The other day I had the tune "Majik of Majik's" running around in my head. I don't know where it came from, but it was there, and I hadn't played it in decades, but because it was stuck in my head, I wanted to hear it for real. It's from Cat Steven's album "Numbers", which was not a popular album, but for some reason I really grew attached to that particular song, so it stuck. Anyway, the only place I had it on CD was in the MFSL Box set called "THREE", which contains the last 3 Cat Stevens albums, including the only hit album of the three, "Izitso". So I figured I would rip "Majik of Majik's" to PC, dump it into SPEC-WEB, and make a version to play in the Acura. Well I have to tell you, I was blown away by the results! I ended up taking selected Cat Stevens songs from Izitso and did them as well, and again, blown away! Compared to the horrible official quadraphonic Cat Stevens releases, these results were stunning, and I don't mean "Silverline" stunning.
Take for example the song "Remember the Days of the Old Schoolyard". It was a hit. Sure, it's dated and it's full of synth and all that, but the surround output is amazing. There are little kids playing in the schoolyard - in the rear speakers. The sound placements are quite good, and Cat is full fledged in the center speaker. In the car it sounds totally legit. And as for that dance number from "Izitso", "Was Dog a Doughnut", well the dog barking on that one is mostly in the rears. If you look at the wav file, wherever you see a spike, that's the dog barking sound. Don't see it in the fronts, do ya!
So, if you have this set (or maybe even the A&M CDs), are interested, and have SPEC, SPEC-WEB, or a SM, try these discs. (I did not try anything from "Back to Earth" because it never interested me in the first place. I don't think I know a single tune on it) The results are quite astounding. Take a look:
(REMEMBER THE DAYS OF THE) OLD SCHOOLYARD (portion)
WAS DOG WAS A DOUGHNUT?"
Take for example the song "Remember the Days of the Old Schoolyard". It was a hit. Sure, it's dated and it's full of synth and all that, but the surround output is amazing. There are little kids playing in the schoolyard - in the rear speakers. The sound placements are quite good, and Cat is full fledged in the center speaker. In the car it sounds totally legit. And as for that dance number from "Izitso", "Was Dog a Doughnut", well the dog barking on that one is mostly in the rears. If you look at the wav file, wherever you see a spike, that's the dog barking sound. Don't see it in the fronts, do ya!
So, if you have this set (or maybe even the A&M CDs), are interested, and have SPEC, SPEC-WEB, or a SM, try these discs. (I did not try anything from "Back to Earth" because it never interested me in the first place. I don't think I know a single tune on it) The results are quite astounding. Take a look:
(REMEMBER THE DAYS OF THE) OLD SCHOOLYARD (portion)
WAS DOG WAS A DOUGHNUT?"