Pickr’s Sound Test

Audio products such as headphones, earphones, in-ear monitors, speakers, soundbars, and generally anything else that transmits sound has to be reviewed based on a combination of technical description and subjective listening.

Reviewing always has the downside of being totally subjective, though Pickr’s reviewer likes to think an open program of audio helps to make the process a little more transparent.

As such, Pickr’s audio reviews are handled by a sound test that you can listen to yourself using either Apple Music, Google Play Music, or Spotify.

The playlist we use is one stored in lossless audio, much of which is 24-bit, allowing the reviewer to hear the best source of sound that is possible, whether or not you agree with the virtues of 24-bit high-resolution audio.

From 2019 onwards, Pickr’s main sound test can be heard using the following playlist.

1. Tycho – Glider (24-bit, 96kHz)
2. Daft Punk – Contact (24-bit, 88.2kHz)
3. Carly Rae Jepsen – Cut To The Feeling (16-bit, 44.1kHz)
4. Ariana Grande – Into You (24-bit, 44.1kHz)
5. Mark Ronson – Uptown Funk (24-bit, 88.2kHz)
6. Marvin Gaye – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (24-bit, 96kHz)
7. Charlie Puth – Done For Me (24-bit, 44.1kHz)
8. Maroon 5 – Animals (24-bit, 96kHz)
9. FKA Twigs – Two Weeks (24-bit, 44.1kHz)
10. Muse – Madness (24-bit, 44.1kHz)
11. Rage Against The Machine – Take The Power Back (24-bit, 44.1kHz)
12. Deftones – Digital Bath (24-bit, 96kHz)
13. David Bowie – Starman (24-bit, 96kHz)
14. Paul Simon – You Can Call Me Al (24-bit, 96kHz)
15. The Who – Baba O’Riley (24-bit, 96kHz)
16. The Beatles – While My Guitar Gently Weeps (24-bit, 96kHz)
17. Tatiana Samouil, David Lively – Clair de Lune (24-bit, 88.2kHz)
18. Nigel Kennedy – Spring 5: Nymphs And Shepherds Dance (16-bit, 44.1kHz)
19. Christian McBride – Fat Bach and Greens (24-bit, 96kHz)
20. Ray Brown Trio – The Real Blues (24-bit, 88.2kHz)
21. Dave Brubeck Quartet – Take Five (24-bit, 176.4kHz)
22. Miles Davis – Flamenco Sketches (24-bit, 192kHz)
23. Etta James – At Last (24-bit, 192kHz)
24. Norah Jones – Come Away With Me (24-bit, 192kHz)
25. Radiohead – Daydreaming (24-bit, 48kHz)

Extended Playlists

Bass Test Playlist

From 2020, headphones and speakers tested and reviewed on Pickr may have a second playlist applied, depending on the level of bass that is detected. This second “bass” playlist uses songs with real bass, clean bass, strong bass, and good bass to apply an extended test of the lows if we feel that’s needed and/or missing from the regular Pickr Sound Test.

This is presently a streaming only playlist, and can be found on Spotify and Apple Music.

Dolby Atmos Spatial Playlist

In 2021, Pickr added a playlist for Dolby Atmos streaming, coinciding with the launch of Dolby Atmos on Apple Music.

1. Crowded House – Don’t Dream It’s Over
2. Nelly – Ride Wit Me
3. Luniz – I Got 5 On It
4. Ariana Grande – thank u, next
5. Carly Rae Jensen – Call Me Maybe
6. The Weeknd – Blinding Lights
7. Rise Against – Savior
8. Billie Eilish – No Time To Die
9. The Beatles – Come Together (2019 Mix)
10. Kacey Musgraves – Follow Your Arrow
11. Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On
12. Norah Jones – The Nearness of You
13. Horace Silver – Song For My Father
14. Art Blakey – Moanin’
15. Grant Green – Idle Moments
16. Alice Sara Ott / Claude Debussy – Clair de Lune
17. Ben Gernon & London Philharmonic Orchestra / Gustav Holst – Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity

Old Playlists

We take our sound testing pretty seriously, and have been using playlists anyone can listen to since Pickr was created.

While our sound test playlist has been consistent since 2019, before that, Pickr used an older playlist.

The Pickr sound test from 2016 to 2019 can be found here, available for Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Play.