Neil Diamond serenade - SQ / Q8

[carlane3]

I have always been a Neil Diamond fan , and have had serenade in stereo or quad as one of my favorite albums, BUT who mixed the quad release? There is no reference to the quad supervisor/engineer on the lp? I , like most likely others here, are not really happy with the mix on either format. Any info, opionions or whatever??

 

[JonUrban]

I no longer have the SQ LP. Is the "Quadraphonic Remix Engineer" listed on the sleeve? Many do not.

 

[carlane3]

Nope...nowhere I can see...is it on a canadian or other foreign release?

 

[Quad901]

Hi all,
I have seen Neil in concert, back in 1993, the best concert that I ever went too. Neil sung for over 2 and 1/2 hours without any breaks.

Anyway, I was playing Neil's greatest hits 2 CD package last weekend. I had my Marantz set in the Vari-Matrix mode and heard some weired sounds coming out of the rear speakers. I check all of the equipment and everything seem fine. I switch the Marantz into the SQ mode and guess what happen. It sounded like I was on stage with Neil Diamond and during the breaks between the songs you could hear the audiance clapping from all around. I could hear all of the back up singers, and every single instrument in his band. I turn the system up, sit back and travaled back to the 1970's. It was far out. Gee you know what, this Quad stuff really rocks. :banana:

 

[TallPaulInKy]

Has anyone transferred this SQ album to digital to be played back on a regular Dolby Surround system. This is one of my favorite albums, and I would like to hear the alternate takes mentioned in various reviews.
[email protected]

 

[Quad Linda]

There is no Quad remix engineer listed on the outer or inner sleeves. I have the SQ US PCQ 32919. Mine still has the shrink wrap with the Columbia "featuring the Hits 'I've Beem This Way Before and Longfellow Serenade" and $6.09 King Karol stickers, although I've opened it. Remember King Karol, you NYC people? RIP The inner sleeve is the same as the stereo PC 32919. It lists Armin Steiner as the Engineer, which refers to the 2ch mix. Did he do the Quad, too? Maybe. After a bit of research on the net, I turned up nothing on a Quad remix engineer. The Quad mix was released several months after the 2ch. Both the inner and outer (SQ Quad) sleeves list 1974, though the gold SQ label on the disc says 1975. for more info: www.iaisnd.com/neilquad.cfm

Quad 901, which Diamond 2CD Greatest are you referring to? I'd like to try decoding it. If you could provide the label and #, it would be appreciated. I own them all. Neil Diamond's Greatest 66-92 on Columbia from 1992 has a few different takes and/or mixes on several tracks. They were previously available on the Columbia House 70's record club LP issue of Bang Classics. The more recent 2CD Essential Neil Diamond has a couple live tracks not available elsewhere.

Oh, me & you...

I no longer have the SQ LP. Is the "Quadraphonic Remix Engineer" listed on the sleeve? Many do not.

 

[sukothai]

The current Neil Diamond "Serenade" CD in print on Amazon.com decodes nicely through the Tate II. I believe the SQ matrix is intact on the CD.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012GN3DM

 

[Quad Linda]

Paul, do you have a Columbia catalog number for that? I need one.

The current Neil Diamond "Serenade" CD in print on Amazon.com decodes nicely through the Tate II. I believe the SQ matrix is intact on the CD.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012GN3DM

 

[sukothai]

The number on the CD spine is: CK 32919. The UPC is: 886972499727.

- Ben

 

[jdmack]

I picked up the SQ album of "Serenade" for $3.00 last weekend. And I have to ask - has anyone compared the SQ decoding to the Q8? I think something is wrong with . . . well . . . everything.

First of all, when I digitize the album to Adobe Audition, the right channel is at least 4 db louder than the left. I put on my Command test record to make sure my channels were in balance, and they are, so that's how the record is. I tried decoding the album as is, first with Oxford Dickie's script, and then with Lucanu's script. In each case, the balances seemed wrong. So I raised the level of the left channel to match the right and decoded again. And the balances were still off. Specifically, Neil's vocals are panned front right and rear left! That's right, I think we have a new album to add to the "Channel Reassignment Recommendations" thread. By swapping front left and rear left, I got a good centered vocal in front and a more ambient vocal in the rears. It's still not a particularly discrete mix, but I think this is how it's supposed to sound.

So, to summarize:
Raise left channel level to match right channel.
Swap front left and rear left.

 

[The Bushmaster]

And here I thought we covered this much earlier. I have both the SQ LP and the CD. The CD is not SQ encoded. Though it does decode in a low, but fair manor in RM.

 

[Q-Eight]

I picked up the SQ album of "Serenade" for $3.00 last weekend. And I have to ask - has anyone compared the SQ decoding to the Q8? I think something is wrong with . . . well . . . everything.

First of all, when I digitize the album to Adobe Audition, the right channel is at least 4 db louder than the left. I put on my Command test record to make sure my channels were in balance, and they are, so that's how the record is. I tried decoding the album as is, first with Oxford Dickie's script, and then with Lucanu's script. In each case, the balances seemed wrong. So I raised the level of the left channel to match the right and decoded again. And the balances were still off. Specifically, Neil's vocals are panned front right and rear left! That's right, I think we have a new album to add to the "Channel Reassignment Recommendations" thread. By swapping front left and rear left, I got a good centered vocal in front and a more ambient vocal in the rears. It's still not a particularly discrete mix, but I think this is how it's supposed to sound.

So, to summarize:
Raise left channel level to match right channel.
Swap front left and rear left.

There may be something wrong with the SQ, but the Q8 is certainly discrete, it is however NOT aggressive in the least. A terrible shame as there is enough instrumentation to make a thick, discrete instrumental bed. I will agree with you that even on the Q8, the Front Right Channel is louder than the Front Left. Long and the short of it, most instruments (piano, strings, horns) occupy the phantom left and right channels. Neil's vocals are an interesting split 80% front (mildly wet, possibly processed) while the 20% in the rear sounds very dry, almost like a direct vocal booth feed. Drums are about 95% to the front with just a hint of bleed in the rear, either intentional or from adjacent tracks. Bass is front center.

The only downside is that a lot of songs don't feature electric bass or drums, so you get most instruments in the phantoms with Neil mostly in the front. There's virtually no delay to the rears either so that if you park yourself in the sweet spot, it almost sounds like nothing comes from the back speakers. "Reggae Strut" is probably the best song on the album. Drums are very prominent in the front as are bass and Neil's vocals. The rears are occupied mostly by the string section, though they do bleed to the front albeit lightly. The steel drums and piano seem to be in the phantoms. Still, it gives the best 4-channel feel of all the songs on the tape. It's not a great mix, it may be a by-product of how it was recorded. If much of it was recorded live on a soundstage with little to no baffling, then there would be tons of leakage on all the tracks. If that's the case, you can't make it discrete without having unintentional bleed.

That's the only thing I can think of. The mix couldn't have been done to satisfy SQ matrix requirements if the SQ decodes have such placement problems.