Clearaudio Music Pickup Test Record - 180g

43 Minutes of Opus 3 Recordings, Chosen to Audition a System Rather Than Measure It

The Clearaudio Music-Pickup Test Record is a listening disc rather than a tone disc. It runs 43 minutes and 5 seconds of recordings from the Opus 3 label, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and selected for what each track demands of a system.

Test tones tell you whether something is wrong. Music tells you what it sounds like when it is right. Both have their place, and an audition disc of known recordings is the one you reach for after the measurements are done.

Accuracy, Range and Fit

What Is On the Disc and What It Is Cut To

The selections come from Opus 3, a label with a long reputation for minimally miked recordings, and cover classical, sacred, jazz, ragtime and folk. Each was chosen to put a particular demand on the system — dynamics, soundstage width, depth, or the placement of a single voice.

It is pressed on 180-gram vinyl and runs 43:05. The weight matters on an audition disc the same way it matters on a test disc: a flat, quiet pressing keeps the record out of the way of what you are trying to judge.

It suits any turntable and any cartridge. Nothing here is a measurement — you are listening to recordings whose character is already known to you, and hearing how your own system renders them against that memory.

Who Is the Music-Pickup Test Record Best For?

• You have finished the measurements — this is the disc for judging the result by ear
• You are comparing components — known recordings make an A-to-B comparison mean something
• You want range in one sitting — classical through to ragtime across 43 minutes
• You value the pressing — 180-gram vinyl, and Opus 3 recordings that were worth pressing well
• You need to set azimuth or check platter speed — those want test signals rather than music; the tone discs are in test records

How Do You Use It?

Clean the record and the stylus, then listen to the whole side before changing anything — you are learning what the disc sounds like on your system. Change one thing, play the same tracks again, and judge. Familiarity with the recordings is what makes the comparison worth anything.

Pairs Well With

What most test-record owners shop next.

• Stylus force gauges — a test record shows the problem; a gauge is how you fix half of it
• Cartridge alignment tools — the other half, and the one a test disc will expose
• Record cleaning solutions — test signals are only as clean as the groove carrying them
• Stylus cleaning — do this before you trust anything a test record tells you

Frequently Asked Questions

How accurate is it?

It is an audition record rather than a measuring instrument, so there is no tolerance figure to quote. What it offers is 43 minutes of well-made Opus 3 recordings on 180-gram vinyl, chosen so that each one asks something specific of a system.

Does it contain test tones?

It is music throughout. Sweeps, polarity checks and strobe patterns belong on a signal-based test disc; this one works by ear on recordings whose character is known.

Will it work with my system?

Any turntable and cartridge. It plays as an ordinary LP does.

What kind of music is on it?

Classical, sacred, jazz, ragtime and folk, all from the Opus 3 catalog, running 43 minutes and 5 seconds in total.

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