100 Columbia (and associated) SQ titles are/were available digitally!

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JonUrban

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This is pretty amazing when you think about it. There are now 93 95 100 titles* from the original 358 SQ Quadraphonic LP releases from Columbia that are or were available on multichannel SACD, DVD-A, DVD, DTS-CD or BluRay disc media.


When you think about the end of quad in the late '70s, and how it pretty much was forgotten through the '80s and '90s, only to be resurrected by Brad Miller and DTS Entertainment and further by the SACD and DVD-A era, and now by specialty labels like AF and Dutton-Vocalion, you have to sit back and be a bit awed!

All together now, "Awwwww" :SB


https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/Columbia.htm

* - As of 7/25/2019
 
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And in my opinion it's some of the real heavy hitters which have been rescued from the Columbia / Epic vaults.

It might also be interesting by comparison how many Warner / Atlantic / Elektra (Purple, Oldfield, Bread, etc.) titles were released since DTS broke ground in the Quad resurrection efforts.
 
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If you'd have told me 10 years ago that this sort of thing would ever happen, I'd have scoffed and scoffed heartily.
I've never been more happy to have been wrong.

If only there were some way to do a little advertising to try to turn our niche into even a boutique market.
 
If you'd have told me 10 years ago that this sort of thing would ever happen, I'd have scoffed and scoffed heartily.
I've never been more happy to have been wrong.

If only there were some way to do a little advertising to try to turn our niche into even a boutique market.
There are ways to do just that. But nobody is interested in the footwork it takes. I tried to do some a year or two ago and nobody here would join me. It was simply stuff like editing an album's Wiki page entry and mentioning who the quad mixer was, and then continuing with quad reissue credits, Kevin, Steve, or Gus, and finally the label "Audio Fidelity" and format, cat #s of the SACD.

One could do a full on advertisement (with picture of an AF SACD front) in the Wiki entry and make it look like it's just another addition to the album's history, when really it's a full on ad for the new stereo / quad release. I did a few myself.

If anyone is interested in helping D/V's releases in quad get noticed, I suggest editing the Wiki page of every album you can find, and adding the D/V reissue to the album's history, and even a picture of the front cover. One could state that they are out of the UK, which could help someone who is reading to find the product.
 
There are ways to do just that. But nobody is interested in the footwork it takes. I tried to do some a year or two ago and nobody here would join me. It was simply stuff like editing an album's Wiki page entry and mentioning who the quad mixer was, and then continuing with quad reissue credits, Kevin, Steve, or Gus, and finally the label "Audio Fidelity" and format, cat #s of the SACD.

One could do a full on advertisement (with picture of an AF SACD front) in the Wiki entry and make it look like it's just another addition to the album's history, when really it's a full on ad for the new stereo / quad release. I did a few myself.

If anyone is interested in helping D/V's releases in quad get noticed, I suggest editing the Wiki page of every album you can find, and adding the D/V reissue to the album's history, and even a picture of the front cover. One could state that they are out of the UK, which could help someone who is reading to find the product.

the Wiki DV things a brilliant idea! i'll get onto it soon.

meantime, i feel Jon and QQ (and the SHF also.., plus sa-cd.net/hraudio perhaps to a lesser extent) have been a real contributing factor to this Quad renaissance, would it all have happened without this place? hmm.. :unsure:;) hats off to the forums and above all three cheers for QQ! :love:

edit: 37 of these Quads have been brought back to life courtesy of Dutton Vocalion, 13 by Audio Fidelity, 12 by Sony U.S., 9 from Rhino, 6 by DTS/Brad Miller, 6 by Sony Japan, 2 from EMI/Chrysalis, 2 from Mode and 2 reissues from Analogue Productions
 
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the Wiki DV things a brilliant idea! i'll get onto it soon.

meantime, i feel Jon and QQ (and the SHF also.., plus sa-cd.net/hraudio perhaps to a lesser extent) have been a real contributing factor to this Quad renaissance, would it all have happened without this place? hmm.. :unsure:;) hats off to the forums and above all three cheers for QQ! :love:

edit: 37 of these Quads have been brought back to life courtesy of Dutton Vocalion, 13 by Audio Fidelity, 12 by Sony U.S., 9 from Rhino, 6 by DTS/Brad Miller, 6 by Sony Japan, 2 from EMI/Chrysalis, 2 from Mode and 2 reissues from Analogue Productions
That is not counting RCA label CD-4 product, the 37 from D/V are actually CBS/Sony (not BMG/RCA)?
 
So, we've not had confirmation that the Masterworks recordings reissued by Sony in the early days of SACD are actually the quad mix or something else created more recently. I wish there was a good way to make a better determination (I have the SACDs except the Biggs but I don't have an analog setup).
 
So, we've not had confirmation that the Masterworks recordings reissued by Sony in the early days of SACD are actually the quad mix or something else created more recently. I wish there was a good way to make a better determination (I have the SACDs except the Biggs but I don't have an analog setup).

I've definitely read in other old threads that those Sony discs are either full-blown upmixes, or they're the original quads severely tampered with.

I ripped my SQ LP of the Bartok a few months ago and it's definitely got some real surround activity, but a big problem with the mix is it doesn't really obey the "rules of SQ"- there are instruments panned in side and back center positions, as well as general instrument bleed between channels from the way the orchestra was miked. Obviously it's impossible to record any orchestra with isolation booths, and it would defeat the purpose, but SQ does not do well with ambiance or instrument bleed.

I picked up a cheap MFSL copy from a record store recently as well- it does NOT decode the same way as the SQ. The Q8 is at the top of my wishlist right now.

It'd be nice if D-V could redo all of these. They must be OOP by now.
 
Also, I noticed that the Columbia page denotes some 5.1 reissues of titles that have a separate quad mix (Toys In The Attic, Super Session, Chorus Line, etc)- are we counting those toward the 85?
 
I've definitely read in other old threads that those Sony discs are either full-blown upmixes, or they're the original quads severely tampered with.

I ripped my SQ LP of the Bartok a few months ago and it's definitely got some real surround activity, but a big problem with the mix is it doesn't really obey the "rules of SQ"- there are instruments panned in side and back center positions, as well as general instrument bleed between channels from the way the orchestra was miked. Obviously it's impossible to record any orchestra with isolation booths, and it would defeat the purpose, but SQ does not do well with ambiance or instrument bleed.

I picked up a cheap MFSL copy from a record store recently as well- it does NOT decode the same way as the SQ. The Q8 is at the top of my wishlist right now.

It'd be nice if D-V could redo all of these. They must be OOP by now.
Yeah...there's more discussion of the issue here: https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...our-toccatas-and-fugues-sacd.4298/post-337923

I'm also curious about the Bernstein Mahler SACDs, available from Japan in stereo/MCH. Some were original 3-channel recordings, but at least Das Lied von der Erde and the Kindertotenlieder/Adagio from Symphony No. 10 were quad releases: https://www.discogs.com/Mahler-Leonard-Bernstein-Israel-Philharmonic-Christa-Ludwig-René-Kollo-Das-Lied-Von-Der-Erde-The-So/release/8005915
https://www.discogs.com/MahlerNew-Y...ael-Philharmonic-Orchestra-Ki/release/8129520

There's also Bernstein doing the Mahler 2nd on a Columbia Quad, which I'm pretty sure is the same as the filmed performance available on DVD from Unitel (the DVD has a DTS track, not sure how it compares to the quad): https://www.elycathedral.org/events...ein-at-100-with-mahlers-resurrection-symphony
 
Yeah...there's more discussion of the issue here: https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...our-toccatas-and-fugues-sacd.4298/post-337923

I'm also curious about the Bernstein Mahler SACDs, available from Japan in stereo/MCH. Some were original 3-channel recordings, but at least Das Lied von der Erde and the Kindertotenlieder/Adagio from Symphony No. 10 were quad releases: https://www.discogs.com/Mahler-Leonard-Bernstein-Israel-Philharmonic-Christa-Ludwig-René-Kollo-Das-Lied-Von-Der-Erde-The-So/release/8005915
https://www.discogs.com/MahlerNew-Y...ael-Philharmonic-Orchestra-Ki/release/8129520

There's also Bernstein doing the Mahler 2nd on a Columbia Quad, which I'm pretty sure is the same as the filmed performance available on DVD from Unitel (the DVD has a DTS track, not sure how it compares to the quad): https://www.elycathedral.org/events...ein-at-100-with-mahlers-resurrection-symphony

I haven't heard the quad Mahler 2d, and I haven't done a technical analysis of any of the Japanese Mahlers. But I've heard them all, in...let's say "borrowed" copies. And my listening notes say that while Das Lied and Kindertotenlieder sound fuller and more spacious than the earlier symphonies which were upmixed from 3-channel, they still represent a fairly conservative, "concert-hall" style of quad (notwithstanding the fact that Larry Keyes worked on them).
 
Also, I noticed that the Columbia page denotes some 5.1 reissues of titles that have a separate quad mix (Toys In The Attic, Super Session, Chorus Line, etc)- are we counting those toward the 85?

Yes. The qualification I selected was "Multichannel Mix", so those Sony's qualify as the title is/was available in surround digitally. The QQ web page for Columbia indicates what each title came out as, as you have stated above.
 
I reached out to Andreas Meyer, who did the Bernstein Mahler SACDs. He said that "[w]hen available I used the original edited multitrack analog reels. No Quad master tapes were used on any title." I take that to mean that the surround mixes are sometimes from multitracks, sometimes upmixes, but not the quad mix. Informative.

I have the DVD of the live Mahler 2, but not sure how I'd test the DTS track compared to the quad release.
 
There are ways to do just that. But nobody is interested in the footwork it takes. I tried to do some a year or two ago and nobody here would join me. It was simply stuff like editing an album's Wiki page entry and mentioning who the quad mixer was, and then continuing with quad reissue credits, Kevin, Steve, or Gus, and finally the label "Audio Fidelity" and format, cat #s of the SACD.

One could do a full on advertisement (with picture of an AF SACD front) in the Wiki entry and make it look like it's just another addition to the album's history, when really it's a full on ad for the new stereo / quad release. I did a few myself.

If anyone is interested in helping D/V's releases in quad get noticed, I suggest editing the Wiki page of every album you can find, and adding the D/V reissue to the album's history, and even a picture of the front cover. One could state that they are out of the UK, which could help someone who is reading to find the product.

the footwork is.. afoot! :p
(i've started updating the Wikipedia entries of albums released in Quad by Dutton Vocalion. so far i've done the 2 x Poco's, Rick Derringer, the 2 x Deodato's, 2 x Pure Prairie League's, the Tower Of Power, Santana's Illuminations and both Garfunkel's... there ain't nothin' stoppin' us now! phew! :LOL: )
 
the footwork is.. afoot! :p
(i've started updating the Wikipedia entries of albums released in Quad by Dutton Vocalion. so far i've done the 2 x Poco's, Rick Derringer, the 2 x Deodato's, 2 x Pure Prairie League's, the Tower Of Power, Santana's Illuminations and both Garfunkel's... there ain't nothin' stoppin' us now! phew! :LOL: )

the roadwork, i mean footwork, continues.. DV Quad SACD info updates made to the Wikipedia entries for Chase S/T, Chase Pure Music, The Main Ingredient Euphrates River and the Guess Who's #10 and Road Food (y)
 
the footwork is.. afoot! :p
(i've started updating the Wikipedia entries of albums released in Quad by Dutton Vocalion. so far i've done the 2 x Poco's, Rick Derringer, the 2 x Deodato's, 2 x Pure Prairie League's, the Tower Of Power, Santana's Illuminations and both Garfunkel's... there ain't nothin' stoppin' us now! phew! :LOL: )
Thanks, love and hugs. Hope others will pitch in with quad mixer credits and pictures of SACD covers.

One thing that Wiki likes, and I have seen items removed from the page when there is no citation. This I am quoting "from the original analogue tapes by Michael Dutton". Is there an article about Michael Dutton and his mastering techniques, and mention of using original analog masters? Liner notes do not go into much detail about studio. source tapes, or mastering / authoring. .

(edit) I just saw credits on back of booklet state M. Dutton and original master tapes.
 
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