SPEC WEB and Cat Stevens - THREE (MFSL BOX)

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JonUrban

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The other day I had the tune "Majik of Majik's" running around in my head. I don't know where it came from, but it was there, and I hadn't played it in decades, but because it was stuck in my head, I wanted to hear it for real. It's from Cat Steven's album "Numbers", which was not a popular album, but for some reason I really grew attached to that particular song, so it stuck. Anyway, the only place I had it on CD was in the MFSL Box set called "THREE", which contains the last 3 Cat Stevens albums, including the only hit album of the three, "Izitso". So I figured I would rip "Majik of Majik's" to PC, dump it into SPEC-WEB, and make a version to play in the Acura. Well I have to tell you, I was blown away by the results! I ended up taking selected Cat Stevens songs from Izitso and did them as well, and again, blown away! Compared to the horrible official quadraphonic Cat Stevens releases, these results were stunning, and I don't mean "Silverline" stunning.

Take for example the song "Remember the Days of the Old Schoolyard". It was a hit. Sure, it's dated and it's full of synth and all that, but the surround output is amazing. There are little kids playing in the schoolyard - in the rear speakers. The sound placements are quite good, and Cat is full fledged in the center speaker. In the car it sounds totally legit. And as for that dance number from "Izitso", "Was Dog a Doughnut", well the dog barking on that one is mostly in the rears. If you look at the wav file, wherever you see a spike, that's the dog barking sound. Don't see it in the fronts, do ya! :)

So, if you have this set (or maybe even the A&M CDs), are interested, and have SPEC, SPEC-WEB, or a SM, try these discs. (I did not try anything from "Back to Earth" because it never interested me in the first place. I don't think I know a single tune on it) The results are quite astounding. Take a look:

(REMEMBER THE DAYS OF THE) OLD SCHOOLYARD (portion)

Days Schoolyard.jpg

WAS DOG WAS A DOUGHNUT?"

Dog Donut.jpg
 
The other day I had the tune "Majik of Majik's" running around in my head. I don't know where it came from, but it was there, and I hadn't played it in decades, but because it was stuck in my head, I wanted to hear it for real. It's from Cat Steven's album "Numbers", which was not a popular album, but for some reason I really grew attached to that particular song, so it stuck. Anyway, the only place I had it on CD was in the MFSL Box set called "THREE", which contains the last 3 Cat Stevens albums, including the only hit album of the three, "Izitso". So I figured I would rip "Majik of Majik's" to PC, dump it into SPEC-WEB, and make a version to play in the Acura. Well I have to tell you, I was blown away by the results! I ended up taking selected Cat Stevens songs from Izitso and did them as well, and again, blown away! Compared to the horrible official quadraphonic Cat Stevens releases, these results were stunning, and I don't mean "Silverline" stunning.

Take for example the song "Remember the Days of the Old Schoolyard". It was a hit. Sure, it's dated and it's full of synth and all that, but the surround output is amazing. There are little kids playing in the schoolyard - in the rear speakers. The sound placements are quite good, and Cat is full fledged in the center speaker. In the car it sounds totally legit. And as for that dance number from "Izitso", "Was Dog a Doughnut", well the dog barking on that one is mostly in the rears. If you look at the wav file, wherever you see a spike, that's the dog barking sound. Don't see it in the fronts, do ya! :)

So, if you have this set (or maybe even the A&M CDs), are interested, and have SPEC, SPEC-WEB, or a SM, try these discs. (I did not try anything from "Back to Earth" because it never interested me in the first place. I don't think I know a single tune on it) The results are quite astounding. Take a look:

(REMEMBER THE DAYS OF THE) OLD SCHOOLYARD (portion)

View attachment 27452

WAS DOG WAS A DOUGHNUT?"

View attachment 27453

Do you have a link to the workflow? Thanks...
 
Without a doubt Spec is an excellent upmixing program, leagues ahead of it's predecessors. I am not a fan of the web based version, but it can do some nice work. Especially if you are just listening in the car. My problem with the web based version is that it will throw some odd anomolies that under critical listening conditions become apparent. I highly recommend any surroundaholic who tries and likes the web version to buy plogue bidule and utilize the full spec version, it is truly outstanding and well worth it. And don't forget to donate.
Yes, cat stevens albums seem to upmix very well as the stereo mixes tend to be fairly wide.
Wait a minute jon, I thought you traded in your acura and no longer had dvda capabilities in your new ride?
 
I haven't heard this album, but it's certainly possible (although maybe not likely) that it was a stealth SQ quad. A&M started out issuing their quad albums in SQ but then switched over to CD-4 sometime in 1974. However, if they did want to put this album out as a stealth quad, I can see them using SQ because they could do the encoding and record cutting in-house, whereas if they wanted to do it in CD-4 they'd have to do the mastering and cutting at the JVC Cutting Center.

Also adding to the stealth quad hypothesis is that this album was released in late 1975 when A&M was still putting out new quad releases - it was scheduled for quad release and even given a catalog number (QU-54555/8Q-54555), and Bart Chiate, who was A&M's in-house quad remix engineer (and who did quad mixing on 'Foreigner' & 'Buddha And The Chocolate Box') gets a mixing credit on Numbers.

I would suggest running the album through the Surround Master in it's SQ setting and see what you get, maybe compare it to the quad mixes of Foreigner or Buddha and see what you get. The latter-era A&M quad mixes are always very aggressive so it should be pretty easy to tell if it's real quad or not.
 
Without a doubt Spec is an excellent upmixing program, leagues ahead of it's predecessors. I am not a fan of the web based version, but it can do some nice work. Especially if you are just listening in the car. My problem with the web based version is that it will throw some odd anomolies that under critical listening conditions become apparent. I highly recommend any surroundaholic who tries and likes the web version to buy plogue bidule and utilize the full spec version, it is truly outstanding and well worth it. And don't forget to donate.
Yes, cat stevens albums seem to upmix very well as the stereo mixes tend to be fairly wide.
Wait a minute jon, I thought you traded in your acura and no longer had dvda capabilities in your new ride?

Greetings! Yes, I agree about SPECWEB vs SPEC, but in my old age I find it so much easier to drop the wav/flac file on an icon and let it rip than it is to start Plogue, remember what the heck I am supposed to do, stare cluelessy at all of the settings I have forgotten to use, then see what comes out. SPEC gives the user way more control, but I don't use it as often as I once did, and never approached the expertise level that you have achieved. :)

So for me, SPEC WEB is even easier than setting up the SM and using that. Bottom line - I do it the "lazy man's way"....

As for the Acura, for some reason (Thankfully) they retained the ability to play DTS CDs, so I am now stepping back 20 years from the 10+ year old DVD-Audio HiRez format in the car to the 20+ year LoRez format in the car. But at least it's real 5.1.
 
I haven't heard this album, but it's certainly possible (although maybe not likely) that it was a stealth SQ quad. A&M started out issuing their quad albums in SQ but then switched over to CD-4 sometime in 1974. However, if they did want to put this album out as a stealth quad, I can see them using SQ because they could do the encoding and record cutting in-house, whereas if they wanted to do it in CD-4 they'd have to do the mastering and cutting at the JVC Cutting Center.

Also adding to the stealth quad hypothesis is that this album was released in late 1975 when A&M was still putting out new quad releases - it was scheduled for quad release and even given a catalog number (QU-54555/8Q-54555), and Bart Chiate, who was A&M's in-house quad remix engineer (and who did quad mixing on 'Foreigner' & 'Buddha And The Chocolate Box') gets a mixing credit on Numbers.

I would suggest running the album through the Surround Master in it's SQ setting and see what you get, maybe compare it to the quad mixes of Foreigner or Buddha and see what you get. The latter-era A&M quad mixes are always very aggressive so it should be pretty easy to tell if it's real quad or not.

I vaguely remember that Numbers was to be a CD-4 Quadradisc, but even in stereo it did not sell that well, so I can understand why they didn't go the extra mile for the quad, especially considering the industry was bailing at the time.

It could be SQ but I would be shocked if they stepped backward, but who knows what they did in the mastering lab. They may have still had the equipment and figured "What the hell? No one will notice!" :)

However, my discs are the MFSL discs and I wonder if they would have retained any SQ encoding after remastering. I suppose it's worth a check. Still, SPECWEB brings out a lot of stuff with these two albums (Numbers/Izitso)
 
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