Four Samples to Test your new Subwoofer

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WARNING:  Make sure to start with low volume settings and work your way up!!!  The organ recording is the weakest of the 4 clips, the others (Telarc recordings) have infrasonic bass at or near maximum CD recording levels!!!

Telarc makes some excellent organ recordings.  As many people already know, Telarc does not pass the signal through any processors - compression or equalization on their recordings.  I have Michael Murray on the Ruffatti Organ in Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco.  Telarc has recorded him numerous other times, too.  I also have an RCA Red Seal sampler disk with Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 in C Minor by Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra.  For those who may not know, this was the theme song throughout the movie, "Babe."  Remember that talking pig movie?  Following is the opening chord from that disk (it's only a chord in a lossy format as I don't want to be sued by the Gestapo, I mean the Forth Reich, I mean the RIAA for trading songs.  This is not a whole song, it is one chord to test your subwoofer.  Do NOT contact me trying to obtain the whole thing!!!  I WILL NOT DO IT!!!  Definitely buy the CD's of these samples if you like them.  Saint-Sean's No. 3 is a great piece.  Besides, my website will start saying bandwidth exceeded again :-o if I add any more length to them.

 St Sean's Symphony No. 3 clip - opening chord

The stronger notes are 32 Hz, 49 Hz and lower level 16 Hz!  This song actually ends even stronger, get it.

Here's an extra special treat for your subwoofer - A couple of Dinosaur footsteps from Jurassic Lunch:

Jurassic Lunch clip - Dinosaur steps

Wimpy subs need not apply!!!  Start with your volume down.  If the sub does okay, you can crank it more and try it again.  Warning, those footsteps are strongest at 10 Hz and 21 Hz depending on which footsteps you hear or rather feel.  All high level content except for the forest sounds (birds, etc...) are below 28 Hz.  Only the last footstep starts bringing up the 30 to 200 Hz band a little.  The first footstep is at 2 seconds.  The next step (or steps - it's a bit drawn out) occurs at 5.5 secs (with 25 to 30 Hz frequencies joining in at 7 to 8.5 secs).  The last footstep starts in at about 10 secs, with 12 Hz and 23 Hz tones joined by low level 30 to 200 Hz sounds a half second later.

Most subs will play the last footsteps in this clip (at 10.5 seconds) okay.  It's the first two (2 sec. and 5.5 sec.) that most subs miss.  They may be flapping wildly, yet not giving any tactile sensations.  Trust me, if your sub reproduces it you will feel an infrasonic shudder.  I almost hear a "Waaah" sound when it hits - almost like an infrasonic burp.  I know you can't hear that low, it's more of a sensation - I don't know how to describe it.  The second footstep(s) make a sort of "Waaah-Waaah" sound (sensation).  Again, it's hard to describe, but you'll know it if it's there.  This clip comes from Telarc "Surround Sounds" disk.  It originally comes from "The Great Fantasy Adventure Album."  There is more to this track if you buy it.  I have only given you the initial 3 footsteps.  They're at a distance.  The footsteps get louder and trees start snapping.  Finally, the dinosaur roars then starts chomping down on someone, er, something.  (This is suppose to be simulating the dinosaur in Jurassic Park eating the man on the toilet.  Ewwww, Yuckkkk!!!  You hear the bones crunching like kindling.  Then finally, he swallows, and burps an infrasonic burp.  Note that the location of the footsteps is different on the actual full length track, starting at about 14 secs, 18 secs, then 22 secs.

Chiller Clip - Rolling Thunder

Another good Telarc sample is Chiller which includes their loudest recording to date - lightning strikes and the reverberating thunder!  The initial crack is recorded at the maximum level on CD (not included on this clip).  This is the sound of the thunder "booms" as they echoe, and roll through the hills.  The first boom has strong 15-18 Hz and slightly lower 28 Hz content and general rumble down to 10 Hz at the 28 Hz level.  The second boom has strong 13 - 26 Hz content.  Cool!  Again, wimpy subs need not apply.

Terminator Theme clip

This is a third clip from Telarc.  It is from the Terminator Theme track.  I have included the ending which ends with a loud "boom."  However, the boom isn't the big finale.  There is an infrasonic "kick" right after the initial "boom" at about 3 1/2 seconds into the clip that has strong 16 Hz content which gives away to strong 11 Hz and 22 Hz content at 4.0 seconds.  The 11 Hz kick is strongest with the 22 Hz "kick" about 8 dB down in level.  Do I need to say it again???  (Wimpy subs need not apply!!!)  Basically, this clip gives you an infrasonic "kick" that wants to knock the air out of your chest.  Well, maybe a slight exaggeration, but you know what I mean - you can feel it in your chest.  You really feel it at loud volumes, but again, start at low levels and increase if you feel comfortable that your sub can handle it.

Some other low bass disks are the soundtrack from Titanic (it has much mid-20 Hz content), Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing, and of course, Telarc's recording of the 1812 Overture with it's Digital Canons reaching down to 6 Hz!  Much Jazz is recorded with good bass.  There are also a number of Demo disks with well recorded Jazz available from some audio manufacturers such as Boston Acoustics.  Some movies with good bass are The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings movies, and Star Wars - Attack of the Clones, especially the opening scenes of the flying wing spaceship and it's explosion on the landing pad (high level bass from 10 Hz up to 70 Hz ).  There's also an Imax DVD called "Destiny in Space" narrated by Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock) which has a ground zero recording of a space shuttle launch!  Well, maybe they're a few hundred (or thousand) feet away, I can't imagine any microphone surviving 185 dB!!!

If I get some more time, I may put the StarWars explosion on here or maybe the space shuttle launch.

Oh, BTW, I can play those dinosaur steps with my volume at my normal maximum point (which is about the 12:00 position) or even a bit louder than my normal maximum listening level.  It has much more headroom than the mains.  As I stated on my Subwoofer page, I can ignore those Telarc warnings.  8-)

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Last modified 04-13-05