4 New Surround Sound SACD Albums from Dutton Vocalion (Aug 2017)

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fredblue said:
you're welcome :)

don't they look cute! :p
to me, pretty much everything about these releases is done with an eye for detail, even down to things like the colour schemes used on the spines and the inlay art on the rear of the jewel case being a close match for the art on the old Quad LPs in a couple of instances!

across the board the sound quality is (imho) second to none, the Pure Prairie League is the 'brightest' sounding of the new August foursome, to me it sounds like the master tapes were absolutely pristine, it has a touch more top end sheen to the sound than the RTF, Santana & Jimmy Castor but they're all a joy to listen to.. the Return To Forever needs a good crank of the master volume to really kick in that wow factor on my setup but its so superior to the SQ LP and the Q8 conversion I've heard its not even funny (and they to me are excellent examples of SQ and Q8..) the Jimmy Castor walks all over my 2 copies of the CD-4 LP, both in terms of fidelity and separation .. and the Santana, weird as it is as an album (imho) the surround mix by Glen Kolotkin is --- awesome, I think you're all gonna love the mix...!!! the liner notes are now full of interesting info and commentary and genuinely worth reading. I do try and read liners as often as possible but sometimes you're a paragraph in and you just know its gonna be a snoozefest, ok I'm biased somewhat but Dave's essays for Dutton Vocalion ably straddle that line between the factual and the anecdotal keeping it an interesting read along while you're listening to all that glorious sounding Quad music pouring out of all the speakers (and whaddya know they get it all in the right channels too! :D ).. keep up the exemplary work DV.. and roll on September!! :upthumb
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Awesome!!!!!

:cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:

:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:


Thanks


Regards,
 
steelydave said:
D-V are a very small company, so unlike multi-billion dollar tax-avoiders like amazon they don't have the staff to provide the same kind of shipping logistics. They're aware of the complaints about lack of shipping confirmation, and working to provide a more robust shipping experience - but by the same token, is it really necessary to threaten the nuclear option when a quick email to them would get you the information you're after? The people who work at D-V are releasing this music are doing so because they care about it - a lot - and they're all incredibly helpful and friendly so if you get in touch I'm sure they'll be more than happy to help you. The company has been in the reissue business for nearly 20 years (with many thousands of releases and even more happy customers) so it seems unlikely that they've taken your £10 and absconded to Mexico without sending your discs.
Click to expand...

Take it easy. I didn't threaten anyone, but I do think that a week without an e-mail is too long in the e-commerce world. I don't know how big this company is. Why would I? In their own words ... "We will be in touch as soon as possible about your order". Maybe the order fell through the cracks. All I know is that my credit card was charged, and I heard no more about it. Your hostility makes me sorry that I ever placed the order in the first place, since you seem to have a vested interest.

I am not used to working with these people, and I remember another small company with a guy named Simon who did screw a lot of people over for small amounts of money. Who here hadn't dealt with DVD4Music? Internet scammers rely on £10 ripoffs because they are too small for most people to worry about, and thousands of them add up pretty quickly. Chill out.
 
fredblue said:
you're welcome :)

don't they look cute! :p
to me, pretty much everything about these releases is done with an eye for detail, even down to things like the colour schemes used on the spines and the inlay art on the rear of the jewel case being a close match for the art on the old Quad LPs in a couple of instances!

across the board the sound quality is (imho) second to none, the Pure Prairie League is the 'brightest' sounding of the new August foursome, to me it sounds like the master tapes were absolutely pristine, it has a touch more top end sheen to the sound than the RTF, Santana & Jimmy Castor but they're all a joy to listen to.. the Return To Forever needs a good crank of the master volume to really kick in that wow factor on my setup but its so superior to the SQ LP and the Q8 conversion I've heard its not even funny (and they to me are excellent examples of SQ and Q8..) the Jimmy Castor walks all over my 2 copies of the CD-4 LP, both in terms of fidelity and separation .. and the Santana, weird as it is as an album (imho) the surround mix by Glen Kolotkin is --- awesome, I think you're all gonna love the mix...!!! the liner notes are now full of interesting info and commentary and genuinely worth reading. I do try and read liners as often as possible but sometimes you're a paragraph in and you just know its gonna be a snoozefest, ok I'm biased somewhat but Dave's essays for Dutton Vocalion ably straddle that line between the factual and the anecdotal keeping it an interesting read along while you're listening to all that glorious sounding Quad music pouring out of all the speakers (and whaddya know they get it all in the right channels too! :D ).. keep up the exemplary work DV.. and roll on September!! :upthumb
Click to expand...

Adam, thank you for your absolute candor in assessing these four new D~V QUAD SACDs. Knowing how laboriously you toiled to build up your SQ/CD~4/Q8 systems and to be absolutely frank about the comparisons is refreshing. Had these analogue master tapes been released on QUAD Open Reel in the early 70's they probably wouldn't even have sounded this good.

In a word: There's nothing like the REAL thing and here's hoping that Michael Dutton continues mining these treasures because, IMO, these classic QUAD mastertapes NEED TO BE HEARD in their best [laser] light!:banana:

BTW, if you're a Return to Forever fan, I highly recommend Audio Fidelity's Stereo SACD remaster of Heavy Weather. IMO, Kevin Gray of Cohearent Audio did a superb job and AFAIK it was never remixed into QUAD.
 
I second all of the above (er...below--or wherever the quoted text ends up). Perversely, the only one of these discs I'm really interested in is the Santana/Coltrane: I liked the very first PPL album, but none of the subsequent ones; loved the "Hey Leroy" era Jimmy Castor but not the later stuff; and dug a lot of 70s jazz fusion but never RTF. Alice Coltrane has always been a little longhaired even for me, and I can tolerate a lot of "out" jazz. But I respect Alice, especially after reading the press on the recently released "Universal Consciousness" album, and I'm curious about all the collaborations that Santana was doing around that time. Kudos to D-V for taking such a risk on such obscure stuff.

I also don't want to come off as a party pooper: it's amazing and gratifying to see all the enthusiasm--and sales!--that this round of releases has generated. The sheer variety it represents has given me newfound respect for D-V, and Adam's reviews offer all the assurance anyone would want that they're really doing everything right. Looking forward to seeing what's in the September releases!

4-earredwonder said:
Adam, thank you for your absolute candor in assessing these four new D~V QUAD SACDs. Knowing how laboriously you toiled to build up your SQ/CD~4/Q8 systems and to be absolutely frank about the comparisons is refreshing. Had these analogue master tapes been released on QUAD Open Reel in the early 70's they probably wouldn't even have sounded this good.

In a word: There's nothing like the REAL thing and here's hoping that Michael Dutton continues mining these treasures because, IMO, these classic QUAD mastertapes NEED TO BE HEARD in their best [laser] light!:banana:

BTW, if you're a Return to Forever fan, I highly recommend Audio Fidelity's Stereo SACD remaster of Heavy Weather. IMO, Kevin Gray of Cohearent Audio did a superb job and AFAIK it was never remixed into QUAD.
Click to expand...
 
4-earredwonder said:
Adam, thank you for your absolute candor in assessing these four new D~V QUAD SACDs. Knowing how laboriously you toiled to build up your SQ/CD~4/Q8 systems and to be absolutely frank about the comparisons is refreshing. Had these analogue master tapes been released on QUAD Open Reel in the early 70's they probably wouldn't even have sounded this good.

In a word: There's nothing like the REAL thing and here's hoping that Michael Dutton continues mining these treasures because, IMO, these classic QUAD mastertapes NEED TO BE HEARD in their best [laser] light!:banana:

BTW, if you're a Return to Forever fan, I highly recommend Audio Fidelity's Stereo SACD remaster of Heavy Weather. IMO, Kevin Gray of Cohearant Audio did a superb job and AFAIK it was never remixed into QUAD.
Click to expand...

well its more of a knee jerk precis than a considered assessment Ralph but you're welcome all the same :D

more seriously, when you look at it this way, just from a sheer value for money point of view..

All 4 of these new Surround SACDs with shipping cost me = £46.71

By comparison, to source and purchase the equivalent Quad LPs over the last couple of years (having to get multiple copies of the same album on CD-4 along the way due to demodulating difficulties!);

Musicmagic SQ LP on eBay (with shipping from the States = £35.00),
Illuminations SQ LP on Discogs (with shipping = £22.00),
Jimmy Castor Bunch CD-4; 2 copies from Discogs (1st copy was £15 all in and the 2nd copy of the LP shipped was £10.50 = £25.50 for the two copies),
Pure Prairie League CD-4 LPs; Two Lane Highway CD-4 (£12 all in on MusicStack) and 2 copies of If The Shoe Fits CD-4 LP (1 x w/shipping from Discogs seller in the Netherlands £17.42 and the other from a different Discogs seller also in the Netherlands £19.85 = £49.27 for the 3 CD-4 LPs)

a grand total of £131.77 to get decent copies of those same 5 Quad albums in vinyl form..!

this is even before you factor in the equipment needed for SQ and CD-4 (it'd be unfair to go the whole hog and add the 300 quid for a Surround Master, another 300 quid on various Shibata needles, another 300 quid on 3 demodulators to get a functioning unit.. etc..) but hopefully you get where I'm coming from..

..but whichever way I look at it, for a fraction (practically one third totting up how much I spent on the Quad LPs Vs. the new SACD equivalents..!) of the cost and for a lot less hassle, the new SACDs, to me, trounce the old Quad LPs in every way imaginable. if you like these albums and want to hear them in top quality Quad form, these are no brainer purchases to end all no brainer purchases, I would suggest! :banana:
 
Just now got my order for 7 SACDs in. I don't care about an email with shipping, I am sure it will arrive just fine.

I hope this is just the beginning of some great things, just like AF was able to do.
 
fredblue said:
well its more of a knee jerk precis than a considered assessment Ralph but you're welcome all the same :D

more seriously, when you look at it this way, just from a sheer value for money point of view..

All 4 of these new Surround SACDs with shipping cost me = £46.71

By comparison, to source and purchase the equivalent Quad LPs over the last couple of years (having to get multiple copies of the same album on CD-4 along the way due to demodulating difficulties!);

Musicmagic SQ LP on eBay (with shipping from the States = £35.00),
Illuminations SQ LP on Discogs (with shipping = £22.00),
Jimmy Castor Bunch CD-4; 2 copies from Discogs (1st copy was £15 all in and the 2nd copy of the LP shipped was £10.50 = £25.50 for the two copies),
Pure Prairie League CD-4 LPs; Two Lane Highway CD-4 (£12 all in on MusicStack) and 2 copies of If The Shoe Fits CD-4 LP (1 x w/shipping from Discogs seller in the Netherlands £17.42 and the other from a different Discogs seller also in the Netherlands £19.85 = £49.27 for the 3 CD-4 LPs)

a grand total of £131.77 to get decent copies of those same 4 Quad albums in vinyl form..!

this is even before you factor in the equipment needed for SQ and CD-4 (it'd be unfair to go the whole hog and add the 300 quid for a Surround Master, another 300 quid on various Shibata needles, another 300 quid on 3 demodulators to get a functioning unit.. etc..) but hopefully you get where I'm coming from..

..but whichever way I look at it, for a fraction (practically one third totting up how much I spent on the Quad LPs Vs. the new SACD equivalents..!) of the cost and for a lot less hassle, the new SACDs, to me, trounce the old Quad LPs in every way imaginable. if you like these albums and want to hear them in top quality Quad form, these are no brainer purchases to end all no brainer purchases, I would suggest! :banana:
Click to expand...

And the REAL shame Adam: You'll probably NEVER play those CD~4/SQ/Q8 titles again but don't feel badly......if you could ONLY see the thousands of dollars in obsolete equipment I still have and most especially tens of thousands [literally] I spent on Laserdiscs and the accompanying players, we're probably both in the same boat.

That's why I don't jump on those pricey boxsets which contain a 5.1 remix. I know I'll never [or rarely] ever play the RBCDs/LPs contained therein and they just take up valuable space.

Here's hoping that the D~V September QUAD SACDs hold more worthwhile surprises. For me, at least, these August QUAD SACDs are among THE best, yet....and to be honest, the 5 QUAD RCA/Columbia QUAD classical titles.
 
Great to hear Adam. I can't wait for mine to arrive. I know they will, they always go!

This batch of 4 is so diverse that it has to hit home for almost every member with one title or two. For me, the Illuninations is likely to sit and probably never get a spin. I never liked that title and it was one of the SQ and Q8 titles that filled the cut-out bins and sat there the longest. I don't recall it being a popular release. But then again, neither were the other 3 when you get right down to the Billboard Top 100 lists.

Still, it's so affordable, and so worthy of support, I figured if I'm getting 3, I may as well get the 4th. What the hell. I might give it a spin someday, or maybe a visitor may request it.

You never know.

But really, a huge thanks again to D-V, and SteelyDave for keeping their interest peaked, now that it's apparent that Marshall's bean counters don't like to pay for the surround.
 
JonUrban said:
Great to hear Adam. I can't wait for mine to arrive. I know they will, they always go!

This batch of 4 is so diverse that it has to hit home for almost every member with one title or two. For me, the Illuninations is likely to sit and probably never get a spin. I never liked that title and it was one of the SQ and Q8 titles that filled the cut-out bins and sat there the longest. I don't recall it being a popular release. But then again, neither were the other 3 when you get right down to the Billboard Top 100 lists.

Still, it's so affordable, and so worthy of support, I figured if I'm getting 3, I may as well get the 4th. What the hell. I might give it a spin someday, or maybe a visitor may request it.

You never know.

But really, a huge thanks again to D-V, and SteelyDave for keeping their interest peaked, now that it's apparent that Marshall's bean counters don't like to pay for the surround.
Click to expand...

But let's keep in mind, Jon, that even though Marshall Blonstein [CEO of AF] did LOVE surround he didn't own the company like Michael Dutton who therefore has to answer to no one and can freely pick and choose [of what's available for license] to suit his own tastes.

My late father told me NEVER to enter into a partnership because that's where the real trouble begins. GREAT advice which has successfully carried me throughout life. There's nothing like being your own boss....although it can be 'daunting' at times.

And to this day and with things being as pricey as they are [living in the UK can't be cheap], I still can't rationalize how Mr. Dutton can offer a two~fer QUAD SACD for £10.99 and release them so expeditiously.* Seems to me the US reissue companies have been 'ripping' us off' for years and we sometimes have to wait forever to get an SACD stereo release.

*With FOUR MORE coming in September:yikes

And I'm still waiting patiently for that robust Quadrophiliac Adam B [fredblue] to pedal over to the D~V facilities on his American Flyer bicycle with his QUAD laundry list of 1000+ UNRELEASED titles....unless he's waiting for me to trek over to the UK so we can pedal over together on a bicycle built for two!:ugham:
 
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4-earredwonder said:
Seems to me the US reissue companies have been 'ripping' us off' for years and we sometimes have to wait forever to get an SACD stereo release.
Click to expand...

If the US reissue companies were able to license albums for the same licensing amounts in other markets (like the UK, HK and Japan, among others), the pricing would likely be very different.
As they will tell you, that is not the case.
 
4-earredwonder said:
I still can't rationalize how Mr. Dutton can offer a two~fer QUAD SACD for £10.99 and release them so expeditiously.* Seems to me the US reissue companies have been 'ripping' us off' for years and we sometimes have to wait forever to get an SACD stereo release.:
Click to expand...

Michael Dutton can master 2-channel and 4-channel tapes to high-res digital himself which must save many thousands on mastering fees that Marshall has to pay out to various mastering professionals. I would think D-V have their own mastering lab, and they have good enough ears, they don't need a Hoffman or Gray to advise them.

D-V also might have lower cost shipping bills (than a US operation) from the pressing plant in Austria to the office in the UK.
 
JonUrban said:
This batch of 4 is so diverse that it has to hit home for almost every member with one title or two. For me, the Illuninations is likely to sit and probably never get a spin. I never liked that title and it was one of the SQ and Q8 titles that filled the cut-out bins and sat there the longest. I don't recall it being a popular release. But then again, neither were the other 3 when you get right down to the Billboard Top 100 lists.
Click to expand...

101% agree that Illuminations is not something for everyone, but i'm pretty sure that, outside the hypotesis of a Quadio-like box for Santana, it will never have a hirez release by Sony or whatever else.

In any case D-V is showing that, if the stars aligns correctly, he can deal well with USA and Japan vaults (the Mauriat titles were Japan-only stuff). Wondering who is managing at present time the Avco catalog, the fact that the Stylistics had a BIG bunch of quad releases in Japan had always surprised me: why not offer at least these in USA as Q8? At least Motown did it with two titles...
 
bmoura said:
If the US reissue companies were able to license albums for the same licensing amounts in other markets (like the UK, HK and Japan, among others), the pricing would likely be very different.
As they will tell you, that is not the case.
Click to expand...

DT needs a few good men like you, BM to work in the WH!:yikes
 
Just ordered these and am very excited to receive them. Thanks to all at QQ for keeping the rest of us in-the-know about new surround releases, and helping us to support the format. Hopefully it will keep the flow coming. These last few years have been GREAT for surround sound!

BIG thanks to Dutton Vocalion!

By the by, what is the correct way to pronounce "Vocalion?"

Voca lion?
Vocal eon?
Vo caleon?
Something else?
 
I must admit that I am very impressed with the overall sound quality of these four new releases and the surround mixes are all very good. Of the four, the only one that I have doubts about is the Jimmy Castor disc - not that I have any complaints about the sound but the music is not really to my taste.

Can't wait to hear what is still lurking in the vaults.
 
mattB2 said:
I must admit that I am very impressed with the overall sound quality of these four new releases and the surround mixes are all very good. Of the four, the only one that I have doubts about is the Jimmy Castor disc - not that I have any complaints about the sound but the music is not really to my taste.
Click to expand...

Be sure to post your ratings in the new High Res Spotlight Polls for these Surround Sound SACDs.
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...Surround-SACDs&p=322895&viewfull=1#post322895
 
Quadzilla said:
Take it easy. I didn't threaten anyone, but I do think that a week without an e-mail is too long in the e-commerce world. I don't know how big this company is. Why would I? In their own words ... "We will be in touch as soon as possible about your order". Maybe the order fell through the cracks. All I know is that my credit card was charged, and I heard no more about it. Your hostility makes me sorry that I ever placed the order in the first place, since you seem to have a vested interest.

I am not used to working with these people, and I remember another small company with a guy named Simon who did screw a lot of people over for small amounts of money. Who here hadn't dealt with DVD4Music? Internet scammers rely on £10 ripoffs because they are too small for most people to worry about, and thousands of them add up pretty quickly. Chill out.
Click to expand...

I realize that I risk another formal rebuke, but it has now been two weeks since I placed the order and still no communication whatsoever.

On second thought, why don't I just recycle the first rebuke and consider myself told again. :yikes
 
Although many of the titles are of no interest to me, a few were, every now and then....

DV is a perversely fascinating label. I mean, who else on the planet would have put THIS title out? Consider that, probably even in England (and it's certainly true in the USA), Mantovani's hundred or so albums are regular staples for any used vinyl location, flea market, yard sale...what sold millions in its time is of scant interest to anyone (I would guess) under forty (fifty?) years old. There is no real collector value to any of them that I know of, so to have obscure A's and B's and some unreleased (!) material from anywhere is kinda incredible in the 21st century.

So no matter how wild and crazy DV gets, there a label to keep an eye on.


ED :)
 
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