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jefe1

2K Club - QQ Super Nova
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I recently posted about a stereo issue Paul Horn Ovation record from 1970 that seems to decode well in QS. A later pressing is marked quad.
I also picked up a Rich Tower Ovation lp. While the cover labels it as quad, and the record label contains the words compatible stereo/quadraphonic, otherwise the label says stereo with the regular record number on it.

Recently a member here, I think it was bonzodog, made some Ovation literature available. It said that the company was already recording in 4 channel (this would be in 1970). The catalog photos showed regular issue records with a gold 4 channel sticker on the front covers.

So, my question is has it been verified, or is there a list showing what sequence of records recorded from 1969-70 are encoded with EV or QS and can be considered quad even though the labeling shows them as stereo?
 
Ovation recorded many of their early albums in the EV "Stereo-4" system, but did not mark them as such initially. They later added a sticker on the front of the jacket to indicate the recording was quad, using the EV system. Later, they switched to QS as the system of choice for their quad records. Those albums generally always had the QS logo on the back of the cover, and the record was clearly labelled as Stereo/Quadraphonic. Since there were some similarities between the Stereo-4 and QS systems, QS decoders do a fair job of decoding Stereo-4. and vice versa. Rear separation is slightly compromised, but the effect is there.
 
interestingly, just yestoday by browsing the bunch of Lps in near my location the Salavation Army store, i found LP from Ovation Records. it say "Ovation Compatible Stereo Quadraphonic Sound", dated back to 1971 and i'm assuming this is sort of demo disc as the record contain different artists and some sound effects.
well obviously for $.99 i picked it but unfortunately i do not have quad gears to evaluate discretion of the sound.
b.t.w. LP marked as QS regular matrix.
 
interestingly, just yestoday by browsing the bunch of Lps in near my location the Salavation Army store, i found LP from Ovation Records. it say "Ovation Compatible Stereo Quadraphonic Sound", dated back to 1971 and i'm assuming this is sort of demo disc as the record contain different artists and some sound effects.
well obviously for $.99 i picked it but unfortunately i do not have quad gears to evaluate discretion of the sound.
b.t.w. LP marked as QS regular matrix.

Ovation actually released three different demo albums, including the "Vector
4" demo record. The first one, from 1970, used the EV Stereo-4 matrix; the other two were QS. They had some great ideas, and many of their albums were excellent, but they didn't have the resources to go after top talent.
 
thanks jaybird.
now i keep my eyes open for their releases. recently i brought disc The Kendalls "The Best Of..."
it has no indication it is stereo or quadraphonic at all neither on the sleeve or disc itself.
beside the number OV 1756 it's said only that "also available on cassette and 8-track tape". that's all.
 
That album does have a "Sector 4" logo on it, but doesn't mention QS. I have that one, too. Any of the albums saying that are QS-encoded, but it was felt by then that any mention of "quadraphonic" on the cover would hinder sales.
 
thank you guys, i followed your advice, turned off the center channel and added +3dB to rear speakers and it sounds cool. so all day was dedicated to exploration of my vynil collection. all Ovation and Angel showed difference between front and rear sound streams.
b.t.w. i did checked out couple LP's of London phase4stereo serie and found it sounds very good in quad mode too, even being stereo. particularly 1812 by the London Festival Orchestra and Band. just loved.
 
The Angel quad LP's were done in SQ, which will partially decode on PL II, but you won't get accurate placement of rear channel sounds. If you have any of the LP's encoded with the E-V "Stereo-4" system, they will decode reasonably well, since there are similarities between QS and the EV matrix. You've also touched on one of the advantages of matrix decoding; the enhancement of stereo recordings by using the out-of-phase information present in all stereo recordings to create rear channels. While not planned for, it still creates a nice, enveloping effect.
 
hey jaybird100 i'm again with question about another one LP from Ovation Records.
just past week i got "Heaven's Just A Sin Away" 1977 by The Kendalls and there again no indication regarding of format. do you know this album is quad (OV-1719)?

one of the advantages of matrix decoding; the enhancement of stereo recordings by using the out-of-phase information present in all stereo recordings
i did some research and it seems phase4stereo was introduced as far back as 1961 (10 years before the introduction of quadraphonic) but still amazing example of advanced technology in the fidelity and surround manipulation with the sound.
b.t.w. not really many of stereo mixes sounded good in surround. mainly have pretty plain flat sound when rear line just sounds similar to front.
 
Otto, that Kendalls LP is, in fact, QS. I have this one, as well. It does say "Sector 4" on the back; by the time that album was released, Ovation was downplaying the quad aspect of their albums, but they hadn't abandoned it yet. It sounds quite good when decoded via a Dolby Pro Logic II system, which is based on QS, and accurately decodes it. The Phase 4 LP's are definitely not quad, although many of them synthesize well when played through a matrix decoder.
 
Phase 4 was a label that existed well before quad.

The most interesting label is Project 3, which released various records in EV, QS, SQ, and CD-4. No other label used so many systems during the quad era.
 
Phase 4 came out with a few quad titles, confusion ran deep. So they called it phase 4 stereo. That helped! phase 4.jpg.
 
Tad, was that a tape or LP? I saw some Phase 4 recordings on quad reels, but never on LP... at least not in the US. Maybe in Japan they did, but I have never seen nor heard a Phase 4 quad LP. If you have information that states otherwise, what system did they encode in? And where were they released?
 
jaybird100 wrote:
It does say "Sector 4" on the back; by the time that album was released, Ovation was downplaying the quad aspect of their albums
thanks, both LPs i have of The Kendalls are canadian pressing.
seems in Canada back in 70's "quadraphonic" was swear word.
i do have bunch of pressed in Canada LP's with obvious quad mix but no single mentioning about it in print.

The Phase 4 LP's are definitely not quad
i don't argue. as i said above, phase4stereo was introduced 10 years before introduction of quadraphonic format officially.
what i tried to say - doesn't matter how it's call, the bottom line is, it's sound, when decoded in surround, very good. other day i listened to "Bach Transcriptions" by Stokowski and Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. incredible. not many even newest surround classical releases are able to create such atmosphere around listener :)
 
To bump this old thread, I have become aware of an Ovation album Possum River. The American release makes no mention of quad but there is a Japanese release on ebay with compatible quad on the cover. I seriously doubt this was remixed in quad just for the Japanese market, so would the American pressing be an unlabeled quad? And if so which matrix flavor?
 
Very interesting. I have a Jap LP of Harvey Mandels Ovation Lp from Japan that looks exactly the same. I had not seen any like this before. It was so weird i got a hold of Harvey and sure enough, he was interested. He had never been paid for any titles released in Japan and wanted to know if Ovation was selling material in Japan behind his back! I do not see many ovation Japanese titles, maybe we can get Ron to check in, he may know answers about Ovation in Japan, he had had much greater access to Japanese material being down under. Would the title be quad here, more than likely. This was a Chicago band so makes sense on Ovation, the band had members of the Crying Shames.
Here you can get an mp3 of many ovation titles.
http://www.tuffcity.com/labels/ovation/
So i downloaded the title. It is 128 mp3. They may have left the encoding, but certainly screwed with it a bit, had to try and pull the matrix with balance. Still seemed encoded. Ovation titles many times had lousy separation. Probably should get a couple more and see, but i have the lps and the downloads sound lousy compared to a LP. Good grief, if you are going to sell this stuff, make it better than this!!! Oh and it is a needle drop. Did not even bother to remove the static. Wonder if these guys are paying anyone at all for this stuff.













To bump this old thread, I have become aware of an Ovation album Possum River. The American release makes no mention of quad but there is a Japanese release on ebay with compatible quad on the cover. I seriously doubt this was remixed in quad just for the Japanese market, so would the American pressing be an unlabeled quad? And if so which matrix flavor?
 
To bump this old thread, I have become aware of an Ovation album Possum River. The American release makes no mention of quad but there is a Japanese release on ebay with compatible quad on the cover. I seriously doubt this was remixed in quad just for the Japanese market, so would the American pressing be an unlabeled quad? And if so which matrix flavor?

Most likely it's quad, but I'd need to know the album number to know if it's in EV or QS. I doubt the album was mixed in quad only for the Japanese market, but there have been some, mainly from other labels, that were only released in quad in Japan.
 
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