Rick Wakeman - Six Wives and Arthur

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All references say new quad mixes so the original continue to be of value.

Thanks for sharing the press release. Since there are no credits given for the 'new' quad mixes and other sources, including Burning Shed, describe them as "period Quad mixes" my bet is that these are indeed the originals. Also it's rare these days for engineers to mix to quad rather than 5.1.
 
Thanks for sharing the press release. Since there are no credits given for the 'new' quad mixes and other sources, including Burning Shed, describe them as "period Quad mixes" my bet is that these are indeed the originals. Also it's rare these days for engineers to mix to quad rather than 5.1.
They are the original quad mixes for sure.
 
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Here is a screen shot of the DVD menu for Six Wives. Yes it is MLP.
 
just finished my first listen of Arthur. DVD-A, MLP lossless. This has always been a guilty pleasure of mine, so I can't be unbiased. Soundquality isn't too good, but very listenable and you can play it really loud. Surroundmix isn't by far as gimmicky as I'd expected. In fact at first I was a bit disappointed since at the beginning the moog doesn't move enough (for my tastes) between the boxes. That changes with Sir Lancelot. Anyway, I'm pretty sure this will get a lot of listens in my home. Menu and handling is great (as alway when Mr Wilkes is involved I may add). One last thing: is it possible that this is a needle drop? In quiet passages it sounds pretty musch like a vinyl disc is rotating on the turntabel. Either way, I don't mind; I'm glad that this disc turned up...
 
I never knew Rick Wakeman was a musical genius until I heard Journey(Yesterday). I know Rick from seeing him on TV quiz shows, but he is a brilliant composer.
I pre-ordered both sets on a whim, having never heard any of his music. I hated the placement of drums on the Journey quad mix(and I do mean hate). Let's hope this is better. I love drums that are centered but with fills flying around(like SW mixed Birthday song on Drive Home).
 
The burning shed website has info on what's on the dvda. They want $16.40 for it plus shipping. Amazon wants $34.99 and free shipping.
 
I have listened to both titles in MLP stereo as don't have surround capability and the results are very good indeed. So good to hear these recordings sounding this clear and dynamic at last. The DVD is nicely done by Neil Wilkes as would be expected. You can hear the difference when switching to quad, mixed down into stereo. It doesn't sound as revealing from that point of view.
 
I had the Rick Wakeman quad mix's on DVD-A/V for a year or so. Done by one of those great guys who rip their Quad collection to DVD in 96/24 kHz.
It's not revolutionary as a quad mix to say some of the Santana early albums in Quad which fly all over the speakers.
 
I have my new 2015 copy of "Arthur" (still waiting on "Six Wives"), and like d0zer hinted at, the Quad definitely sounds like a needledrop from a Quad vinyl (presumably I guess since they could not locate Quad tapes for this album)
You can definitely hear the vinyl noises at the top of the 5th song ("Merlin the Magician")

At around 0:23 seconds in there's a little bit of noise out of the right surround channel (and it happens again around 4:15 or so) but other than that, this transfer sounds pretty clean
Honestly the mix or musical content really doesn't blow me away that much. I have no idea what the Quad mix is like on "Six Wives", but I greatly prefer the music on that album, so I'm guessing it will get a lot more plays on my system than "Arthur".
One of the reasons I don't care for this album as much is that I don't really care for the lead vocals at all. I'd much prefer the all instrumental arrangements of "Six Wives" (not to mention that most of the Yes guys played on "Six Wives".)
Also some of the synth panning (particularly in "Merlin") is a little too gimmicky for my tastes.
I know a poll is not up yet, but this one gets a '7' from me.
 
Man! I was interested in this release....but it's clear to me from those who have commented...I would not be happy. A big PASS for me. next...
 
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