HiRez Poll Chicago - QUADIO [BluRay Audio]

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Rate the BDA of Chicago - QUADIO

  • 6:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 5:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1: Poor Fidelity, Poor Content, Poor Surround

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    151
When you think about it... it's pretty remarkable that more people don't have major differences in various recordings...there are quite a few variables that govern sound quality...one major aspect that seldom is discussed is room acoustics..the shape and materials in your listening area can have dramatic influences on sound quality...and of course our amps and speakers all vary...and there is the human element..our hearing....and when you consider those technical people who work on the production of the music...their environment is also much different in a studio...so getting all these differences to end up in one cohesive sound is impressive...and then factor in sources from 40 years ago...pretty amazing..

There are 2 philosophies in dealing with systems...one school of thought is that you properly setup(or calibrate)your system and leave it that way...this method advances the theory that your system should remain "neutral" and not "color" the music.....the other method involves constant tweaking...sometimes for an album...some do it as frequently as each song...some argue that this constant tweaking destroys your baseline with constant tweaking..

When it comes to exceptional sets like the Chicago Quad...if someone is having MAJOR problems...it's probably their system..right now it's 39 out of 40 10's...considering the caliber of members we have on these polls...I'd bet on a system problem...

I feel myself going off topic...Must stop myself...Spock...

OK, we don't often talk about how subjective sound quality really is. Remember when there were big "stereo" stores and the salesman would try to sell one set of speakers over another because they had turned up the bass on the amp feeding the one set of speakers? Loudness buttons? The modern equivalent - Audyssey Dynamic EQ?

One thing I have noticed is that your ears adjust to bass levels very quickly. So, if you play something with "heavy" bass, whatever is played next, unless it's equally "heavy", will sound like it is missing bass. This will be true, even if the second disc is the one properly mixed. Air pressure changes can change your perception of a disc from day to day. And, of course, room treatments can alter sound tremendously.

I should also point out that Audyssey Dynamic EQ, besides enhancing certain frequencies, will usually also make the rear channels sound higher and, on some discs, make the vocals sound weaker.

Here's something I've been trying to prove and can't (yet). Bass in a moving vehicle (say > 45 MPH) will become less than in the same vehicle standing still. My ears tell me that but I can't prove it.

BTW, I am firmly in the camp of set your system for one setting and then, if it's right, almost all discs will sound good. The very few that don't are the ones to look at what other people are hearing on their systems.

Sorry about the slight detour...

Andy
 
Guys, stop readjusting your systems over this. It's just a typical mixing problem. This is one of the reasons that 5.1 is really better than 4.0, you can keep the lead vocals localized & loud in the center. Some quad mixes resolve a phantom center so perfectly that you would swear that the center was active (Full Sail or Can't Buy A Thrill, for example). On many quad mixes (especially Chicago VIII, for instance), the front vocals get a little lost. The entire The Hoople Q8 suffers from this, the lead vocals are almost inaudible, and it's much worse on the SQ LP. There is nothing you can do to adjust for this, just live with it. Happy Man suffers from this also.
 
Guys, stop readjusting your systems over this. It's just a typical mixing problem. This is one of the reasons that 5.1 is really better than 4.0, you can keep the lead vocals localized & loud in the center. Some quad mixes resolve a phantom center so perfectly that you would swear that the center was active (Full Sail or Can't Buy A Thrill, for example). On many quad mixes (especially Chicago VIII, for instance), the front vocals get a little lost. The entire The Hoople Q8 suffers from this, the lead vocals are almost inaudible, and it's much worse on the SQ LP. There is nothing you can do to adjust for this, just live with it. Happy Man suffers from this also.

I don't have a problem with the vocals on these mixes but it is a matter of preference.

On another note, your post is a bit contradictory, you say that 5.1 is so much better and then you go on to mention a couple quad mixes that sound great...I like a lot of full range sound in my rear speakers like the Chicago quads and will gladly give up my center to get that. These mixes blow away the 5.1 mixes of II and V in my opinion.
 
Maybe I shouldn't have said better, but I meant that this is the reason people go for a center channel, to keep the vocal rooted. I'm not making a value judgement, here. I also prefer the quad mixes of II & V to the 5.1s, but the presence or lack of a center channel has no bearing on that judgement. I just happen to prefer extreme localization to amorphous wishy-washiness.
 
Maybe I shouldn't have said better, but I meant that this is the reason people go for a center channel, to keep the vocal rooted. I'm not making a value judgement, here. I also prefer the quad mixes of II & V to the 5.1s, but the presence or lack of a center channel has no bearing on that judgement. I just happen to prefer extreme localization to amorphous wishy-washiness.

The 5.1 mix of America - Homecoming is amazing and I wouldn't change anything about it...then you have Hearts in quad that is also exceptional. Steven Wilson does his thing in 5.1 and then you have Andy Jackson that does his in 4.0. To me it isn't the amount of speakers but what you do with what you use.
 
I will gladly run Audessey again, and then see what's up.

Hey GOS, make sure dynamic EQ is not on in the Audessey settings as it can wreck the front/rear balance. You may not need to recalibrate as such, just switch that bit off if it is on. I somehow switched it back on again recently (don't know how, don't know if I accidentally took a shortcut through the remote...) and A Black & White Night with Roy Orbison was insanely rear heavy. I thought the calibration had gone askew, but it appears to have been just that.
 
Hi. All
I have got the Chicago Quadio Box set and started with the IX Greatest hits this was to wet my Whistle & boy was my Whistle wet all over.
Then each day after I went through the numbers after the 8th. day I was in heaven.
I do have all the SQ LP`s bare one but I was not prepared for the shear discreetness’ & quality.

So over all this Box set is a “10 “
Please I need more of these heavenly Box sets.:worthy
 
Yes, yes, no doubt there are differences in how 4.0 is mixed, so some albums are going to work better on certain setups than others. E.g. The Chicago Quadio Box sounds great on my setup at the moment, but I just put on DotM 4.0 and found the bass very lacking today, even when turning the sub up quite a bit. I recall it sounding better before, so I assume it has something to do with my current settings and the differences between the mixes.
DSotM 4.0 has always been lacking base on my set-up, especially when it gets busy/rocking - prime example is Time, which has much more omphh in the 5.1, which I prefer on the more busy tracks.
 
Ode to Chicago QUADIO

Listen. Music flows. Faint, reminiscent memories stir within. This is QUADIO.

A sharp opening from the horns, guitar licks wrapped in smooth vocals. Familiar feelings awaken. This is QUADIO.

47 years since Chicago Transit Authority first touched these ears. Time disappears. Liberation from the present. This is QUADIO.

High school jazz band, cruising to 8-tracks in the car, dorm room stereo wars, political protest. Feeling free. This is QUADIO.

Flashback to hidden musical detail revealed in smoke filled rooms. My best friend Goofy yelling "crank it up". Fond memories of Love. This is QUADIO.

Nine golden disks, a magic elixir from Dr. Rhino. Unexpected, perfectly timed as I start my 60th year. This is QUADIO.

And something new for me. Enveloped by the technology of past and present, new adventures await in the enhanced clarity of the performance. This is QUADIO.

Does anybody really know what time it is?

I do. Time to listen. Time to make me smile.

Time to make me cry.

This is QUADIO.​
======================

Needless to say, this is a 10 for me.

Steve
 
DSotM 4.0 has always been lacking base on my set-up, especially when it gets busy/rocking - prime example is Time, which has much more omphh in the 5.1, which I prefer on the more busy tracks.

There are passages of the 5.1 mix that are so "wall of sound" muddled that I can't hardly stand it though. With my system triple-checked, doing what it should, the bass power and palette for the Parson's mix is within the range of what I expect and enjoy.
 
The box just came yesterday. I had the chance to play CTA and a song or two off of II.
First thing I notice is the vocals seem buried in the mix. Don't think it is my settings. I have the DVDAs of II and V and listened to them last week. I do hear different things going on in the quad II songs I listened to. I think I prefer the quad mix other than the lowered vocals.

Some of this music is dated to me as in I wont be listening to free form guitar every session.... but I appreciate the artistry :)
It does bring back some of my childhood hearing this. Just a wonderful box and treasure. Again for me this is not a group I was especially enamored with except for the first two albums but I am happy this got released.
I am sure after I get thru all the discs this is going to be 9 or 10.
Regarding the vocals I can appreciate how a center speaker can anchor the vocals and allow easy adjustment to bring them up.
 
...Some of this music is dated to me as in I wont be listening to free form guitar every session.... but I appreciate the artistry :)...

Chicago Transit Authority is one of my all-time favorite albums...a desert island disc. I have probably listened to it more than all of the other Chicago albums combined. And Terry Kath is one of my favorite guitar players. Yet I have never been able to get all the way through Free Form Guitar other than the very first listen way back in the vinyl days. Ditto with Liberation. So enjoy the rest of it! :sun
 
Ok then - I've been through it all a couple of times now, and immersed myself in the first 2 discs repeatedly. What a rewarding experience - enjoying a band I'd dismissed way back in the day; loving the horns that (stupidly!) turned me off in my 'heavy rock only' days; and appreciating the creative clash between a whole stew of different musical styles/genres. And all in wonderful quad! Chicago will never be a favorite band for me - BUT I now view them entirely differently than I did just over a week ago. So thanks for all the recommendations above that persuaded me to make the investment and reap the reward. I still have to say that the vocals sound consistently overpowered in many of the tracks (in quad, not stereo) - no matter how I adjust my system. Especially on those first 2 albums. While my reference 'go to' discs don't sound imbalanced at all on my 'usual' settings. So overall it is an 8 from me... Lower than the vast majority, I know, but true to my experience of the music and the relative lack of presence of the vocals in the quad mix. All in all, a wonderful week of listening!
 
Ok then - I've been through it all a couple of times now, and immersed myself in the first 2 discs repeatedly. What a rewarding experience - enjoying a band I'd dismissed way back in the day; loving the horns that (stupidly!) turned me off in my 'heavy rock only' days; and appreciating the creative clash between a whole stew of different musical styles/genres. And all in wonderful quad! Chicago will never be a favorite band for me - BUT I now view them entirely differently than I did just over a week ago. So thanks for all the recommendations above that persuaded me to make the investment and reap the reward. I still have to say that the vocals sound consistently overpowered in many of the tracks (in quad, not stereo) - no matter how I adjust my system. Especially on those first 2 albums. While my reference 'go to' discs don't sound imbalanced at all on my 'usual' settings. So overall it is an 8 from me... Lower than the vast majority, I know, but true to my experience of the music and the relative lack of presence of the vocals in the quad mix. All in all, a wonderful week of listening!

Have you listened to the Blood, Sweat & Tears AF quad releases? Your view of the band Chicago was exactly how I felt about BS&T untill I had a listen to their quality quad releases. ...horns and all.
 
Ok got it. Delivered yesterday. Listening to CTA. Very nice. Very clean sound. Lots of discrete effects. Great packaging.. Will report back with impressions at some time in the distant future. Afterall there are NINE of em.
 
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