What do y'all think? Was it worth the wait? How does it compare to the Q8!
JonUrban said:I just spent a few minutes with the track "YESTERDAY ONCE MORE", comparing the '70s quad reel mix to the new SACD version. I put both on my PC and listened to the tracks very carefully. (I also posted this at the A&M Corner)
First off, and I asume that this is not surprising, the piano part is totally different. In the intro, it is a bit "fancier", with some transition chords thrown in to give it more of a complex sound (rather than just pounding chords). At the end, the "chord piano" is totally gone, and replaced with a higher, more difficult part.
Karens voice is solo in the center speaker/channel. Richard is not there. You can hear her breathe and her voice is totally exposed, but this just makes you listen in awe! She is also in all 4 other channels, which puts her in the center of the mix. If you solo the rears, you still have Karen. No singalong track here!
Richards vocal parts have been dropped way down in the mix. In the quad version, you can hear him in the rears as plain as day, on the "Shooby Doos" and the chorus. On the SACD, in the rears and in the fronts, he can only be heard if you listen for him. I am not sure why he did this, as I though he did a good job on this one.
There has been an echo added to the background vocals, and it creates a wide soundfield. There is a harp (I think) or electric keyboard that is heard in the second verse, and on the SACD it is now crystal clear. On the quad mix, it is less pronounced.
Overall, I think this new mix is great. Some hate added echo, but in this case I think it works. I have to listen to the rest of the SACD, but so far, it's "thumbs up" . Better than I thought, and had read about.
I won't vote until I hear it all.
berninahusq said:Like all the Carpenters album releases, I waited impatiently to get this in the mail. I was very disappointed in the Carpenters Quad Tapes that I bought in the 70s because the rear channels just contained ambience.
Not only does Richard make full use of surround techniques to envelope you in sound and harmony, but with the clarity of this DSD SACD transfer, you can actually feel the inside of Richard's piano and Karen's drums. The quality of this SACD is so much better than other SACDs of 70s music I bought. I was amazed at how improved the Elton John SACD sounds. I was absolutely astounded what Richard did with this one. It sounds like it was recorded with today's technology.
If you are a Carpenters fan at any level, you need to RUN not walk to get this SACD. Even if you are not, you'll surely want this SACD in your collection to showcase your entertainment system.
No surprise that today (2/13/05) it has remained CD Universe's #1 selling SACD since it was released.
I give it a 10.
bmoura said:In the '70s A&M's Quad releases were mixed by their Director of New Products and QA (Marv Bornstein) and a staff engineer (Bart Chiate). On the CD-4 and Q8 releases, they once told Billboard that they employed a lot of "cross channel echos" to create a surround sound field while they used discrete corner channels with the SQ matrix encoded discs to help the logic circuits along.
The Now and Then album in Quad from the '70s was pretty lively in the Rear Channels. I don't recall the others well enough to remember whether they were primarily ambient in the rear channels or not.
jrahrah said:By the way, I see this advertised on the web as a hybrid, yet I got it at BB (mixed in with the rest) and it had the 'Plays On SACD Players', is it hybrid or SACD only?
bmoura said:It's a Hybrid Layer Surround Sound SACD. It has CD Stereo, SACD Stereo and SACD Surround Sound tracks.