The Ultimate Guide To Ambient Music To Test With Your Headphones

When testing headphones for reviews, I try to listen to a variety of genres. You’ll often find that some genres are headphone-testing favorites like classical music and jazz, and tons of guides out there will recommend tracks from those genres. There are some genres I find very unique for testing headphones, including ambient music, which is one of my personal favorite genres.

Ambient music is not one of the first genres you might go to for testing headphones, but its common characteristics help discern key aspects of audiophile headphone performance. Spatial dynamics, timbral subtleties, and the blend of textures all help reveal the true capabilities of your high-end headphones. I’ve personally chosen the following albums for their ability to highlight the bass response, detail retrieval, spatial imaging, and dynamic range of many headphones I’ve tested.

1. Brian Eno – Ambient 1: Music for Airports

For the first entry, we have to start with a classic. Brian Eno is one of the pioneering artists in the ambient movement, with Music for Airports being one of its biggest contributions. It’s not only the best gateway to start getting into the genre, but one of the best starting points for testing your headphones. The album contains layers of ambient sounds that layer effortlessly in a grand space. These layers are extremely delicate and are a good indicator of whether or not your headphones can handle advanced spatial imaging. The presentation is very minimalist, which helps in detecting any distortion or noise that lesser-quality headphones might introduce. Lastly, if you’re trying to determine whether or not your headphones are airy, Music for Airports is a great album to play. I tend to put it on when testing out specific headphones from HiFiMAN like the Arya and Ananda.

2. Tim Hecker – Harmony in Ultraviolet

The Canadian sound artists have tons of work out there that includes his electronic-based discography and film scores. Harmony in Ultraviolet is one of his most textually complex works that includes densely layered soundscapes that give you a good impression of your headphone’s potential resolution and clarity. Its blend of noise and drones is more articulate and cohesive than you might think, with subtle melodies that highlight separation and overall musicality.

3. Harold Budd – Abandoned Cities

There are tons of albums from the highly regarded minimalist composer that I could have chosen, but Abandoned Cities is my favorite conceptually. The expansive soundscapes that it paints with these single sustained notes are incredibly resonant and gratifying to listen to with proper headphones. It’s a fantastic album for evaluating low-frequency depth and identifying muddiness in headphones. Abandoned Cities is a go-to album for me when testing headphones from Audeze, like the LCD-X and MM-500.

4. William Basinski – Silent Night

This is not one of Basinkski’s most seminal works, that would be the Disintegration Loops. However, this two-hour work of sound art is a masterclass in silent space and high-frequency timbre. Like other selections on this list, Silent Night is very minimalist, but the area between quiet passages and gradual crescendos helps test out the potential dynamic range of your headphones. Listening to Silent Night should help determine whether or not your headphones can unfold the faintest background details that this album is capable of.

5. Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica

I’ve been a fan of Oneohtrix Point Never for many years, with Replica being one of my most consistent headphone-testing albums. This is one of the heavier ambient selections on this list, featuring tons of samples, and synths that have a midrange dominance. If you’re having trouble analyzing midrange details in your headphones, Replica will help determine their accuracy. You can also get a great impression of your headphone’s soundstage by listening to Replica. The album’s many complex layers can offer tons of dimension and can help you determine whether or not the stereo field of your headphones feels holographic.

6. Steve Roach – Structures from Silence

The 30th Anniversary Deluxe remaster of this album clocks in at 3 hours, but any section of its tracklist will be able to tell you what you need to know about your headphones. Structures from Silence consists of smooth, flowing textures that are incredibly immersive. If you think you’re headphones might feature some fatiguing qualities, this album should give you a definitive answer. Its sound is so gentle that if its consistency is still fatiguing in any way it might not be the right pair for you.

7. Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works Volume I-II

You can’t have a list like this without mentioning this seminal work from Aphex Twin. I choose to cover Selected Ambient Works as one complete project, as any track will help you analyze the range of detail your headphones are capable of. Selected Ambient Works cover such a broad spectrum of ambient styles, blending rhythmic and ethereal characteristics. Testing your headphones with this album will tell you just how versatile they can be.

8. Biosphere – Substrata

Substrata is another album I would recommend for music that covers a broad spectrum of atmospheric details. The delicate synth passages from Biosphere are so atmospheric that they envelop you in unique environments to immerse yourself in. Having a good pair of headphones that can translate those details and draw you into the meticulously crafted world of this album.

9. Akira Yamaoka – Silent Hill 2 OST

There are a lot of ambient video game and movie soundtracks that can help bring out qualities in your headphones, but the music from Silent Hill 2 is unbeatable for my ears. Most selections for this list offer tons of technical insight into what your headphones can handle, but the work of Akira Yamaoka will tell you whether or not your headphones have the ability to convey emotion. There are some headphones out there where the difference comes down to vibes, and the Silent Hill 2 soundtrack might get you to realize that. Even some of the most technical high-end headphones don’t do tracks like “The Day of Night” justice. How well your headphones can translate Yamaoka’s eerie soundscapes and unsettling melodies could be a dealbreaker.

10. Ryuichi Sakamoto – Async

The late composer has a ton of incredible work, from his electronic albums to his movie scores. Async is his clearest work of ambient music, combining electronic sounds with traditional instruments. It has a very diverse tonal palette that makes it an ideal candidate for headphone testing. The way your headphones maintain the integrity of Sakamoto’s compositions will tell you how articulate and clear they are. Its meticulous production will also give you a great idea of your headphones’ separation ability.