For someone who reviews hi-fi products, a major perk of the job is getting to listen to a variety of music on great speakers and systems.
For a sneak peek into some of the tracks we use for testing here at What Hi-Fi?, you can head over to our Now Playing column.
Recently, while listening to music during testing, I started thinking about other professions that require a playlist of test tracks. Having trained as a sound engineer, which meant spending a lot of time in studios, I can recall countless mornings when an engineer would put on a certain ‘familiarising’ tune to settle into a room before the musicians arrived.
Which got me thinking, what are the people who make today’s records listening to?
To find out, I spoke to sound engineers who have worked at some of the UK’s most prestigious recording facilities, such as Air Studios, Real World Studios and Strongroom Studios.
With clientele ranging from Max Richter to Harry Styles, what follows are professional engineers’ favourite test tracks, alongside their reasons for choosing them.
- Listen to the Sound Engineers’ Top Test Tracks playlist on Tidal
- Listen to the full playlist on Spotify
- Quiz! Can you name all the types of hi-fi and AV cables from the photos?
MORE:
We asked top British hi-fi engineers for their favourite test tracks – this is what they said
