HiRez Poll Average White Band - AWB [Blu-Ray Audio]

[himey]

I listened again last night and my sentiments remain. I found in many compositions that either the rhythm guitar was mixed too low or the vocals. The mix was uneven in some compositions and the bass was without the depth other quad mixes.

Proper quadraphonic setup, or 5.1 variant (bass management)?

 

[fredblue]

fwiw, i find AWB one of the finest Quad mixes i've ever heard.

the Quad is a remix of course, distinct from the Stereo and so there are bound to be differences between the Stereo and the Quad.

that said, the Quad was mixed by Gene Paul, the very gentleman who originally recorded the album, so one would hope he would be well-placed regarding balance issues and so forth.

i've loved the album for over 30 years and for at least the last 15 of those years i've loved it in Quad too, without ever feeling short-changed when listening in 4 channels.

for the music and the mix alone, to me it's a "10". the fact that it's now out on Blu-ray from the original Mastertapes is a personal dream come true and takes it to "11"..!

 

[The Hoople]

If this were an instrumental album, I might rate it an 8.

The quad mix is really good. The arrangements and musicianship are also stellar. However, to my ears the songwriting is underwhelming and the lyrics are sophomoric at best.

Thus, I give it an official 5 and place it at the bottom of the 8 Quadios I have purchased so far.

Guess there's a reason the only AWB I had in my collection was a Best Of (Pickin' Up The Pieces).

 

[gbaby183]

Proper quadraphonic setup, or 5.1 variant (bass management)?

Actually, its a 7.1 setup, but the Quad comes though with no bass management. This is the only recent Quad SACD that I thought was improperly mixed. I felt the engineers like Joe Tarsia of Sigma Sound Studios did a much better job with quadraphonic mixes.

 

[fredblue]

Actually, its a 7.1 setup, but the Quad comes though with no bass management. This is the only recent Quad SACD that I thought was improperly mixed. I felt the engineers like Joe Tarsia of Sigma Sound Studios did a much better job with quadraphonic mixes.

AWB's on a Blu-ray, not an SACD, are you 100% sure you're playing the disc correctly?

the Quads that came out of Sigma are indeed the crème de la crème, my personal gold standard of Quad, although Joe Tarsia was only ever credited as mixing one Quad, MFSB's "Love Is The Message", it's absolutely a great Quad but let's not overlook that he had a team of talented engineers including Don Murray, Jay Mark, Carl Paruolo & Arthur Stoppe, who mixed all the other totally wonderful Philadelphia International Quads (they're all "10" in my book, too!)

 

[The56Kid]

Rating this a 5 is totally insane and egregiously skews the poll, but to each his own.

 

[Clement]

Rating this a 5 is totally insane and egregiously skews the poll, but to each his own.

Since the next lowest score on the poll is a 9, i believe those two 5s will be classified as "outliers" and will not be counted toward the average. At this point, with twenty-one 10s and eight 9s, the poll average is 9.72. Stay Surrounded, Comrade!

 

[quicksrt]

If this were an instrumental album, I might rate it an 8.

The quad mix is really good. The arrangements and musicianship are also stellar. However, to my ears the songwriting is underwhelming and the lyrics are sophomoric at best.

Thus, I give it an official 5 and place it at the bottom of the 8 Quadios I have purchased so far.

Guess there's a reason the only AWB I had in my collection was a Best Of (Pickin' Up The Pieces).

Oh you simply don't like the album too much. Ok, at least you agree it's a good quad mix and/or great musicianship.

 

[Clement]

If this were an instrumental album, I might rate it an 8.

The quad mix is really good. The arrangements and musicianship are also stellar. However, to my ears the songwriting is underwhelming and the lyrics are sophomoric at best.

Thus, I give it an official 5 and place it at the bottom of the 8 Quadios I have purchased so far.

Guess there's a reason the only AWB I had in my collection was a Best Of (Pickin' Up The Pieces).

Since Pickin' Up The Pieces was already in your collection, you had fully half of the songs on AWB, the band's most hit-heavy studio release! Good to read you find the arrangements and musicianship stellar and the mix really good; did the mix reveal anything new to you about the five songs from AWB that you already knew from Pickin' Up The Pieces?

 

[The Hoople]

Oh yeah, again the mix and mastering were great. A definite 9 to 10. I was grinning from ear to ear when the drums started at the beginning of the last song (Always Someone Waiting). It sounded so good as the other instruments joined in. My joy was dissipated somewhat when the singing began though.

Sorry if some think my score was harsh but I couldn't ever score this higher than a 6.

 

[Freedesignfan]

Although my favorite is 1976's Soul Searching. AWB is this band's definitive classic disc. I don't give this a 10 because "Nothin' You Can Do" mix is somewhat flat to my ears. "Pick Up The Pieces" and "Work To Do" are little louder and more dynamic than most of the other tracks. I do love the echo affect on Hamish's background vocals in the rear speakers. Alan and Hamish had such great duo chemistry. Shout out to the gems "Just Want to Love You Tonight" "You Got It", "Keepin' It To Myself "and bluesy shuffler "There's Always Someone Waiting" So 9 is my vote.

 

[The56Kid]

Oh yeah, again the mix and mastering were great. A definite 9 to 10. I was grinning from ear to ear when the drums started at the beginning of the last song (Always Someone Waiting). It sounded so good as the other instruments joined in. My joy was dissipated somewhat when the singing began though.

Sorry if some think my score was harsh but I couldn't ever score this higher than a 6.

If a disc’s musical content is that disagreeable to someone, maybe they should refrain from rating it in a surround music poll, where the emphasis is on surround mix quality and the higher resolution’s fidelity.

Case in point: I’ve never been a Randy Newman fan from the little I’ve heard from him, but went ahead and ordered Good Old Boys along with the other 3 titles in the most recent Quadio bundle because it effectively only cost about $6. I can’t the disc and will probably never listen to it again. That said, I also won’t be participating in its poll because my low rating could turn off someone who might really love it.

 

[The Hoople]

Rating a music release with no regard for the quality of the music itself seems to be a fool's errand no matter the focus of the forum (which I did take into consideration or the rating would have been lower), The love/dislike of music is certainly a subjective thing. At least I try to tell myself that when I vehemently disagree with another's perspective.

Now pardon me while I write my Good Old Boys review and give it a 9.

 

[stoopid]

Super enjoyable songs (I only knew Pick Up the Pieces prior) and surround mix. I considered giving this a 10 [and I'm open to changing my mind], but there are tiny things I noticed in the mix every now and then, albeit minor, they add up. There's some tasteful, natural movement of the horns and guitars. Even some changing of positions in the mix from time to time, but on a few occasions the horns or guitars or vocals were just a touch too loud or not loud enough. Absolutely on the lower end of "issue" overall, however noticeable. Musically this isn't really my thing, long time since I listened to Parliament or any other funk. But wow the compositions, vocals, and musicianship are solid. I listened to it twice and enjoyed it even more the second time. Dare I say - I might actually play this disc again soon? Good grief. lol Solid 9.49

 

[gbaby183]

AWB's on a Blu-ray, not an SACD, are you 100% sure you're playing the disc correctly?

the Quads that came out of Sigma are indeed the crème de la crème, my personal gold standard of Quad, although Joe Tarsia was only ever credited as mixing one Quad, MFSB's "Love Is The Message", it's absolutely a great Quad but let's not overlook that he had a team of talented engineers including Don Murray, Jay Mark, Carl Paruolo & Arthur Stoppe, who mixed all the other totally wonderful Philadelphia International Quads (they're all "10" in my book, too!)

You are right. These codecs and formats are running me crazy.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I listened again last night and my sentiments remain. I found in many compositions that either the rhythm guitar was mixed too low or the vocals. The mix was uneven in some compositions and the bass was without the depth other quad mixes.

Can you clarify what you are comparing? The Blu-ray also has an unmolested stereo mix as well as a quad mix. It sounds like you are using vinyl playback and coming to the conclusion that instrumentation is missing and buried.

I have never owned this album before in any form, so it's new to me. Can you specify someplace on the album where what you hear is happening? If true you should certainly hear the difference in a comparison of the Quad vs stereo tracks.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

This is totally new music for me. It's not something that will get regular play here, but it is demo material mix and sonics wise. It gets a 9 from me. It would be a 10 if I liked the material more. Much like the Mingus from the last Quadio batch.

I ripped the files, and when played back, Kodi pops up with an artist bio. It told me that Pick Up the Pieces was the most sampled song in history. Whoda thunk?

 

[gbaby183]

Can you clarify what you are comparing? The Blu-ray also has an unmolested stereo mix as well as a quad mix. It sounds like you are using vinyl playback and coming to the conclusion that instrumentation is missing and buried.

I have never owned this album before in any form, so it's new to me. Can you specify someplace on the album where what you hear is happening? If true you should certainly hear the difference in a comparison of the Quad vs stereo tracks.

I was definitely using the LP as a point of reference. I have owned this Album since my DJ days in the'70s. Most who post here do not like this album as a whole due to the lack of creativity of most of the compositions. I agree with them as I only played "Pick Up the Pieces" when I was a DJ as it was a dance tune. When I get a chance, I will replay to Quad release a tell you where I found the abnormalities in each composition in this recording.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I was definitely using the LP as a point of reference. I have owned this Album since my DJ days in the'70s. Most who post here do not like this album as a whole due to the lack of creativity of most of the compositions. I agree with them as I only played "Pick Up the Pieces" when I was a DJ as it was a dance tune. When I get a chance, I will replay to Quad release a tell you where I found the abnormalities in each composition in this recording.

If possible, also compare the stereo mix on the Blu-ray to the LP in those same places. It would be interesting.

 

[BillTubes]

A 10 for me. A joyful quad that brings back my youth. It is just slightly behind the WAR quadio in this latest grouping. I really love these in your face quads, a completely different experience then the stereo versions