Car sound systems are a big business in automobiles nowadays. Premium car companies like Audi, Mercedes, and Lexus spend a lot of money and resources to find and install the best suitable sound system in their vehicles. And it is not just a German thing. Other European, American as well as Japanese automakers do the same thing. From Bang & Olufsen to Bose to Nakamichi and Harman Kardon, all are premium sound systems available in various automobiles around the world.
And it is not just about factory fitted car audios. People spend thousands on aftermarket car audio setups. But what if you want to check how good your system is? It can’t just be how loud, or how bassy the sound is.
Recently, an audio engineer with General Motors released a list of ten songs you can use to see how good your car’s audio setup actually is. According to Matt Kirsch, there are particular tunes you need to listen to on your audio setup to evaluate its performance. His top ten list is as follows:
Joan Baez – “Diamonds and Rust”
Listen to “Diamonds and Rust” in order to test strong vocals and whether the instruments are playing across a wide soundstage.
The Eagles – “Hotel California”
“Hotel California” is an ideal tune to assess clarity and dynamic range (keep an ear to the opening guitar solo and the performance of the drum beat).
The Black Eyed Peas – “Boom Boom Pow”
“Boom Boom Pow” helps to see if your system is reproducing powerful, accurate bass beats.
The Black Eyed Peas – “Rock That Body”
“Rock That Body” to assess clear lyrics over a powerful, persistent bass beat.
Imogen Heap – “Hide and See”
“Hide and Seek” can be used to test the enveloping ambiance of a song and openness and dynamics of the vocals.
Mark Keali’i Ho’omalu – “He Mele No Lilo”
“He Mele No Lilo” is a good tune to determine whether the system is performing the ambiance and staging properly.
Johnny Cash – “Bird on a Wire”
“Bird on a Wire” is ideal for clarity of Cash’s distinctive voice as well as whether the guitar sounds natural.
Radiohead – “Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box”
It is a good song to see if the system plays the punch from percussive bass and the ring of the steel drums correctly.
Radiohead – Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box from Mike Klug on Vimeo.
Norah Jones – “Don’t Know Why”
“Don’t Know Why” is a good song to determine if your car audio system is reproducing a natural sounding voice and whether the sound is centered in front of you.
Alicia Keys – “No One”
Listen to “No One” to listen for clarity in the vocals and spacious background sound.
My personal suggestion
I think this is one of the best song you can listen in your car to see how good its sound system is.
Bally Sagoo – “Dil Cheez”
Let us know what you think about the list. And if you have your own list, whether it’s about the best options or the amplifier price in Pakistan, share it with us in the comments section below.
