nath
26-06-2004, 05:03 AM
a couple of people have asked me exactly what iasca judges are listening for when doing the sound test so here is a rundown of exactly what track does what and what the judges are listening for
track one the fanfare
this track is not used in the judging portion of the c.d at all
but can give the judges a good idea of how things may sound on certain tracks
usually the judges wil be filling in score sheets at this point
track two left and right signal check
this track is very important you would not believe how many people have set up there cars without first finding out that left is left and right is right even the pro,s get this wrong sometimes
when you do listen to the track make sure you listen to all of it not just the first part as ive had a very funny experiance
with a saxo which got the "left channel left channel" bit o.k
then when the right channel was aksed for it was playing from the SUB
if you do happen to make this mistake on the day youll be given a short while to sort out the car so dont worry
track three phase check
again not used in the actual test but a very usefull tool to find out how things are sounding in your car at the moment
listen to the two portions one is in phase one is out of phase
its just a question of which you think sounds better in your car usually the centre image is best to use as a refernace
if it improves the centre image when out of phase you have a chance to do a little fiddling and gain some more form your system without spending any money all it will cost you is time
track four spoken track describing the tonality section of the
disc
the next three or four tracks are used exclusively to judge the tonal balance of your car and system
track five superman theme is used exclusively for testing the subbass charecteristics of the system
heres how it is judged
at around one minute and ten seconds there is a series of notes which descend in order downwards
on the fourth note (this is the 18hz note ) you should not only hear the note clearly you should also feel the note
which should feel like the car is gently vibrating and the sub should appear to flutter this should not be overblown or overemphasised it should be clear and precise without losing control the note then goes off for a couple of seconds then comes in again as the track comes to a close about one minute and thrity seconds there is a crescendo of drums which if youve set things correctly should get slightly louder BUT SHOULD NOT feel as though a car has just run into the back of yours a lot of people turn up there sub to try and get the low frequency extension but fail on the end of the track because it becomes too loud
this track is on the limit of most subwoofers ability only with good set up and correct tonal balance will this sound how it should
track six is used exclusively for the test of midbass tonality
the instruments which come under scrutiny in this track are
the kick drum this should sound quick and snappy and not slow and overblown or weak and hollow there are actually two bits to the sound of a kickdrum how quick the hammer reacts to hitting the first note and then how quick it reacts to coming off the drum and hitting it again this is commonly known as attack and decay
usually if you have a problem with these the judge will note on the score sheet which one doesnt sound quite correct
another instrument which is carefully scrutinised is the bass
which again should be quite loud and forward in the mix at the beginning of the track and then drop off slightly
at around 40 seconds the bas plays a low note which should continue for a few seconds
the other instrument to be scrutinised in this track is the piano
right from the beginning of the track the piano should sound larger than life and huge it shouldnt sound compressed or sound like its coming from a bucket positioned in the passenger footwell if it does its not tonally correct
at around 46 seconds the piano plays a low note which should continue for around a good few seconds after being played if it plays and then stops you either havent got the tonality correct or you dont have the low frequency extension to be able to take it down as far as it should go
track seven this track is used exclusively for midrange and high frequency
this track features two female singers one singer on the left one on the right a spanish giutar and a wooden block
when listening for the female voices they should be clear open and warm they shouldnt sound harsh or compressed
when listening for these voices the judges are listening for
a phenomenon called "sibilance" this is where certain aspects
of the human voice are over emphasised pay special attention and listen carefully to the pronunciation of "s" and "t" it should sound natural and be sung rather than sound like someone is spitting or shouting these letters at you
the guitar should sound very warm and open and clear
you should be able to hear clearly the fingers of the player running up and down the strings and fretting on the guitar
there is one other instrument in this track which is listenied for which is often overlooked by competitors this is the wooden block which plays in the background
when played it should sound like wood NOT LIKE somone chipping away at an old tombstone again open and clear rather than sharp and bright.
in the higher classes there is also another category called spectral balance
this is basically how well blended one portion of the sound is matched to another
to score an excellant on this the sound must be seamless without any part of the sound being detectable by your ears
as regards which speaker its actually coming from
track eight is a spoken track describing the next portion of the test which is about soundstage, listening position and
ambaince charecteristics ALL THE DESIRED ATTRIBUTES CAN BE OBTAINED FROM THE FOLLOWING TRACKS IN VARIOUS WAYS
track nine pink panther track
a lot of high frequency information in the beggining of the track a a nice solo saxophone and bass suddenly turns into a full orchestra this is the point the judges are most interested in from there on in you should be able to tell where the sound is origanating from this is your position to soundstage
the further forward the better
an excellant sounding car will appear to exceed the outside of the front boundary of the vehicle
a good sounding car will appear to come from at or near the front boundary of the car
one of the other attributes of any sound system is width
basically listen to the same piece of music and see where the
boudaries ofthe music are
an excellant car will stage beyond the lateral vehicle boundaries (wing mirrors)
a great sounding car will extend to the vehicle boundaries (commonly written as pillar to pillar)
and a marginal car will sound compressed and not reach the vehicle boundaries at either one or both sides of the car
(commonly written as either a compressed or narrow stage)
track ten
a difficult track to use as theres a lot going on in here
one of the main things this track is used for is stage height but you can also judge stage width on this track
ideally you want your stage height to be as high as possible and preferably at eye level
by listening to the various instruments on the track you should be able to evaluate how high your soundstage is and if it has any problems such as instability one of the things judges listen for is the midbass pulling the sound into the kickwells and lowering the soundstage
at the beginning of the track the bass guitar should sound directly in front of you it shouldnt go from left to right or when it drops a little move to the rear of the car
also at the beginning of the track you should be able to hear a tambourine on the right hand side of the car some cars can get this to image outside the wing mirrors so concentrate on this point
an excellant sounding car stage height wise will image without any instability at eye level
a great sounding car will image at or just above the height of the dash or alternatively it may be higher but slightly unstable on certain notes
a good sounding car will appear to image around the middle of the dashboard with perhaps a touch of instability
a poor sounding car will sound as if the instruments are in boxes on the floor of the car
track eleven carmina burana (omen theme)
this track is use to detect ambiance and depth
at the beginning of the track only a small portion of the choir is actually singing and if you listen carefully you should be able to hear a piano right at the front of the stage
at around the 42 seconds mark the sound changes dramatically the choir is now in full voice and the timpani drums are firing on all cylinders
from here on in you should have a feeling of being in a large concert hall and be able to hear the boundaries of the hall and the reflections rebounding off the walls you should have a general feeling of space between the choir and the room there in
track twelve
again a spoken track which is not judged on the actaul test but is helpfull as regards of set up and such just follow the track details
track thirteen
again a spoken track which describes the upcoming section
of imaging ,placement and definition
track fourteen
this track is used to judge the far left and far right images
you should be listeningand concentrating on two instruments allthough there are others playing
a trumpet on the left and a saxophone on the right
they should appear to take it in turns to play
for imaging tracks you should be concerned with two things
one the correct placement and two the overall defination of the particular instrument
as the trumpet starts things off thats what well do first
in the first few seconds you should be able to close your eyes and position the instrments in your head as to where they sound as if they are coming from
the test for the trumpet comes around 49 seconds where the trumpet player plays slightly louder if the tones arent correct or overemphasised the trumpet player appears to move from one side of the stage to the other as if somone
is shouting "oi mate you should be over here"
this is generally the bit the judges are listening for to test whether or not the image will stay stable or not
on the right hand side there is a saxophone who complements the trumpet player intermitantly
at twenty seconds the sax plays a low note and if things arent correct the instrument will move across the stage
this is generally the point the judges are listening for to test whether or not the image is solid and wont move
if the image does move listen to wher it moves to this is often a good pointer as to where the trouble is
track fifteen this is used for both the right and left of centre positions
theres a lot going on in this track so heres what to listen for
there are three voices singing harmony at the beginning of the track the centre singer starts first then far right of centre vocal which is male comes and finally
the far left which is a female vocal she also sounds deeper or further away in the mix than the other two voices
the centre voice is bang central
there are also two bits of instruments to help you with placement
there is a tiny bit of guitar at left of centre around 45 seconds which plays very infrequently throughout the track
at right of centre there is a trumpet which does play for a while and is easier to locate than the guitar
track sixteen is used for the centre image
this is the one most people have a lot of trouble with
simply listen for where the female vocal comes from throughout the track if you believe it to be centre then wait for the bits in the track when the female artsit sings "too close"
this is the bit the judges are concentrating on to try and detect any movement from the centre image
if you do find that she moves slightly then make note of where to as this is invariably where the problem lies
track seventeen
this track is not actually used in the test but can help greatly with set up
it features a recording of a snare drum being being hit whilst moving across your stage
check to see the snare sounds the same on every hit of the drum if it does good if it doesnt you have either a slight tonal inbalance between the left and right speakers or possibly one side is more gained up than the other
this is a very usefull track for this but i wouldnt use it for setting up a centre image
tracks eighteen to twenty three are used for testing the systems linearity
firstly set up your car by listening to the disc and count along
with the female voice counting to ten try and make your own voice and hers roughly the same volume
once you have done this listen to the pieces of music to identify where your system is letting itself down
on the low level linearity track you should stil be able to hear the kick drum and the bass line clearly
the brass should have a certain authority to it
then when all the band kicks in it should sound like exactly that and the stage should be filled
you listen for exactly the same things on the medium setting
on the highest setting this is where things can come apart
as youve got more gain more and more things should be come apparant make sure the sub doesnt lose its composure and start to overpower everything else also make sure the tweets dont start to pierce the dleicate hearing of the judges
basically the linearity test is a one stop test for tonality
to see if its equal right at the extremes
not too many cars can get this correct and its all down to set up
track twenty five is used to test the systems floor noise
this track is also used for detecting noise gates in any given system
play the designated track and as the music gets softer gently turn up the volume to maximum now listen for a hissing noise if its there just before or just after the one minute marker you have floor noise right on the end of the track there is a little noise induced form the recording itself so that is why the judges dont listen past one minute and two seconds
track twenty six is the zero data which is used for testing
turn on and off ,alternator whine ,ignition interfernace , external mechanical noise and heterodyne switching noise
and audible switching noise
THIS HAS NOW BEEN SUPERCEEDED BY THE NEW IASCA DISC
SO PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE CORRECT DISC FOR REFERANCING TO THE ABOVE IS FOR THE 2001 - 2004 DISC
track one the fanfare
this track is not used in the judging portion of the c.d at all
but can give the judges a good idea of how things may sound on certain tracks
usually the judges wil be filling in score sheets at this point
track two left and right signal check
this track is very important you would not believe how many people have set up there cars without first finding out that left is left and right is right even the pro,s get this wrong sometimes
when you do listen to the track make sure you listen to all of it not just the first part as ive had a very funny experiance
with a saxo which got the "left channel left channel" bit o.k
then when the right channel was aksed for it was playing from the SUB
if you do happen to make this mistake on the day youll be given a short while to sort out the car so dont worry
track three phase check
again not used in the actual test but a very usefull tool to find out how things are sounding in your car at the moment
listen to the two portions one is in phase one is out of phase
its just a question of which you think sounds better in your car usually the centre image is best to use as a refernace
if it improves the centre image when out of phase you have a chance to do a little fiddling and gain some more form your system without spending any money all it will cost you is time
track four spoken track describing the tonality section of the
disc
the next three or four tracks are used exclusively to judge the tonal balance of your car and system
track five superman theme is used exclusively for testing the subbass charecteristics of the system
heres how it is judged
at around one minute and ten seconds there is a series of notes which descend in order downwards
on the fourth note (this is the 18hz note ) you should not only hear the note clearly you should also feel the note
which should feel like the car is gently vibrating and the sub should appear to flutter this should not be overblown or overemphasised it should be clear and precise without losing control the note then goes off for a couple of seconds then comes in again as the track comes to a close about one minute and thrity seconds there is a crescendo of drums which if youve set things correctly should get slightly louder BUT SHOULD NOT feel as though a car has just run into the back of yours a lot of people turn up there sub to try and get the low frequency extension but fail on the end of the track because it becomes too loud
this track is on the limit of most subwoofers ability only with good set up and correct tonal balance will this sound how it should
track six is used exclusively for the test of midbass tonality
the instruments which come under scrutiny in this track are
the kick drum this should sound quick and snappy and not slow and overblown or weak and hollow there are actually two bits to the sound of a kickdrum how quick the hammer reacts to hitting the first note and then how quick it reacts to coming off the drum and hitting it again this is commonly known as attack and decay
usually if you have a problem with these the judge will note on the score sheet which one doesnt sound quite correct
another instrument which is carefully scrutinised is the bass
which again should be quite loud and forward in the mix at the beginning of the track and then drop off slightly
at around 40 seconds the bas plays a low note which should continue for a few seconds
the other instrument to be scrutinised in this track is the piano
right from the beginning of the track the piano should sound larger than life and huge it shouldnt sound compressed or sound like its coming from a bucket positioned in the passenger footwell if it does its not tonally correct
at around 46 seconds the piano plays a low note which should continue for around a good few seconds after being played if it plays and then stops you either havent got the tonality correct or you dont have the low frequency extension to be able to take it down as far as it should go
track seven this track is used exclusively for midrange and high frequency
this track features two female singers one singer on the left one on the right a spanish giutar and a wooden block
when listening for the female voices they should be clear open and warm they shouldnt sound harsh or compressed
when listening for these voices the judges are listening for
a phenomenon called "sibilance" this is where certain aspects
of the human voice are over emphasised pay special attention and listen carefully to the pronunciation of "s" and "t" it should sound natural and be sung rather than sound like someone is spitting or shouting these letters at you
the guitar should sound very warm and open and clear
you should be able to hear clearly the fingers of the player running up and down the strings and fretting on the guitar
there is one other instrument in this track which is listenied for which is often overlooked by competitors this is the wooden block which plays in the background
when played it should sound like wood NOT LIKE somone chipping away at an old tombstone again open and clear rather than sharp and bright.
in the higher classes there is also another category called spectral balance
this is basically how well blended one portion of the sound is matched to another
to score an excellant on this the sound must be seamless without any part of the sound being detectable by your ears
as regards which speaker its actually coming from
track eight is a spoken track describing the next portion of the test which is about soundstage, listening position and
ambaince charecteristics ALL THE DESIRED ATTRIBUTES CAN BE OBTAINED FROM THE FOLLOWING TRACKS IN VARIOUS WAYS
track nine pink panther track
a lot of high frequency information in the beggining of the track a a nice solo saxophone and bass suddenly turns into a full orchestra this is the point the judges are most interested in from there on in you should be able to tell where the sound is origanating from this is your position to soundstage
the further forward the better
an excellant sounding car will appear to exceed the outside of the front boundary of the vehicle
a good sounding car will appear to come from at or near the front boundary of the car
one of the other attributes of any sound system is width
basically listen to the same piece of music and see where the
boudaries ofthe music are
an excellant car will stage beyond the lateral vehicle boundaries (wing mirrors)
a great sounding car will extend to the vehicle boundaries (commonly written as pillar to pillar)
and a marginal car will sound compressed and not reach the vehicle boundaries at either one or both sides of the car
(commonly written as either a compressed or narrow stage)
track ten
a difficult track to use as theres a lot going on in here
one of the main things this track is used for is stage height but you can also judge stage width on this track
ideally you want your stage height to be as high as possible and preferably at eye level
by listening to the various instruments on the track you should be able to evaluate how high your soundstage is and if it has any problems such as instability one of the things judges listen for is the midbass pulling the sound into the kickwells and lowering the soundstage
at the beginning of the track the bass guitar should sound directly in front of you it shouldnt go from left to right or when it drops a little move to the rear of the car
also at the beginning of the track you should be able to hear a tambourine on the right hand side of the car some cars can get this to image outside the wing mirrors so concentrate on this point
an excellant sounding car stage height wise will image without any instability at eye level
a great sounding car will image at or just above the height of the dash or alternatively it may be higher but slightly unstable on certain notes
a good sounding car will appear to image around the middle of the dashboard with perhaps a touch of instability
a poor sounding car will sound as if the instruments are in boxes on the floor of the car
track eleven carmina burana (omen theme)
this track is use to detect ambiance and depth
at the beginning of the track only a small portion of the choir is actually singing and if you listen carefully you should be able to hear a piano right at the front of the stage
at around the 42 seconds mark the sound changes dramatically the choir is now in full voice and the timpani drums are firing on all cylinders
from here on in you should have a feeling of being in a large concert hall and be able to hear the boundaries of the hall and the reflections rebounding off the walls you should have a general feeling of space between the choir and the room there in
track twelve
again a spoken track which is not judged on the actaul test but is helpfull as regards of set up and such just follow the track details
track thirteen
again a spoken track which describes the upcoming section
of imaging ,placement and definition
track fourteen
this track is used to judge the far left and far right images
you should be listeningand concentrating on two instruments allthough there are others playing
a trumpet on the left and a saxophone on the right
they should appear to take it in turns to play
for imaging tracks you should be concerned with two things
one the correct placement and two the overall defination of the particular instrument
as the trumpet starts things off thats what well do first
in the first few seconds you should be able to close your eyes and position the instrments in your head as to where they sound as if they are coming from
the test for the trumpet comes around 49 seconds where the trumpet player plays slightly louder if the tones arent correct or overemphasised the trumpet player appears to move from one side of the stage to the other as if somone
is shouting "oi mate you should be over here"
this is generally the bit the judges are listening for to test whether or not the image will stay stable or not
on the right hand side there is a saxophone who complements the trumpet player intermitantly
at twenty seconds the sax plays a low note and if things arent correct the instrument will move across the stage
this is generally the point the judges are listening for to test whether or not the image is solid and wont move
if the image does move listen to wher it moves to this is often a good pointer as to where the trouble is
track fifteen this is used for both the right and left of centre positions
theres a lot going on in this track so heres what to listen for
there are three voices singing harmony at the beginning of the track the centre singer starts first then far right of centre vocal which is male comes and finally
the far left which is a female vocal she also sounds deeper or further away in the mix than the other two voices
the centre voice is bang central
there are also two bits of instruments to help you with placement
there is a tiny bit of guitar at left of centre around 45 seconds which plays very infrequently throughout the track
at right of centre there is a trumpet which does play for a while and is easier to locate than the guitar
track sixteen is used for the centre image
this is the one most people have a lot of trouble with
simply listen for where the female vocal comes from throughout the track if you believe it to be centre then wait for the bits in the track when the female artsit sings "too close"
this is the bit the judges are concentrating on to try and detect any movement from the centre image
if you do find that she moves slightly then make note of where to as this is invariably where the problem lies
track seventeen
this track is not actually used in the test but can help greatly with set up
it features a recording of a snare drum being being hit whilst moving across your stage
check to see the snare sounds the same on every hit of the drum if it does good if it doesnt you have either a slight tonal inbalance between the left and right speakers or possibly one side is more gained up than the other
this is a very usefull track for this but i wouldnt use it for setting up a centre image
tracks eighteen to twenty three are used for testing the systems linearity
firstly set up your car by listening to the disc and count along
with the female voice counting to ten try and make your own voice and hers roughly the same volume
once you have done this listen to the pieces of music to identify where your system is letting itself down
on the low level linearity track you should stil be able to hear the kick drum and the bass line clearly
the brass should have a certain authority to it
then when all the band kicks in it should sound like exactly that and the stage should be filled
you listen for exactly the same things on the medium setting
on the highest setting this is where things can come apart
as youve got more gain more and more things should be come apparant make sure the sub doesnt lose its composure and start to overpower everything else also make sure the tweets dont start to pierce the dleicate hearing of the judges
basically the linearity test is a one stop test for tonality
to see if its equal right at the extremes
not too many cars can get this correct and its all down to set up
track twenty five is used to test the systems floor noise
this track is also used for detecting noise gates in any given system
play the designated track and as the music gets softer gently turn up the volume to maximum now listen for a hissing noise if its there just before or just after the one minute marker you have floor noise right on the end of the track there is a little noise induced form the recording itself so that is why the judges dont listen past one minute and two seconds
track twenty six is the zero data which is used for testing
turn on and off ,alternator whine ,ignition interfernace , external mechanical noise and heterodyne switching noise
and audible switching noise
THIS HAS NOW BEEN SUPERCEEDED BY THE NEW IASCA DISC
SO PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE CORRECT DISC FOR REFERANCING TO THE ABOVE IS FOR THE 2001 - 2004 DISC