HiRez Poll Argent - IN DEEP [SACD]

[rtbluray]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this SACD reissue from Dutton Vocalion of Argent's 1973 album "In Deep".
This SACD includes the release of the original Quadraphonic mix for the first time in over 40 years!
(Also, please note that the SACD includes the albums "Nexus" and "Ring of Hands", but these are only in stereo.)
The Quadraphonic mix is also available to stream in Dolby Audio via Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/in-deep/332114795
CD 1
IN DEEP
LP EPC 65475 (1973) STEREOEQ 32195 QUADRAPHONIC
1: GOD GAVE ROCK AND ROLL TO YOU (Ballard)
2: IT’S ONLY MONEY PART 1 (Ballard)
3: IT’S ONLY MONEY PART 2 (Ballard)
4: LOSING HOLD (Argent; White)
5: BE GLAD (Argent; White)
6: CHRISTMAS FOR THE FREE (Argent; White)
7: CANDLES ON THE RIVER (Argent; White)
8: ROSIE (Ballard)

Remastered from the original analogue tapes by Michael J. Dutton

Multi-ch Stereo
Tracks 1 - 8 available in stereo and multi-channel

Tracks 9 - 26 available in stereo ONLY

SA-CD
This hybrid CD can be played on any standard CD players

2CDSML8568

 

[GOS]

Overall, this just sounds awesome. Yes, the fidelity is marginal from song to song...and even from within song. But....GEEZ. I've heard the old school version and this just blows that away. Hands down.

So.

Content - 10
Fidelity - 8
Mix - 8

That averages to an 8.6
Normally I round up, but in this case, I don't think a 9 is valid. So, an 8! Still, this is just wonderful and I'm so happy to get this!!

 

[4-earredwonder]

I HAD to give it a nine. Never heard ARGENT before and NOW a complete masterfully done QUAD album with 2 complete hi rez SACDS in STEREO. IMO, a true conucopia of riches. Could you imagine MoFi or AP giving us three hi res SACDs for £19.99, much less one in QUAD?

 

[WBP]

Getting this for sure , shame Nexus doesn't have a quad mix but still great value

 

[par4ken]

As with all the Columbia Quads released by DV so far this one has excellent sound quality and a great mix. I had the Q8 back in the seventies and the first thing that I noticed was the front and rear channels seemed to alternately dominate, it must of been mixed like that that so when encoded to SQ it would work well with Full Logic SQ decoders. I’ve never heard any other Quad mix done that way. I haven’t listened to the stereo albums yet, but hope to soon. More Quads still to go!

 

[skherbeck]

I really like this release... I’m voting based purely on “In Deep”, but this is a great value for a three album set. In Deep sounds as good as I’ve heard it, with a very good, discrete quad mix. The fidelity still leaves something to be desired (a little dull sounding), but this is much better than the Q8. I felt the need to boost the high (and low) ends slightly. “God Gave...” benefits from lowering that LF channel a bit when the guitar solo kicks in. 8.

 

[Scott65]

I really like this release... I’m voting based purely on “In Deep”, but this is a great value for a three album set. In Deep sounds as good as I’ve heard it, with a very good, discrete quad mix. The fidelity still leaves something to be desired (a little dull sounding), but this is much better than the Q8. I felt the need to boost the high (and low) ends slightly. “God Gave...” benefits from lowering that LF channel a bit when the guitar solo kicks in. 8.

I havent voted on this one yet (I have only played it once) but my initial reaction was that the fidelity was not in the same league as other Quad SACD releases. I will play it a few more times before voting. 3 Albums is great value though.

 

[humprof]

Finally spent enough time with this to feel comfortable voting. I'm glad to have it, if only to learn more about the band. (I only knew them previously from "Hold Your Head Up," a tune I always liked--and, more recently, from a good upmix of the entire All Together Now album. Too bad that one wasn't mixed for quad!) The addition of two additional stereo albums--plus informative liner notes from Terry Staunton--makes the set a true bargain.

The mix is very good overall, with some unexpected subtleties and surprises; the opening anthem is almost a showcase. I score that a "9." Fidelity is slightly uneven, but all right for the genre and the age of the tapes: "8." As for content: generally not my bag. Partly it's because they can't settle on a consistent sound: are they hard rockers, prog rockers, blues rockers, Christian rockers? A little of each, and it varies from track to track. I like the proggy stuff the best, especially when they channel Keith Emerson or early Yes, or even when they anticipate Queen. But when they drift into proto-arena rock of the Kansas/Styx school, they lose me. ("Candles On the River" could almost be a Spinal Tap tune....) So content is a "6,", purely on the basis of taste. (I find the other two albums even more stylistically incoherent, for good and ill: more bombastic stuff, but also more prog with tasty instrumental improv.) Technically that averages out to 7.67, but in this case I'm rounding down to a "7." Still a keeper, though, and worth more than one or two listens.

 

[karlkastner]

I couldn't get into the material on the first pass.

Great quad separation on the first album.

Fidelity was impressive as expected from DV.

Using the GOS system:

Content - 6
Fidelity - 8
Mix - 7

Overall=7

 

[califcab]

This is definitely a good value even though not everything is in quad. Wish All Together Now was available in surround sound. That one would be a 10 I think. But this was worth buying for the price.

 

[Scott65]

I thought I had rated this but I hadn't. A 9 bumped up to a 10 for the value of 3 albums. As usual, a great DV release.

 

[califcab]

Agreed. I gave it a 9 as well.

 

[Guitmark]

I am loving this! I never had this album so it’s all new to me. The years have been kind to it. I was a huge Zombies fan but so/so about Argent. But I’m digging the extended pieces, the different movements, the almost Gentle Giant prog in spots. Thought the quad mix was very active and engaging, and the mastering was suitably dynamic.
This arrived with the Mott, which may be why I’m giving it a generous 10 in comparison.
(As a side note, one band I was in opened for Argent in the 70s and another opened for the Zombies on their 50th Anniversary tour. I got to hang with Colin Blunstone, Rod Argent and the late Jim Rodford, and they were all really great guys and still killing it.)

 

[califcab]

Yes The Zombies were/are amazing. Would love to get Odessey and Oracle in surround sound.

 

[Guitmark]

Yes The Zombies were/are amazing. Would love to get Odessey and Oracle in surround sound.

Omigod yes! Steven Wilson, where are you?

 

[doity]

This might make me buy a SACD player finally. Actually I might have one in storage but it is a bit big for my system. I had this album back in the day and totally wore it out. I was probably one of the few people my age listening to Argent circa mid 1980’s. I think I had their first 3 or 4 albums.

 

[knifeman]

How do you access the stereo material on these discs? My player stops at the end of In Deep and will not read the remaining tracks on disc one. Pressing the audio key doesn't do anything. I have the same problem with On the Threshold of a Dream SACD bonus tracks. I know a lot of you have Oppos and mine's a Yamaha, but I got help on the forum before so I figure it never hurts to ask.

 

[sjcorne]

How do you access the stereo material on these discs? My player stops at the end of In Deep and will not read the remaining tracks on disc one. Pressing the audio key doesn't do anything. I have the same problem with On the Threshold of a Dream SACD bonus tracks. I know a lot of you have Oppos and mine's a Yamaha, but I got help on the forum before so I figure it never hurts to ask.

You have to go into the player's settings menu and change the 'SACD priority' from multichannel to stereo.

 

[Guitmark]

How do you access the stereo material on these discs? My player stops at the end of In Deep and will not read the remaining tracks on disc one. Pressing the audio key doesn't do anything. I have the same problem with On the Threshold of a Dream SACD bonus tracks. I know a lot of you have Oppos and mine's a Yamaha, but I got help on the forum before so I figure it never hurts to ask.

I do have an Oppo 103D, but I also have a Denon 2910 and on that it’s simply a matter of going to the front button that says Super Audio Set Up and changing it from multichannel to stereo. Your player probably has a similar option.

 

[knifeman]

You have to go into the player's settings menu and change the 'SACD priority' from multichannel to stereo.

Thanks, I'll give it a try later. Nothing's easy.