears For Fears - "Everybody Wants To Rule The World"
Van Morrison - "Glad Tidings"
Rolling Stones - "Sympathy For The Devil"
Simple Minds - "Alive And Kicking"

Then moving things a bit more curveball...

Talking Heads - "Burning Down The House" (Alternate Mix)
Santana - "Black Magic Woman" (AF The Collection)
The Edgar Winter Group - "Frankenstein"
Deep Purple - "Smoke On The Water"
And then I'd probably end with Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Freebird"

If they're not hooked by then more fool them!

Was Edgar Winters “They Only Come Out at Night” ever released in Blu Ray/SACD or DVD-A in multi channel format? I think not...but yes I know Frankenstein was released as a part of a sudo-quad rock set a bunch of years ago as well I know it was a Quad LP release in the mid 70’s

 

[MrSmithers]

Was Edgar Winters “They Only Come Out at Night” ever released in Blu Ray/SACD or DVD-A in multi channel format? I think not...but yes I know Frankenstein was released as a part of a sudo-quad rock set a bunch of years ago as well I know it was a Quad LP release in the mid 70’s

Ooops - good point! Hopefully it will get a modern day release. It’s a classic album...

 

[bgf1973]

Bob Marley - Jamming
Gentle Giant - Proclamation
Isao Tomita - Arabesque

 

[humprof]

I follow @ar surround's policy.

XTC fans: "Summer's Cauldron"
Yes fans: "Close to the Edge"
Steely Dan fans: almost anything (!)--but Fagen's "Trans-Island Skyway" is a personal fave

 

[HDave]

I'll have to revisit this subject, being as I've got new material to compare with my partner. I know for a fact Summers Caldron of XTC on Skylarking is discreet ( discrete) enough to get her head turning and looking around the room. My partner is an Australian Shepherd a Blue Merle to be exact, the first dog I've ever had that intently loves to watch TV and listen to music. The other 2 dogs simply don't even notice the TV and if I have any sort of volume to my music they leave the room.
So my partner Irish and I will come up with a list by the 1st of 2019 but definitely save a spot for Animals "Dogs" track.

 

[sjcorne]

Hopefully it will get a modern day release. It’s a classic album...

...and one of the best quad mixes ever

 

[sjcorne]

Steely Dan fans: almost anything (!)--but Fagen's "Trans-Island Skyway" is a personal fave

The annoying thing about the Steely Dan stuff is after you play them a track, you have to awkwardly explain that only their last three albums are available in hi-res surround

 

[J. PUPSTER]

I agree with some of the other comments here, that it depends on the musical tastes of the listeners. I played some Surround for friends recently and they enjoyed: the first two tracks off of David Sanborn's "Timeagain" DVD-A and Boz Scaggs "Dig" DVD-A. Also a couple of tracks off of Kamakiriad.

 

[HDave]

That's the key, what is it the person you're trying to impress likes musically, hopefully you have something in HiRes surround that may cause them to spend money to upgrade. I've got a different Dr. friend who like his wife loves music, they go to concerts whenever possible.(did the latest rendition of the Eagles spring 2018). I've given him some discs to listen to and they both liked them. The kicker, they have teenage kids and are trying to limit the influence/impact of internet/TV media in their lives. Getting rid of TV's, Video players and tablet/laptops in daily lives. They're focusing on family dinners and just discussing school days or issues pertaining to such. Before marriage his wife was raised Jehovah so maybe this has become more prominent in everyday activities, I will not judge, more power to them, it's their children to raise and lives to live.

 

[sbrom]

Some great ideas here!

For a one-song demo, my favs include Africa (Toto), Lazy (Deep Purple U.K. Mix), Lucky Man (ELP), Sweet Emotion (Aerosmith), Brothers in Arms (Dire Straits), Bohemian Rhapsody, I’d Love to Change the World (Ten Years After).

For an extended demo we talk about the music as we go. Listener taste and real-time feedback are keys to making a new quadraphile . A demo begins with something they like, but not necessarily a favorite. Songs are picked from many of the artists mentioned in the posts above.

For good measure I like to play two Stereo tracks that show off my system to its best: Keith Don’t Go (Nils Lofgren SACD) and Tin Pan Alley (SRV’s Couldn’t Stand the Weather SACD).