Ovation Quad records

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Just a side note for Canadian listeners with Ovation titles, check who pressed them. The Kendalls Heaven's Just a Sin Away and Greatest Hits albums were only stereo in Canada as they were RCA pressings. They don't decode much and I can't see RCA putting out QS titles. However, a lot of them were pressed by London Records and were in fact quad like the US counterparts. Unfortunately, for me, The Kendalls never got pressed by London here as Heaven's Just A Sin Away is one of my all time favourite albums.
 
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Just a side note for Canadian listeners with Ovation titles, check who pressed them. The Kendalls Heaven's Just a Sin Away and Greatest Hits albums were only stereo in Canada as they were RCA pressings. They don't decode much and I can't see RCA putting out QS titles. However, a lot of them were pressed by London Records and were in fact quad like the US counterparts. Unfortunately, for me, The Kendalls never got pressed by London here as Heaven's Just A Sin Away is one of my all time favourite albums.

I would have thought they'd use the same masters that Ovation used in the US, and they were definitely QS here. Was there anything on the back cover referring to "Sector 4"? If so, they should be quad.
 
The RCA pressings had no mention of Sector 4 or any other quad mentions. The stamper etchings are also different. I suspect that RCA removed anything out of phase and created a true stereo master. I will point out that most Ovation tiitles in Canada that I have seen are either pressed by London, or imported US prints. Most Ovation titles weren't popular enough for big label pressing, but I was only about 7 when "Heaven's" came out and begged my aunt for a copy, it was big enough for non country people to notice! It may be also that a stereo master was used for tape duplication and RCA may have used this instead.
 
The RCA pressings had no mention of Sector 4 or any other quad mentions. The stamper etchings are also different. I suspect that RCA removed anything out of phase and created a true stereo master. I will point out that most Ovation tiitles in Canada that I have seen are either pressed by London, or imported US prints. Most Ovation titles weren't popular enough for big label pressing, but I was only about 7 when "Heaven's" came out and begged my aunt for a copy, it was big enough for non country people to notice! It may be also that a stereo master was used for tape duplication and RCA may have used this instead.

Typically, Ovation released its cassette tapes and stereo 8-track cartridges encoded in QS as well. It's a shame Ovation didn't keep things going longer. I guess there wasn't enough of a market for the kind of music they were releasing, although I thoroughly enjoy (note that's present-tense) their recordings.
 
Hi Jaybird, any luck regarding possum river being quad? I can't find an lp listing to check the american ovation catalog number. There are a few 45s on ebay but wouldn't think the numbers are the same.
 
Most likely, the US issue is Quad. IF it is, it would be EV-4, since Ovation didn't switch to QS until '72. The cover had been altered for the Japan issue:
$(KGrHqF,!ksE+7KpF5EfBQBTjmc5ww~~60_3.JPG

US cover of OV 1414, Possum River distinctly says STEREO above Ovation logo: http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=2544754

Don Tweedy Chorus and Orchestra is the previous number, OV 1413 and clearly lists stereo/quadraphonic:
the-don-tweedy-chorus-and-orchestra-the-don-tweedy-chorus-and-orchestra-ovation-1413.jpg

ALL very curious.
 
Hi Jaybird, any luck regarding possum river being quad? I can't find an lp listing to check the american ovation catalog number. There are a few 45s on ebay but wouldn't think the numbers are the same.

The album number was OV14-14, and was apparently not a quad recording. There is no indication of quad encoding on the cover, nor on the record label. Go to Google, search for Ovation Records discography, and it's all there.
 
OK, but then how did the Japanese version become a quad recording? This little known band was remixed for quad just in Japan? Or is the Japanese quad edition a fake/bootleg?
I agree that if ov-13 was labeled compatible quad and the very next release ov-14 is labeled stereo, its probably not a quad recording.
 
I would agree that Possum Creek is LIKELY to be Quad, if it were released in chronological order. Record labels often assign catalog numbers long in advance of the release. Often later catalog numbers wind up being released first.

It is possible that the Japanese issue is unauthorized, or they assumed that it is Quad, since most Ovation titles are. It is most likely to be EXACTLY the same mix as the US issue. If I had to bet on anything, I'd bet on them both being stereo.

I wasn't aware that Denny & Lenny from the Cryan' Shames were in this band. Eventually, I'll get a copy of this and will report back at that time.

OK, but then how did the Japanese version become a quad recording? This little known band was remixed for quad just in Japan? Or is the Japanese quad edition a fake/bootleg?
I agree that if ov-13 was labeled compatible quad and the very next release ov-14 is labeled stereo, its probably not a quad recording.
 
I would agree that Possum Creek is LIKELY to be Quad, if it were released in chronological order. Record labels often assign catalog numbers long in advance of the release. Often later catalog numbers wind up being released first.

It is possible that the Japanese issue is unauthorized, or they assumed that it is Quad, since most Ovation titles are. It is most likely to be EXACTLY the same mix as the US issue. If I had to bet on anything, I'd bet on them both being stereo.

I wasn't aware that Denny & Lenny from the Cryan' Shames were in this band. Eventually, I'll get a copy of this and will report back at that time.

There were actually a lot of albums released in quad in Japan that were only in stereo on our shores. But as for this version, it could be that the band owned the master tape for the recording, got Ovation to release it, but the master was only in stereo. I think Ovation would have given it the QS treatment had a quad master tape been available. The Japanese release is probably the stereo release, mislabeled. I remember Everest Records, here in the US, releasing several mono recordings as QS. There was a big upcry over that, and Everest eventually removed the QS logo.
 
Well I hope no one pays $150 for the Japanese version then, expecting it to be quad. It sounds more likely after this analysis that this is really a stereo recording......but hey, it might synthesize well!
 
Well I hope no one pays $150 for the Japanese version then, expecting it to be quad. It sounds more likely after this analysis that this is really a stereo recording......but hey, it might synthesize well!

The QS decoders also do a great job of synthesizing quad from stereo, so it probably will work well. I've heard many stereo albums that do. But nothing is as good as real quad.
Discrete is best, but QS is the next best thing.
 
To revive this old thread in particular about Possum River Band, I found a Billboard article online that mentions Ovation releasing all of their new records in quadraphonic. Then it lists 5 titles for that month and Possum River is one of them. Which makes me think this is an EV-4 matrix mix, and the Japanese version is a true quad. Wont know till I can track down a copy of the record and listen. Probably not that great of music.....
 
I have the Japanese LP of Possum River with 4 Ch on the cover only
I have played it through the QSD1 and Surround master
If it is in EV4 or QS
I don't think it is Quad
There is no rear solo,s of any kind
Just what you would expect from a stereo LP through a decoder
I have EV4 lps and even if you play them with the QSD1 you get a very good separation
So I would not recommend it as a a Quad LP and it is not much as a Stereo Lp

Just my opinion
Ron
 
Thanks, Ron. Mystery solved.
I wonder if erroneously marked quad titles like this one turned people off of quad back in the day. Imagine making the investment in equipment buying this record labeled as quad then hearing nothing from your expensive back speakers..... On the other hand I doubt this record was a big seller.
 
Poor quality SQ decoders, competing LP formats, the expense of $1 up on records and tapes, as well as the higher price of the gear were the primary reasons Quad failed. Misrepresenting stereo albums as Quad surely didn't help. The Chicago label Billingsgate was the biggest offender. They listed SQ on the jackets, but a real SQ logo was missing, which immediately aroused my suspicion.

I don't ever remember seeing Possum Creek in a record store around here, and these guys are from Chicago.
 
Well, I can think of other reasons why it failed at that time. First, confusion in the marketplace over the competing LP formats. None of the major formats (QS, SQ, CD-4) were completely compatible with each other. QS and SQ could be played on the other's decoder, but rear channel sounds would be imprecise. CD-4, played through one of those decoders, would be like a stereo record played that way. And a CD-4 demodulator would see a matrixed record as stereo, without the carrier signal that makes it work. Second, the "WAF" (wife acceptance factor). Two speakers were bad enough; four? "Not in MY living room you don't!" (Notice how the wives always take ownership of the living room, or anything that affects their decor?) I find that one even now when selling a surround system. Third, apathy among retailers. Many had no idea how to present it to the customer, how to properly demonstrate it, and how to answer customer concerns. Worse, they didn't care. When quad made its reappearance in the form of surround sound for movies, this time we had some standards. As the technology evolved, newer formats and techniques were developed, and were quickly embraced by equipment manufacturers and film studios. They found these techniques worked for music, too. You know the rest.
 
You probably won't notice much difference between the EV and the QS records. EV corner sounds will be slightly farther to the back in QS, and QS corner sounds will be slightly farther to the front in EV. DY records are very close to EV records too.

I know a bit more about what happened to quadraphonics.

When quadraphonics was first launched, the 4-channel reel-to-reel tape decks outsold everything else. The marketing experts probably assumed that most people who bought a 4-channel tape deck already had 4 channels of amplification and used those.

When matrix didn't sell as much as the reel-to-reel tape decks, the marketing experts then concluded that people wanted discrete quadraphonics. But the Q8 and CD-4 equipment didn't sell either.

TEAC was the first to figure out what was really happening, and introduced the TASCAM line of equipment to sell what people really wanted. Those reel-to-reel tape decks were not going into quadraphonic systems, but into home recording studios. My own 4-track deck (TASCAM 246) is used for studio multitrack work, not quadraphonics (although I use it to do live band matrix recording).

Because of this and the growing recession, many manufacturers put quadraphonics on the shelf and went back to stereo.

Then Star Wars was released, with surround sound that blew everything else out of the water. The original Dolby Stereo (even without Pro Logic) was so much better than any of the quadraphonic systems. You actually heard sounds to the side between the speakers without turning your head. There was plenty of separation between front and back and between left and right. And it also added these qualities to any QS, EV, and DY records played through a Dolby Surround decoder. For at least 15 years, it was a standard.

Now we again have a morass of competing surround standards.
 
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