Playing quadraphonic music through your computer?

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Quadlearner

Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2018
Messages
10
Location
Tennessee USA
Hey Mr. Wilson, I'm new to the quadraphonic forums and was going to ask, Is it possible to play a quadraphonic output through my computer and into my stereo. I have a Realtek surround card and have all 4 channels going to my stereo through RCA jacks. I've played media on my computer before but it seems that the programs only play stereo and mono. Is there a certain program needed to play quadraphonic sound? Thank you for your time.
 
Hey Mr. Wilson, I'm new to the quadraphonic forums and was going to ask, Is it possible to play a quadraphonic output through my computer and into my stereo. I have a Realtek surround card and have all 4 channels going to my stereo through RCA jacks. I've played media on my computer before but it seems that the programs only play stereo and mono. Is there a certain program needed to play quadraphonic sound? Thank you for your time.

Welcome to the forum:bounce17
 
Welcome Quadlearner!

The "Ask SW" section is definitely not the right place for your inquiry, but I'll do my best help you out. The mods will probably move this thread eventually.

This is a particularly complex and popular subject here- there are in fact entire sections of the forum devoted to it.

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...-Sound-Production-and-Playback-on-the-Desktop

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?91-Multichannel-Media-Players

Is it possible to play a quadraphonic output through my computer and into my stereo

Not exactly sure what you mean by this- you are trying to transmit the output of a quad decoder through your computer and into your stereo? what would the point of that be...just plug the outputs of your quad decoder into your stereo.

Also can you be more specific as to what "quadraphonic" source you are trying to playback- an old SQ decoder, CD-4 demodulator, Q8 or reel tape deck, etc?

I assume what you actually mean is you want to playback surround music files from your computer- that is absolutely possible.

What many of us do here is we rip our surround discs, records and tapes and store them as multichannel music files on our computers, which we can then playback into our stereos. There are several file formats that support surround- FLAC, ALAC, WAV, and you can also playback directly demuxed audio codecs (.AC3, .DTS, .MLP, etc).

I have a Realtek surround card and have all 4 channels going to my stereo through RCA jacks.

This sounds promising- I assume it take USB from the computer and puts out the 4 channels? If you provide the model number I can tell you if it will work.

Here is the one I use- https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Blaster-Surround-System-SB1095/dp/B0044DEDCA

Is there a certain program needed to play quadraphonic sound?

A number of computer programs will playback multichannel music files- Foobar2000, VLC Media Player, and Creative PowerDVD to name a few.

I personally use Foobar2000 as it is free and easy to mod. Additional features needed for surround are the DVD-Audio, DTS, and SACD decoders, which are on the Foobar website.

http://www.foobar2000.org

Here is what my Foobar looks like...if you look around you'll see other members' Foobars here have fancier front-ends, but for me this does the job.

Keep in mind that when you first download, it is essentially a blank canvas- all of the meters, decoders, and other visualizations are optional components you can add on later.

Screen Shot 2018-01-21 at 9.04.40 PM.jpg

If you need help setting any of this up or learning how to rip your surround media, just drop me a PM or post. You'll find most members here are friendly, reasonable, and very well-versed in the surround computer stuff.

This hobby can be a bit of a hassle for the uninitiated, but once you get going you'll never want to go back. Luckily you've come to the right place!
 
If you have a Mac..lemme know.. I posted the setup from an iMac with a MOTU 828 mk II FIREWIRE, and the setup from it on the MIDI/Output somewhere in this Forum using VLC....
 
Welcome Quadlearner!

The "Ask SW" section is definitely not the right place for your inquiry, but I'll do my best help you out. The mods will probably move this thread eventually.

This is a particularly complex and popular subject here- there are in fact entire sections of the forum devoted to it.

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...-Sound-Production-and-Playback-on-the-Desktop

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?91-Multichannel-Media-Players



Not exactly sure what you mean by this- you are trying to transmit the output of a quad decoder through your computer and into your stereo? what would the point of that be...just plug the outputs of your quad decoder into your stereo.

Also can you be more specific as to what "quadraphonic" source you are trying to playback- an old SQ decoder, CD-4 demodulator, Q8 or reel tape deck, etc?

I assume what you actually mean is you want to playback surround music files from your computer- that is absolutely possible.

What many of us do here is we rip our surround discs, records and tapes and store them as multichannel music files on our computers, which we can then playback into our stereos. There are several file formats that support surround- FLAC, ALAC, WAV, and you can also playback directly demuxed audio codecs (.AC3, .DTS, .MLP, etc).



This sounds promising- I assume it take USB from the computer and puts out the 4 channels? If you provide the model number I can tell you if it will work.

Here is the one I use- https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Blaster-Surround-System-SB1095/dp/B0044DEDCA



A number of computer programs will playback multichannel music files- Foobar2000, VLC Media Player, and Creative PowerDVD to name a few.

I personally use Foobar2000 as it is free and easy to mod. Additional features needed for surround are the DVD-Audio, DTS, and SACD decoders, which are on the Foobar website.

http://www.foobar2000.org

Here is what my Foobar looks like...if you look around you'll see other members' Foobars here have fancier front-ends, but for me this does the job.

Keep in mind that when you first download, it is essentially a blank canvas- all of the meters, decoders, and other visualizations are optional components you can add on later.

View attachment 31895

If you need help setting any of this up or learning how to rip your surround media, just drop me a PM or post. You'll find most members here are friendly, reasonable, and very well-versed in the surround computer stuff.

This hobby can be a bit of a hassle for the uninitiated, but once you get going you'll never want to go back. Luckily you've come to the right place!
Thank you for the help bud. What I mean by quadraphonic is 4 channel music(I now understand what true quadraphonic sound is) from my computer to my stereo. I recorded all 4 channels from a reel to reel to my computer and currently trying to play it out of my computer. Also, my audio output has multiple jacks specifying which speaker is LF/LR and RR/RL running to my stereo. My audio card is "Integrated 7.1 channel, High Definition audio with S/PDIF support". I didn't expect a detailed answer and I am very thankful for your reply.
 
Thank you for the help bud. What I mean by quadraphonic is 4 channel music(I now understand what true quadraphonic sound is) from my computer to my stereo. I recorded all 4 channels from a reel to reel to my computer and currently trying to play it out of my computer. Also, my audio output has multiple jacks specifying which speaker is LF/LR and RR/RL running to my stereo. My audio card is "Integrated 7.1 channel, High Definition audio with S/PDIF support". I didn't expect a detailed answer and I am very thankful for your reply.

Happy to help!!

You never know what experience level people might have, so I figure it's better to give a detailed answer than a vague one.

Quad reels are quite rare and expensive these days- Good idea to record them in. Out of curiosity, what titles do you have?

I understand that your soundcard has 7.1 A/V out and optical so you can fed it to your receiver. You need to figure out how to plug the soundcard into your computer. Usually they are USB or FireWire, and require special drivers to be installed.
 
Thank you for the help bud. What I mean by quadraphonic is 4 channel music(I now understand what true quadraphonic sound is) from my computer to my stereo. I recorded all 4 channels from a reel to reel to my computer and currently trying to play it out of my computer. Also, my audio output has multiple jacks specifying which speaker is LF/LR and RR/RL running to my stereo. My audio card is "Integrated 7.1 channel, High Definition audio with S/PDIF support". I didn't expect a detailed answer and I am very thankful for your reply.

Load all four recorded channels in the free program Audacity. Output as a single flac file. Playback using Foobar2000 or Musicbee.

There is one setting you need to change in Audacity before loading your tracks and is described here : http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/advanced_mixing_options.html
 
Happy to help!!

You never know what experience level people might have, so I figure it's better to give a detailed answer than a vague one.

Quad reels are quite rare and expensive these days- Good idea to record them in. Out of curiosity, what titles do you have?

I understand that your soundcard has 7.1 A/V out and optical so you can fed it to your receiver. You need to figure out how to plug the soundcard into your computer. Usually they are USB or FireWire, and require special drivers to be installed.
Ok on the sound card. I recorded black sabbath "paranoid" 4 channel. Im actually doing this for my dad who is very interested in quad music. He has a few other reels but I have no idea what they are.
 
Ok on the sound card. I recorded black sabbath "paranoid" 4 channel. Im actually doing this for my dad who is very interested in quad music. He has a few other reels but I have no idea what they are.

Apologies for doubting, but I'm curious, does the tape/box actually say "Quadraphonic"? Also what model tape deck are you using? Have you played it and listened to four discrete channels? I assume you are using computer surround speakers? [I guess it could get tricky to use those directly with a four channel source, adapters needed.]

And welcome, it is always cool to see someone else discover multi-channel!
 
Apologies for doubting, but I'm curious, does the tape/box actually say "Quadraphonic"? Also what model tape deck are you using? Have you played it and listened to four discrete channels? I assume you are using computer surround speakers? [I guess it could get tricky to use those directly with a four channel source, adapters needed.]

And welcome, it is always cool to see someone else discover multi-channel!
Yup its quadraphonic, listened to it on 4 discrete channels. It's a teac a2340r.
 
Ok on the sound card. I recorded black sabbath "paranoid" 4 channel. Im actually doing this for my dad who is very interested in quad music. He has a few other reels but I have no idea what they are.

That's a rare one. It looks like this, right? https://www.discogs.com/Black-Sabbath-Paranoid/release/8266089

I actually have a conversion of this title (from reel)...would be happy to share and save you the trouble of recording your own copy.

Let me know what the other reels are...I may have digitized copies of those as well.
 
That's a rare one. It looks like this, right? https://www.discogs.com/Black-Sabbath-Paranoid/release/8266089

I actually have a conversion of this title (from reel)...would be happy to share and save you the trouble of recording your own copy.

Let me know what the other reels are...I may have digitized copies of those as well.
It's actually a generic reel with the original tape. The guy who sold it would record is tapes on to a generic reel so his son's friends wouln't steal it. Yeah its the same songs in quad. Yes that would be a lifesaver if you could share it because I have been trying to sync the 4 channels all day.
 
It's actually a generic reel with the original tape. The guy who sold it would record is tapes on to a generic reel so his son's friends wouln't steal it. Yeah its the same songs in quad. Yes that would be a lifesaver if you could share it because I have been trying to sync the 4 channels all day.

Since it is a dub you obviously lose a generation in sound quality. It's also possible the dub could be from another quad source (that title was also released on CD-4 vinyl and quad 8 track, neither of which are as good as reel).

I'll PM you with a drive link later today.
 
Since it is a dub you obviously lose a generation in sound quality. It's also possible the dub could be from another quad source (that title was also released on CD-4 vinyl and quad 8 track, neither of which are as good as reel).

I'll PM you with a drive link later today.
Thanks!
 
It's a pleasure to read through this thread and see the helpfulness of this community on display.

Welcome to the gang, Quadlearner!

With time, you will find that over the past decade(s?), the surround community has produced countless top-notch, professional digital conversions of all manner of quad titles. At this point in time, if you can name it, somebody has probably made a digital conversion already. You're in for a lot of amazing treats!
 
It's a pleasure to read through this thread and see the helpfulness of this community on display.

Welcome to the gang, Quadlearner!

With time, you will find that over the past decade(s?), the surround community has produced countless top-notch, professional digital conversions of all manner of quad titles. At this point in time, if you can name it, somebody has probably made a digital conversion already. You're in for a lot of amazing treats!
Great! thanks for sharing.
 
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