HiRez Poll Tower of Power - AIN'T NOTHIN' STOPPIN' US NOW [SACD]

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Rate the SACD of Tower of Power - AIN'T NOTHIN' STOPPIN' US NOW


  • Total voters
    28
I can count myself lucky. Among my first 100 purchased surround mixes (very few, yes), I've genuinely liked or loved all of them.

This ToP mix is slightly in the "like" column. My warped view of the musical world can't handle the drums in the right rear channel..... The rest of the mix is a discrete gold mine, if a bit thin. For me it doesn't make up for those darned drums :( Thus the vote is a 7
 
Yeah....who thought it was a good idea to put the drums all in one channel? Was this common on older Quad mixes? They didn't put the drums all in one channel on the stereo, so why do it on the quad?

Sorry, but it seems like an amateur way to mix -- even back then. When compared to how those Chicago quad albums are mixed? This seems kinda silly.

I'll play it again today and crank it way up and see if it feels any better, but at a low volume, it's not a very comfortable mix to listen to. Might be the first multi-channel CD I've purchased where I prefer the stereo layer. :(
 
I just voted a solid 9. Cranked up, it sounds pretty amazing and of course we can all 'nitpick' but there are some classic tunes on this 4.0 SACD. Overall, I found SONY's single layered ToP Stereo "Soul Vaccination Live"* more appealing, content~wise, but to have this classic available once again in such ravishing sonics [at least on my system] is pretty awesome.

*http://hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=714

I don't see a poll for the SACD Tower Of Power Soul Vaccination Live Stereo Only, I would vote 10 as it is a super strong Live and because it is like a Greatest Hits I would go to it first over Ain't Nothin Stoppin Us Now. But it is stereo only.
 
I don't see a poll for the SACD MCH, Tower Of Power Soul Vaccination Live, I would vote 10 as it is a super strong Live 5.1 and because it is like a Greatest Hits I would go to it first over Ain't Nothin Stoppin Us Now.

ToP's Soul Vaccination LIVE was ONLY available as a single~layered STEREO SACD. It was never originally remixed into 4.0 or 5.1 [MOST unfortunately].

http://hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=714#tracks
 
Drums rear left and bass rear right being a strong plus point for me. A very strong plus point. I wish there were a lot more discs mixed that way.

My rear speakers and amplification are identical to the front speakers and amplification. The four are arranged in a square rather than the suggested layout for 5.1. It works fine for 5.1 and really well for quadraphonic.

I have no preconceived ideas where any element of the mix should be placed.

This disc hasn't yet grown on me musically so I won't vote yet, but the mix and mastering are both getting 10.
 
Drums rear left and bass rear right being a strong plus point for me. A very strong plus point. I wish there were a lot more discs mixed that way.

My rear speakers and amplification are identical to the front speakers and amplification. The four are arranged in a square rather than the suggested layout for 5.1. It works fine for 5.1 and really well for quadraphonic.

Wow, I couldn't agree more.
I have a similar speaker placement with full-range rear woofers.

Unimpressed at first listen, I just spun this again with the fronts -3 dB, and overall volume +6.
What a revelation.
Conspiracy theorists would insist the mix must be defective, because the fronts and rears are so obviously reversed.

Turn your head around on Track 6 You Ought To Be Hearing Quad! (whoops, I mean Havin'Fun).
If it doesn't sound as great with bass, drums, vocals and horns in the rears as the fronts...
then for whatever reasons your system is not presenting the full quad effect (that tweaking or speaker placement might improve).

[Checked Birds of Fire vintage quad before restoring the defaults.
Also disparaged for rear drums, never sounded better to me with -3 dB fronts.]

If full power @ 40 Hz drum & bass in the rear is no longer a valid mix, is it because home theater satellite rears hold sway?
Apparently Steven Wilson mixes to this standard, as he wins all the polls.

Pioneers of the 70s used quad as it was originally conceived on records like this one.
 
I love Tower of Power and really was looking forward to this one, but the joy of the music in Quad was marred by the really second-rate audio quality it delivered. Unlike other Dutton Vocalion quad discs I own, this one seemed lacking in high end, as if it had been rolled off above 12kHz.

The music is wonderful - one of ToP's best, I think - and the mix is fairly active and discrete, but that muffled sound just threw me off from rating it higher than "7". I may have to dump the waveforms and fix the muddiness myself.
 
Really like this album! Just gave it a spin and it's a great Saturday mid morning bop-along! It whizzed by which always means it's good. The mix is just right, which is to be expected from these Columbia quads.

Ain't Nothing Stopping' Us Now and You Ought To Be Havin' Fun are belters :whistle: and also great sentiments! Voting 9.
 
Drums rear left and bass rear right being a strong plus point for me. A very strong plus point. I wish there were a lot more discs mixed that way.

My rear speakers and amplification are identical to the front speakers and amplification. The four are arranged in a square rather than the suggested layout for 5.1. It works fine for 5.1 and really well for quadraphonic.

I have no preconceived ideas where any element of the mix should be placed.

This disc hasn't yet grown on me musically so I won't vote yet, but the mix and mastering are both getting 10.

hiya (i agree with everything you say wrt this lovely ol' Quad btw!) sorry for being a nosey parker but just re-read your post and just wanted to double check you have your rear speakers hooked up the right way round as the drums on this mix should be rear right and that delicious bass playing in the rear left?
 
hiya (i agree with everything you say wrt this lovely ol' Quad btw!) sorry for being a nosey parker but just re-read your post and just wanted to double check you have your rear speakers hooked up the right way round as the drums on this mix should be rear right and that delicious bass playing in the rear left?

Where is the guitar solo in Deodato Baubles, Bangles and Beads?
 
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