Favorite SQ, QS, & CD-4 titles?

[aquadad]

Hello, Any input here would be greatly appreciated. I recently got hooked up (thanks to QuadBob) with a temporary unit while I am waiting for the restoration of a 7001. So now I need to start putting together a library of vinyl to play with. I like all kinds of music and would be interested in hearing about your favorite releases in each of the SQ, QS & CD-4 formats. Also what titles to shy away from in vinyl. Thanks Guys

 

[kumquad]

In the world known as SQ, I have a lot of favorites. Here are a few that I like the music and the quad mix on:

All of the Santana LP's except Amigos (bad studio?)
All of the Jeff Beck LP's except Wired and BBA (crappy mixing)
Edgar Winter - They Only Come Out At Night
Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters and Thrust
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds Of Fire
Ramsey Lewis - Upendo Ni Pamosa
Mott The Hoople - The Hoople

Mostly Rock, fusion and jazz, I don't know if you like those styles, but great LP's in my judgement. Enjoy :sun

kumquad

 

[sspsandy]

SQ: Dzyan - Time Machine and Electric Silence
Aerosmith - Toys In The Attic and Get Your Wings
Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother and Dark Side Of The Moon
Sly and the Family Stone - Greatest Hits
Ten Years After - A Space In Time
Michael Tillson Thomas - Carmina Burana

QS: Grateful Dead - Steal Your Face
The Who - Quadraphenia Soundtrack
Nektar - Remember The Future and Down To Earth (US Passport lps)
Larry Fast - Synergy

CD-4: Hot Tuna - America's Choice
Harry Nillson - Nillson Schmillson
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Deep Purple - Machine Head
Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers
Jethro Tull - Aqualung

 

[raggal62]

SQ :
John Keating - Space Experience
Blue Oyster Cult - Tyranny and Mutation
Beck, Bogart, and Appice - ST

QS :
Steely Dan - Can't Buy a Thrill
Rufus - Rags to Rufus
Mighty Joe Young - Chicken Heads

CD-4
All Hugo Montenegro titles
Robert Mason/Stardrive - Intergalactic Trot
Doobie Brothers - The Captain and Me

If you like Easy Listening, anything on the "Project 3" label in all 3 formats is very good. These lp's were produced with the highest standards and the fidelity is excellent.

 

[Eggplant]

Among SQs, I think there is no problem crowning the all-time champion.

That would be, um -- let me see -- oh yeah:

Dark Side of the Moon.

2nd place would go the Mike Oldfield / Boxed set.

3rd place is a tie between most of the domestic Columbia releases, esp. Philly Int.

CD4 is mostly a question of what decodes well without distortion, so I'd pick almost any Japanese disc, and some of the later A&M discs, Carpenters / Horizon and (sorry!) Barry Manilow / Trying to get the Feeling Again.

I don't like QS so I have no favorite.

 

[Scottmoose]

My all-time favourite CD-4 is Black Sabbath's Paranoid, both mix and musically it's superb (you'll just have to trust me on this). Jethro Tull's Aqualung is also a worthy purchase.
SQ has to be Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, but also Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, or the boxed set if you can get it.
QS: of the genuine recordings I've heard (none too many sadly), it'd have to be The Who's Quadrophenia.

A word about Tubular Bells though. If you want the ultimate version, my advice is to buy the SACD (NOT the re-recording on DVD-A), if you have the facility to play them. This has the original 4 channel mix, remastered by Simon Heyworth from the original mastertapes (which was in good condition apparantly, unlike the stereo one); most likely a much better and more reliable investment than any 30 year old piece of vinyl from the consistancy front. Unless, of course, you can track down the holy grail of 'Bells, which is the UD-4 version (very similar to the SACD as it happens).

 

[aquadad]

Thanks Alot Everyone! It's fun to have new stuff to shop for. Until quad came back into my life recently I thought my music library was complete. Now I'm beginning to realize that it needs to get completely renovated.:banana: Of the handful of selections that I have come across so far (James Taylor/One Man Dog) stands out to me. I'm finding that a lot of the titles that have been mentioned so far that really peak my interest are either very hard to find or very expensive. I.E. Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Aqualung, Doobies-Captain, Steely-Thrill, the Hoople etc. I'll have to see if Quadbob will part with some of his duplicates that are on the lists (Oldfield)? Anyway Bells on SACD sounds very appealing. I did add a Marantz 1070 integrated amp to my system to handle the center channel and subwoofer channel from the Pioneer DV-45a. I am still fumbling around in awe of the sound that that I am getting from all six channels. So far the DVD-A of (REM, In Time) and the SACD of (Wallflowers, Red Letter Days) are sounding real good to me. I've heard several conversions at Quadbobs that sounded really great and I'll look forward to those selections as they become available. In the meantime does anyone know if (Black Sabbath, Masters of Reality) is in quad? Also is there any chance (Quadrophenia) will be done in hi-rez if it hasn't been done already? Thanks again for all the suggestions, I'm going to sit patiently now and wait for the mailman to come bearing gifts. Let's see who will it be today...Nilsson...Birds Of Fire...what do I do with those stereo copies? hmmm... :spot

 

[Cai Campbell]

Favorite SQ title: Pink Floyd - "Atom Heart Mother". Strictly from a decoding standpoint, it is one of the best SQ titles ever produced. The quad mix really opens up the dense production and takes it to a new level.

Favorite QS title: Takeshi Inomata - "Morning After". Not a household name, to be sure, but this record is an awesome jazz fusion performance with a great surround mix that decodes wonderfully.

Favorite CD-4 title: Gotta agree with sspsandy on this one: Harry Nillson - "Nillson Schmillson". In my mind, possibly the most perfect popular rock recording ever produced, with a mind-blowing quad mix. It just doesn't get any better than this.

 

[Eggplant]

One disc deserves special mention, even though it's not really a disc (I'll explain).

"Indian Reservation" by the Raiders is, IMHO, one of the most dramatic pop singles of all time. Great song with a fascinating history (look it up), the performance and recording would be astounding if recorded in 2005. Knowing it was recorded in 1970 is astonishing. At the time, it was Columbia's biggest selling single ever.

One of those BTBQ tracks (Born to be Quad), the mix is a 12 on a 1-10 scale.
It was a revelation when I used to listen to it in 1978 in SQ on my dad's system when he was away.

Amazingly, there's a dub from the discrete master tape floating around. It's heavenly. Some of the other cuts on the album ain't too shabby either.

Without a doubt, this quad mix would make my Top Ten Best Surround Tracks of all time.

 

[Q-Eight]

Just curious, but how could a dub from a master tape be any different than that of an actual Q8? Just less hiss??

My fave titles would have to be:

CD4 : Jerry Reed - "Lord Mr. Ford" Why? Because the album I have plays perfect!! I use the "Folsom Prison Blues" track to audition my quad system to other people. How the instruments all come in from different speakers, and just how beautiful the record sounds.... absolutely clear!! Not a single click, pop or skip. Had it not come already opened, I would swear I was the first person to ever play it.

QS : Well, I only have 1 QS Album, and it's the Grass Roots 16 Greatest. I have to admit, I think the QS system sounds good. Although I prefer CD4 or Quad Tape, QS does give a good surround field and can at times almost sound discrete.

SQ : I have yet to find an SQ title I like. I have several SQ albums, but I have them simply as curiosities. I rarely play them. I have an SQ-W decoder which is supposedly one of the better decoders. I have some TATE decoded titles on DTS and the pumping just drives me up the wall. Can't listen to them.
(Sorry SQ lovers)

Q8/Q4: Fave title would be BTO I or II. Love the mixes. In fact I love all my Q8's on the Mercury label. They are discrete, but also have much surround feel. I can dig it.

 

[neil wilkes]

Just curious, but how could a dub from a master tape be any different than that of an actual Q8? Just less hiss??

More to it than that.
Coming straight off the master tape will have far more dynamic range, as you are at this point first generation, using the mastering quality speed of (probably) 30 ips, at worst case 15 ips.
I'm not sure what a Q8 speed is, but my guess is around 3 .75 ips.
This means you are using less tape, and (often) a narrower one at that. Q8 is 1/4", masters are either 1/4, 1/2 or even 1" width.

Also, the Q8 often have the dreadful Dolby NR added to them.

All that aside though, it is perfectly possible to get some superb transfers from Q8. The trick is to know what you are doing (which rules me out) and to have correctly set up, calibrated & maintained equipment.
And if you are serious about the transfers, recalibrate the playback deck before every transfer you do. Chances are high that no 2 Q8 carts will be set up the same way in terms of levels etc.

 

[bizmopeen]

For CD-4 I've got to echo "Nilsson Schmilsson" (just play "Jump Into the Fire" for your friends), "Paranoid" and throw in "The Best of the Doors" (since they were pressing them well into the 80's I bought mine NEW in 1984).

SQ: "Dark Side of the Moon", certainly, and I'll add Santana's "Abraxas" and throw in the title cut from David Essex's "Rock On" for good measure.

QS: I haven't listened as much to this format, but I'll put in a vote for Steely Dan's "Pretzel Logic".

 

[robreed]

My favorite SQ recording is the project 3 record by Enoch light
hits form the Great Gatsby era
fantastic quad action good musid and just a little vocal

 

[Marcsten]

I would have to agree with Cai's picks, but don't forget Omidawn (nee Omagawd) by Oldfield. For CD4, you must have the Best of the Doors for great songs, great mix, and you can get them almost anywhere.
Marc

 

[trevorspiro]

SQ: Herbie Hancock Sextant, Headhunters; Santana: Santana 1, Abraxas, Caravanserai, Welcome, Borboletta, Lotus; Morton Subotnik Touch; John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana: A Love Supreme
QS: Steely Dan Can’t Buy A Thrill, Countdown To Ecstasy, Pretzyl Logic
CD4: Deep Purple Machine Head; America Holiday, Hearts; Joni Mitchell The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, Court And Spark; Jethro Tull Aqualung, Minstrel In The Gallery; Gordon Lightfoot Sundown; The Doobie Brothers Stampede, The Captain And Me.

 

[MidiMagic]

QS: Enoch Light - Permissive Polyphonics
SQ: Beethoven Symphony 9 - Eugen Jochum
DQ: Rimsky Korsakov Flight of the Bumblebee - Perry & Kingsley
CD-4: None. I gave up because even the calibration disc had snapping sounds.

 

[reidc]

Wow- this one got revived...only been 18 years it lay dormant!!!

 

[jaybird100]

QS: Anything from Enoch Light
SQ: DSOTM
DQ: Stolen Goods: Gems Lifted from the Masters- Dr. Teleny's Incredible Plugged-in Orchestra
CD-4- When I can make it work properly, I'll let you know.