My impression is that some headphones do relatively better (id ipse) at softer or louder levels than others.

This is what makes level-matching relatively tricky for me as a certain level for one headphone may either not cut it or be too much for another headphone (besides that using a SPL meter can be relatively temperamental on two headphones of completely different design, and may not translate to a level-matched experience in practice).

Start with well recorded stuff that you like and are really familiar with.  Then look for tracks that highlight certain things, or provide challenges for equipment.  Your test track list can change over time... I often find myself listening to something and think, hey I should use that when I'm evaluating gear.  Having a few poorly recorded tracks that you know well doesn't hurt either.

It's not that hard to narrow down.... especially if you only have 3500 songs in your library, small by todays standards I'd say! 

I say having a good reference list of tracks is a great starting point.  Over the course of the last couple years and successive headphone comparisons I've gathered up a good list of tracks that I personally like and use.

I still do the jotting down specific time in a song thing if I notice something in a song I've never noticed before, but it always turns out that when I go back to the other headphone I hear the same thing as well.  When I first started comparing I would really concentrate and focus over certain specific aspects of the recordings, but honestly it's a chore and these days I just relax and generally listen, making out general differences.  My first comparisons consisted of breaking headphones down song by song, then I eventually moved on to breaking the sound apart from bass, mids and highs, but these days I'm just over it and rather compare headphones with a good paragraph or two of general sound impressions.  I'm with Muppetface in saying that I don't want this hobby to become a chore.

Quote from: Skyline on February 27, 2014, 01:54:19 PM

Quote from: shipsupt on February 27, 2014, 01:48:44 PM

It's not that hard to narrow down.... especially if you only have 3500 songs in your library, small by todays standards I'd say! 

Haha, probably so.  I still...you know...buy my music

I was listening to a Pink Floyd song yesterday "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" and thought it might make a good track to listen for soundstage (width, especially).  But that's just one song.  3,499 to go!

Check this thread out... it may have some good tips: http://www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,34.0.html

Thanks!  *pulls out the coffee thermos*