Music for headphones: The 12 Best Tracks to Test Headphones With

The 12 Best Tracks to Test Headphones With

Buying a new pair of headphones can be a daunting task, especially when you consider the hundreds of different options available in the market. Sure, you could go with the best-reviewed option, but how do you know if it’ll be good for the kind of music you listen to?

Audiophiles usually have a dedicated playlist that they use to test headphones with. But, if you don’t, here’s our collection of tracks to put a new pair of headphones through its paces.

1. Bohemian Rhapsody Remastered (2011) by Queen

From the echoes of the chorus to the multi-layered harmonies and the instantly recognizable opera sections, Bohemian Rhapsody is more than just a song; it’s a story told in sound waves that have reverberated throughout generations.

Freddie Mercury’s masterpiece was remastered and released in 2011, upgraded for streaming, with more nuanced instrument sounds and better clarity. If you want to test the full range of your new headphones, this is the song to go with.

From its mellow beginnings to Mercury’s high notes during the operatic section and, finally, May’s solo as the song switches lanes into rock-and-roll territory, this track will help you test the full range of your headphones.

High-end headsets might be able to pick up those tiny mistakes that were left in intentionally when the song was first recorded, including the slightly out-of-tune piano!

2. Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes

Renowned for its incredible bass riff, Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes is arguably the most recognizable song to have released in the early 2000s.

The deep bassline poses a great test for headphones, while the mix of different instruments, coupled with the bassline consistently playing in the background, will help you test your new headphones’ dynamic response.

3. Feels Like We Only Go Backwards by Tame Impala

This is a great song to test your new headphones’ overall sound field. The arrangement lets you hear from all directions, and good headphones should be able to replicate this perfectly.

From the slight variations of the bass line to the electric organ’s nuance, Feels Like We Only Go Backwards is a great track that you can use to gauge the overall clarity and response of your new headphones.

The song may sound “dirty” with layers mixing improperly, especially as it nears the end, on low-quality headphones. However, on high-end cans, the track is more nuanced, clear, and just sounds so much better.

4. Heroes (2017 Remaster) by David Bowie

Heroes is a phenomenal song by David Bowie that is great for testing your new pair of cans. If you want the best quality headphones that don’t cost a fortune, it’s important to test them properly.

Ideally, you’d want to make sure that they can handle changes in musical intensity seamlessly. Heroes is a great track to test this. From the faint sounds of the lead guitar to the piano keys, topped with the consistent pitch variation in Bowie’s voice, this is a fantastic track to put your new headphones through the paces.

By the end of the song, you should also be able to hear the unique juddering effect that the song’s renowned for!

5. Lemon by U2

U2 is one of the greatest bands of all time, and Lemon is easily one of their best songs. It showcases Bono’s full range of vocal prowess, and is beautifully supplemented by the Edge’s guitar.

The robust bass that underpins the song is a great way to test out how your new cans are performing, and the heavily processed music makes it a fantastic track to test your new headphones with.

6. No Time for Caution by Hans Zimmer

No Time for Caution may seem like a simple instrumental on the surface, but there’s a lot to notice, if you listen closely. Hans Zimmer’s masterpiece continues to add on instruments as it grows in intensity until the hairs on the back of your neck begin to stand.

The song starts slow, with a simple drum beat, until the air’s suddenly punctuated with an organ. Violins soon join in, and before long, you’ll find it difficult to make out different instruments as the entire orchestra kicks into gear.

It’s a phenomenal track to test headphones, as it’ll help you gauge the midrange response and the bass levels of your new cans.

7. The Chain (2004 Remaster) by Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain is widely regarded as one of the best songs they ever recorded. From its majestic guitar chorus to the deep bass line and the accompanying drums, The Chain is a great track to test the versatility of your new headphones.

Keep an ear open for the harmonies in the background and the powerful vocals, as well as the fantastic guitar solo. At its peak, Fleetwood Mac was the epitome of “soft rock” in the 70’s, and the remastered version is a great track to test your new headphones with.

If you have headphones with high impedance, you’ll be able to hear all the instruments with pristine clarity. But, to really make the best of such headphones, you also need a high-impedance output port.

8. Now We Are Free by Hans Zimmer

Lisa Gerrard, Klaus Badelt, and Hans Zimmer’s masterpiece from Gladiator is a great track for testing your headphones. The haunting vocals of Gerrard’s voice, coupled with the clear dynamic detail and the faint piano in the background will really strain your headphones.

The song suddenly changes midway, as new percussive instruments fill the soundstage, which will help you gauge your headphones’ overall dynamics and ability to handle changes in musical intensity.

9. Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode

Enjoy the Silence is easily one of the best tracks ever produced by Depeche Mode. From its disco undertones to its synth-pop vibe, the song perfectly highlights the power of David Gahan’s vocals and the accompanying musical prowess of the rest of the band.

From Gore’s rich, low voice to the deep reverb and the over-reliance on electronic effects, Enjoy the Silence is a fantastic track that you can use to gauge whether your new headphones are able to catch all the sounds in the background or not.

Played through a good pair of headphones, it’s going to sound great. If you don’t hear the music right, you might want to try a few tips to improve the sound quality of your headphones.

10. Paper Trails by DARKSIDE

If you want a track with a really moving bassline, check out Paper Trails by DARKSIDE. The vocals also fall towards the deep end of the frequency range, so you can better gauge whether your headphones offer clear bass or not.

Played through a good pair of headphones, it’s going to sound great. If you don’t hear the music right, you might want to try a few tips to improve the sound quality of your headphones.

11. Rainbow In The Dark by Dio

If you’re a fan of rock and roll or even heavy metal, Rainbow In The Dark by Dio is a great track to test your new headphones with. Ronnie’s high-pitched vocals, coupled with the sharp distortion of the electric guitar and that iconic riff will really push any pair of headphones to their limits.

The chorus is also punctuated with a gorgeous keyboard riff until you hear just the drums before it all boils down to an unbelievable solo by Vivian Campbell. Now, you’ll be hearing the riff, the drums, and that iconic solo altogether.

Good headphones are able to present the sounds with great clarity, especially the part with the pinch harmonics.

12. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (All Parts) by Pink Floyd

Shine On You Crazy Diamond is arguably one of the best tracks to test your new headphones, simply because it covers everything you need across nine parts.

From a dynamic soundstage to varying instruments to unbelievable guitar sounds and even a trumpet, nothing comes close to this one if you want variety. The “twang” of Gilmour’s Fender to Wright’s keyboard riffs, the varying frequencies will pose a great test for your headphones.

The later parts really elevate the song, as it all boils down into a crescendo of different instruments being played in true musical harmony. If you want to test the dynamic grip of your headphones and how well they can handle sudden frequency changes, try this.

Find the Right Headphones for You

Modern headphones often require users to strike a balance between sound and function. These tracks will help you decide which headphones offer the right balance for you. You can check the tracks out on your new headphones using the links above, or our dedicated headphone checking playlist below.

In addition to your potential headphones’ sound quality, you might also want to look at other features, such as connectivity, noise cancellation, battery capabilities, or if it’s solar-powered.

10 of the best tracks to test your headphones

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You’ll likely use headphones more than any other piece of hi-fi equipment. At any one time in the What Hi-Fi? office at least half of us are using them (and not exclusively due to our questionable personalities).

We’re well aware there is personal preference in what you want from your headphones – even we aren’t precious enough about hi-fi to assume the success of companies such as Beats is reliant only on good marketing. But by and large, there’s no reason you ought to expect a radically different level of performance to that of your amplifier and speakers. (We’ve also curated some of the best songs to test your speakers.)

You may already have your own playlist to test equipment before you buy it – if not, it’s a worthwhile exercise – but we’ve put together a collection of tracks that will highlight what we believe to be the most important aspects of your headphones’ performance.

Find the accompanying playlist on Apple Music, Deezer, Spotify and Tidal

Our guide to the best test tracks to trial your hi-fi system
The best headphones and audiophile headphones you can buy

Explosions In The Sky – Wilderness

Why you can trust What Hi-Fi?
Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.

To test overall balance

Balance isn’t always an easy one for headphone manufacturers to get right. Quite often we find them overloading the bottom end in an overzealous attempt to keep their product from sounding lightweight or rolling off the treble to avoid any sharpness nearer the top of the frequency range.

In order to test the overall balance, you want a track that covers as much of the frequency range as possible. You’ll get that from a lot of orchestral works, but more contemporary pieces can work as well, such as this from Explosions In The Sky. There’s plenty of low-end heft in Wilderness‘s percussive pulse, while some of those guitar harmonics will reach high into the treble frequencies. Prefer something jazzier? We can’t recommend Black Country, New Road’s Instrumental enough for the purpose of testing overall balance (and, of course, just purely enjoying).

View Explosions In The Sky at Amazon

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Helplessly Hoping

To test midrange quality

By and large, the midrange is where you’ll find your vocal lines: pretty important, then. Clarity is, of course, a primary concern, as are stability and warmth. If there isn’t enough midrange support from lower frequencies, vocals can sound thin and lack human quality.

Finding a track with a clear, prominent vocal line is all you need do, but it’s even better if it includes such vocal harmonies as those so consistency delivered by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Helplessly Hoping is a prime example, and your headphones should have the midrange detail and roominess to capture the lusciousness and layering of the harmonies while keeping a hand on the melodic strumming beneath. You certainly shouldn’t feel as though you’re helplessly hoping for more insight.

View Crosby, Still, Nash & Young at Amazon

Darkside – Paper Trails

To test bass control

We mentioned some brands’ tendency to skew the balance toward the bottom end, which we understand suits a certain section of the market. But if that’s what you like, it is perhaps even more important those bass frequencies are articulate and suitably agile.

It isn’t enough for your headphones to make your earlobes wobble if you can’t actually hear what’s going on down there. A track with a moving bassline will either drive or confuse a performance, depending on the aptitude of your kit. Darkside’s Paper Trails has the added benefit of testing a vocal line deep into the frequency range, which will really highlight the clarity of the bass – or lack thereof.

View Darkside at Amazon

Pharoah Sanders – You’ve Got To Have Freedom

To test treble quality

Coarseness in treble frequencies is probably one of the first things you’ll notice in headphones because it’ll make your ears hurt. If that’s happening once you’ve given your headphones a day or two to run in, you’ll end up wanting to bin them altogether. But sometimes it can go the other way – perhaps in an attempt to rid a performance of any sharpness, manufacturers will roll the frequency range off at the top end.

Either way, you aren’t getting the rich treble frequencies you and your ears deserve. This particular track from Pharoah Sanders finds his saxophone in full-on attack mode. Without making your ears bleed, it ought to sound like a mother goose being prodded with a knitting needle, and you should accept nothing less.

View Pharoah Sanders at Amazon

Havergal Brian – Symphony No1 in D Minor (The Gothic)

To test detail levels

It’s rare we really criticise a product for lack of detail alone, but when we hear something particularly insightful it can really make a difference. The term itself is pretty self-explanatory: it’s about digging deep into what is being performed, rather than how.

Large-scale orchestral pieces, with a grand range of instruments and timbres, will highlight just how much insight is being delivered. This particular symphony, written by Havergal Brian, is a veritable behemoth, spanning the piccolo to the timpani via two harps and a children’s choir. Live recordings are another decent test: hand-claps are one of the more difficult sounds to reproduce.

View Havergal Brian at Amazon

John Martyn – Small Hours

To test spaciousness

Space may appear a peculiar concept when it comes to sounds being played directly into your ears, but a claustrophobic performance can be the enemy of deeper listening. You don’t want instruments to sound detached from one another, but each line should have space to breathe.

Again, live performances are a good test as to whether your headphones are able to judge the size of an auditorium – or you can go a step further with this album closer from John Martyn. It was recorded outside, so there is no excuse for Martyn’s guitar to sound at all boxed in.

View John Martyn at Amazon

BadBadNotGood – Speaking Gently

To test rhythm and timing

Anyone who was ever in a school band will know how infuriating it is to play with somebody who can’t keep time – if you didn’t know that, it was probably you. The same goes for hi-fi, and your headphones should be able to make sense of polyrhythm just as adeptly as they lock into a rigid 4/4.

This particular track from BadBadNotGood’s album IV offers a simple, solid beat as it opens, before sprawling into a freer percussive mindset. Timing also feeds into how instruments interact, how they question each other and then answer. If the performance sounds loose, disorganised or dull, it’s probably down to timing.

View BadBadNotGood at Amazon

Arvo Pärt – Tabula Rasa

To test dynamic range

As good as your four-year-old nephew may be at playing the recorder, you probably don’t want your headphones to play like they’re at a school assembly. A dearth of dynamic range will give you a flat performance, sometimes sounding almost like a rehearsal, undermining any emotion on the original recording.

Pick a piece where small- and large-scale dynamics fluctuate as they do in Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa and you’ll hear whether your headphones are up to the job. It’s often the smaller-scale dynamics that make the greatest impression: those are what will give voices their expression, which will be especially important if you use your headphones for watching films and TV as well.

View Arvo Pärt at Amazon

Kate Bush – Watching You Without Me

To test dynamic subtlety

Really, this Kate Bush masterclass in songwriting, delivery and production can tell you most of what you should know about your headphones – their ability to time, capture midrange detail and, ultimately, track the subtlest of dynamic fluctuations. It’s a great overall test track that we couldn’t overlook for this article.

The reciprocating synths, metronomic drums and bent pizzicato double bass notes interlink to create a delicately textured rhythmic gauze ideal for testing your system’s timing and rhythmic knack. But it’s the dynamics of this track that are truly illuminating, with acres of reverberant space and tonal shade as Kate Bush switches between soft crooning, softer whispers and murmured ‘secret messages’ with words sung backwards.

View Kate Bush on Amazon

Ólafur Arnalds – Ljósi∂

To test subtlety

Getting you out the door and enthused for your run is one thing, but if you use your headphones for anything else then a little subtlety and restraint will be as important as that drive.

This Ólafur Arnalds piece, from his album Found Songs, is a lesson in refinement, with piano keys wanting to be stroked rather than hammered, violin weeping rather than in the midst of a full-on gin-sob. If your headphones can render this as well as they do Black Sabbath, it’ll really pay off in the subdued moments of tracks before they end up letting fly.

View Ólafur Arnalds at Amazon

Farruko – Pepas

To test excitement and drive

All of this may seem like arbitrary box-ticking if your headphones’ performance doesn’t make you want to move. Really, this kind of enthusiasm and drive is a combination of tip-top timing, low-end stability and a good grasp of dynamics. If a piece of equipment ticks those boxes, it’s most of the way to being able to enthuse when a song demands it to.

You can insert your favourite groove-laden track here, but we’ve overcome our instinct to pick that Eurythmics song to go for a more contemporary (and undoubtedly more Marmite) suggestion – Farruko’s Pepas. If your headphones are doing it right, you’ll be anticipating those beat drops, and you’ll look unhinged to your co-workers as soon as it does.

View Farruko at Amazon

MORE:

40 of the best 1990s albums to test your speakers
50 great British albums to test your hi-fi system
Music for sleep: the best ambient albums to help you relax
Closed-back vs open-back headphones: which is best for you?

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