What's the Latest MATRIX LP/CD Added to Your Pile? SQ, QS, RM, EV

[fizzywiggs41]

You mean you haven't got any?!!
I remember there was a bit of talk back in the day about the possibility of SQ encoded cassettes but it obviously never came to anything commercially. The concern always seemed to be that the phase response of cassettes wasn't good enough. In fact it would appear that the performance of run-of-the-mill domestic reel-to-reel decks of the day wouldn't be good enough either. Sony made a bit of a thing about a range of reel-to-reel decks they branded as "Uni-Phase" being suitable for the purpose - here's a bit of blurb on one such:
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Interesting that the 'cure' simply seemed to involve a decent set of heads! Many cassette decks would go on to have very exotic head designs and with the dual capstan drive most hifi decks then adopted I don't think head contact would have been an issue for SQ playback. Perhaps that technology (like decent decoders) just came too late. Although I half wonder if the problem might at least at much have been at the duplicating end where in the early days cassettes were mass produced on some very ropey equipment!

Actually there were quite a number of quad matrix encoded cassettes .
The BASF SQ cassettes were emblazoned with the SQ emblems and sticker so were hard not to miss.
Vox had a number of QS encoded cassettes indicated as Quadraphonic.
Angel had the double circle SQ encoded cassettes and 8 track.
Peters International had cassettes fr French Decca.

Radio Shack had a few EV -S4 encoded .

Both EMI and Columbia had encoded cassettes not indicated as such. Joe Dash at CBS confirmed that all Columbia Masterworks and O .C. Broadway Cast single inventory that had vinyl counterparts are indeed encoded.

Fosgate had 2 demo cassettes of stereo and SQ tracks , one of which I had with my Tate decoder.

There were a handful of others , but for the most part if it had a single inventory matrix encoded album , the tape would be quad encoded as well.

 

[Soundfield]

Actually there were quite a number of quad matrix encoded cassettes .
The BASF SQ cassettes were emblazoned with the SQ emblems and sticker so were hard not to miss.
Vox had a number of QS encoded cassettes indicated as Quadraphonic.
Angel had the double circle SQ encoded cassettes and 8 track.
Peters International had cassettes fr French Decca.

Radio Shack had a few EV -S4 encoded .

Both EMI and Columbia had encoded cassettes not indicated as such. Joe Dash at CBS confirmed that all Columbia Masterworks and O .C. Broadway Cast single inventory that had vinyl counterparts are indeed encoded.

Fosgate had 2 demo cassettes of stereo and SQ tracks , one of which I had with my Tate decoder.

There were a handful of others , but for the most part if it had a single inventory matrix encoded album , the tape would be quad encoded as well.

That's really interesting, thanks. I never did see any available for sale. Did they actually work , i.e. decode in a stable fashion?

 

[fizzywiggs41]

They were decoding ok but sometimes a slight signal loss might occur.


Columbia Records could not sanction them because of the different tape head alignment problems from the various duplicators and playback machines.


Recording your own on your own machine works well I find.

And with quad encoded Classical tapes this problem was a minor inconvenience as most were ambient in the rear channels anyway.

 

[Soundfield]

I was very pleased to have discovered the stylish Deutsche Harmonia Mundi quad releases a couple of weeks back with that Beethoven Triple Concerto. It doesn’t seem that EMI / Electrola used the Deutsch Harmonia Mundi label a lot for quad, but the majority of those that it was used for were period instrument performances and were largely, but not exclusively, those of the pioneering authentic movement band Collegium Aureum. I have managed to add several more of those titles to the collection this week:

including this box set:

and additionally this period instrument release by Sigiswald Kuijken’s La Petite Bande:

There’s about the same number again that are a bit harder to track down in perfect condition – but I’m working on it!

 

[fredblue]

The SQ Sound : V/A (Sony Japan SQ Demo disc)

 

[fredblue]

EX-42 vs ARP Synthesizer - Shiro Michi & Koichi Oki (Sony Japan SQ LP)

 

[jefe1]

I was very pleased to have discovered the stylish Deutsche Harmonia Mundi quad releases a couple of weeks back with that Beethoven Triple Concerto. It doesn’t seem that EMI / Electrola used the Deutsch Harmonia Mundi label a lot for quad, but the majority of those that it was used for were period instrument performances and were largely, but not exclusively, those of the pioneering authentic movement band Collegium Aureum. I have managed to add several more of those titles to the collection this week:
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including this box set:

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and additionally this period instrument release by Sigiswald Kuijken’s La Petite Bande:

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There’s about the same number again that are a bit harder to track down in perfect condition – but I’m working on it!

Soundfield, I bought that Corelli album when it came out in the late 70s and also saw the Kuijkens in concert in los angeles. Think I actually met them once afterwards. When I bought this I did not know what quad was and was told to ignore the SQ by the Tower records clerk selling the album to me......... But I liked period instrument performance.

 

[Soundfield]

Soundfield, I bought that Corelli album when it came out in the late 70s and also saw the Kuijkens in concert in los angeles. Think I actually met them once afterwards. When I bought this I did not know what quad was and was told to ignore the SQ by the Tower records clerk selling the album to me......... But I liked period instrument performance.

Never too late to get one - there's still a few out there!

 

[bigbillquad]

Hi. All

More Matrix LP`s

( King. Sanyo. RM=QS NDS-175 -OTTO 4CH :7" )-
( Nec. Matrix=QS 46-84 -Demo :7" )-
( Vanguard. SQ VSD 23003 -Buffy Saint-Marie Native North -American Child: An Odyessy )-
( Toshiba. RM=QS TP-9535Z -Seto No Hanyayome )-
( EMI. ERATO. SQ -I C065-30899 Q -Franz Tunder Werke Fur Orgel Marie Claire Alain )-

 

[bigbillquad]

MORE FROM ABOVE...……..

 

[jefe1]

When the Japanese begin wondering where all their records went I'm going to give them your address....

 

[bigbillquad]

When the Japanese begin wondering where all their records went I'm going to give them your address....

...........GREAT Won...………. we can all then have a...….. BIG party...….......……………

 

[rustyandi]

When you play the Buffy lp check if it is Quad
I have 1 or 2 on that label that say Quadraphonic on the LP but are stereo

 

[bigbillquad]

When you play the Buffy lp check if it is Quad
I have 1 or 2 on that label that say Quadraphonic on the LP but are stereo

Hi. rustyandi

I bought this LP on Discogs from Italy at the time I had my suspicions because there`s no indication on the LP just the front cover I got it cheap enough I have not played this LP yet but I will, but at the moment I have a big stack of LP`s to clean I`ll get back with my findings.

 

[Soundfield]

There was some discussion over on the "Karajan's 1975-1977 Beethoven Symphony Cycle coming to Blu-ray Audio" thread over the lack of a contemporary quad Karajan Beethoven symphony cycle, and I observed that despite this, there had been a complete cycle of the piano concertos. It was then that I realised that, having delved into the collection, it was a set of recordings that I didn't own. So that has now been corrected!.....

(I'm afraid my pictures don't really do the packaging justice - the shiny gold box is very difficult to photograph if you don't know what you're doing!)

 

[Quad Linda]

Matrix Quad encoded prerecorded tapes were a bad idea, IMHO. Head alignment was the biggest issue, especially azimuth. There was a DISCRETE 4-channel cassette that never really got off the ground. Philips wanted it to be compatible with 2 ch machines. Track width and head alignment were the bigest technical issues.

Regarding those stickers on various EMI labels, my uderstanding is that the issue is trademark infringement when the product is shipped outside the country where it was manufactured. Often, it is simply a picture of "The Nipper" aka His Master's Voice that constitutes the infringement. I don't recall ever seeing a foreign EMI classical LP pressing in Chicago or Milwaukee import bins that didn't have a sticker.

Nor do I remember any BASF/MPS titles here that were issued in Quad in the US. There were several 2ch titles that were pressed here domestically. I remember buying Don Ellis & George Duke LP's on BASF back in the day. In later days, Polygram/Universal had reissued many titles on CD w/MPS logo.

Perhaps the recording that got me into exploring original instrumentation was Tafelmusic on the audiophile (audiopile!) Reference Recordings label. I've come to love many original instrumentations, just as much as exploring how his lyrics evolved in the 6 CD Dylan More Blood.

Soundfield: Is the Beethoven: Triple Concierto OP 56 recording with orig. instr. an active Quad mix, or just hall effect in the rears?

I don't get envious of much software, since I buy most of what I collect the first week it hits the street. Still, this looks like some wonderful stuff. Back in the day, I bought classical, and still do. I had to own the latest Elton John, Who, Miles, etc. even if it sadly wasn't quad. I managed to acquire about 100 classical/opera Quad LP and Q8 titles back in the day.

My first classical purchase predates Quad and is E. Power Biggs' Bach Organ Favorites. I was a Sophomore in High School. Since then, I was a season subscriber to CSO under both Solti and Barenboim. I've also attended a handful of operas. Oh yes, and a thousand classical recordings on various formats.

 

[Soundfield]

Regarding those stickers on various EMI labels, my uderstanding is that the issue is trademark infringement when the product is shipped outside the country where it was manufactured. Often, it is simply a picture of "The Nipper" aka His Master's Voice that constitutes the infringement. I don't recall ever seeing a foreign EMI classical LP pressing in Chicago or Milwaukee import bins that didn't have a sticker.

Yes Linda, I’m sure you’re right about the trademark infringement thing (like the CBS and Columbia brand conflict). Those Electrola discs that have the Odeon sticker attached are ones that at some point in their lives were on retail sale in the US (bearing as they do an ‘import’ label of a New York record shop). I guess as the Nipper mark was also used by Victor in the US it would have been seen as such. Perhaps it was a precautionary action – certainly no one seemed to think it was necessary to cover up the logo on the discs themselves! The history of the Nipper trademark is of course famously complicated but it had never really occurred to me that EMI/HMV records (the only brand for which the picture actually makes any sense) were not so identified in the US.

 

[Soundfield]

I’ve had a couple of the Vaclav Neumann recordings of the Martinu symphonies on individual Supraphon discs for some time and was recently looking to complete the cycle. It was then that I discovered that the whole thing had also been released in a rather luxurious box set. There don’t seem to be many of them about, and getting this still sealed set cost me quite a lot (but the expense comes with huge pride of ownership!):

 

[Soundfield]

OK, I don’t really know anything about classical QS records. I’m sure that’s largely due to the fact that back in the seventies the presence of the format in the UK was, at best, a very low key affair (in fact I don’t really recall seeing QS records for sale, certainly not in local record shops, there must have been some but I probably walked straight past them). The UK and Europe seemed to be an almost exclusively SQ market – largely I guess due to the complete domination of the vast EMI empire and its countless labels. These days I get most of my quad LPs either here at home, from France, The Netherlands or often in fact from Germany (historically the most committed classical quad market in Europe and which as a result still seems to have an exhaustible supply of ‘as new’ SQ discs) but it’s fairly rare to see a QS title. The stuff I see most often is on the Candide, VOX subsidiary, label but generally it’s the same couple of dozen titles, a lot of it frankly rather obscure repertoire and few big name performers. It’s never really bothered me since before the arrival of the Surround Master, I’d no means of decoding them anyway (ignoring the token R-MTX button on my Sony SQD-2020!). But the odd interesting title does come up, so I’m happy to explore them as and when they pop up now. For example, this VOX box set of Haydn piano concertos arrived today:

It claims to be “Volume 1” of Haydn’s works for solo instrument and orchestra, but I can’t find any evidence that any other volumes ever existed. The box is a bit scruffy but the discs look to be unplayed:

It comes with a four page booklet:

This brings my total number of QS recordings to about half a dozen (!) - I suspect I’ve got a little way to go before I match the size of some people’s QS collections!.....

 

[Quad Linda]

I bought a few Candide and Vox Quad and 2ch titles. IMHO, annoying surface noise, even on sealed copies.