Marvin Gaye - What's going on (Quad)

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admsh

300 Club - QQ All-Star
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Apr 27, 2013
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334
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Just managed to put my hands on on this one, the sound is amazing and the mix is awesome. Would have been nice to have the overdubbed vocals separated a bit more, but I really can't complain, I've been looking for this one for who's knows how long.

Why they didn't release a 5.1 mix, or this quad mix, with the (otherwise wonderful) deluxe edition in 2001, is beyond me. Absolutely maddening that these masterpieces exist out there in multichannel format and are just collecting dust.
 
Because they didn't had a clue about the existence of the quad mix, since it was released in Japan only.
However there should be "out there" somewhere at least two digital releases.
 
How do we get a poll for this? I just heard it and I want to give it a 10! Maybe in three years we can get a 50th Anniversary edition Blu-Ray with the original quad and a new Atmos mix.
 
How do we get a poll for this? I just heard it and I want to give it a 10! Maybe in three years we can get a 50th Anniversary edition Blu-Ray with the original quad and a new Atmos mix.

I love it too.

The Motown quads all have excellent mixes, and the CD-4 vinyl transfers done by members here are truly impeccable. The Temptations' All Directions is another must-hear. "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" was meant to be heard in quad...
 
I love it too.

The Motown quads all have excellent mixes, and the CD-4 vinyl transfers done by members here are truly impeccable. The Temptations' All Directions is another must-hear. "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" was meant to be heard in quad...

Is that one also CD-4? I've heard this and Nilsson Schmilsson and it really seems that CD-4 kicks SQ or QS butt.
 
I love it too.

The Motown quads all have excellent mixes, and the CD-4 vinyl transfers done by members here are truly impeccable. The Temptations' All Directions is another must-hear. "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" was meant to be heard in quad...

What other Motown CD-4s were there?
 
Is that one also CD-4? I've heard this and Nilsson Schmilsson and it really seems that CD-4 kicks SQ or QS butt.

Yes it is.

CD-4 had a lot of potential. It beats the matrix systems because the 4 channels are actually kept separate throughout the whole process. If you look around the forum there's more info about the science behind it...whenever I try to explain it I end up fumbling it somehow. But it involves using a specialized cartridge and a "demodulator" to pick up an FM subsonic carrier embedded in the LP groove wall, which contains the the rear channel information.

If you can find the equipment and deal with the tedious calibration procedure, the results can be amazing. But if you set it up wrong or the records wear out, the sound distorts- we call it "sandpaper quad". But when you get it right- WOW.

Some of the CD-4 to DVD-A transfers "out there" such as this one are mind-blowingly good- it's really hard to get that kind of separation and clarity normally.
 
I did this thread last year with a list of everything and a bit of background info. Unfortunately the pictures aren't working any more due to photobucket being a collection of a-holes but the info should answer your questions.

For my money, the Temptations 1990 is the best of all the quad mixes - being a 1974 album I think it may have been the last one actually mixed for quad chronologically, even though there are some albums from 1973 and earlier that were released later in 1975 after 1990, and I think they got better as they went along. Also presumably being a 24-track multi there were more elements to work with too, compared to the earlier ones which were probably done from 16, 8 or even 4 track multis.
 
Aside from the Live in Japan titles (which credit the Japanese engineers) it seems unlikely that Motown, who sometimes had all of their engineers have a go at mixing a track and then would pick the best mix for release, would just send their multitracks to Japan to be mixed for quad with no oversight. More likely these were mixed in LA after Motown moved there in 1972 - the Diana Ross 'Live at Caesar's' album was released in the US as a Q8 and in Japan as a CD-4, and they're the same mix. As I said in the other thread, I suspect these were mixed for US release in '74 but Motown's financials were in bad shape then, and quad was failing in the US by '75. I think the rarity of the two US-issued Motown Q8's (Diana @ Caesar's and Marvin Gaye Live) which come up even less often than other rarities like the '76/'77 Columbia Q8s for example, show you just how few copies Motown was selling in quad.
 
Aside from the Live in Japan titles (which credit the Japanese engineers) it seems unlikely that Motown, who sometimes had all of their engineers have a go at mixing a track and then would pick the best mix for release, would just send their multitracks to Japan to be mixed for quad with no oversight. More likely these were mixed in LA after Motown moved there in 1972 - the Diana Ross 'Live at Caesar's' album was released in the US as a Q8 and in Japan as a CD-4, and they're the same mix. As I said in the other thread, I suspect these were mixed for US release in '74 but Motown's financials were in bad shape then, and quad was failing in the US by '75. I think the rarity of the two US-issued Motown Q8's (Diana @ Caesar's and Marvin Gaye Live) which come up even less often than other rarities like the '76/'77 Columbia Q8s for example, show you just how few copies Motown was selling in quad.

It should be here on the forum somewhere... the reaction of Jon Urban about one of the two Motown Q8, which IIRC it was something "at that time i was there, looking for quad stuff, and these never materialized".


UPDATE: found...
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...wn-Quad-releases&p=41243&viewfull=1#post41243
 
The CD-4 conversion to DVD is stunning. At least the one I found out there. It's an art to do LPs and especially CD-4 LP to digital. Someone knew what they were doing here. Ultra clean copy of the LP too.
 
The CD-4 conversion to DVD is stunning. At least the one I found out there. It's an art to do LPs and especially CD-4 LP to digital. Someone knew what they were doing here. Ultra clean copy of the LP too.

If you found the same one I did, it is excellent. There is a bit of sibilance on some of the vocals, but nearly perfect.
 
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